Crack and Burn
Burn-out in medicine is common – as the recent ASMS survey has confirmed. The feeling that goes along with burnout has individual qualities, here is how it felt for me.
b
u
r
n
i
n
g
I
am
a flower
that does not open
with torn skin under my fingernails
from digging out a life, distracted and woeful,
my mind is confused, conscious but unaware,
my hand reaches out, my head hurting,
the ringing in my ears is no tinnitus,
the alarm bells of my soul,
here is a flower
unopened,
numb
am
I
– Anja Werno, MD PhD FRCPA
Anja is the Medical Director in Microbiology at Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch and ASMS branch president for Canterbury. “Crack and Burn” is Anja’s third contribution to The Medicine Stories Project.
