ABSTRACT
A simple plan for managing stress includes documenting and reprioritising stressors, recharging fully with healthy and joyful pastimes, and redefining stress with a more positive narrative. The time of transition from medical student to intern can be a time of great excitement but also of serious stress for many new doctors. Doctors moving country face multiple complex stressors. Negative stress is very different and is often defined as an imbalance between perceived demand and the ability to meet that demand. Negative stress is usually about a perceived loss of control. It is worth taking time to identify common sources of stress. There are many other causes of immense stress that are unique to doctors, some obvious and some not so obvious. New doctors’ report many stressors including meeting the demands and expectations of senior colleagues, learning to work with other health professionals and hospital staff, feeling undervalued, and the isolation of working long hours, night shifts and after hours.
