Meal breaks while on call

[45408]

It is such a bunch of BS when people say they don't have time to eat. You might not have enough time to sit down and have a 1 hr lunch but you sure as hell have enough time to buy a sandwich and scarf it down on your way back to the floor.

really? How about when you're with the attending from 8am til 5pm in the clinic, with no pauses? Is there time then? I will try very hard to eat - and I only need 10 minutes - but I missed plenty of meals on surgery. Say the case goes from 10-12, then it takes until 12:30 to get the patient to the PACU, orders written, op note in the chart, etc. The attending says "Oh, let's go round now before the 1pm case," which goes until 4pm. Then you're with that patient in the PACU, writing orders, etc., until 4:30. Hey, we've had this admission waiting since 2pm, let's finish up this one....

There ARE days that there was no time. I don't blame anyone at those times, and I know that the resident would like to get some food as well. I just suck it up and keep going. It's not like the attending is just hassling us through the day for a tee time either - he routinely had important meetings at the end of the day, so he had to be done by 5-6pm, so we just plowed through the day. However, on a day where you're doing floor work, taking admissions, etc., there is almost always enough time to grab a little something.

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[cpants]

really? How about when you're with the attending from 8am til 5pm in the clinic, with no pauses? Is there time then? I will try very hard to eat - and I only need 10 minutes - but I missed plenty of meals on surgery. Say the case goes from 10-12, then it takes until 12:30 to get the patient to the PACU, orders written, op note in the chart, etc. The attending says "Oh, let's go round now before the 1pm case," which goes until 4pm. Then you're with that patient in the PACU, writing orders, etc., until 4:30. Hey, we've had this admission waiting since 2pm, let's finish up this one....

There ARE days that there was no time. I don't blame anyone at those times, and I know that the resident would like to get some food as well. I just suck it up and keep going. It's not like the attending is just hassling us through the day for a tee time either - he routinely had important meetings at the end of the day, so he had to be done by 5-6pm, so we just plowed through the day. However, on a day where you're doing floor work, taking admissions, etc., there is almost always enough time to grab a little something.

Exactly. I think it is rarely the case where people are expecting you to miss lunch in order to stare at residents typing notes. Usually those lunchless days are days when there is a huge patient care load on the team, days when you are expected to be learning and doing the most. If students choose to request a meal break during those times, it just isn't going to look good. The residents/attendings will likely be indifferent if you excuse yourself for a break, but don't expect a glowing evaluation from those people when you have decided your needs come before the needs of patients and team. Don't be surprised when you get a mediocre clinical grade for the rotation and your eval damns you with faint praise.