let's talk about scut

[atsai3]

what's the worst example of scutwork you've been assigned by a more senior team member?

-a.

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[Annette]

Making certain that a certain film made it to a confrence when several other attendings wanted the film at the same time.

 

[tussy]

Originally posted by Annette
Making certain that a certain film made it to a confrence when several other attendings wanted the film at the same time.

That's not scut. I good clerk/intern would go to the film library; have them make 4 copies of the films, and then hand deliver them to everyone who wanted one.

 

[tussy]

I have a tie for my worst scut experiences

1. ON my family med rotation: the secretary called in sick and my staffman couldn't get a temp so i was asked to answer the phone and book apointments for the day.

2. I was sent home in the morning and asked to bake a cake to bring in for afternoon rounds.

 

[Annette]

Tussy, I hope you put nails in that cake!

I considered it scut, because we weren't allowed to make copies of films unless we had an amazing reason (NHS).

 

[LoneSEAL]

My friend was doing his surgery clerkship and had to park the surgeon's car a couple of times.

 

[Dr JPH]

I could have given you a few idas for the cake as well...as long as you wouldn't be eating any.

 

[Rigomortis]

I don't have one of my own, but two of my classmates had to pick up their residents and take them to work for the entire rotation.

 

[atsai3]

this just in from one of my classmates: one night while on call, his resident aked him to accompany a patient to get a CT. he basically ended up in a waiting room for 3 hours... ouch.

-a.

 

[fourthyear]

I never mind picking up dinner while on call, it's always a nice feild trip out of the hospital. However, we had one resident who consistently forgot to bring cash, and when she did pay it 3 days later it would always be the exact amount the food was, without tax, tip, or drink included.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Last year, one of my fellow junior residents was asked to drive a patient home because the team was so desparate to discharge this guy (he was a real PIA) and he consistently kept saying he didn't have a ride. Others have been asked to provide "wake up calls" for Chiefs.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

I just did punched out my chief's PowerPoint presentation...no notes, no nothing ...

 

[BeeGee]

One of my attendings would ask a certain female classmate of mine to prepare and bring his coffee to him every day. That lasted for the whole rotation!!!

 

[The Pill Counter]

Maybe it's a stupid question, but why doesn't anyone say no?

 

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by The Pill Counter
Maybe it's a stupid question, but why doesn't anyone say no?

Why doesn't the class wimp tell the bully no when the bully asks for his lunch money? Because he'd get a serious beat-down, that's why.

 

[scully]

I would be really curious to find out how many women out there would actually get the attending's coffee and how many would refuse. Any thoughts gals?

 

[Fah-Q]

If I was asked by anyone to get his/her coffee everyday I would tell him/her to #$%@ off!!! Always remember...you are paying good money to be educated, not to be abused and treated like a lesser human being. I refuse to do any mindless scut. I will only do it if it helps the team somehow...but I will never do something because the resident is lazy/incompetent/mean. Stand up for yourself...the average person that orders you to do scut will cower if you challenge them. Try it...you have nothing to lose...would you rather get a good grade but be disrespected for a month or would you rather get a lower grade and keep your dignity?

 

[Resident Alien]

would you rather get a good grade but be disrespected for a month or would you rather get a lower grade and keep your dignity?

I suspect most of us would do the former, and wait out the dingus rather than shoot ourselves in the foot unnecessarily. Its not being a kiss-ass, its proteccting yourself. Sadly, it has to work that way.

 

[Mango]

Unfortunately Fah-Q, when the program director of your dream residency is reading your transcript, there's no addendum next to your crap grade that says "But he did keep his dignity by not doing scut." That is why people do it, and will continue to do it.

As for me, so far the worst scut I've had to do (and it wasn't bad at all), is wait by a phone for a page to be returned while the rest of the team went to see a patient.

 

[Acro Yali]

My worst scut is when I get paged at three o'clock in the morning to check what the recommended drug level was for a patient on a consult sheet, who was not even on my service to begin with. Major scutwork.

 

[Spidey]

Originally posted by tussy
2. I was sent home in the morning and asked to bake a cake to bring in for afternoon rounds.

Bake a cake? wtf?? What possible reason could they have to make you do that? Why couldn't you just go out and buy a cake anyway?

Of course the rule for scut is to shut up and do it, but I would have a hard time not freaking out on the guy if he told me to go home and bake him a freaking cake...

Anyway if they asked me to make coffee, I'd do it... but I'd make sure it was the worst coffee they ever tasted so they wouldn't ask me to do it again.

 

[deleted6669]

NONE OF THESE THINGS IS EVEN CLOSE TO SCUT!!!
real scut is undesirable clinical tasks. scut done by me on rotations:
perirectal abscesses, need I say more?
tracheal suctioning of green, malodorous sputum.
anything involving smelly feet, vomit, or drunks at 2 am in the ER.
foley cath rounds on trauma service in icu(replace old with new).
removing central lines and chest tubes.
irrigating abscess post I+D and repacking while the resident or surgeon goes for coffee.
paracentesis(also usually involves drunks)
you will notice a common theme here, bad smells and/or pus. now that is scut! the rest is kissing the a$$ of the resident(and yes, I waited for pages and ran errands, but never baked a cake).

 

[tussy]

Originally posted by emedpa
NONE OF THESE THINGS IS EVEN CLOSE TO SCUT!!!
real scut is undesirable clinical tasks. scut done by me on rotations:
perirectal abscesses, need I say more?
tracheal suctioning of green, malodorous sputum.
anything involving smelly feet, vomit, or drunks at 2 am in the ER.
foley cath rounds on trauma service in icu(replace old with new).
removing central lines and chest tubes.
irrigating abscess post I+D and repacking while the resident or surgeon goes for coffee.
paracentesis(also usually involves drunks)
you will notice a common theme here, bad smells and/or pus. now that is scut! the rest is kissing the a$$ of the resident(and yes, I waited for pages and ran errands, but never baked a cake).

I must disagree with your definition of scut. Scut is work that is done that has nothing to do with patient care, but must be done by someone. Everything you've listed above are procedures and tasks that directly contribute to patient care. They may not be things you enjoy doing, but they are very necessary. If you do not enjoy looking after patients, then maybe you should rethink your career choice.

 

[Spidey]

Tussy you didn't answer my question... don't you love me anymore?

 

[tussy]

Originally posted by Spidey
Tussy you didn't answer my question... don't you love me anymore?

Sorry Spidey, i didn't see your question. Of course i still love you.

I actually like to bake, so I didn't mind skipping a boring clinic to bake a beautiful chocolate cake for teaching rounds. Plus, it did score so valuabe bonus points (and the chief resident was cute). Hey, i was only a clerk. I've matured since.

 

[Spidey]

Originally posted by tussy
Of course i still love you.

Well that's the important thing.

 

[Acro Yali]

Wait, another scutwork just happened to me. I was "asked" to get take-out food for the residents and interns. But on the good side, I got away for about 1 hour before getting thrown back into fire.

 

[Fanconi]

Here's one for ya...

One of my friends was assisting with a vaginal delivery while on OB.

The attending sewed up a little perineal tear and prompty dropped the needle and couldn't find it anywhere.

My friend had to sift through that bag of amniotic junk, blood, urine, and feces in an attempt to locate the lost needle.

Now that's just unacceptable.

 

[bubster9]

That is absolutely nasty!