Sunday, July 27, 2014

Parachuting Caffeine Pills

That title is really just part of my commentary on the dire state of medical training, which is actually a lot less terrible than it used to be, apparently.  Let me give you an little inside look to training, civilians and prospective medical students:

Everyone hears their doctor friends "being on call."  They, including a younger version of me thought: "Whoa, that's really badass.  They're like saving lives and being all cool and respected."  

When really you're spending the 24 hours or so in the hospital managing blood sugars or putting your fist/forearm into a stranger's birth canal for an indeterminate amount of time to tamponade some post-partum hemorrhage, depending on your specialty.  

Call schedules disrupt your sleep schedule, and you end up eating a lot in order to feel better and comfort you psychologically and physically.  For example, I'll work a normal 6am-Xpm week.  Then, in the middle of the next week, I need to flip my schedule and take 24 hour call, then flip my schedule again to be as rested and functional as I can the next work day.  Ad nauseam.  

Multiply that by the rest of your life until you retire (unless you're a dermatologist or something), and you're probably a few pounds heavier and managed to shed a few years off of your life.  I guess being on call is supposed to test you and be extra education/training, but I'd rather do all my call shifts in a row, activate beast mode, and get through it.  Forgot to mention that when you're on call, it's usually just one attending, and you, taking care of anywhere from 10 to 90 patients.  Hooray.

Having all your call "shifts" in a row would be great, but that'd make too much sense.  I'm post-call right now and ready to fall asleep but there's so much I need to do right now.  cheers



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