coffee for residents?

[Hopefulmeds]

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As a medical student, I had an intern tell me to go drive to get her coffee before rounds. Is this acceptable as a request? I felt it wasn't and tactfully refused, using 'being late for rounds' as an excuse.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Absolutely not acceptable. If you look at interns you will see that there are essentially 2 types.

1. Cool interns - who remeber that approximately 5 months ago they had to sign their notes "medical student" instead of "MD/DO." These people have generally managed to get over themselves and are inclusive/protective of "their" medical students.
2. Uncool interns - who do not seem to remember the above fact.

 

[njbmd]

As a medical student, I had an intern tell me to go drive to get her coffee before rounds. Is this acceptable as a request? I felt it wasn't and tactfully refused, using 'being late for rounds' as an excuse.

Driving and "fetching coffee" likely have no learning value for you as a medical student whether it be for intern, resident or attending physician. If you received this type of request you can decline and state the obvious and you can mention it prominantly on your end of rotation evaluation. Attendings tend to take the evaluations pretty seriously.

You are paying thousands of dollars for your third year learning experiences so make them good ones. If you are feeling in the mood to drive and get coffee for everyone, do so but not at the expense of your learning.

 

[SLUser11]

As a medical student, I had an intern tell me to go drive to get her coffee before rounds. Is this acceptable as a request? I felt it wasn't and tactfully refused, using 'being late for rounds' as an excuse.

That is a very prominent scenario in some older-school teaching environments, but as other people already mentioned, it's completely unacceptable, and usually comes from the jerkier residents, and usually happens to the more timid medical students (residents think they can get away with it). These people think of you as auditioning for a spot in their medical fraternity or something......

I have a slight problem with authority already, and I remember specifically an OBGYN chief resident telling me to go the the convenience store and buy him some dip (you can imagine what he was like since he chewed tobacco in the OR), this being at 3am on L & D. I told him to kindly f@#k off. I suggest you do the same, perhaps with a little more tact than me.......

 

[Paws]

Note to self: don't have a baby in Witchita, at 3:00 am. 😉

 

[AmoryBlaine]

That is a very prominent scenario in some older-school teaching environments, but as other people already mentioned, it's completely unacceptable, and usually comes from the jerkier residents, and usually happens to the more timid medical students (residents think they can get away with it). These people think of you as auditioning for a spot in their medical fraternity or something......

I have a slight problem with authority already, and I remember specifically an OBGYN chief resident telling me to go the the convenience store and buy him some dip (you can imagine what he was like since he chewed tobacco in the OR), this being at 3am on L & D. I told him to kindly f@#k off. I suggest you do the same, perhaps with a little more tact than me.......

Ummm, alert?

Only kidding, horrendous request, and good comeback.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As a medical student, I had an intern tell me to go drive to get her coffee before rounds. Is this acceptable as a request? I felt it wasn't and tactfully refused, using 'being late for rounds' as an excuse.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The only situation in which it would be acceptable is:

a) you offered without any request on the part of the resident or ulterior motive on your part
b) the resident politely demurred several times
c) when he/she finally accepted, they paid for coffee for EVERYONE on the team

Please let your supervisor, attending or the program director know. This is old-school behavior, not that it was ever acceptable IMHO but it was accepted behavior back in the day, and should not be required or frankly, even asked of you. The intern needs to know that this is unacceptable.

 

[Hodad]

Or you can accept and load the coffee with a strong laxative. Or a spot of diazepam.

Mwahahahahaha.

They'll never ask for coffee again.

 

[Dunce]

Or you can accept and load the coffee with a strong laxative. Or a spot of diazepam.

Mwahahahahaha.

They'll never ask for coffee again.

one vote for laxative

 

[Orthonut]

one vote for laxative

I'll second that...but I *might* have a slight problem with uncool interns like that.

 

[justwondering]

if my residents asked me something like that, id probably laugh (as if they were joking) and ask if they want their dry cleaning picked up too. that way i'd be saying no but also giving them the opportunity to play it off as a joke too.

i had an attending go on and on about how she would really like some coffee. another med student volunteered to get some and he did. i dont think i'd refuse if she pointedly asked me, but i certainly wouldnt volunteer even if i know they want me to.

 

[Dr JPH]

Not acceptable.

On several surgical teams we would each take turns (student, intern, resident) bringing coffee for the entire team...always paid for by the attending. 😀

But to go get coffee for your intern as a routine, not a good practice to engage in.

With that said, there have been times when I have gone out to pick up food, coffee or both when I was on call with a certain intern or resident...but it was mutually beneficial (I was picking up food for both of us...and he/she usually paid)

Remember...you are paying $40,000/year to go to school, not to be a delivery man.

True story...Intern asks 2 medical students to go get her coffee in the middle of the day. 2 students gladly oblige and end up getting into a fairly serious car accident on the way back to the hospital. Hospital and residency program were then sued by the students families for having them perform improper duties while they were in the charge of the house staff.

 

[SLUser11]

True story...Intern asks 2 medical students to go get her coffee in the middle of the day. 2 students gladly oblige and end up getting into a fairly serious car accident on the way back to the hospital. Hospital and residency program were then sued by the students families for having them perform improper duties while they were in the charge of the house staff.

That's horrible, yet poetic.........

 

[Hopefulmeds]

I think the funniest thing from the whole coffee incident was that I'm a 4th year, and I couldn't care less about impressing residents. I almost laughed out loud when she asked me to go get coffee. She also, FYI, told me to address her as Dr. so and so instead of her first name, like most other residents. I also found this to be quite hilarious since the attending told me to call her by her first name.

Again FYI, being a 4th year is awesome so to all u 3rd years, the wait is definitely DEFINITELY worth it.

 

[ForamenMagnumPI]

Get coffee? Heck, I was sent to pick up dinner for five people while on my surgery rotation. You got off cheap. Ha ha!
I asked our fourth year student if he would hand me another progress note sheet today, and I felt horribly guilty for scutting him. In my defense, he was sitting there staring at me while I wrote and it was making me nervous.

 

[RuralMedicine]

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The only situation in which it would be acceptable is:

a) you offered without any request on the part of the resident or ulterior motive on your part
b) the resident politely demurred several times
c) when he/she finally accepted, they paid for coffee for EVERYONE on the team

Please let your supervisor, attending or the program director know. This is old-school behavior, not that it was ever acceptable IMHO but it was accepted behavior back in the day, and should not be required or frankly, even asked of you. The intern needs to know that this is unacceptable.

I agree with this and I never asked medical students to run my personal errands, or get food, and I don't even drink coffee 😉. However, I recall multiple occasions on call at our county hospital when patient care prohibited me getting food from the cafeteria before it closed. Sometimes I was prepared and had planned ahead and brought food and sometimes S would "somehow sense that I bet you missed dinner" and page me to see if I wanted them to bring food (for the entire team including students if they hadn't eaten already), and sometimes I was hungry. In the latter scenario on the occasions when my medical student said "Hey I'm going to get food do you want anything?" I didn't bother demuring, gave them money, and they went to get food for everyone who hadn't eaten. On the good nights we sat down ate dinner and weren't interrupted with a code. Fortunately my medical students were walking not driving so automobile accidents were less of a concern. I try to be a compassionate human but compassionate humans get hungry sometimes too.

 

[NDESTRUKT]

First of all, it depends on how the person asked. Were they bossy about it? I have a resident on my team that I got along with really well. She was inundated with admissions the night before and really really tired and the coffee was in the next room and asked me really really nicely if I could quickly just get a cup for her...which obviously I did since she was one of the nicest people I met.

In other cases, if someone just tells you flat out without good tact then, no I would think that's unacceptable.

 

[deleted87716]

I don't think any residents asked me to get them coffee when I was in med school, unless I was already getting some for myself. I probably would've done it anyway.

When I was an upper-level resident, I made it a point to always buy the coffee for my inpatient team...nice gestures aside, it made them less likely to complain about the caffeine fix I required every morning before we could get any work done. 😉

When I did a trauma rotation in med school, it was understood that one of the med students always made the "dinner run" (usually to a local fast-food restaurant, since the cafeteria was almost always closed by the time we got to eat). Everyone paid for their own food, however, and most of the med students actually welcomed the opportunity to get out of the hospital for a few minutes.

 

[Hard24Get]

I'm pretty down to earth and just treat my residents/attendings like friends - if I am going to get a refreshment, I wouldn't just slip away, I would ask if anyone else wanted anything. I did that yesterday on surgery and everyone looked panicked and refused! Sigh, balance is nice...

And let's be honest, most of the time the med student can leave even when the resident is stuck. If that is the case, we really should grab them food before the cafeteria closes! Wouldn't you do that for anyone else? 😕

 

[leorl]

same...it's just kind of courtesy and being nice in some cases. I used to do it when I was doing nothing (ie. my patients had been discharged overnight and I had no one to present or pre-round on) and the on-call team got slammed that night and were running around trying to prepare notes/presentations on new patients. Then I'd offer to go and get them breakfast cuz obviously they wouldn't have time to do it themselves. Basically what you would do if you saw a friend (or anyone really) in a tough spot.

But being expected to drive someone for coffee before rounds is a bit much.

 

[emtji]

if someone tells you to go get him coffee, you should get it.





then spit in it.

 

[gunit07]

if someone tells you to go get him coffee, you should get it.





then spit in it.

hehe!!!


when i LIKE residents, i just get them coffee and stuff on my own when i go get myself something, because (as mentioned in a prior post) i just treat them as i would a friend... if i dont like a resident, i have little sympathy at all for their hunger/thirst/fatigue/etc. no food for them!

ONCE i had a resident ask me to go get food, even though i had progress notes to write (medicine ones! aka: novels!) before lecture and get myself food so i woudlnt starve until lecture was over. that resident got fired 6 months later though 😛

 

[surrender903]

this sounds like the "resident who wears prada"

 

[Orthonut]

if someone tells you to go get him coffee, you should get it.





then spit in it.

This fits in nicely with your suggestion:

Two Navy Seals boarded a quick shuttle flight out of Dallas, headed for Ft Bragg, NC.

One sat in the window seat, the other sat in the middle seat.

Just before take-off, a Delta Force commando got on and took the aisle seat next to the two Navy Seals.

The Soldier kicked off his shoes, wiggled his toes and was settling in when the Seal in the window seat said, "I think I'll get up and get a coke."
"No problem," said the soldier, "I'll get it for you."

While he was gone, the first Navy Seal picked up the Delta Force Commando's left combat boot and spat in it. When the soldier returned with the coke, the Seal in the middle seat said, "That looks good, I think I'll have one too."

Again, the soldier obligingly went to fetch it and while he was gone, the other Seal picked up the soldier's right combat boot and spat in it. The soldier returned and they all sat back and enjoyed the rest of the short flight to Ft Bragg.

As the plane was landing, the Delta Force commando slipped his feet into his shoes and knew immediately what had happened.

"How long must this go on?" the soldier asked.


"This fighting between our services?



This hatred?



This animosity?


This spitting in shoes and peeing in cokes?"

 

[Adcadet]

And let's be honest, most of the time the med student can leave even when the resident is stuck. If that is the case, we really should grab them food before the cafeteria closes! Wouldn't you do that for anyone else? 😕

Yup. If the cafeteria closes in 10 minutes, and you the student are free to go but your resident is jammed up, grab your resident some food. Actually, I don't think it matters who it is getting food or is stuck.

 

[SBlanc]

I agree that you're in the right to refuse the request.

HOWEVER

I will just say that for some students, depending on the rotation and the situation, it would be *nice* to head over to starbucks, perhaps momentarily escaping the pimping wrath of an attending or missing part of a boring conference, and grab themselves something while picking up a drink for someone else. And *sometimes* the resident might think they were doing a student a favor... like "hey dude, if you wanna get outta here for a bit feel free"

Maybe?

At any rate, a friend of mine who is an intern was on a team with one of my classmates who is a pretty outspoken feminist... one day their upper level says "Wow, I could really go for some coffee... Hey, Kathy [the student], will you go get some starbucks for the team?" And she dropped her jaw in disgust, went and got the coffee, then ran outta there without checking out to anyone.