'excessive resident sick days' controversy brewing....

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Yeah I think I worked for you. For five months. And I quit. Never called in sick.

Shitting on new grads and hiring CRNAs and locums instead over this relative nonissue is a surefire way to "protect" our specialty. We all know CRNAs never call in sick and locums are cheap. Sounds like you got a real handle on the situation. Thanks for showing up and your three posts. :rolleyes:

'****ting' on new grads'?? Please sir, your use of profanity is unnecessary and unprofessional to say the least. Lets please remain professional. I do remember you from your short time with our group. If memory serves me, i believe We let you 'quit' so we didnt have to officially fire you, so that you could go find a job elsewhere and we didnt completely tank your career. Your use of profanity here doesnt surprise me.. we 'fired' you, not because of sick days, but because of lack of professionalism, incompetence, obesity and mongoloid facial features.
You'd be happy to know we replaced you with a solid Biter. We were considering 2 other applicants to replace you, one was a PuJu, the other was a Viter. The Biter won out and our Biter is a great fit. He maintains a high level of professionalism at all times, does not take sick day and enjoys limited pay and priviledge.

Let us please move away from this 'Sick day' discussion and focus more on how we can create better working conditions for PUJUs, CRNAs, Biters and Viters. They are the future of our practice. They hold the key for keeping our profession respectable. Not the new residents, they are lost.

thank you

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
'****ting' on new grads'?? Please sir, your use of profanity is unnecessary and unprofessional to say the least. Lets please remain professional. I do remember you from your short time with our group. If memory serves me, i believe We let you 'quit' so we didnt have to officially fire you, so that you could go find a job elsewhere and we didnt completely tank your career. Your use of profanity here doesnt surprise me.. we 'fired' you, not because of sick days, but because of lack of professionalism, incompetence, obesity and mongoloid facial features.
You'd be happy to know we replaced you with a solid Biter. We were considering 2 other applicants to replace you, one was a PuJu, the other was a Viter. The Biter won out and our Biter is a great fit. He maintains a high level of professionalism at all times, does not take sick day and enjoys limited pay and priviledge.

Let us please move away from this 'Sick day' discussion and focus more on how we can create better working conditions for PUJUs, CRNAs, Biters and Viters. They are the future of our practice. They hold the key for keeping our profession respectable. Not the new residents, they are lost.

thank you

Really?
 
"TrollTown35"

Appropriate username is appropriate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Members don't see this ad :)
'****ting' on new grads'?? Please sir, your use of profanity is unnecessary and unprofessional to say the least. Lets please remain professional. I do remember you from your short time with our group. If memory serves me, i believe We let you 'quit' so we didnt have to officially fire you, so that you could go find a job elsewhere and we didnt completely tank your career. Your use of profanity here doesnt surprise me.. we 'fired' you, not because of sick days, but because of lack of professionalism, incompetence, obesity and mongoloid facial features.
You'd be happy to know we replaced you with a solid Biter. We were considering 2 other applicants to replace you, one was a PuJu, the other was a Viter. The Biter won out and our Biter is a great fit. He maintains a high level of professionalism at all times, does not take sick day and enjoys limited pay and priviledge.

Let us please move away from this 'Sick day' discussion and focus more on how we can create better working conditions for PUJUs, CRNAs, Biters and Viters. They are the future of our practice. They hold the key for keeping our profession respectable. Not the new residents, they are lost.

thank you
I am not sure what your real position is so help me out here:
You say that new grads are lazy and they are not well trained, but you also seem to think that the old generation anesthesiologists are not good enough, and that any anesthesiologist your group would ever hire is going to be inferior to you and your buddies, and as a result will never be seen as an equal.
So, is there anyone out there who is at your level or are you better than everyone else?
 
Last edited:
I think what you are seeing from plankton, aneft and some of the others are people who may have been taken advantage of and are not willing to let their partners take days off because they "don't feel up to it" that day. I don't think anyone of them would complain about helping out a partner that was truly sick from time to time. But our current new grad work ethic has been called into question and nobody should be forced to work with someone that feels it is their right to take sick days because those days are legally in place.

For a minute there I thought you were switching sides in this debate but I see you are not. Isn't this exactly what someone who takes advantage of their co-residents or partners is doing. They feel their situation is special. Well, it's not.

We're not talking on the same wavelength here. You don't get to pick and choose specific words and phrases from my comments to make entirely new viewpoints I didn't express. As a side note, I'm not sure I have the broadest exposure to new grads but the two current-year new grads I've worked with in my practice are solid and dependable so I'm sorry that's not been your experience.

Moving on... My statement was about employment discrimination. It's illegal. Not hiring a woman of child-bearing age solely because she might get pregnant is illegal if you have 15 or more employees. Firing or not renewing the contract of a woman who takes FMLA after childbirth is illegal if you have more than 50 employees. Doctors aren't exempt from the law (as long as it's applicable) just because they're doctors. That's the long and short of my statement. I'm not going to stand for having anyone twist my very clear position to suit their needs. I can be just as much a loudmouth if that's what you want. Nowhere in my comments did I agree with screwing over colleagues by taking sick days for trivial matters.

I fundamentally disagree with the viewpoint that breaking the law is ok because you feel taken advantage of (or might be, from your standpoint, taken advantage of) by complying with it. It strikes me as just as narcissistic as the trivial-sick-day, poor-work-ethic you accuse the new grads of. And just as unethical.

What strikes me is that what we're talking about is fundamentally a business matter, not a professionalism and patient care matter. Spare me the comments about the work ethic thing- it's not what I'm talking about. Part of professionalism is knowing when to allow other people to handle care because you're not the best one to be doing it. Showing up to work when sick is being advocated by some commenters by an expressed desire to not inconvenience coworkers. It strikes me that the argument is not being made that it's the best thing for patient care. Again, I'm not going to apologize for my viewpoint that not working when you have a significant infectious illness is the right thing to do as a professional. It needlessly exposes patients to your illness and your care may very well be impaired, which is an issue we should take seriously. I doubt your hospital infection control officer would take a very positive view of working when you have the flu, infectious diarrhea (or, probably, pneumonia.)
 
'****ting' on new grads'?? Please sir, your use of profanity is unnecessary and unprofessional to say the least. Lets please remain professional. I do remember you from your short time with our group. If memory serves me, i believe We let you 'quit' so we didnt have to officially fire you, so that you could go find a job elsewhere and we didnt completely tank your career. Your use of profanity here doesnt surprise me.. we 'fired' you, not because of sick days, but because of lack of professionalism, incompetence, obesity and mongoloid facial features.
You'd be happy to know we replaced you with a solid Biter. We were considering 2 other applicants to replace you, one was a PuJu, the other was a Viter. The Biter won out and our Biter is a great fit. He maintains a high level of professionalism at all times, does not take sick day and enjoys limited pay and priviledge.

Let us please move away from this 'Sick day' discussion and focus more on how we can create better working conditions for PUJUs, CRNAs, Biters and Viters. They are the future of our practice. They hold the key for keeping our profession respectable. Not the new residents, they are lost.

thank you

What exactly is a 'Biter'? I think I have a pretty good idea.......does this pic sum it up?

image.jpg


image.jpg
 
Last edited:
Numbex, I am sorry that you and I can't seem to communicate better with each other. You seem to misinterpret my posts as much as I may misinterpret yours. Good day!
 
Here's the bottom line as I see it. There are legitimate reasons to call in sick and there are not. If someone takes advantage of our laws and calls in sick for reasons of personal interest then their contract should not be renewed. This is a very grey line but that is up to those in the group making the decisions as to if someone is milking the system. FMLA for things like pregnancy are a tricky situation. The thing about pregnancy is that you have 9 months to arrange time and make plans. There shouldn't be anyone that is caught off guard by this. A decent co-worker would make the necessary arrangements so as not to force others to pick up their slack at the least. FMLA can still be awarded since the pregnant partner isn't compensated during this time(assuming it's not an eat what you kill group) and the group can arrange coverage. But to think that you are "entitled" to something and that others must just accept it, is something we are starting to see more and more these days. We have a real problem in this country with "entitlements" and this just shows how rampant it is. I liken it to people who don't work and collect SS checks feeling that they are entitled to that check. Well, legally maybe. But I don't have to agree with it. And if it happens in my group I have measures in place that will allow me to move away from these people, legally.

I'll only address FMLA here: I wholeheartedly agree that being a good colleague means giving as much notice as possible. Of course it's the right thing to do- and dumping things on people at the last minute when you could have given a heads up is passive-aggressive and shady. I'm not familiar with the case law but I know FMLA requires reasonable notice to be given for anticipated FMLA needs and that certainly applies to this situation.
 
I'll only address FMLA here: I wholeheartedly agree that being a good colleague means giving as much notice as possible. Of course it's the right thing to do- and dumping things on people at the last minute when you could have given a heads up is passive-aggressive and shady. I'm not familiar with the case law but I know FMLA requires reasonable notice to be given for anticipated FMLA needs and that certainly applies to this situation.
My friend... discrimination based on sex, age, race, nationality, sexual orientation... happens every day everywhere.
People who don't hire a woman because she is a woman or don't hire someone because of skin color don't put the explanation of their decisions in writing, and these people are everywhere around you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My friend... discrimination based on sex, age, race, nationality, sexual orientation... happens every day everywhere.
People who don't hire a woman because she is a woman or don't hire someone with the appropriate hair and eye color don't put their decisions in writing and these people are everywhere around you.

I have no doubt that is true.

It's just astonishing to see it talked about openly in a public forum, unapologetically, however (semi-)anonymously.
 
'****ting' on new grads'?? Please sir, your use of profanity is unnecessary and unprofessional to say the least. Lets please remain professional. I do remember you from your short time with our group. If memory serves me, i believe We let you 'quit' so we didnt have to officially fire you, so that you could go find a job elsewhere and we didnt completely tank your career. Your use of profanity here doesnt surprise me.. we 'fired' you, not because of sick days, but because of lack of professionalism, incompetence, obesity and mongoloid facial features.
You'd be happy to know we replaced you with a solid Biter. We were considering 2 other applicants to replace you, one was a PuJu, the other was a Viter. The Biter won out and our Biter is a great fit. He maintains a high level of professionalism at all times, does not take sick day and enjoys limited pay and priviledge.

Let us please move away from this 'Sick day' discussion and focus more on how we can create better working conditions for PUJUs, CRNAs, Biters and Viters. They are the future of our practice. They hold the key for keeping our profession respectable. Not the new residents, they are lost.

thank you
you-be-trollin.jpg
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The problem is in doing it. Whether you talk or write about it.
Why? My group has had issues in the past with with a partner and her pregnancies and do not wish to go that route again so they are not hiring a young female anytime soon.
I know an all male group that has no desire to hire a female, no homo.
 
Why? My group has had issues in the past with with a partner and her pregnancies and do not wish to go that route again so they are not hiring a young female anytime soon.
Not hiring someone because they are young and female is discrimination x2. Admitting to it on an open forum is poor form at best and poor judgment at worst.
I know an all male group that has no desire to hire a female, no homo.
I hope this is a joke but it is in bad taste.
 
Why? My group has had issues in the past with with a partner and her pregnancies and do not wish to go that route again so they are not hiring a young female anytime soon.
I know an all male group that has no desire to hire a female, no homo.

Wow you sound like utter scum. It's sentiments like this that make the public (and the government) all too happy to continue to break up of the "old boys club" mentality of medicine.
 
What about when you have the flu or a gi virus so bad you can barely leave the bathroom?

I can't say I haven't gone into work with a fever or major case of bronchitis more than once. Not ideal, sure, but I wear my mask, wash my hands, take some meds and do my shift-the ramifications of that are still not as bad as the fallout of someone calling in sick for a call etc and causing a partner to cancel their family cruise....

It's a judgement call, right? If you're going to pass out from dehydration from the giardia you contracted from your kids' daycare, stay home...and report it to the Health Dept
 
Finishing up categorical intern year about to start CA-1...took one sick day due to GI bug while I was on trauma. Almost passed out the end of the day before in trauma room when the heat got cranked up. Everyone knew I was sick. Didn't leave bed or bathroom for 30ish hours. Of course, it occurred the Friday of NCAAT March Madness, so I caught some sarcastic hell for it.

At our program, especially intern year, people absolutely did not call in for BS. We would have been crucified. And from what I can tell about the CA-1-3's, the same applies. Glad to have it this way.

And sadly, I can absolutely see where a smallish group wouldn't hire a young female. Of course they're never going to say it, but what realistic person isn't at least thinking it?
 
I think it's more that in this generation of physicians there is a shortage of physicians who wish to be screwed, unlike previous generations. Ridiculous debt and delayed gratification do that to ya.

Ridiculous debt, delayed gratification, and going through a bunch of sh#t that has nothing to do with your goals (such as volunteering in undergrad and gross anatomy in med school (how much of it does anyone remember?) and flying all over the country for 'the match'.

Add to that an uncertain future (obamacare!) (and declining reimbursements maybe?) and attendings who expect 12 hours of work a day, 7 days a week, and I find it no surprise that students want to take an extra sick day once in a while.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
BTW, some of the posters in this thread need an enema BAD. It seems they are so backed up the sh#t has contaminated their CNS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You can likely find places to work where lifestyle will be awesome. There are also many places that are the complete opposite spectrum. If you train with a mentality that lifestyle is your number one priority and that it is okay to call in sick just because you don't want to work that day or dislike your case assignment, you will likely be poorly trained, unprofessional, hated by your colleagues, and dangerous to your patients. Every residency program has a person like this. Don't be that person. Work hard, study hard, respect your colleagues, pull your weight, work when you are supposed to, don't call in sick for trivial matters, if you have kids, arrange a back up plan if they are sick. It is really pretty simple.
My guess though it's hard to find out beforehand which Anesthesiology residency programs have good lifestyles and which don't beforehand.
 
I'm pretty sure he understands the way it works. Agreeing with it is a different matter.

We have a CRNA who manages to take 12 weeks of FMLA every year somehow since I've been there. It really, really screws things up for us. It's all manner of semi "legitimate" things... ortho procedures, hysterectomy, questionable "heart" condition the first year I was there. Each time she manages to take the full 12 weeks. After the last FMLA, she came back with obvious plastic surgical enhancements.

This is the kind of situation this crap-ass law has created, and fortunately some stupid people get caught: http://blog.ogletreedeakins.com/fac...n-form-sufficient-legal-basis-of-termination/

In our case, unfortunately we can't get rid of this nearly-worthless employee. She's overall a marginal CRNA to boot that we often have to put her in long cases just so we know where she is. God forbid she has too much time between scheduled cases. It's like a damn scavenger hunt trying to find her.
Y'all need a good HR person to explain FMLA and other employment issues. If this CRNA is your employee, and is truly as inept as you indicate, getting rid of her shouldn't be that problematic.
 
If I were in charge of resident sick days, I would require employee health documentation of the illness.
This is the way it usually works in the military. If you're sick, you show up to the clinic in the morning, you're seen, and if necessary given 24h of sick-in-quarters. Some places are a little more lenient and only require the clinic visit on day 2.


I think the anti-discrimination laws are a good thing on the whole, but like any such law there will always be a few people who game and abuse it. That doesn't mean we should treat all members of a class as scammers by default. It's awful that young women aren't even being considered for a job because they're female, whatever the size of the group.

I've seen some really awful abuse ... no less than FOUR times now I've witnessed colleagues get tagged for 7-month deployments to the desert on short notice because the primary suddenly came down with a condition. Two females with pregnancies, one male with a mental health issue, one male with an old injury that suddenly needed surgery. Were those diagnoses deliberately timed? Maybe, maybe not, but even if every one was a deliberate cynical selfish manipulation, that doesn't justify adopting cynical discriminatory hiring practices. I don't want to live that way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
What do you guys with kids and working spouses do when your kids get sick? I'm lucky enough to have family close by that can help out most of the time, but it's just as taboo for my wife to call in as it is for me to do so.
 
Wow you sound like utter scum. It's sentiments like this that make the public (and the government) all too happy to continue to break up of the "old boys club" mentality of medicine.
And you sound like you are stupid: if a group has to descriminate between two good candidates for a job, they are going with the potentially more reliable person most of the time, if you don't like it it don't matter...
 
Not hiring someone because they are young and female is discrimination x2. Admitting to it on an open forum is poor form at best and poor judgment at worst.
I'm not admitting anything, just advising the many people reading that like you think all is rosy that it is a prevalent sentiment out there.
 
So since I've made a few comments I should give my opinion here.
I have taken days off. I mentioned in another thread that I missed 2 weeks after a dirt bike accident. But I managed to trade vacation time in order to do this. Plus my group wouldn't allow me to return until my concussive symptoms resolved. Therefore, the burden was not placed on any of my partners per se.

Last week we had a partner with confirmed strep throat. We covered her cases for her. These are legit reasons. And there are frequently legitimate reasons for calling in sick. But most PP people will show up sick and try to arrange their departure when feasible. You don't want to expose pts to contagious personnel. But not "feeling up to it" is not legit. Your family needs are debatable. But frequent calls because children are sick won't cut it.

However, I think what we are actually discussing here is "work ethic". Residents these days have a different work ethic than when I was in residency. I've worked with crna's and they have the same poor work ethic. They think that sick days are to be used or else they are lost. This is very disruptive to a group. Nurses and physicians should have different standards and that's all I'll say there. If you don't understand then maybe you need to take a step back and look at your "work ethic". Look at the vacation thread. If the vacation time we get as anesthesiologists is not enough for you then you need to find another profession. 90% of our nations workforce don't get as much as we do. Yes, some are taking 2-3 weeks but that's by choice.

When we are hiring in my group we frequently discuss new grads vs experienced anesthesiologists. This year we didn't offer an interview to a single new grad. If that doesn't tell you something about the "work ethic" of new grads then nothing does. I know that there are many strong ones with great work ethics but unfortunately they are lumped in with poor candidates and it isn't worth it to me to try to weed them out.

So if you are a graduating resident interviewing for a job in PP take the opportunity to mention that you never took a sick day if this is the case. Also, as a resident, you are there to do cases and learn. You never know when something unique will occur and you will learn something valuable. Taking sick days may seem benign but then again they may not.

So, you had a dirt bike accident, and thus had concussive symptoms and was forced to be out 2 weeks.

Sorry, nobody forced you to go out on a dirt bike and hence have a bad enough accident that forced you to be out 2 weeks. That's just poor decision-making. Possibly worse than (or at least as bad as) poor work ethic.

Honestly, I don't care. It's just if you're going to judge someone for calling out when "they are not up for it" and that they should get their **** together, then possibly you shouldn't be out potentially harming yourself and being out for a full 2 weeks as a result. Doctors are humans, too. We aren't always going to be 100%. If we had office jobs, it's no big deal. Instead, we are dealing with patient's lives. That's all I'm saying.
 
Sorry, nobody forced you to go out on a dirt bike and hence have a bad enough accident that forced you to be out 2 weeks. That's just poor decision-making. Possibly worse than (or at least as bad as) poor work ethic.
And what would you expect from him? To live like a nun for the rest of his days, because he is a doctor and he can't have a life, just a "work ethic"?
 
Car is different from a dirt bike. Don't pull that crap on me.

Dirt biking is not a necessity. I'm just saying - if you're going to call someone out for calling out for things that occur in someone's life, you have no room to talk when something happened in your life that was unanticipated (but at the same time, resulted in a decision you made that day).
 
FYI, I rarely ever called out.

3 pages of this is utter BS is the exact reason why this specialty sucks.
You know why this specialty sucks?
It sucks because it's saturated with "life style" seekers who thought they can have plenty of time off, high pay, and minimal commitment to their jobs!
 
You know why this specialty sucks?
It sucks because it's saturated with "life style" seekers who thought they can have plenty of time off, high pay, and minimal commitment to their jobs!

Yeah, how dare people want to work less in exchange for less pay. They should work 65 hours a week until they die.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You know why this specialty sucks?
It sucks because it's saturated with "life style" seekers who thought they can have plenty of time off, high pay, and minimal commitment to their jobs!

Yeah, how dare people want to work less in exchange for less pay. They should work 65 hours a week until they die.

Less money, less security, less prestige, less autonomy, less satisfaction....gee, why is anybody surprised when some people are less loyal?


WHAT?!?

You mean some people want to have a life OUTSIDE OF MEDICINE?



Hurry, let's shun those people and talk sh#t about them online! (And change the rules so they have to accept OUR way of doing things.)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
You know why this specialty sucks?
It sucks because it's saturated with "life style" seekers who thought they can have plenty of time off, high pay, and minimal commitment to their jobs!

:laugh:

Give me a break. There's plenty wrong with this specialty - and the "lifestylers" aint it.

Anesthesiologists love eating their young. They don't back up their residents and they feast on each other. They can't do **** when it comes to dealing with surgeons, nurses, OR staff so they decide to gain a pair against their young and each other. Passive aggressive dinguses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
:laugh:

Give me a break. There's plenty wrong with this specialty - and the "lifestylers" aint it.

Anesthesiologists love eating their young. They don't back up their residents and they feast on each other. They can't do **** when it comes to dealing with surgeons, nurses, OR staff so they decide to gain a pair against their young and each other. Passive aggressive dinguses.
Residency not going so well?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
That's not the point. I like how you jump straight to that conclusion.

I wish you well.

In fairness, it's a totally logical conclusion to make. Or maybe, more specifically, you could be doing well in residency, but you are just in a crappy program.
 
Anesthesiologists love eating their young. They don't back up their residents and they feast on each other. They can't do **** when it comes to dealing with surgeons, nurses, OR staff so they decide to gain a pair against their young and each other. Passive aggressive dinguses.

I don't know if there is 100% truth to this, but there is some.

Essentially (and not to rehash my story yet again), there was one dickhead at the practice I left that was for me the straw that broke the camel's back. What I saw in him was just... pathetic. He'd been programmed and beaten by the system already. There was no fight in him at all. He tried to have a "come to Jesus" meeting with me, I guess, because the other partners thought we were close in age and I'd listen to him. While only a couple of years older than me (and therefore ahead of me in residency... not the same one), he instead treated me like I was a subordinate and not a colleague in that interaction. I've been a practicing attending for seven years. He nine. But you'd have thought I was a CA-1 by the way he talked to me. Zero social and managerial skills. He was a partner already and I'd joined the game late. This created an imbalance in power that I just couldn't stomach. So, I basically told that practice to go **** themselves. Again, not 100% based on this interaction, but it was the last straw.

Again, to beat the dead horse, you don't have to tolerate this ****. No one does. What you need to do right now - everyone needs to do - is remain flexible in their current employment structure. The game has changed. It's is changing. And it will continue to change. Recognize the situation you're in and own it. There were plenty of "mommy trackers" at that practice I left and quite honestly they had it good. Most were part time. Their husbands were either surgeons or otherwise gainfully employed. They accepted the lifestyle working part time, choosing their availability, and not depending on the income. There is room for those flexible people too. They shouldn't expect to make partner in such an arrangement. There were other moms, though, who worked full-time and were tracking for partner. They took the same **** I did and were trying to pay their dues. Why not reward them?

The bull**** in the remaining private practices now is that many of them don't offer a true partnership track anymore. DO NOT work for those practices, especially if there are partners and non-partners there. You will only be ****ing yourself. Every non-partner I knew and worked with was pissed and miserable at the screw job they were getting. I don't know why these greedy, fatcat, grayhair ***holes think they can get away with this. Most are probably just positioning themselves to sell the practice and are leveraging your hard work in the interim. I cannot say this enough. It is the WORST of both worlds. You are honestly better off working at an AMC or for a hospital-owned group where there are clear lines and no imbalance of power.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
That's not the point. I like how you jump straight to that conclusion.

I wish you well.

I didn't mean to imply anything about your performance. It's just striking that someone was a fairly active and upbeat participant on this board would come come back with such a dour outlook. That lead me to believe that for whatever reason, your time as an anesthesia resident wasn't going well. As WLG mentioned, you could be a freakin' rockstar in a suboptimal program. I don't know. I was just taken aback that one of the first posts of yours that I noticed recently (maybe you post more and I just don't take too much notice, or maybe you've had a prolonged absence and I'm too lazy to check) is just pretty much just gas bashing.
 
What do you guys with kids and working spouses do when your kids get sick? I'm lucky enough to have family close by that can help out most of the time, but it's just as taboo for my wife to call in as it is for me to do so.

I called in sick one time in the last 7 years. I was fine. My wife was bedbound sick, we had two babies at home, and every sitter we called was unavailable. I'm sure some partner had to work a bit more that day, but sometimes $--t happens. I've filled in for people many more times than the one time I called in.
 
I called in sick one time in the last 7 years. I was fine. My wife was bedbound sick, we had two babies at home, and every sitter we called was unavailable. I'm sure some partner had to work a bit more that day, but sometimes $--t happens. I've filled in for people many more times than the one time I called in.

I think the whole point in this thread is that we are smart people and sick days should not be used improperly or frequently or at the expense of the the people you work with.

Yes, use a sick day if you really need it...the theme of this thread is that the newer residents don't seem to know when they are taking advantage of the system or don't care if they are-either way, it is frustrating.

I really don't think people are saying that you should abandon your sick wife and children no matter what for the sake of your practice. People are just being emphatic.

Why does everyone take these comments so personally?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Why does everyone take these comments so personally?

I know why they take it personally. And let me expand on this...

Every non-partner I knew and worked with was pissed and miserable at the screw job they were getting. I don't know why these greedy, fatcat, grayhair ***holes think they can get away with this. Most are probably just positioning themselves to sell the practice and are leveraging your hard work in the interim. I cannot say this enough. It is the WORST of both worlds. You are honestly better off working at an AMC or for a hospital-owned group where there are clear lines and no imbalance of power.

This is a situation that they have created. If you get 5 sick days per year, expect everyone in this situation to start taking those five sick days. You know why? That person has no skin in the game. If you treat someone like an employee, expect them to act that way. Why should they care if they are inconveniencing someone else? Tough ****.

This is what happens when you blur the lines between a professional physician and a nurse. This is what happens when you allow someone else to use your training and medical license to make money for some lazy fatass sitting in a office somewhere collecting a paycheck off of your hard work. You stop caring. You see enough lazy people around you and/or people cashing in on your hard work, pretty soon you turn into that yourself. Right or wrong, that's human nature.

I have no problem with the part-time "mommy trackers" provided they don't show up and create more work for me. I do have a problem, in general, with people who lie, cheat, and steal... however that occurs. If someone is truly sick, there's no reason to trudge into work and make everyone else sick unless it is going to personally and directly affect your own bottom line. Again, this is the situation they have created. And until it changes and these fatcat grayhairs start sharing the pie, expect it to continue.

Residents are a different story. If you call in sick as a resident when you're not sick, you are only cheating yourself. You lose the opportunity to gain experience and learn something in an environment where you're protected. That situation is going to change before you know it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
"This is a situation that they have created. If you get 5 sick days per year, expect everyone in this situation to start taking those five sick days. You know why? That person has no skin in the game. If you treat someone like an employee, expect them to act that way. Why should they care if they are inconveniencing someone else? Tough ****."


I think this above is a big reason why "sick days" would go up at an institution. If I were treated like a cog in a wheel by an AMC or other place I would lower the threshold of what constitutes a sick day for me. If I were a partner in a place and my sick day would affect my partners and possible long term business I would call in only from death's doorstep. Just like Buzz said, if you treat someone like an employee they start acting like it. If you are an owner, you will act like that, too.
And before any questions my work ethic I have called in for exactly two shifts in six years- both for the births of my children.
BTW, that was intended to be a quote at the top, I just screwed it up.
 
What do you guys with kids and working spouses do when your kids get sick? I'm lucky enough to have family close by that can help out most of the time, but it's just as taboo for my wife to call in as it is for me to do so.
My husband is fully aware that at this point in our lives, he's the one that has to take the hit and stay home. Thankfully, he is a student pursuing a second career, so unless it's an exam or presentation, it's not a big deal. And he understands why. When I'm an attending, I will have more freedom, but as a resident....nope.
 
Ugh, I hate the mommy-track term. Mostly because it's always assumed that's what I'm wanting out of my career because I'm a mom and may want more kids. This is true, and I love my family dearly, but I am not Martha Stewart, future anesthesiologist. And while I'm generally an anti-feminist, regular kind of person, I can't tell you how many times I had to roll my eyes internally because my interviewers would mention how great anesthesiology is for moms and how I could work part time. I chose the residency program I'm at partly because of the large proportion of women in high places there... Who seemed to understand my professional goals.

Sorry, this was a sidebar, but came to mind when reading the "mommy track" posts.
 
Ugh, I hate the mommy-track term. Mostly because it's always assumed that's what I'm wanting out of my career because I'm a mom and may want more kids. This is true, and I love my family dearly, but I am not Martha Stewart, future anesthesiologist. And while I'm generally an anti-feminist, regular kind of person, I can't tell you how many times I had to roll my eyes internally because my interviewers would mention how great anesthesiology is for moms and how I could work part time. I chose the residency program I'm at partly because of the large proportion of women in high places there... Who seemed to understand my professional goals.

Sorry, this was a sidebar, but came to mind when reading the "mommy track" posts.

Don't worry. We're all being treated like we're on the "mommy track" these days. That's why people have no hesitation about calling in sick anymore.

Okay, now some more of this :beat: ....

Don't. Take. A. Job. In. Private. Practice. Where. They. Don't. Offer. You. A. Partnership. Track. Period.

I knew better. It was a ****ty deal. Huge pay cut. No guarantees. Horrible job. Zero gold in the handcuffs. Inescapable pressure to "tow the line" or I'd never make partner (like that was an actual possibility in the first place). Working for a bunch of lazy, greedy, sloppy dickheads.

I wasn't desperate. I just wanted to live in a little more geographically desirable place. I wish I had the entire last year of my life back. It was a colossal PITA that I'm still paying for. Don't do it.
 
Top