how do you not get sick on rotations?

[heavyw8]

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im constantly washing my hands, sleeping 8 hours/night, eating right, exercising 4-5x/week, and drinking plenty of fluids

but i've gotten sick on every rotation this year except neurology!

what do y'all do to keep the bugs away?

 

[Rendar5]

Stay away from patients, especially kids🙂 sorry but it sucks, your immune system is going into overdrive since your'e exposed to a ton more viruses and stuff than the typical person. It will get better by 4th year I promise, unless you're actually going into peds in which case it won't get better until 2nd year of residency.

 

[pdxhopeful]

Sounds like you're doing the things you should - just takes time to build up resistance. According to my teacher mom, most newbies in her profession spend a good portion of their first year or two on the job sick, and they're dealing with just 30 or so basically healthy kids.

 

[link2swim06]

90% of my pts have either chronic diseases or things 25 yo med students dont get.

The 10% is just luck and your immunity i guess.

I got one URI from family med but otherwise have been disease free this year.

 

[Trogghunter]

I took vit c and zinc 50mg every other day, ate right, slept, exercised regularly, and drank tons of water. I also went through a 2lb bag of garlic during my peds rotation...in January(flu season and bad flu vaccine). Also washed my hands every 30mins..just the palms and fingertips. A bit much? Nah I touch my face a lot out of habit---because I'm so damn beautiful.

 

[ijn]

I ate lots of dirt as a child (at least I hope it was dirt.) It prepared me well for the wards.

Maybe try to sneak a few doses of 300 mg filgrastim QHS? It works wonders on the oncology wards. That guy with stage IV small cell doesn't really need it anyway.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Grew up without coddling, developed a solid immune system. I'm sure I'm weakening it now with hand sanitizer abuse, however.

Just do what you can, and as a medical student, if you are seriously ill (not just sniffles/headache/mild fever) tell your team. They will understand and you'll get a few days off to recover without having to deal with patients that are going to prolong your sickness.

 

[Kaustikos]

Having a childhood like mine probably helped...
Playing out in the woods/outdoors without caring about anything. Running around hospitals in a third world country for a couple years. Never really taking precautions. I got sick a lot during my childhood but now I rarely get sick. The only issue I have now is this gingival swelling I have because I don't floss as much as I should. Otherwise; I'm glad my childhood was like it was....

 

[colbgw02]

Rub some dirt on it.