We have all heard of, and experienced, ‘Monday blues’ and how the fingers could be rusty after a vacation or holiday, instead of being rejuvenated. That physician burn-out and over-worked and tired residents and consultants may affect patient outcomes too is intuitive and given, but higher mortal- ity linked to surgeon’s birthday sounds surreal and difficult to comprehend in the first go. However, if one were to believe a recent paper published in the ‘annual tongue-in-cheek Christmas edition’ of the British Medical Journal [1], it be- comes a gory reality.
展开▼
