Smelling salts to stay awake during grand rounds?

[Butters415]

I'm a 4th year now and don't have to go to any classes, but last year I was falling asleep left and right without warning. If I'm falling asleep so easily on a 3rd year med student schedule, I'm afraid I'll have a whole lot harder time staying awake as an intern. I've tried lots of stuff unsuccessfully like plucking beard hairs, bouncing around, pinching myself... none of these work for me.

Anyone have any experience with smelling salts? I have a few questions about that.

1. Will it wake me up if I'm starting to drowse?
2. Is the smell so strong that other people in the room will notice?

I want it to work well, but not too well.

Thanks

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[sdn1977]

1. yes, it will wake you up, but not from a sound sleep

2. yes, everyone around you will smell it (smelling salts = spirits of ammonia)

IMO - not a good choice really. Grand Rounds = 1 hr??? sometimes boring sometimes not - how about a cup of coffee????

 

[tigershark]

I'm a 4th year now and don't have to go to any classes, but last year I was falling asleep left and right without warning. If I'm falling asleep so easily on a 3rd year med student schedule, I'm afraid I'll have a whole lot harder time staying awake as an intern. I've tried lots of stuff unsuccessfully like plucking beard hairs, bouncing around, pinching myself... none of these work for me.

Anyone have any experience with smelling salts? I have a few questions about that.

1. Will it wake me up if I'm starting to drowse?
2. Is the smell so strong that other people in the room will notice?

I want it to work well, but not too well.

Thanks

You would instantly become an immortal legend among your classmates. I say go for it.

 

[Ypo.]

I'm a 4th year now and don't have to go to any classes, but last year I was falling asleep left and right without warning. If I'm falling asleep so easily on a 3rd year med student schedule, I'm afraid I'll have a whole lot harder time staying awake as an intern. I've tried lots of stuff unsuccessfully like plucking beard hairs, bouncing around, pinching myself... none of these work for me.

Anyone have any experience with smelling salts? I have a few questions about that.

1. Will it wake me up if I'm starting to drowse?
2. Is the smell so strong that other people in the room will notice?

I want it to work well, but not too well.

Thanks

Try peeling an orange.

Or try eating an apple. Supposedly eating an apple is just as effective as drinking a cup of coffee at waking you up. I have noticed that when I eat an apple it does seem to wake me up. But then again I don't drink coffee.

 

[Butters415]

Thanks for the responses. Okay, I'm going to stay away from the smelling salts, as I don't want anyone else in the room to notice I'm about to fall asleep during their lecture.

Eating an apple sounds good. I need to eat more fruits anyway.

So the place I matched at for residency has big, soft, leather chairs... the kind that bounce ever so easily... lullying you into sleep... dangerous. These are the chairs we'll use during grand rounds.

On a side note, I heard 30 minutes of hypnotic sleep is equal to 8 hours of regular sleep. [Bullsh*t!] Excuse me. Wouldn't hurt to try though, right? Imagine how much you can get done if you only have to sleep 30 minutes a night.

 

[DireWolf]

You could take a little hit of crack before grand rounds start. The only downside is that you would probably need to smoke more to stay awake for the rest of the day. Eventually this would lead to addiction.

 

[Law2Doc]

So the place I matched at for residency has big, soft, leather chairs... the kind that bounce ever so easily... lullying you into sleep... dangerous. These are the chairs we'll use during grand rounds.

On a side note, I heard 30 minutes of hypnotic sleep is equal to 8 hours of regular sleep. [Bullsh*t!] Excuse me. Wouldn't hurt to try though, right? Imagine how much you can get done if you only have to sleep 30 minutes a night.

You can fix the soft chair issues by carrying a bunch of loose thumbtacks or broken glass in your back pocket.

As for the hypnotic sleep thing, that's just foolish. You can sleep 30 minutes a night only if you make up another 5+ at some point during the day. Folks who buy into this either lie about their results, don't try it for more than one or two nights in a row (after which they crash), or else have such undemanding jobs that they can get by on no sleep and no one notices a difference.

 

[Law2Doc]

You could take a little hit of crack before grand rounds start. The only downside is that you would probably need to smoke more to stay awake for the rest of the day. Eventually this would lead to addiction.

Once you are planning to go that poorly conceived route, there are certainly other stimulants besides crack that would better keep you awake without impairing your abilities.

 

[deleted87716]

I'm a 4th year now and don't have to go to any classes, but last year I was falling asleep left and right without warning.

Two words...

 

[DireWolf]

Tea

 

[Blade28]

You sit in comfy leather chairs during Grand Rounds? Man, what kind of residency is that?

Coffee will work wonders.