What to do on slow days

[ldsrmdude]

My residency is pretty busy for the most part, but like everything, there are days here and there that are relatively slow. I saw a few different approaches to dealing with this as a clerk at different programs. Some programs let us go early, some didn't have us come in at all, and some had us come in and gave us some time to study or the resident gave lectures or Jeopardy or something to keep us busy. What would you all prefer? I know what I prefer, both as a student and a resident, but I wonder what everyone else thinks?

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[PADPM]

If you have a relationship with some attendings, give one or two a call and ask if you can shadow,,spend some time with the billing people, ask to review some post op X-rays of patients you've scrubbed on, ask to see X-rays of upcoming cases to plan what you would do it it was your patient, etc, etc. There are a plethora of things you can do and learn at an attending's office. And all you have to do is ask. I know my doors are always open.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Come in and study. Continue to show your face around the program. If they tell you not to come in ask them if you can come in anyways.

Would you rather come in and hang out in the library or call room or wherever studying, or would you rather have residents put together presentations/Jeopardy/pimping sessions? Some days I found it nice as a student to just be on my own and study at my own pace on things that I wanted to study.

If you have a relationship with some attendings, give one or two a call and ask if you can shadow,,spend some time with the billing people, ask to review some post op X-rays of patients you've scrubbed on, ask to see X-rays of upcoming cases to plan what you would do it it was your patient, etc, etc. There are a plethora of things you can do and learn at an attending's office. And all you have to do is ask. I know my doors are always open.

Thanks for your responses. Re-reading my initial post, I see that I wasn't clear at all. I was trying to ask what we as residents should be having the students do on days when we are slow. Heaven knows I usually have enough stuff to do to keep me busy, including the things that you mentioned PADPM. I think that some of the things you mentioned might be difficult to do as a student when you probably don't know many of the attendings. But I do appreciate your insight, and I do need to do more of those things as a resident.

 

[dyk343]

If there was truly nothing to do, as a student, I would personally want to visit neighboring programs. That is of course dependent on location and whether there are other programs around.

 

[ldsrmdude]

If there was truly nothing to do, as a student, I would personally want to visit neighboring programs. That is of course dependent on location and whether there are other programs around.

We do try to give students a chance to visit other programs in the area when we can, but the difficulty is that we usually don't know if the day is going to be slow until a day or two before. That makes it tough to visit another program with such short notice.

 

[dtrack22]

Since we are being honest I personally would rather not come in if you knew I wasn't going to have anything to do...that would allow me to prep for a future case, work on my poster/presentation, etc. on my own at "home"

That being said, I would never (as a student) say that to your face while I was rotating at your program. Sooooo, if you know I'm not gonna be busy, and we all know I'm showing up anyways, then I'd rather have something prepared by the residents. Even if it's not very well put together like a "jeopardy" game, something that is somewhat organized is better than nothing. Example, talking through interesting cases with some pimping would be MUCH better than having me come in just to send me to the library and telling me to study...

 

[ldsrmdude]

You can always be honest with me - unless you visit my program... In that case, you better lie to me and tell me that the program is the most awesome thing you have ever seen
Might as well butter me up on my suture and dissection technique while you are at it.

As a student it was not a bad thing to have a day or two off here and there to relax at "home" and study in a relatively private and comfortable place. Especially after a few months of being away from family, etc it can be nice to have a day to recharge a bit.

 

[air bud]

So I am a few months into my clerkships, and I vote for taking the day off. If it is a busy program for the most part, the day off is welcome. I have been to 1 program so far that was like that. It was awesome. They basically said "hey next year as a 1st year on call is going to blow, so enjoy it while you can." I agree. I was really burnt out over the last 2 months, it was definitely a chance to recharge my batteries and I am really pumped again for the home stretch.
We all know how much 4th year sucks. So let us(them) have one last small dose of fun. I hope to never forget how much 4th year sucks and go out of my way to make it a better experience for visiting students. There is plenty of time to evaluate students.

 

[darazon]

I enjoy having the day off just as much as the next 4th year student.

However, one program in particular that I was at had numerous presentations that they gave us during slow times. It was very informative and enjoyable. They would ask questions to the students and it was a great importunity for you to show what you know.

I've also visited other programs who would let you go whenever there was nothing to do and it was a great opportunity to get your presentation finished.

The thing I hate the most is following the intern around while he/she works on paperwork or other busywork while we just sit there. And then after an hour or so, says, "oh, you guys can go home."

4th year does suck. I think a good mix of letting students go, and also presentations, or other learning activities would be best. We are there to "show our stuff" but we are also there to learn.

 

[ldsrmdude]

I enjoy having the day off just as much as the next 4th year student.

However, one program in particular that I was at had numerous presentations that they gave us during slow times. It was very informative and enjoyable. They would ask questions to the students and it was a great importunity for you to show what you know.

I've also visited other programs who would let you go whenever there was nothing to do and it was a great opportunity to get your presentation finished.

The thing I hate the most is following the intern around while he/she works on paperwork or other busywork while we just sit there. And then after an hour or so, says, "oh, you guys can go home."

4th year does suck. I think a good mix of letting students go, and also presentations, or other learning activities would be best. We are there to "show our stuff" but we are also there to learn.

I agree, following one of the residents around while they do busywork is to a large extent a waste of time as a student. We try to avoid that as much as possible, but sometimes is happens. I think we tend to have students stick around more than some places. We usually don't give students the entire day off, but try to make it an early day if it is slow. The places that I went that gave me the whole day off were the places that only had me involved in surgery with no involvement in clinic or rounding. We have students involved in clinic, rounding, surgery, wound care, etc so we never really have a day where there is nothing to do. My director also always says that a students month with us is a month to learn, not a month to perform, so he likes it if we take every opportunity to teach students.

 

[AttackNME]

I'm sure its different for everybody, but I love getting asked questions. I have always liked it when residents go over cases they've done and ask questions along the way like as if i was the one working up that case.