Mwaikambo, Esther D.2020-02-172020-02-172002Raviola, G., Mwaikambo, E. and Good, M.J.D., 2002. HIV, disease plague, demoralization and``burnout'': resident experience of the medical profession in Nairobi, Kenya. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 26(1), pp.55-86.DOI https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015289132151http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/232This paper describes the experiencesof physicians-in-training at a public hospitalin Nairobi, Kenya, where medical professionalspractice in an environment characterized byboth significant lack of resources andpatients with HIV/AIDS in historicallyunprecedented numbers. The data reported hereare part of a larger study examining ethicaldilemmas in medical education and practiceamong physicians in East Africa. Aquestionnaire and semi-structured interviewwere completed by fifty residents in fourmedical specialties, examining social andemotional supports, personal and professionalsources of stress, emotional numbing anddisengagement from patients and peers, andsymptoms of post-traumatic stress anddepression. The factors affecting residentwell-being are found in this study to be morecomplex than previous interviews suggested. This study highlights the fact that as a resultof working in an environment characterized by poor communication among hospital staff aswell as a lack of resources and high numbersof patients with HIV/AIDS, residents'perceptions of themselves – their technicalproficiency, their ability to care and feel forothers and themselves, and for some theirentire sense of self – are significantlyaffected. Also affected are the patients theywork to treat.enDepressionHIV/AIDSHopelessnessKenyaArticle