Deep thought

"Who said exhausted doctors make better doctors? Seriously I don't know how they train here - they are all so stressed. Where do they find the time to study for exams?" retorted the consultant to us.

"My best advice is to finish your training there. At least you have study leave. And you can leave at 5pm everyday and when you are on-call, you're only on duty till midnight and the night doctor takes over. There is no night duty here. If you're on call - you work all day, all night and finish the next day afternoon! Everyone is sleep-deprived. And sometimes they can have as many as 6-8 on calls a month! At least if you train overseas, when you are finished for the day - you still have the energy to study."

"Maybe you learn procedural skills faster here - but you can always learn on the job, " said the consultant who trained in Melbourne and returned after her specialist exams.

With such an argument - the two of us were sent away in deep thought pondering what to do next.

Seriously how do they do it?

And more importantly, can I train in such a system without losing it?