Apples and Oranges (Doctors and Call Center Agents)
I came across a memory from last year on Facebook regarding a call center agent ranting about how they are required to stay awake on the job while many doctors and nurses are caught sleeping while on duty. This fact makes call center agents better than medical professionals and makes them the true unsung heroes of the nation (or something to that tune).
Needless to say, that rant garnered a lot of rage from the medical community and is a clear example of ignorance at its finest. I can proudly say that I am one of the few people who have been privileged to experience both the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Medical worlds and I can with all boldness tell you that they are completely different from each other!
Now we all know that sleep is important and this is where all the fuss started. As a physiologist, I can tell you that sleep has immense health benefits but is considered a luxury by many professions (medical professionals included of course).
Before I even go further into issues about sleeping on the job, let me first tell you that the shift for BPO and Medical Professionals is different. BPO professionals in entry-level positions usually are required to work 8 hours and that’s it. Additional hours logged in are usually compensated accordingly as overtime pay.
Of course, it's a slightly different story for BPO professionals in supervisory and managerial levels as they are paid a fixed wage per month regardless of how much time they spend in the office. In essence, the BPO industry is more or less fair in paying its professionals for the number of hours they work and an 8-hour workday is more than enough to maintain a good work to life balance.
However, that’s not the case with doctors. Doctors usually do not get paid hourly rates. Resident physicians have a fixed salary or stipend per month regardless of how many hours they go on duty and this amount is usually less than what many call center agents make in a month. Intern doctors make nothing at all mainly due to the fact that they are not yet licensed physicians. Despite that, they also work similar hours as resident doctors.
What are we talking about in terms of hours here? Usually 8 hours on Pre-Duty days and 24 hours on Duty days. How often do they go on duty? It actually depends on the needs of the hospital. Personally, I have worked on 48-hour duties mainly because the hospital was understaffed and needed more manpower.
That alone is already a disparity that highlights the vast differences of the BPO and Medical industries. Comparing them both is just unfair and wrong.
How about the nature of work? BPO professionals do very important work and their responsibilities are similar to that of most corporate employees. One wrong move or decision could cause a company to lose millions of dollars in potential revenue. One miscalculated business process could end up draining thousands of dollars in company funds. As a former Operations Manager, I can tell you that we never made business decisions lightly. We carefully calculated risks and thoroughly discussed all potential repercussions our decisions may have on the company’s financial health.
Responsibilities differ for doctors. Yes there are risks but risk calculations are not as predictable as that employed by managers. When you handle a patient, things are never foreseeable as anything can happen and the consequence of a wrong decision could mean that patient's life. Call me biased but I believe that the stakes are much higher here! Lost money can be earned again but a lost life can never be replaced!
Going back to the issue of sleep, I believe that sometimes people forget that doctors are humans too. We have all of the physiologic needs that you have too. That is actually a problem because lack of sleep actually affects cognitive skills. Since many doctors go on duty for 24 hours or more, it is not impossible for mistakes to be made. Unfortunately, these mistakes could ultimately mean the loss of a patient life.
So, simply put it is less sleep equals more mistakes. The United States has actually set regulations on the maximum amount of hours that doctors should work in a hospital to minimize these potential clinical mistakes. A 12-16 hour duty would be better and reduces the sleep deprivation doctors have to endure which in turn would mean better clinical performance. I seriously doubt if the same will be implemented here in the Philippines any time soon.
So , it is forgivable if an intern or resident doctor dozes off for an hour or two if possible. They are human and patients could die if they are not at the top of their game.
Another thing I appreciate about being in the medical profession is my job security as I am not at the mercy of any company. If a hospital ever wanted to let me go, I could find another hospital or clinic the next day. The dire shortage of doctors is what gives me this sense of job security. As long as my license is valid, I can always find work easily.
It was a different story when I was a manager in the BPO Industry. When I was let go of a company and it took me 6 months to find another job and that post was a step down from my previous position. In other words, I was at the mercy of an employer and although there are many vacant managerial positions in other companies, the competition for it was just too tight.
The vast differences between these two industries can never be justified in one short write up. Don’t get me wrong, as there is no better profession or industry! Both BPO and Medical Professionals have their own unique responsibilities and accountabilities.
The work they both do are important on many levels. However, the immense differences between the two industries make it impossible and absolutely wrong to compare them to each other. I recall my days in the BPO Industry very fondly and despite the challenges and heartaches I experienced, I really did enjoy my years there.
Each and every one of us has a niche in this world. Some people are meant to run businesses, some provide customers with good service and some are meant to save lives. It is sheer arrogance to think that one vocation is better than another.
It is true that many doctors do suffer from some form of superiority complex (and that I will go into in a future write up) but what we fail to acknowledge is that each and every one of us delivers a specific kind of service to mankind. The customer service representative serves customers and doctors serve patients. It’s as simple as that!
Below is the post that had everyone triggered regarding the comparison between Call Center Agents and Medical Professionals. Honestly, the person who posted it has blatantly displayed how ignorant and arrogant he or she is. I hope this person would be enlightened to the truth someday and maybe garner a bit of humility in the process.
Till next post – Doc France
