What is the best way to manage long hours without getting burned out?

[lsres]

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When you start your first year what is the best way to manage long hours without getting burned out or avoid making a mistake because you are exhausted?

 

[sophiejane]

When you start your first year what is the best way to manage long hours without getting burned out or avoid making a mistake because you are exhausted?

Day at the spa, q 4 weeks. This is my plan and I'm sticking to it. 😉

 

[LADoc00]

EtOH

 

[boboli]

When you are exhausted from work it may be really tempting to just come home and crash on the couch. When I do this, my life gets even more depressing, as all I do is go to work, come home, think about having to go to work, go to sleep, and repeat. I would recommend spending time most days doing something that you enjoy that makes you feel like a real person - so go for a run, spend time with friends or your SO, take up a hobby, anything that gets you outside of your own head.

 

[fuzzyerin]

Make sure you go somewhere on vacation...even if you don't think you have the money. I've gone to the Bahamas, St. Maarten, Cancun...and it's been worth every second and every cent. Getting a little sun and just relaxing is wonderful.

And whatever you do, DO NOT go into the hospital when on vacation.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Unless your school is an 8-5 required lecture format, most people that manage to spend over 10-12 hours a day devoted to med school have a bit of a martyr complex IMHO.

Neither myself nor a single one of my friends had to kill themselves with ultra-long, punishing hours at any point during M1/2 except right before a huge test. Just stick to your plan, don't worry about your classmates, and try to have some fun.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Unless your school is an 8-5 required lecture format, most people that manage to spend over 10-12 hours a day devoted to med school have a bit of a martyr complex IMHO.

Neither myself nor a single one of my friends had to kill themselves with ultra-long, punishing hours at any point during M1/2 except right before a huge test. Just stick to your plan, don't worry about your classmates, and try to have some fun.

I think this was posted with residency in mind, not med school.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I think this was posted with residency in mind, not med school.

My bad. More coffee please.

 

[Apollyon]

EtOH

Worked for me!

 

[DarksideAllstar]

My bad. More coffee please.

I'm already on my third cup, hence my attentiveness.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As other have noted, you have to have something in your life, which is meaningful to you, outside of the hospital. It can be going to the gym, spending time with your SO, or ETOH (j/k).

Going to and from the hospital under cover of darkness, eating pre-prepared foods and doing that day after day, month after month, can get incredibly depressing. You need an outlet...you have to discover what is important in your life and make sure that you get at least one thing done.

If you do make a mistake, you need to step back and try to evaluate it clearly. Let me rephrase that....WHEN you make a mistake. And you will, especially when you are tired. The system has checks and balances and most of the time your mistakes will be caught before they cause anyone harm...they will become valuable learning experience for you.

IMHO, people have varying abilities to tolerate the long hours and ways to do so. I found that if I could not get some "real sleep" - ie, more than 90 minutes, I generally tolerated it better if I just stayed awake. I deal with being physically active much better than if I were sitting somewhere...(ie, Rads call would not be for me), but I have never required a lot of sleep. Some colleagues got used to the hours, others seemed to look and act like they'd been on a mission to Iraq after a single night on call.

As you progress in your residency, you will learn 'tricks" to making life better - certainly being more organized gets you home earlier and generates fewer pages at night, and the comment above about vacation is an absolute. I had fellow residents who refused to take vacation because they thought the service was "too busy" or they were simply afraid, IMHO, of telling the attendings they would be off. These residents were much more miserable than the average and burned out earlier.

 

[mgdsh]

Also don't let things get to you. Residency is a stressful time, try and take everything you can in stride. Getting worked up over something some nurse, attending, other resident, etc said or did usually tends to make things worse.

Have some of your friends come visit you, especially those that understand you'll be at the hospital a good portion of their visit, and they're willing to tour the city/place you're at by themselves until you can hang out later on that day or later on during your trip.

And although it's already been said I can't stress exercise enough. Something as simple as a quick jog a few times a week can do so much for how you feel and help to burn off stress too, plus keep you in shape.

Last but not least, sleep 🙂

*edit* I lied... Also wanted to say that spending time with people who don't work in the medical field can do wonders as far as keeping you sane.

 

[yaah]

When you go home, go home. Don't take your work with you and be a doctor 24 hrs a day.

 

[ekydrd]

Sleep!!! When ever and where ever possible. A 15 to 30 minute power nap beats no sleep at all, and post call I go home and take a 2 hour nap then do my normal evening routine and go back to bed for the night.

 

[elwademd]

on your day off, do something else besides medicine. take some time for yourself and just relax. whether that's going to the spa, going to the movies, going out to eat, going to the gym, or a combination of the above is up to you.

finding time to do "non doctor" stuff is very important. it's up to you to make it happen.

 

[nradsoit3]

buy a wii🙂