Residencies & med school clinical rotations and eating on duty

[RTC19]

The thread about recipes where an attending joked about peanut butter and crackers from the nursing nourishment stations got me thinking about this.

I start to feel ill (headachey, sometimes fainty) if I don't eat some solid protein for longer than 6 or so hours. I also have a twice-per-day medication it is important I'm good about taking to avoid an embarrassing situation (seizure meds). I have to take it with an actual meal (a sandwich at a minimum - just crackers won't cut it) or I'll vomit it right back up.

When I did a search, many if not most of the answers regarding residency and getting enough food during the day spoke of the OR. I was wondering if people are most often able to sneak away to eat something every 4-6 hours in non-surgical residencies.

Is it reasonable to be able to bring leftovers from home and expect to be able to heat them up and eat them most days?

Basically what I am hoping to glean from this thread is a little more information about the food situation. Thanks so much! 🙂

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[aldol16]

I'm sure if you have a medical accommodation, the clerkship will make exceptions for you. If it's something you're really concerned about, it's something you can talk to the clerkship director about because if it could also be a safety issue (especially if you're in the OR and you're talking about anti-epileptics).

But in general, people generally eat when their team eats. It can be hard since hours are long and there's no one time where you automatically take off to eat. As a med student, you typically have some time after morning rounds since there are usually didactic sessions/talks that you have to go to.

 

[Tenk]

While there was some truth in my comment, honestly the people who don’t eat and complain about not eating do it to themselves. The keys that I found in both med school and residency were to have a high protein/low carb breakfast (especially during OR day) and to keep a protein bar or some nuts handy for emergencies. (I hate breakfast btw but I will concede it’s usefulness). In between cases I would also usually go to the surgical lounge and just stuff my face with whatever free food was there. Case in point: if you are proactive about food it’s no big deal. Just be quick about it.

 

[deleted480308]

The thread about recipes where an attending joked about peanut butter and crackers from the nursing nourishment stations got me thinking about this.

I start to feel ill (headachey, sometimes fainty) if I don't eat some solid protein for longer than 6 or so hours. I also have a twice-per-day medication it is important I'm good about taking to avoid an embarrassing situation (seizure meds). I have to take it with an actual meal (a sandwich at a minimum - just crackers won't cut it) or I'll vomit it right back up.

When I did a search, many if not most of the answers regarding residency and getting enough food during the day spoke of the OR. I was wondering if people are most often able to sneak away to eat something every 4-6 hours in non-surgical residencies.

Is it reasonable to be able to bring leftovers from home and expect to be able to heat them up and eat them most days?

Basically what I am hoping to glean from this thread is a little more information about the food situation. Thanks so much! 🙂

Unless in the OR there is ALWAYS 2 minutes to swallow a pill and two protein bars. There will not always be 15 minutes to leave area, heat a meal, sit down and eat it...without it being conspicuous

 

[WalSlave]

On your hospital-based rotations you’ll have access to a lounge, or several, and they likely have a bunch of free food. Stop by a few minutes before each shift and stock your white coat pockets.

Office-based rotation sites often have catered lunches from pharma. I actually gained a few lbs on one of these thanks to the absurd amount of food constantly at our disposal. Oops ‍😳

 

[labscience]

I have a tangentially related question that I hope maybe people who answered this question could also speak to-- OP, I am sorry for hijacking your post and am happy to have this discussion over PM with others if that's better!

I have chronic lower back pain at the tender age of 22, and I have difficulty standing for long periods of time (30 minutes+). I'm in shape, have been working with a PT, etc. but I've only improved the time I can stand comfortably by 5-10 minutes. I can walk long distances for long periods of time no problem, but standing becomes very painful. I've been getting pretty worried about surgical rotations especially, when you have to stand for hours and hours at a time. I'm worried about asking for accommodations (just a chair is all I'd need) since I'm visibly healthy and don't want to be seen as lazy or looked down on by my supervisors.

Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I do have doctor's notes and so on if that helps. Thanks for any help!!

 

[deleted480308]

I have a tangentially related question that I hope maybe people who answered this question could also speak to-- OP, I am sorry for hijacking your post and am happy to have this discussion over PM with others if that's better!

I have chronic lower back pain at the tender age of 22, and I have difficulty standing for long periods of time (30 minutes+). I'm in shape, have been working with a PT, etc. but I've only improved the time I can stand comfortably by 5-10 minutes. I can walk long distances for long periods of time no problem, but standing becomes very painful. I've been getting pretty worried about surgical rotations especially, when you have to stand for hours and hours at a time. I'm worried about asking for accommodations (just a chair is all I'd need) since I'm visibly healthy and don't want to be seen as lazy or looked down on by my supervisors.

Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I do have doctor's notes and so on if that helps. Thanks for any help!!

You’ll need to grt something official from your school’s disability office.....because that will get you lots of crap from people without it

 

[labscience]

You’ll need to grt something official from your school’s disability office.....because that will get you lots of crap from people without it

Thanks for your response! That's what I'm afraid of haha. I also don't want to be that kid waving her doctor's note around to get out of gym class... Would it be more productive just to ask for active/walking tasks instead of standing/static ones? I'm happy to run around taking coffee orders or whatever if that's an option

 

[deleted480308]

Thanks for your response! That's what I'm afraid of haha. I also don't want to be that kid waving her doctor's note around to get out of gym class... Would it be more productive just to ask for active/walking tasks instead of standing/static ones? I'm happy to run around taking coffee orders or whatever if that's an option

Standing for long periods is just part of the gig, get the accommodation if you need it

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Thanks for your response! That's what I'm afraid of haha. I also don't want to be that kid waving her doctor's note around to get out of gym class... Would it be more productive just to ask for active/walking tasks instead of standing/static ones? I'm happy to run around taking coffee orders or whatever if that's an option

There are going to be OR cases that can last up to 10 hours without a break. You need formal documentation from your institution if your limit is 30 min - 1hr.

 

[hmockingbird]

For the food — I had an accommodation in high school that allowed me to eat outside of the cafeteria/lunch hours. I haven’t needed it in medicine. I do carry emergency snacks with me. Even if I don’t make it to conference for breakfast/lunch I’ll eat in the workroom. It’s harder on a busy call but that’s what protein/granola bars and applesauce juice boxes are for! On surgery I would eat between cases, I did have a hard time between standing and the heat of the room/gown (and the smell of the ****ing Bovie) in terms of being vasovagal but people were pretty understanding.

For the standing restrictions - I would get official accommodations. IRL most people in medicine are understanding/mature and won’t give you a hard time about it (remember the people who complain are often the loudest).

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I have a tangentially related question that I hope maybe people who answered this question could also speak to-- OP, I am sorry for hijacking your post and am happy to have this discussion over PM with others if that's better!

I have chronic lower back pain at the tender age of 22, and I have difficulty standing for long periods of time (30 minutes+). I'm in shape, have been working with a PT, etc. but I've only improved the time I can stand comfortably by 5-10 minutes. I can walk long distances for long periods of time no problem, but standing becomes very painful. I've been getting pretty worried about surgical rotations especially, when you have to stand for hours and hours at a time. I'm worried about asking for accommodations (just a chair is all I'd need) since I'm visibly healthy and don't want to be seen as lazy or looked down on by my supervisors.

Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I do have doctor's notes and so on if that helps. Thanks for any help!!

I have chronic lower back pain when standing from wearing a vest and gun belt for years. In the OR you can take a foot stool and put one foot up on it at a time, alternating every 20-30 mins. It takes pressure off your back and helps with the pain. Between cases, stretch if you can. If it gets really bad and you have a free minute, lying on the floor or a bench with your feet up helps a lot too, but that’s probably more difficult to do without getting noticed.

But I agree that you might need to get accommodations if you really can’t stand in one spot for 30 mins. Even lap choles can have you standing for that long.

 

[labscience]

I have chronic lower back pain when standing from wearing a vest and gun belt for years. In the OR you can take a foot stool and put one foot up on it at a time, alternating every 20-30 mins. It takes pressure off your back and helps with the pain. Between cases, stretch if you can. If it gets really bad and you have a free minute, lying on the floor or a bench with your feet up helps a lot too, but that’s probably more difficult to do without getting noticed.

But I agree that you might need to get accommodations if you really can’t stand in one spot for 30 mins. Even lap choles can have you standing for that long.

The foot stool is a great idea! I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!!