Giving UP

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ENT2247 said:
Do you ever get so sick of demanding patients, rude attendings and crazy schedules? Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it.
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Yep, I got sick of that by about the 3rd day of internship.

It does get better. Not for awhile, but it does. Until then, you find the glimmers of hope, the brief moments of beauty amidst the chaos.

My faith got a lot stronger from learning, once more, to rely on God. But He never let me down.

Don't give up.
 
Switch to psychiatry. Our patients are probably more difficult than average, but in psych, you actually get to fix that instead of just having to deal with it. Plus, the attendings and schedules are much friendlier.
 
I am still reeling from getting evaluated by the attending after 4 DAYS on the inpatient floor during my very first block. 4 DAYS! to get used to a new place, processes, new computer software and people.
 
shan564 said:
Switch to psychiatry. Our patients are probably more difficult than average, but in psych, you actually get to fix that instead of just having to deal with it. Plus, the attendings and schedules are much friendlier.
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Or you can go into anesthesia. I don't make the crazy go away, but I do make it STFU. 😀
 
Once people get the idea that you know your stuff, things quiet down a bit. I've found that this works especially well with them. Also, with attendings, they can only be so rude to you for so long before they get a rep, and in a teaching hospital, that makes them look bad.

I personally am more irritated by rude nurses that pull that alpha nurse crap when you start working on their floor, but that's just me. Playful sarcasm usually works best with them. As for the patients, most of them will not be 100% compliant, so don't bother negotiating with them, just get them in, refill their meds, throw a Nicoderm patch at them and move on. Same goes for inpatients; they'll be more compliant in the hospital but will probably bounce back when they stop being so closely watched, so just welcome them back when they do.
 
HomeSkool said:
Or you can go into anesthesia. I don't make the crazy go away, but I do make it STFU. 😀
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That handles the "demanding patients" part, but how about "rude attendings" (aka surgeons) and "crazy schedules" (aka surgery schedules)?
 
shan564 said:
That handles the "demanding patients" part, but how about "rude attendings" (aka surgeons) and "crazy schedules" (aka surgery schedules)?
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Anesthesiologists don't work the same schedules as surgeons.

Anesthesia residents don't work the same schedules as surgery residents.

Anesthesia fellows don't work the same schedules as surgical fellows.
 
Buzz Me said:
Anesthesiologists don't work the same schedules as surgeons.

Anesthesia residents don't work the same schedules as surgery residents.

Anesthesia fellows don't work the same schedules as surgical fellows.
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Get back to work. Don't you have a dissected aorta to repair or something?
 
shan564 said:
That handles the "demanding patients" part, but how about "rude attendings" (aka surgeons) and "crazy schedules" (aka surgery schedules)?
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The schedules aren't so crazy in anesthesia. Sure, we start early, but after a while you start to enjoy the quiet drive to work before sunrise (and it's a big deal for me to say that since I'm decidedly not a morning person). And unlike the surgeons, we get breaks and we sign out cases to each other so it's not so bad.

As for rude attendings, there's not much you can do about them except follow in Doctor Bob's footsteps and become one yourself. :naughty:
 
LOL about the comment about gas being a good specialty b/c you get to knock out the patient to shut them up. I never thought I would agree with that, but as a nonanesthesiologist I'm beginning to envy you that...
And you guys do have a pretty rad call schedule. Just remember if you pick gas it's hard to get out of doing night call for the rest of your life, though...unless you become an outpatient pain doc.
 
I wonder if it's worth it sometimes too. There are rude attendings, long calls and a lot of stress in residency. It helps me to think that residency is just plain hard, but tons of other people have survived and are now attendings. Fortunately, we aren't residents forever, we just have to get through x amount of years and then the pay off comes🙂
 
HomeSkool said:
And we don't round or write progress notes. That's HUGE.
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Mostly true - at some hospitals here, they'll actually round on the patients on POD #0 or #1 just to make sure they're progressing normally. Pretty nice, actually.

I will say, in all fairness, now that I'm in a field that has a much closer relationship with Anesthesia (Cardiac Surg and Cardiac Anesthesia are pretty intimately associated), the advantages of a well-training resident/fellow/attending at the head of the bed are priceless. Those guys can do anything.

Read TTE/TEE? Check.
Float Swan in patient with wide-open tricuspid regurg or pulmonic stenosis? Check.
Place a-lines and large-bore IVs in vasculopaths with no palpable radial pulses and no visible veins? Check.
Intubate tiny premature neonates through the nose and then proceed to "line them up" (24-gauge a-lines?!)? Check.
Safely get patients on and off bypass? Double-check.

Impressive stuff.
 
Buzz Me said:
Mostly true - at some hospitals here, they'll actually round on the patients on POD #0 or #1 just to make sure they're progressing normally. Pretty nice, actually.
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I did a gas rotation at a county hospital and they rounded on their patients on POD 1 and followed if need be. Of course "rounding" doesn't really describe walking in asking if they had any problems/sore throats/dizziness/etc, checking off some boxes, and signing off. In and out in less than 5 minutes.
 
Siggy said:
I did a gas rotation at a county hospital and they rounded on their patients on POD 1 and followed if need be. Of course "rounding" doesn't really describe walking in asking if they had any problems/sore throats/dizziness/etc, checking off some boxes, and signing off. In and out in less than 5 minutes.
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Call it an anesthesia rotation. Seriously. I'm just sayin'.
 
dragonfly99 said:
LOL about the comment about gas being a good specialty b/c you get to knock out the patient to shut them up. I never thought I would agree with that, but as a nonanesthesiologist I'm beginning to envy you that...
And you guys do have a pretty rad call schedule. Just remember if you pick gas it's hard to get out of doing night call for the rest of your life, though...unless you become an outpatient pain doc.
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Outpatient pain clinic = bringing in the crazies and NOT being able to put them to sleep. No thanks, I'll take the night call. 😛
 
ferning said:
Formal medical education is more about marginalizing the physician and beating them into obedience so they continue to turn the wheels of this 2.6 trillion dollar industry without talking back
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This statement is so darn accurate it's scary!!!!
 
HomeSkool said:
Or you can go into anesthesia. I don't make the crazy go away, but I do make it STFU. 😀
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They wake up still crazy and the sore throat(from the ETT) they have is magnified a million percent. THeir Post op pain is also magnified a million percent. And guess who has to deal with them in the pacu?
 
cheruka said:
I am still reeling from getting evaluated by the attending after 4 DAYS on the inpatient floor during my very first block.
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You should have told him that you already have enough toilet paper at home, thanks.
 
ferning said:
Formal medical education is more about marginalizing the physician and beating them into obedience so they continue to turn the wheels of this 2.6 trillion dollar industry without talking back
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Once you start being directed on how to practice by a non-medical administrator and a nurse administrator and possible a random insurance company representative, you'll realize how true this is. 👍
 
ruralsurg4now said:
Once you start being directed on how to practice by a non-medical administrator and a nurse administrator and possible a random insurance company representative, you'll realize how true this is. 👍
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Don't I know it. Every day its a major frustration having to deal with nonsense from Medicare, insurance companies, nursing administrators, and various others who clearly are not trained to do what I do. What's more, the government continues to add more paperwork that cuts into our valuable time for taking care of patients, and if we don't fill it out, the hospital doesn't get paid (for instance, certifications for inpatient admissions).
 
Top Gun said:
Don't I know it. Every day its a major frustration having to deal with nonsense from Medicare, insurance companies, nursing administrators, and various others who clearly are not trained to do what I do. What's more, the government continues to add more paperwork that cuts into our valuable time for taking care of patients, and if we don't fill it out, the hospital doesn't get paid (for instance, certifications for inpatient admissions).
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Precisely.

Perhaps even more disconcerting is a potential future:

http://www.nysun.com/national/massachusetts-readies-raid-on-hosptial-profits/
 
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