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- Sep 30, 2006
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In the interest of full diclosures, I'm not a doctor, don't know any doctors and I don't even like blood. I'm a writer. Part time of course, so long as there are bills to pay an all that fun stuff.
This forum has turned out to be a gold mine to flesh out a credible fictional doctor out of my absolute lack of knowlege on the subject. I put her through medical school and interested her in surgery and I actually sounded like I knew what the heck I was talking about. It was nirvana.
I was feeling very proud of myself for not using Grey's Anatomy as a point of reference (I figured anyone working average hundred hour weeks was probably not going to have much energy left for all that drama anyway) except now I have a character that's more or less taken up for the next five years.
Some questions in no particular order:
1) Is there such a thing as a vacation for a general surgery intern? I ask because five years of 80-120 hour weeks seems like a long time to go without the occassional trip to a sandy beach to disconnect. Is it really just the one free day a week for 5 years?
2) I hear 80 hours, I hear 120? What's a good average to go by? I'm most comfortable with writing about the character's life outside of work/profession.
3) Anyway to get a general surgery intern's typical weekly schedule from one of you fine people?
-I'd love detail like: Monday I woke up at 5 a.m. in hospital by 6 a.m. rounds till 6:11 and so on and so forth until quitting time etc.
-or if that's too much to ask then just clocked in this many hours on Monday, this many hours on Tuesday on call Wednesday, rinse and repeat.
Thank you for any help beforehand,
Shelly.
This forum has turned out to be a gold mine to flesh out a credible fictional doctor out of my absolute lack of knowlege on the subject. I put her through medical school and interested her in surgery and I actually sounded like I knew what the heck I was talking about. It was nirvana.
I was feeling very proud of myself for not using Grey's Anatomy as a point of reference (I figured anyone working average hundred hour weeks was probably not going to have much energy left for all that drama anyway) except now I have a character that's more or less taken up for the next five years.
Some questions in no particular order:
1) Is there such a thing as a vacation for a general surgery intern? I ask because five years of 80-120 hour weeks seems like a long time to go without the occassional trip to a sandy beach to disconnect. Is it really just the one free day a week for 5 years?
2) I hear 80 hours, I hear 120? What's a good average to go by? I'm most comfortable with writing about the character's life outside of work/profession.
3) Anyway to get a general surgery intern's typical weekly schedule from one of you fine people?
-I'd love detail like: Monday I woke up at 5 a.m. in hospital by 6 a.m. rounds till 6:11 and so on and so forth until quitting time etc.
-or if that's too much to ask then just clocked in this many hours on Monday, this many hours on Tuesday on call Wednesday, rinse and repeat.
Thank you for any help beforehand,
Shelly.