Hospital Cafeteria Food

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Why do hospital cafeterias suck...stepping into my university hospital cafeteria makes me UN-hungry....i just don't understand how hospital cafeterias can serve the nastiest most unhealthy food, seems very hypocritical....like having a mcdonalds on campus, i remember vanderbilt had a mcdonalds that they removed some years ago...

sad for us foodie medical students =)

anyone ever been to Childrens hospital of philadelphia's cafeteria...omg heaven, they have fresh sushi !!!
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Dermalicious123 said:
Why do hospital cafeterias suck...stepping into my university hospital cafeteria makes me UN-hungry....i just don't understand how hospital cafeterias can serve the nastiest most unhealthy food, seems very hypocritical....like having a mcdonalds on campus, i remember vanderbilt had a mcdonalds that they removed some years ago...

sad for us foodie medical students =)

anyone ever been to Childrens hospital of philadelphia's cafeteria...omg heaven, they have fresh sushi !!!
Click to expand...

It's good motivation to bring your own food. Or to be at a hospital where the food trucks are sitting right outside the hospital (see: HUP and University of MD Medical Center).
 
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Last hospital I worked at had a great cafeteria. Four types of food (Mexican, American, "Asian" (mostly Chinese, plus sushi), and Italian), a salad bar, and a decent selection of deli sandwiches. After hours sucked balls though, everything would close and you'd be stuck with soups, salads, and cold sandwiches.
 
Physicians usually have their own cafeteria... I wonder how that works though.... Do they pay a yearly fee that allow them to eat there anytime? or Do they just pay for whatever they buy?
 
W19 said:
Physicians usually have their own cafeteria... I wonder how that works though.... Do they pay a yearly fee that allow them to eat there anytime? or Do they just pay for whatever they buy?
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Huh? Physicians don't get their "own" cafeteria.
 
Of the hospitals I've been in, one was very good, a couple were good, and about 3 were bad. A couple also had a hot bar in the doctors lounge for lunch and breakfast. Free for the residents but attendings had to pay something like $3
 
W19 said:
Physicians usually have their own cafeteria... I wonder how that works though.... Do they pay a yearly fee that allow them to eat there anytime? or Do they just pay for whatever they buy?
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DermViser said:
Huh? Physicians don't get their "own" cafeteria.
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I've seen some hospitals have a "physician's lounge" where they're provided food/drinks buffet style.

@W19, of the hospitals I've seen that do so, the physicians pay some kind of annual fee for this private area. Not sure how common these things are though.
 
TheLionheart said:
I've seen some hospitals have a "physician's lounge" where they're provided food/drinks buffet style.

@W19, of the hospitals I've seen that do so, the physicians pay some kind of annual fee for this private area. Not sure how common these things are though.
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It seems like it pretty common in south FL... I worked in 3 hospitals as a rad tech and they all have a physician lounge...
 
TheLionheart said:
I've seen some hospitals have a "physician's lounge" where they're provided food/drinks buffet style.

@W19, of the hospitals I've seen that do so, the physicians pay some kind of annual fee for this private area. Not sure how common these things are though.
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I think these are probably more common in private hospitals vs. academic med centers directly attached to the med schools. Children's hospitals always seem to have good food, for some reason.
 
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The med school/graduate school cafeteria is better than the hospital one where I am and they tend to have healthier options. It is also a little bit more expensive, though. Like someone else said, it's good motivation to bring my own food (or my wife makes it for me if I'm lucky).
 
I did see this at one school's hospital I interviewed at as a premed.

We were served our lunch in this little mini cafeteria (ie room with a built in buffet) that was down a back hall from the main cafeteria where apparently only docs eat. I don't remember what they called it -- might as well call it a physician cafeteria -- it wasn't mind blowing food or anything. Sounds to be pretty rare.
 
Frazier said:
I did see this at one school's hospital I interviewed at as a premed.

We were served our lunch in this little mini cafeteria (ie room with a built in buffet) that was down a back hall from the main cafeteria where apparently only docs eat. I don't remember what they called it -- might as well call it a physician cafeteria -- it wasn't mind blowing food or anything. Sounds to be pretty rare.
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I thought that was a common thing because I worked at 3 hospitals as a rad tech and all of them have a physician lounge or cafeteria... I would call them cafeteria since all of them have their own staff, different food from the main cafeteria and their 'sitting rom'...
 
W19 said:
I thought that was a common thing because I worked at 3 hospitals as a rad tech and all of them have a physician lounge or cafeteria... I would call them cafeteria since all of them have their own staff, different food from the main cafeteria and their 'sitting rom'...
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Maybe common. Maybe region dependent. I really have no idea.
 
Private community hospitals for the win.

I've rotated at a few and they all have a physician's lounge (open to med students) that's fully stocked with tons of free food.

-fresh bagels, waffles, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cheese, and fruit for breakfast along with an expresso machine and a juice bar.

-hot soups, sandwiches, chips, and cookies for lunch and dinner.

-fully stocked fridge with bottled water, energy drinks, sports drinks, and soda.

Never once ate at the cafeteria or paid for food.

Mayo clinic also has the same thing.
 
the private community hospital i rotated at had decent affordable meals. the hospital cafeteria at my school is twice as expensive for half the quality
 
Varies hospital by hospital.
My med school cafeteria makes me lose my appetite everytime I step in, I avoid it whenever possible.
BUT they just re-vamped the deli next to it, and that has been a game changer, awesome delicious choices and they have guacamole! 😀 It's fairly priced too. So I hate the cafeteria, but deli's been good.

The cafeteria in the hospital I used to volunteer at years ago had really good food, and price seemed okay.

So yeah, varies by place and some parts of the cafeteria may be better than others. Thankfully, if the cafeteria is bad, most hospitals are in developed or urban areas, so there's usually some decent food places in the vicinity.

P.s. what's all this talk of physician lounges and free food?!?!?!
The one at our hospital, I only got into because my preceptor let me come in with him, and it was just a room with some basic chairs and a TV...there may have been a coffee machine at best. 🙁
 
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The quality of food varies significantly from hospital to hospital, as does the relative healthiness of thr options. It is cheaper to provide fried foods and other unhealthy options and it will sell easily (or it will keep in the freezer). I have noticed the better food tends to be at the places that can afford it.

I am lucky the hospitals i work at now give me free food (just as a perk of having privileges there, although I did have to pay 150 bucks for my initial credentialing) both in dedicated physician lounges and in the cafeteria with no defined limit. At the last place attendings had to pay (but the residents had a food allowance and would feed me sometimes).
 
TheLionheart said:
I've seen some hospitals have a "physician's lounge" where they're provided food/drinks buffet style.

@W19, of the hospitals I've seen that do so, the physicians pay some kind of annual fee for this private area. Not sure how common these things are though.
Click to expand...
same
 
I love shadowing because the physician's lounge food is gourmet where I am currently at.
I get to the Dr.'s office around 8, and when 11:30 rolls around I am just waiting for him to take lunch.
Then I hear, "Hey you ready to get some food?"
To which I casually reply, "Oh, wow, its already that time? Yeah, let's go."
Although, in my head, I cannot wait to devour salmon, brown rice, mixed vegetables, and a protein shake lol.

The best part is, there is always seconds! Booyah!
 
Dr Van Helsing said:
I love shadowing because the physician's lounge food is gourmet where I am currently at.
I get to the Dr.'s office around 8, and when 11:30 rolls around I am just waiting for him to take lunch.
Then I hear, "Hey you ready to get some food?"
To which I casually reply, "Oh, wow, its already that time? Yeah, let's go."
Although, in my head, I cannot wait to devour salmon, brown rice, mixed vegetables, and a protein shake lol.

The best part is, there is always seconds! Booyah!
Click to expand...

wtf...
 
Because the food service contractor that hospitals use is the same as the local penitentiary's.
 
At my hospital, the physician's lounge has soups and sandwiches and stuff. The surgeon's lounge has a fridge full of diet Pepsi, and a tray of bagels that's left out on Monday and Thursday and gets stale as the week goes on. The cafeteria is an assortment of fried foods vaguely representative of various world cuisines.

However, at the surgery center we operate at, we have coffee, fresh hummus, nuts, tea, fruit, drinks, and every day a catered lunch specific to each attending's preferences. There's a table with food for 20 different attendings from 20 different local restaurants with the food labeled "For Dr. Facial Plastics" and "For Dr. Facial Plastics' resident". Freaking love it. Not to mention the <10 minute turnover between cases.

No idea why anyone would choose to board day surgery cases in healthy patients anywhere but a surgery center.
 
VisionaryTics said:
At my hospital, the physician's lounge has soups and sandwiches and stuff. The surgeon's lounge has a fridge full of diet Pepsi, and a tray of bagels that's left out on Monday and Thursday and gets stale as the week goes on. The cafeteria is an assortment of fried foods vaguely representative of various world cuisines.

However, at the surgery center we operate at, we have coffee, fresh hummus, nuts, tea, fruit, drinks, and every day a catered lunch specific to each attending's preferences. There's a table with food for 20 different attendings from 20 different local restaurants with the food labeled "For Dr. Facial Plastics" and "For Dr. Facial Plastics' resident". Freaking love it. Not to mention the <10 minute turnover between cases.

No idea why anyone would choose to board day surgery cases in healthy patients anywhere but a surgery center.
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Some cases wouldn't be profitable at a surgery center so you do them at the hospital (especially if you are financially invested in the surgery center). But yeah, the surgery center i go to orders lunch for me when i go there and it is even better than my options at the hospitals (which isn't actually all that bad usually)
 
VisionaryTics said:
At my hospital, the physician's lounge has soups and sandwiches and stuff. The surgeon's lounge has a fridge full of diet Pepsi, and a tray of bagels that's left out on Monday and Thursday and gets stale as the week goes on. The cafeteria is an assortment of fried foods vaguely representative of various world cuisines.

However, at the surgery center we operate at, we have coffee, fresh hummus, nuts, tea, fruit, drinks, and every day a catered lunch specific to each attending's preferences. There's a table with food for 20 different attendings from 20 different local restaurants with the food labeled "For Dr. Facial Plastics" and "For Dr. Facial Plastics' resident". Freaking love it. Not to mention the <10 minute turnover between cases.

No idea why anyone would choose to board day surgery cases in healthy patients anywhere but a surgery center.
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this is amazing maybe i will become an ent after all
 
Dr Van Helsing said:
That's right, show some respect bonehead.
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When+you+don+t+get+the+joke_99e4d4_4572847.gif


The med center here is opening their new building soon and as part of it they ended up renovating the cafeteria. What used to be pretty nasty and subpar food has now become pretty damn good for the cost, not to mention the variety.
 
Dr Van Helsing said:
I get to the Dr.'s office around 8, and when 11:30 rolls around I am just waiting for him to take lunch.
Then I hear, "Hey you ready to get some food?"
To which I casually reply, "Oh, wow, its already that time? Yeah, let's go."
Although, in my head, I cannot wait to devour salmon, brown rice, mixed vegetables, and a protein shake lol.
Click to expand...
You sound like a gunner. Except for food.
 
DermViser said:
You sound like a gunner. Except for food.
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I would never intentionally harm or disadvantage another person to get ahead; so, I don't qualify as a gunner. Although Dermie, I definitely try to be competitive.
 
W19 said:
Physicians usually have their own cafeteria... I wonder how that works though.... Do they pay a yearly fee that allow them to eat there anytime? or Do they just pay for whatever they buy?
Click to expand...

A cafeteria and physician's lounge are different. Many hospitals have a physician's lounge and it's usually always stocked. One hospital I visited also had a resident's lounge that had some food, but not nearly as much as the physician's lounge.

It makes sense for doctor's to have their own lounge so they won't be approached by patients in the cafeteria.
 
Mass Effect said:
A cafeteria and physician's lounge are different. Many hospitals have a physician's lounge and it's usually always stocked. One hospital I visited also had a resident's lounge that had some food, but not nearly as much as the physician's lounge.

It makes sense for doctor's to have their own lounge so they won't be approached by patients in the cafeteria.
Click to expand...
The 3 hospital I worked at had physician's cafeteria with staff cooking, making sandwiches and everything... It was not just a lounge. To be honest, I did not understand why they had a different place to eat... It makes sense when you said that they don't want to be approached by patients...
 
Mass Effect said:
A cafeteria and physician's lounge are different. Many hospitals have a physician's lounge and it's usually always stocked. One hospital I visited also had a resident's lounge that had some food, but not nearly as much as the physician's lounge.

It makes sense for doctor's to have their own lounge so they won't be approached by patients in the cafeteria.
Click to expand...
That's really the only reason for a separation, esp. if you don't want to be approached by a former patient or even sometimes worse, a patient's family when all you want is to eat in peace.
 
Psai said:
one of our patient's spouses worked in the hospital and actually got the number for our team's phone and kept calling us while we were rounding. it was insane
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So the attending or resident kept getting paged?
 
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