Why Being in Medicine is Like Being in a Cult!

So a little while ago, I was watching a documentary series about how to become a cult leader. It was talking about people like Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and David Karesh. The weird thing, is that in every episode, there seemed to be at least one or more similarities with medical training or being a doctor.

 A few of the similarities between Medicine, and being in a cult were:

1. Jargon – speaking a language, that takes years to learn and nobody else understands

2. Uniforms-dressing in a way that distinguishes you from the rest of society

3. Free labor-both cult members and med students/residents/doctors in practice work long hours that would be illegal for any other industry. In med school, residency, and practice 80 hours or more are not uncommon, because the rules that limit hours are frequently ignored. (And in practice there are no limits on hours worked.)

4. Desensitization-getting used to things that previously grossed you out. This is just such a part of medicine that when they said that cults also do this, I was shocked.

5. Sleep deprivation – cults use sleep deprivation to control and punish their members. Sleep deprivation is just expected in medical training and practice. In my opinion, sleep deprivation might be one of the reasons that doctors have such high suicide rates. (Once during a meeting between a hospital CEO and doctors and other providers, we were told that we would be forced to start taking overnight call. When I remarked that sleep deprivation was harmful our health the CEO had the audacity to say “your health is not my concern”.)

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the video if you choose to watch it and let me know your thoughts.

Val (recovering medical doctor)