Caffeine Free in Med 3

Surgery - I just don't get it

We all know I love the TV show Grey's Anatomy. I watch it religiously and will endlessly talk about it if given the opportunity. However, there is no way that I would EVER become a surgeon after my past rotation and now being on peds. The surgery rotation is made to crush your spirit and is practically a waste of time on account of its overwhelming ineffieciency. Worse, the cracks in the foundation are extremely obvious and it's maddening that everyone has to pretend how wonderful it is. While I now respect the surgeons more, I think that anyone who tolerates this is insane.

So I wanted to make a comment on some of my pet peeves about the surgery rotation. (I am writing this 2 months after I finished it, and I still feel just as strongly)

1)Why am I here at 4:30am? Honestly, I don't really know because the nurses haven't even draw the labs. It doesn't make sense for me to get here this early because WITHOUT labs no notes are complete and pre rounding can't even be done. Most days the labs aren't up until 7am, and you can't finish notes or round without labs. And without rounding, no resident can scrub into the cases.

2)Why can't the attendings round by themselves? My service had six attendings last month. Yes, six. No one could go home until we had rounded as a team with all six attendings. It was even worse when one attending would be very late and decide he wanted to teach. Most fo these attendings rounded on their patients in the am and the pm. They get impatient and pissed off if the team isn't waiting for them to round - perhaps it is because we are rounding w/another attending. Heaven forbid you round by yourself in the am and then communicate to the chief what 3 new orders you put it. Did all of us need to be there to see you replaced Ms. K's potassium?

3)Why can't you use your manpower effectively - aka - why am I even here? The first two weeks on my service were horrible b/c the chief resident insisted on doing things in a 'his way' format that was inefficient and worthless. He was gone for a week and didn't realize we went to a moderately more efficient set up which involved the med students seeing a section of the hospital w/o the residents. When he came back he accused us of skipping out on work and refused to talk to us for a few hours before he asked us what we had done all morning. Heaven forbid we put some organization into our day.

4)What 80-hour work week? As with many other specialties, it is still a joke. The residents are lying about their hours. I don't need another talk about how the 80 hour work week is the worst thing that happened to medicine from someone who has been brainwashed into believing this is good. I can't believe how some absolutely brilliant people can buy into a rhetoric that denies them basic sleep deliberately. I think surgery was certainly the worst of the group with OB and medicine coming in close second and third.

You know, I could go on for a long time about what is wrong with surgery and how we train for it, but it is like yelling at the rain. You can't change the wet, but you can get an umbrella.

Labels: 80 hour work week, residency, rounds, surgery

posted by Allie @ 3:08 PM