Sleep :-)

[collegefreak12]

Ok...since the people here are residents, I thought I would get the most current update on this question...How did you guys adjust to the lack of sleep during residencies? How long did it take? Also, could you compare the sleep you get now to the amount of sleep you guys got in High School, College, and Med School? Thanks a lot!

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[8744]

Ok...since the people here are residents, I thought I would get the most current update on this question...How did you guys adjust to the lack of sleep during residencies? How long did it take? Also, could you compare the sleep you get now to the amount of sleep you guys got in High School, College, and Med School? Thanks a lot!

You don't adjust. I am as tired post-call today (PGY-2) as I was post call on my first call-night as a third year medical student. I am on call today (OB-Gyn) which explains my flurry of posting and apart from the occasional delivery, my pager is going to go off at least every half hour precluding the possibility of even a little cat-nap.

Luckily, on this service the post-call people get out by nine at the latest at which time I will go home, sleep, and get up at six PM and then go back to bed at my usual time....


Except that I have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off! Eat that, biaches!

 

[8744]

Ok...since the people here are residents, I thought I would get the most current update on this question...How did you guys adjust to the lack of sleep during residencies? How long did it take? Also, could you compare the sleep you get now to the amount of sleep you guys got in High School, College, and Med School? Thanks a lot!

Good Lord. When I was in high school and college I could sleep until noon if nobody woke me up.

I'm married now, with four young children and I haven't slept past eight since the first one was born. And an uninterrupted night of sleep is rare because we have had a baby in the house for most of the last nine years.

That's my other pet peeve. Here, oh readers, my man-uterus roar! I don't necessarily get to relax when I go home at night or post-call. I have a family. I have a house. I have five big house dogs. I have a lovely and long-suffering wife. I have responsibilities that preclude my going out to unwind after a hard day or sitting on the couch watching movies all weekend.

I cannot even have a "hard day" more than once or twice a month because my wife, who gave up a lot to let me go to medical school, is not about to let me wallow in self-pity, especially after she spends a fairly hard day taking care of things on the domestic front.

My wife is preparing a "Guest-blog" article for my blog on her perspective of my training and while I'm going to publish it, I've seen the drafts and it is not very flattering to your Uncle Panda.

 

[dutchman]

Ok...since the people here are residents, I thought I would get the most current update on this question...How did you guys adjust to the lack of sleep during residencies? How long did it take? Also, could you compare the sleep you get now to the amount of sleep you guys got in High School, College, and Med School? Thanks a lot!

sleep deprivation cannot be adjusted to, and if you do it will still be at the expense of your immunity and mental health. Infact there is a study out there that shows sleep deprivation over a long period of time actually cuts life expectancy by up to 20%(worse than cigarettes or even weed) . No wonder doctors have a low life expectancy.

 

[Attila]

No wonder doctors have a low life expectancy.

Really?? That's a little disturbing. Not all that surprizing but disturbing nonetheless. Got any figures on that?

You don't adjust to sleep deprivation. You just suffer it. You live a less awake and human existance.

 

[deleted87716]

It's a myth.

Maverick veterinarian Joel Wallach is selling video and audio tapes titled Dead Doctors Don't Lie! proclaiming that physicians have a life expectancy of only 58 years. This sends the message that doctors are so wrongheaded that they themselves live significantly shorter lives than the general population.

It is not clear where Wallach gets his data, but it is a lie. Physicians have long had life expectancies that are longer than the general population. Goodman [1] reviewed reports on physician life expectancies in 1925, 1938-42, 1949-51, and 1971. His study covered the 1971 population of 344,823 physicians, and the deaths of 19,086 from 1969 through 1973. He found that both male and female physicians had greater life expectancy than the general population.

The American Medical Association's Center For Health Care Policy published data on the life expectancies of U.S. medical graduate physicians by specialty in 1988. [2] It showed that the life expectancy of physicians is somewhere between 75 and 88, depending upon the age and gender that one chooses.

Source: http://www.ncahf.org/nl/1996/3-4.html

 

[3dtp]

It's a myth.



Source: http://www.ncahf.org/nl/1996/3-4.html

Maverick veterinarian Joel Wallach is selling video and audio tapes titled Dead Doctors Don't Lie! proclaiming that physicians have a life expectancy of only 58 years. This sends the message that doctors are so wrongheaded that they themselves live significantly shorter lives than the general population.

It is not clear where Wallach gets his data, but it is a lie.

Anybody ever heard this tape? He sent one to me. It was hilarious. I wish I had kept it, but then it's probably serving a better purpose as landfill. He also talks about how cows have a healthier lifestyle because they never get cancer. Hmmm, maybe because we eat them before they get a chance?

I think it's very clear where he gets his data. He makes it up so he can sell product.