How much time do you spend on your feet?

[GH253]

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How much time do you spend on your feet in med school? I'm sure it varies based on what courses/rotations you're taking, so tell me what it's like when you're the MOST physically active.

 

[theVster]

A lot. Buy some Dr. Scholls.

 

[justdoit31]

I just finished my first year and I am not on my feet that much but it all changes in 3rd and 4th year on rotations. I am doing clinical research this summer and when I have clinic I am on my feet from 7:30am-2:30pm with maybe 1-2 quick sit downs between patients. I am sure it will be worse in clerkships because my clinic here is considered a half day clinic.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

It varies by clerkship. During family med I actually rarely sat down because we used tablets and just set them on counters to do notes. The longest for most people will be a 24hr call during surgery, where you might be in the OR all day for a regular schedule and then in the ED or OR all night too. The moral, make sure your shoes are comfortable, it's worth the extra money or you'll be miserable.

 

[Law2Doc]

How much time do you spend on your feet in med school? I'm sure it varies based on what courses/rotations you're taking, so tell me what it's like when you're the MOST physically active.

Longest stretch I spent on my feet was about 10 hours during a case in a surgery rotation. Was also the longest stretch I went without a bathroom break. In residency you can spend an entire 30 hour overnight call on your feet running around on things. Good shoes are essential. If you have problem feet, be prepared to soak them during off hours. This is not a sitting behind a desk profession, unfortunately.

 

[psipsina]

3rd year has had a ton of on the feet time. Some specialties would table round, meaning that all the medstudents, residents and faculty would sit in a board room and go over all the patients, but many do walking rounds going from room to room. Mind you that you have to see your patients ahead of this and then make sure all the plans go through afterwards which is all running around. Some rotations were shorter days (6am --> 4pm) but many were much longer days (max was 4am --> 10pm!!!) and then of course there is on call days that can hit 30 hours with a rare sit down every few hours. Surgery of course has alot of operations that have you on your feet for long long stretches at times. And then there's the added bonus of times when there just aren't enough seats for the medstudent and you end up standing while your resident/attending sits. I also had a fun experience with a resident who was a marathon runner and made us sprint up 9 flights of stairs regularly. Comfy shoes are definitely a necessity.

 

[youngxgold]

Interesting.
Standing all the goddamn time was something I hadn't considered.

 

[youngxgold]

Sucks for people w/ flat feet (me)

 

[DaisyBuchanan]

I'll be investing in some Reebok EasyTones when that time comes.

 

[mvenus929]

Some rotations were shorter days (6am --> 4pm) but many were much longer days (max was 4am --> 10pm!!!) and then of course there is on call days that can hit 30 hours with a rare sit down every few hours.

Do med students do the entire call shift? I was looking through my school's website, and they made it seem like we'd do a half-call when our intern/resident was on call... meaning we'd say in the hospital til like midnight, instead of overnight with them.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

Do med students do the entire call shift? I was looking through my school's website, and they made it seem like we'd do a half-call when our intern/resident was on call... meaning we'd say in the hospital til like midnight, instead of overnight with them.

I think this is extremely variable between programs. At my school the only overnights are during surgery. During medicine, OB, and Peds we took "short call (until 7 or 9pm, depending on when night-float took over) with our interns/residents, but less often than they did.

 

[Law2Doc]

Do med students do the entire call shift? I was looking through my school's website, and they made it seem like we'd do a half-call when our intern/resident was on call... meaning we'd say in the hospital til like midnight, instead of overnight with them.

Depends on the program. At my med school we were q4 overnight at the hospital for most of the core rotations (IM, Surgery, OBGYN, Peds) and stayed for the entire 30 hour overnight shift. Sub-Is and EM electives in 4th year also required med students to stay overnight frequently. I know some schools where med students rarely are kept overnight and usually get sent home by 11pm. So it depends on the program. My personal view is that a lot happens in the hospital overnight, and so there is some benefit to being there overnight. I wouldn't have done have the procedures I got to do, and wouldn't have gotten to catch many babies during OB if I wasn't there working at 4am when everything seemed to happen. Also most of the Codes seem to happen after hours, and fewer people show up for them after midnight, so you won't see/participate in many of those if your med school makes you go home early. So don't actively seem med schools that don't require this -- it's kind of an advantage (although you might not think so at the time).

 

[GH253]

My reason for asking is that I have some limitations due to arthritis. As things are now, I can stay on my feet for a few hours at a time without having any problems, longer with anti-inflammatories, but the prospect of going for very long periods of time a regular basis is intimidating. I know that people have made it though med school in much worse shape, though, but the details are ambiguous so it's hard to know what to think.

 

[riverjib]

How much time do you spend on your feet in med school? I'm sure it varies based on what courses/rotations you're taking, so tell me what it's like when you're the MOST physically active.

Not there yet, but I can tell you this: surgery is toughest on your feet. I've worked in other departments, and you don't sit much. But in surgery, especially when you're scrubbed in, you're pretty much stuck there. I scrubbed into a neuro case that took 12 hours, and I was only relieved for 45 minutes...the rest of the time I stood there, holding retractors. Invest in a good pair of Merrells.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

Depends on the program. At my med school we were q4 overnight at the hospital for most of the core rotations (IM, Surgery, OBGYN, Peds) and stayed for the entire 30 hour overnight shift. Sub-Is and EM electives in 4th year also required med students to stay overnight frequently. I know some schools where med students rarely are kept overnight and usually get sent home by 11pm. So it depends on the program. My personal view is that a lot happens in the hospital overnight, and so there is some benefit to being there overnight. I wouldn't have done have the procedures I got to do, and wouldn't have gotten to catch many babies during OB if I wasn't there working at 4am when everything seemed to happen. Also most of the Codes seem to happen after hours, and fewer people show up for them after midnight, so you won't see/participate in many of those if your med school makes you go home early. So don't actively seem med schools that don't require this -- it's kind of an advantage (although you might not think so at the time).

As 3rd years we didn't have overnights on anything other than surgery (all the services except the ICUs have night float teams) which was nice on one hand but it's true that most of the crazy sh** happens after the sun goes down. The teams I was on had a couple patients code but never during the day, and on nights you cover more patients too. So I feel I definitely missed on some experiences by not being on nights, but then again I'm sure I'll work plenty of nights during residency to more than make up for it.

 

[Law2Doc]

... So I feel I definitely missed on some experiences by not being on nights, but then again I'm sure I'll work plenty of nights during residency to more than make up for it.

Oh, you definitely will see plenty in residency. But there is something nice about there being a "seen and done that" feeling when you start residency and the same kind of crap hits the fan late at night that you already helped deal with as a med student. You want to milk your med school education for all it's worth. So I certainly wouldn't lean toward med school programs just because they have less (or no) overnight call. Sure, we are all lazy, we all have other things going on in life. But there's some value there as well.

 

[Kaustikos]

Oh, you definitely will see plenty in residency. But there is something nice about there being a "seen and done that" feeling when you start residency and the same kind of crap hits the fan late at night that you already helped deal with as a med student. You want to milk your med school education for all it's worth. So I certainly wouldn't lean toward med school programs just because they have less (or no) overnight call. Sure, we are all lazy, we all have other things going on in life. But there's some value there as well.

Good advice 👍 Thanks