It's early in the year

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I'm usually pretty even-keeled, but some *ahem* substandard interactions with junior residents and interns I've had recently are driving me to post this. I know it's still relatively early in the year. Here are some reminders to the new folks (interns, med students, medicine residents if you're lost and reading this somehow) that will make you sound less stupid, and keep my blood pressure down.

1. Phone etiquette. It makes me crazy when someone pages me and answers the phone "Hello?" like they're at home waiting for the pizza guy to show up. If you're in a hospital and you answer the phone in a public place, identify yourself by name and/or location. "Hello?" followed by silence is not ok. "Hello, 10C, it's bb from surgery" is much more appropriate. If you don't identify yourself, we are on shaky ground from the get-go.

2. Also, if you page someone and have to make another call, use another phone. Now you've made me call back and get a busy signal. And then wait two minutes and then return your call. And THEN you answer "Hello?" followed by silence. You are now ******ed until proven otherwise.

3. Transfer of information. If you want a consult, call it yourself. I go even crazier when the medicine floor unit secretary calls me with something and then I have to page three people (who have already signed out and gone home because it's 4:30pm and the order they put in at 11:30am for a consult sat for hours), and no one can tell me why they want a consult.

4. If you're another surgery resident, don't tell me that you 'don't feel comfortable' with something. Your comfort is not my concern. Not understanding why we are doing something, not having the technical skills- that's one thing. I get it if you can't put in deep dermal sutures to close a wound in layers in the trauma bay...just don't tell me you're 'not comfortable'. Criminy.

5. If someone is bleeding and you are called to go see that person, remove all dressings and evaluate what is going on. If there is a source of bleeding, fold up two 4x4s and place two gloved fingers directly on the wound. Then fix it, unless you 'aren't comfortable', and then without removing pressure, call someone who can. Don't just pile on a 'pressure dressing' and leave. Two fingers' worth of direct pressure can keep nearly anything, including the aorta, under control.

Ok, I feel better. Rampage over. Chime in with teaching points or flame me if I'm out of line, or just cranky.

bb

 

[njbmd]

Sometimes you have to "teach" people how to treat you. The upside is that they patient gets better and more efficient care. People usually received the impression that I always return my call promptly and therefore do not page me and make another call.

I remember a medical student ranting and walking around the nurses station about that "stupid surgery resident who hasn't seen her patient". She kept paging the surgery intern whom I allowed to scrub a case with one of the attending. I had the interns pager and when I called, the line was always busy. Not only had I seen that patient (and written a consult report), the patient didn't have any surgical issues.

I called her over with my index finger and pointed out that she needed to learn to read a chart. I also flashed my "Chief Resident" badge in front of her nose. She started to shake so much that she hurled. I just couldn't stop laughing and neither could the nurses.

I think she learned a lesson there.First, that surgery is NEVER stupid and don't pace and rant in a public place when you don't know who's present. In the meantime, I didn't get any more stupid calls from her.

 

[glade]

If someone pages me and I return it immediately and they don't pick up within three rings, I hang up and erase their page. I continue that until they get the hint or until I decide I'm not even calling back. The reason is because (and I know this for a fact) nurses will just tell some other nurse to page a resident and then they go into a room and expect you to wait for them. Usually, if they make me call more than twice, I refuse to call back for at least five hours, which generally carries me to the end of the day. I'm not kidding, in case anyone thinks I am.

 

[glade]

Oh, also we have pagers which can accept text pages. When a nurse texts me that I "have to" do something, I ignore it for two reasons.

1) 99% of the time, it's not important to anyone except the nurse.
2) Even if it's important, I don't "have" to do anything a nurse says. That goes for any physician, whether it's an intern or an attending. I don't talk to her and tell her she "has" to do something, so I'm not quite sure how she got it into her little head that she can talk to me in that manner.

I had one nurse who kept paging me to tell me that I "have" to discontinue a medication (which I didn't). I ignored her for literally ten hours until her shift ended. She even started to add "this is the fifth time I'm telling you to do it," likely to document that I was ignoring her. And guess what? I continued to ignore her. Then she went off shift or had a stroke or something and the pages ended. Another day in paradise. With *****s.

 

[glade]

Also, I love dealing with "urban" secretaries who have attitude. One ER clerk was calling me with a consult for a patient I wasn't covering. And as soon as I determined that, I go "sorry, I don't cover that attending." So this exchange follows:

Urban Secretary: Oh, you sayin' you not a surgery resident?
Me: Yeah, I am.
Urban Secretary: Then you can take this consult.
Me: No, I can't.
Urban Secretary: So you sayin' you refusing a consult?
Me: No, I'm saying I don't cover that attending.
Urban Secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I don't know, how have you determined who to call in the past?
Urban Secretary: I call someone and they tell me.
Me: Oh, too bad. I have no idea who you need to call.
Urban Secretary: Oh, so you sayin' you want me to call the attending?
Me: No, I'm not telling you to call anyone. If you call the attending, that's your personal decision.
Urban Secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I have no idea. I'm sure you can figure it out. Bye.

Then I hung up on her face. I like how she thought she could verbally manipulate me, as if she was more clever than me.

 

[Consigliere]

also, i love dealing with "urban" secretaries who have attitude. One er clerk was calling me with a consult for a patient i wasn't covering. And as soon as i determined that, i go "sorry, i don't cover that attending." so this exchange follows:

Urban secretary: Oh, you sayin' you not a surgery resident?
Me: Yeah, i am.
Urban secretary: Then you can take this consult.
Me: No, i can't.
Urban secretary: So you sayin' you refusing a consult?
Me: No, i'm saying i don't cover that attending.
Urban secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I don't know, how have you determined who to call in the past?
Urban secretary: I call someone and they tell me.
Me: Oh, too bad. I have no idea who you need to call.
Urban secretary: Oh, so you sayin' you want me to call the attending?
Me: No, i'm not telling you to call anyone. If you call the attending, that's your personal decision.
Urban secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I have no idea. I'm sure you can figure it out. Bye.

Then i hung up on her face. I like how she thought she could verbally manipulate me, as if she was more clever than me.

Impossible!

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Oh, also we have pagers which can accept text pages. When a nurse texts me that I "have to" do something, I ignore it for two reasons.

1) 99% of the time, it's not important to anyone except the nurse.
2) Even if it's important, I don't "have" to do anything a nurse says. That goes for any physician, whether it's an intern or an attending. I don't talk to her and tell her she "has" to do something, so I'm not quite sure how she got it into her little head that she can talk to me in that manner.

This is definitely my least favorite type of page...when a nurse or RT or whomever just tells me to do something. Even worse, 9/10 times they don't leave a callback number for this.

If they give their return pager # in the page, I page them back and say "if you have questions about medications/orders please leave a callback number".

If they don't give any return # I ignore it.

 

[glade]

Impossible!

Interestingly, she's still more clever than you, son. 🙂

So, to recap, in order of cleverness:

glade >>> Urban Secretary > Consigliere, Master Of Crossword Puzzles

 

[Consigliere]

Interestingly, she's still more clever than you, son. 🙂

So, to recap, in order of cleverness:

glade >>> Urban Secretary > Consigliere, Master Of Crossword Puzzles

How did you know I was a cruciverbalist? Or are you just assuming that is so because I am an anesthesiologist? You ARE a clever bastard. 👍

 

[glade]

Oh, you made that connection? I'm impressed.

 

[DHT]

Also, I love dealing with "urban" secretaries who have attitude. One ER clerk was calling me with a consult for a patient I wasn't covering. And as soon as I determined that, I go "sorry, I don't cover that attending." So this exchange follows:

Urban Secretary: Oh, you sayin' you not a surgery resident?
Me: Yeah, I am.
Urban Secretary: Then you can take this consult.
Me: No, I can't.
Urban Secretary: So you sayin' you refusing a consult?
Me: No, I'm saying I don't cover that attending.
Urban Secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I don't know, how have you determined who to call in the past?
Urban Secretary: I call someone and they tell me.
Me: Oh, too bad. I have no idea who you need to call.
Urban Secretary: Oh, so you sayin' you want me to call the attending?
Me: No, I'm not telling you to call anyone. If you call the attending, that's your personal decision.
Urban Secretary: Then who you want me to call?
Me: I have no idea. I'm sure you can figure it out. Bye.

Then I hung up on her face. I like how she thought she could verbally manipulate me, as if she was more clever than me.

Im so glad you're back, forums have been dull lately

 

[Consigliere]

Oh, you made that connection? I'm impressed.

Don't be. More impressive was the connection I made between lifestyle/compensation and speciality choice.

 

[glade]

I don't mind that you have lifestyle or compensation, which you keep referencing desperately for some reason. All I ever said was that you're lazy and you also get bossed around, both of which are also true.

 

[Consigliere]

I don't mind that you have lifestyle or compensation, which you keep referencing desperately for some reason. All I ever said was that you're lazy and you also get bossed around, both of which are also true.

Wrong. Neither of those are true. You, on the other hand, seem to be on some self-imposed crusade to "out" anyone you deem to be "lazy". Hey, we're all awfully proud of you for your dedication and sacrifice in your pursuit of excellence. Kudos. It's just that for many, other things like spending time with family, friends and pursuing leisure activities (commonly referred to as "having a life") are equally, if not more important that losing one's self in one's speciality. I know how important it is for you to justify your existence by demeaning anyone who doesn't work as hard as you and then saying to yourself "I'm awesome; everyone is stupid except me." Hey, whatever gets you through the day. One day, when you get some hair on your nuts, you'll see how right I am.

 

[opr8n]

gettn back on the org subject posted:

I recently had a checkout from an intern that went somthing like this:

Intern: this patient is going back to the OR tomm to have their bowel put back together, (short pause, then goes on to next pt)
Me:Wooh, hold on, what?

Intern:blank stare
Me:so what is wrong with the patient, tell me more

Intern:blank stare
Me:Like why did she get admitted, what was her org surgery, why is her bowel disconnected, does she have an open abdomen, is she intubaTED, is she on pressors, is she septic, Anything!

Intern: i dont know
Me:Seriously

Intern:Well, i dont usually see that patient, you will have to talk to my senior who sees them
Me: (my mouth was wide open)

So ...
lesson for all the interns ...
KNOW YOUR PATIENTS!!!
Your seniors dont care if you dont see them everyday, when you are responsible for taking are of the floor and ICU patients and are checking them out to other seniors who are not on your service, you must know about them!!!

This was just one patient, you can imagine how the rest of the 40 patients went as we continued

Know who is sick!
Know who is intubated!
Know why people are in the hospital!
Know Know what surgeries they had!

I had another intern who recently called an anttedning and told the attending that the patient he saw in the ER 6, yes 6!, hours ago that their CT scan was finally read by the radiologist as positive for appendicitis, The attending responded by saying yes, i know, i finished taking their appendix out an hour ago, where were you!!! 😱

 

[glade]

Wrong. Neither of those are true. You, on the other hand, seem to be on some self-imposed crusade to "out" anyone you deem to be "lazy".

Actually, both are quite true. How do I know that? Well, for starters you constantly brag about how little you have to work and also try to throw your lifestyle choice around as much as possible. To then turn around and pretend like you're some sort of workaholic is laughable. It's similar to ER physicians, who sit around talking about how few shifts they have to do and how they never are on call and talk about all the things they do in their free time ...but then when someone says they're lazy, they act like their ten-hour shifts are literally life-draining affairs. Like I said, if you want lifestyle, good for you. Don't then turn around and try to convince everyone that you're some mega-worker, especially since you just tried to tell me how you have higher priorities than the medical field (i.e., work) in your life.

And as to the second charge, well, you can deny that until the cows come home and it won't change anything.

 

[Consigliere]

Actually, both are quite true. How do I know that? Well, for starters you constantly brag about how little you have to work and also try to throw your lifestyle choice around as much as possible. To then turn around and pretend like you're some sort of workaholic is laughable. It's similar to ER physicians, who sit around talking about how few shifts they have to do and how they never are on call and talk about all the things they do in their free time ...but then when someone says they're lazy, they act like their ten-hour shifts are literally life-draining affairs. Like I said, if you want lifestyle, good for you. Don't then turn around and try to convince everyone that you're some mega-worker, especially since you just tried to tell me how you have higher priorities than the medical field (i.e., work) in your life.

And as to the second charge, well, you can deny that until the cows come home and it won't change anything.

Fair enough. I do have higher priorities in life than the medical field; too bad you don't.

 

[glade]

You're right, I don't. But, see, unlike you I'm aware of that and don't act like it's otherwise or act ashamed of it.

And with regards to my "outing" lazy people, that's not my fault. That's a factor of our healthcare system. I've said this before, but it bears repeating. We don't have a free market system. The way it's set up works against certain specialties, including General Surgery, for a variety of reasons. Chiefly, it's the backwards notion that since General Surgery operations are largely "required" (so to speak, unlike breast augmentation), "everyone" should be able to have their operation. Therefore, even though General Surgery deals with the backwash of society, we get paid little.

Now, you can say "you chose that" and it's true. But that's also what sets up the hostility between general sugeons and many other people, including you. The fact that we don't get paid based on work performed leads to this "outing." I could care less if you're lazy or not or if you don't care one whit about work. Really. That's your decision and your life. But since the current reimbursement system means that you get paid the same as me while I work continuously for three hours and all you did was intubate the patient, it would be stupid to act like I shouldn't mind that. Realistically, you'd be paid a fraction of what a surgeon is since you work a fraction of the time, unless you want to pretend that sitting around and checking on your stocks constitutes work.

Same thing with ER physicians. I don't care that they only work 20 shifts a month. That's their thing. And they should be paid for working 20 shifts a month. But if you did that, then nobody would do it and the ER works for the hospital. That's their only (or, let's say, "very main") function, is to maximize hospital admissions and therefore billing. So since it benefits the hospital to have them, they artificially pay them higher wages for doing practically not much more than telling some other physician to come and evaluate a patient. If they were paid commensuate to that level of decision-making, I wouldn't mind one bit how many times I got called by the ER. But since they're paid like physicians, I find their calling me to be an insult, unless they've evaluated the patient and have some idea as to the diagnosis, which occurs roughly <5% of the time. In fact, most of the time they haven't even done a basic exam. And yet I'm not supposed to find that pathetic, in the name of "getting along." Yeah, OK.

 

[Consigliere]

You're right, I don't. But, see, unlike you I'm aware of that and don't act like it's otherwise or act ashamed of it.

And with regards to my "outing" lazy people, that's not my fault. That's a factor of our healthcare system. I've said this before, but it bears repeating. We don't have a free market system. The way it's set up works against certain specialties, including General Surgery, for a variety of reasons. Chiefly, it's the backwards notion that since General Surgery operations are largely "required" (so to speak, unlike breast augmentation), "everyone" should be able to have their operation. Therefore, even though General Surgery deals with the backwash of society, we get paid little.

Now, you can say "you chose that" and it's true. But that's also what sets up the hostility between general sugeons and many other people, including you. The fact that we don't get paid based on work performed leads to this "outing." I could care less if you're lazy or not or if you don't care one whit about work. Really. That's your decision and your life. But since the current reimbursement system means that you get paid the same as me while I work continuously for three hours and all you did was intubate the patient, it would be stupid to act like I shouldn't mind that. Realistically, you'd be paid a fraction of what a surgeon is since you work a fraction of the time, unless you want to pretend that sitting around and checking on your stocks constitutes work.

Same thing with ER physicians. I don't care that they only work 20 shifts a month. That's their thing. And they should be paid for working 20 shifts a month. But if you did that, then nobody would do it and the ER works for the hospital. That's their only (or, let's say, "very main") function, is to maximize hospital admissions and therefore billing. So since it benefits the hospital to have them, they artificially pay them higher wages for doing practically not much more than telling some other physician to come and evaluate a patient. If they were paid commensuate to that level of decision-making, I wouldn't mind one bit how many times I got called by the ER. But since they're paid like physicians, I find their calling me to be an insult, unless they've evaluated the patient and have some idea as to the diagnosis, which occurs roughly <5% of the time. In fact, most of the time they haven't even done a basic exam. And yet I'm not supposed to find that pathetic, in the name of "getting along." Yeah, OK.

You're right. It blows. And as to the "unlike you I'm aware of that and don't act like it's otherwise or act ashamed of it...." I think is pretty obvious that I am aware of "that". I don't act ashamed of it either - I happened to luck upon a speciality where I can chill AND make a lot of money and I am unabashedly UNashamed of that fact. Thought that was pretty obvious...

 

[glade]

Not really. I mean, when I said you were lazy you got all up in arms about it. And by the way, that's why I don't get involved with you guys and your outrage over CRNAs. I mean, from a professional standpoint, I'm with you guys, don't get me wrong. But where did you think that was going? You guys got so greedy AND lazy that you introduced the idea that you could sit around "overseeing" CRNAs while they ran multiple rooms. Then someone figured out that CRNAs could replace MDAs and, 99% of the time, you'd notice no difference. As I said to you in the past, you guys basically screwed yourselves. Don't complain about being replaced when you were the agents of your own replacement.

 

[Consigliere]

Whose complaining? Won't happen in my professional career. Is that selfish? Yes. Do I care? Nope.

 

[glade]

That's hilarious, dude. You can stop trying to act blase about the issue. We all know that it's the biggest issue in Anesthesia right now, both on here and in real life, to the point that they had to create a whole new forum section for the issue. And by the way, if you ACTUALLY don't care about what's happening with CRNAs and your specialty, that doesn't impress me like "wow, this guy is so bad-ass!" It makes you look even more foolish because it's like "wow, this guy cares so little about anything except himself, what a tool."

I mean, so far you've positioned yourself as a guy who places your profession behind your personal life and you also don't mind CRNAs taking over your profession as long as it happens after you retire and get your money. Listen, I don't have to bust on you, you're doing an adequate job of it on your own but you don't even see it.

 

[Consigliere]

That's hilarious, dude. You can stop trying to act blase about the issue. We all know that it's the biggest issue in Anesthesia right now, both on here and in real life, to the point that they had to create a whole new forum section for the issue. And by the way, if you ACTUALLY don't care about what's happening with CRNAs and your specialty, that doesn't impress me like "wow, this guy is so bad-ass!" It makes you look even more foolish because it's like "wow, this guy cares so little about anything except himself, what a tool."

I mean, so far you've positioned yourself as a guy who places your profession behind your personal life and you also don't mind CRNAs taking over your profession as long as it happens after you retire and get your money. Listen, I don't have to bust on you, you're doing an adequate job of it on your own but you don't even see it.

Oh, I see it. I just don't care. And I REALLY don't care what you think about me. I lead a fulfilling life; I've paid my dues and am reaping the rewards. If that angers you or makes you jealous, that's your issue. Since you seem to want to get the last word on this, and just can't help yourself - go for it. I've made my point and I'm done - good luck with your career - and I mean that sincerely.

 

[treehorsio]

Oh, I see it. I just don't care. And I REALLY don't care what you think about me. I lead a fulfilling life; I've paid my dues and am reaping the rewards. If that angers you or makes you jealous, that's your issue. Since you seem to want to get the last word on this, and just can't help yourself - go for it. I've made my point and I'm done - good luck with your career - and I mean that sincerely.

Hey, guys? How about PMing each other and not wasting my bandwidth with this?

 

[glade]

Hey, guys? How about PMing each other and not wasting my bandwidth with this?

"Wasting your bandwidth"? What is this, 1989 and you're waiting for a porno GIF to download or something?

Oh, I see it. I just don't care. And I REALLY don't care what you think about me. I lead a fulfilling life; I've paid my dues and am reaping the rewards. If that angers you or makes you jealous, that's your issue. Since you seem to want to get the last word on this, and just can't help yourself - go for it. I've made my point and I'm done - good luck with your career - and I mean that sincerely.

I'm sure you live a fulfilling life. All I'm pointing out is that you're a) lazy and apparently b) totally self-centered. Of course, no arguing that you're probably also relatively well-off. The combo of those three characteristics is undeniably going to lead to "fulfillment," as you see it.

 

[45408]

If someone pages me and I return it immediately and they don't pick up within three rings, I hang up and erase their page. I continue that until they get the hint or until I decide I'm not even calling back.

Some extensions and outside lines don't even start ringing until your end has rung 3-5 times. But keep on keeping on.

 

[45408]

Also, I love dealing with "urban" secretaries who have attitude. One ER clerk was calling me with a consult for a patient I wasn't covering. And as soon as I determined that, I go "sorry, I don't cover that attending." So this exchange follows:

County hospital?

 

[glade]

Some extensions and outside lines don't even start ringing until your end has rung 3-5 times. But keep on keeping on.

Not really. And who's doing your telecom system? North Korea? Hellen Keller? Poland?

 

[45408]

Not really. And who's doing your telecom system? North Korea? Hellen Keller? Poland?

This merits two ROFLs and three LOLs.

 

[Guile]

This merits two ROFLs and three LOLs.

And a ROFLCOPTER.

 

[Samoa]

 

[youngdoc8205]

a few days ago, got a page from the ER while I was on call. "Hi this is Ms. XYZ, are you the guy that takes consults"
me: yes I am the doctor on call
ER: oh, well my nurse practitioner needs to talk to you
me: interntal sigh...ok, what about
ER: ok, hang on (puts me on hold!!???)
me: hangs up

 

[Sleeve]

These are irritations and requests year in and year out. Once these interns get to be chiefs, they'll figure out that paging me and then getting on the phone is a huge no-no but their interns will do it to them. It's part of the learning process. Granted, you would think professional would have some common respect and courtesy.

That was always my speech at the beginning of a rotation with my juniors. "Listen. I'm a nice guy most of the time. Respect me and I'll respect you. Do what your capable of. Don't be lazy. Don't be lazy. And don't be lazy. You're surgeons, not internists. You can handle most things with your brain and getting out of your call room and looking at the patient. Call me if you need me. But if you call me, you're a pu**y (a joke of course...kind of). Seriously, if you need me, call me. You should never need to call me about the same type of thing twice. Direct pressure stops most bleeding."

 

[glade]

Direct pressure stops most bleeding.

Interestingly, so does no pressure. It just takes a little longer. 😀

 

[glade]

a few days ago, got a page from the ER while I was on call. "Hi this is Ms. XYZ, are you the guy that takes consults"
me: yes I am the doctor on call
ER: oh, well my nurse practitioner needs to talk to you
me: interntal sigh...ok, what about
ER: ok, hang on (puts me on hold!!???)
me: hangs up

The clerks -- and, presumably, the attendings, since the clerks say that they are directed to make these calls -- will page NOT the intern but the most senior person they can find. And I used to call back to try to tell them "you're calling the wrong person." But they know that they are, so as soon as you go "hi, Surgery returning a call, but I just wanted to let you know --" they immediately put you on hold and transfer you to an ER attending. So I started playing a game with them. (This actually happened.) They paged me, I called back and started to tell them they were calling the wrong person. They put me on hold in mid-sentence, SO I IMMEDIATELY HUNG UP. A few minutes passed by and I got the same page. So I called back and they put me on hold and I hung up immediately. This continued for about three times until the clerk realized what I was doing (nobody said she was that bright). So instead of putting me on hold, she was forced to talk to me. At that point, I told her I was not the person she should be calling ...and then hung up on her.

 

[Buzz Me]

I had another intern who recently called an anttedning and told the attending that the patient he saw in the ER 6, yes 6!, hours ago that their CT scan was finally read by the radiologist as positive for appendicitis, The attending responded by saying yes, i know, i finished taking their appendix out an hour ago, where were you!!! 😱

ALWAYS read your own imaging studies. Always. Don't want for the official read. Get a prelim read if you have to, but that official dictation can take a day or two.

 

[former military]

if you are paging me, a doctor, don't answer the phone "Dr Smith".
you know I am calling you back, not the ward clerk.
instead answer the phone "John Smith, internal medicine".
nothing irritates me more than an intern calling me to announce themselves as Doctor. I can figure that out from your specialty and get on to what question you want to talk about. don't get all formal on me unless you have a nobel prize.

 

[glade]

Yeah, the problem with that is that the courtesy isn't returned. When I talk with attendings as a resident, I just use my first name. But meanwhile they expect you to still be saying, "Hi, Dr. Big Shot, this is so-and-so, the resident." Or even worse (and funnier), some attending who is not from my specialty will see me with their patient and go "order this." And I go, "sure thing!" and ignore them. Being an attending doesn't mean someone is special, but they act like they all are.

 

[45408]

if you are paging me, a doctor, don't answer the phone "Dr Smith".
you know I am calling you back, not the ward clerk.
instead answer the phone "John Smith, internal medicine".
nothing irritates me more than an intern calling me to announce themselves as Doctor. I can figure that out from your specialty and get on to what question you want to talk about. don't get all formal on me unless you have a nobel prize.

There's a medicine senior who introduces himself to residents of other specialties as Dr. Stickinbutt. Dude, you have no authority over us, and you're lower on the chain than the surgery PGY-4 you're talking to.

 

[ESU_MD]

There's a medicine senior who introduces himself to residents of other specialties as Dr. Stickinbutt. Dude, you have no authority over us, and you're lower on the chain than the surgery PGY-4 you're talking to.

this is one of my all time pet peeves-

usually when someone tries to announce him/herself as Dr So&So, I reply as oh, I'm Dr ESU, nice to meet you. 9 times out of 10, they feel pretty dumb about it and realize what they are complete tools.

 

[gstrub]

This thread is awesome.

 

[Towelie]

This thread should be renamed. Maybe "why everyone outside of surgery thinks that all surgeons are a bunch of douchebags."

You are all so self serious. Get over yourselves.

 

[Guile]

This thread should be renamed. Maybe "why everyone outside of surgery thinks that all surgeons are a bunch of douchebags."

You are all so self serious. Get over yourselves.

Wow, blast from the past. I haven't seen you since the AMCAS days, and it's your first post in over a year. Glad to see that the surgery forum was able to pull you back from sabbatical.

 

[former military]

this is a common scenario:
I am sitting at my desk
the phone rings and I answer
"hi, rico suave, urology"
yes this is dr smith.
at this point I will say... yes this is rico suave, I am also a doctor.
they are calling my Fing office they know who they are talking to.
bugs me.

 

[45408]

On the flip side, it weirded me out to call an attending and have them answer "this is Bob Johnson" when they knew it was me calling them.

 

[kitsunepixie]

On the flip side, it weirded me out to call an attending and have them answer "this is Bob Johnson" when they knew it was me calling them.

Yeah...I have an attending who calls straight to my cell phone and goes, "Hey, this is first name. So-and-so has a finding I'm worried about, so if you could go say hello to her, that'd be cool."

 

[glade]

This thread should be renamed. Maybe "why everyone outside of surgery thinks that all surgeons are a bunch of douchebags."

If there was a thread like that, the first post would be "Because they all suck balls every day and we rule." And then the thread would be locked with a note saying "No more posts need to be made because the definitive answer has been stated."

 

[filter07]

There's a medicine senior who introduces himself to residents of other specialties as Dr. Stickinbutt. Dude, you have no authority over us, and you're lower on the chain than the surgery PGY-4 you're talking to.

My best consults are from hospitalists who just completed internal medicine. They usually start off by informing me that they are an attending, which impresses me greatly. The best consult I ever got from a hospitalist went something like this:

Hospitalist: Hi, this is Dr. Medicine, I'm the attending on Blue/Green/Purple/Pink/Yellow/Red Medicine. I'm calling for a consult.
Resident: Ok sure. (Looking at my watch, it's 10 minutes before 6pm)
Hospitalist: This is a 65 year old vet with [some bad problem]. [Medical details follow]. I am concerned and I would appreciate it if you can see this patient. If you have any further questions, you can call the attending on [other color] Medicine, since I'm headed out in 10 minutes, and I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks.

 

[agranulocytosis]

So from this thread I take it that when I'm a resident I shouldn't refer to myself as Doctor to other residents or attendings? I know that we should definitely introduce ourselves as Doctor to patients, but to whom else? I'm being completely serious.

 

[glade]

It's not etiquette, it's just the surgical point of view. What a lot of Medicine guys don't get is that, when they've graduated and become attendings, they're still less experienced than the chief resident of Surgery (by definition, since they're now essentially PGY-4s and the chief is a PGY-5). So it's a little pathetic to be acting like an attending to someone who is, really, your senior in every way except title (i.e., resident vs attending). Not to mention that, year to year, surgery residents are in the hospital far more and, honestly, are more efficient than medicine residents. So even a comparison between a "PGY-4" medicine attending and a PGY-4 surgery resident would really not be equal. Now, that sounds egotistical, but it's pretty true.

The thing is, most Medicine people don't realize that, and maybe nobody can blame them. But it's just a little silly to a lot of Surgery residents. It's not, however, as people are portraying it, the "worst offense ever." I'm frankly amazed that people are all getting so into the whole "don't call yourself doctor to colleagues!!" thing because on my lengthy list of pet peeves it's not even in the top 500. I mean, you'd have to pretty much have an awesome life if that's what's bothering you. And by awesome I mean that these guys are apparently working with a lot of naked women who are desperate to please them or something and their pagers don't work and the ER collapsed and they couldn't dig anyone out.