Word of advice for current and future residents

[Noyac]

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Cylene,

Do us all a favor and go into a specialty that allows women to have a family and to work half the amount of their partners. Sure you can do this in anesthesia. Just be clear of your intentions when you interview. Oh, and let us know how many interviews you get. Taking a maternity leave is one thing. Taking time off everyday to pick up your precious child at school is a whole nother beast. Save yourself the trouble, don't call me for an interview.

So you say, "My point was that we should be seeking what is best for our patients and society overall." Isn't that what we are saying? Its what i'm saying. And at the same time i'm saying that I'm not going to let some bureaucrat remove me from the OR because it is cheaper. We all know that cheaper isn't always better. Look at toyota and GM. Sure the chevy will get you where yo want to go most of the time but you can't count on it all the time. Do you want your loved ones in this system? Be honest with yourself at least. You can argue here all you want but at least be honest with yourself.

 

[toughlife]

I don't know why you're personally attacking me... I'm stating an opinion, starting an argument on a pattern I see as harmful in our society. I am not, however, telling you how I personally behave or my plans. In fact,I have no plans of having children. And I am honest with myself... I'm the first to admit if I think I made a mistake or am wrong... You just haven't made an argument that even started to change my mind.

Noyac: "So you say, "My point was that we should be seeking what is best for our patients and society overall." Isn't that what we are saying?" - That might be what you mean, but what I interpret you saying is that you're so worried about bureaucrats and protecting your place in medicine, that you're not even considering that it might not be harmful to allow crnas to do basic OR cases. What I'm saying, is that I don't know what is best... But I'm going into that discussion and encouraging that research with an open mind... That is, if it turns out it is not harmful (and in my personal, small experience it is not), then let us do what is best for society.

Instead of allowing CRNAs to do the easy cases (a la day surgery center), those cases can be done by you so you can be out the door and with your family by 3pm. If you give them to CRNAs, then you'll be out of a job unless you are willing to put in the hours.

 

[Southpaw]

My main point was that the amount of hours we work does not define medicine... Rather, the quality of our work based on a deep understanding of physiology, pharm....

I have no clue what you mean by "define medicine" so you might want to clarify that, or just drop it. Regardless, you have your ideal of medicine and you've stated it clearly. The fact is, the work of a physician has traditionally involved hard work and long hours because patients don't get sick from 8 to 5. Now say what you want about your ideal of medicine, but as long as increased pay is an incentive to work harder (read...longer hours) and physicians give a crap about continuity of care and following through on their commitment to care for patients, you should go into medicine fully aware that it is NOT, and should not be, an 8 to 5 job.

If you want to be treated with respect, make decent pay, and not work much, just move to the UK. Why try to make us become them?

And furthermore....the posts I originally replied to are as follows:

I'm curious... how would you feel about a candidate who works really hard but wants to work part time?

and...here...

Ahhh, yes... Makes perfect sense to ask for a part of society to give up their lives for their jobs. That's not pathological at all. Sleeping too... why do we need that? ... It only helps our cognition. While we're at it, lets all be hypoglycemic most of the day... no brain damage there.
... I wonder what would be ideal. Wouldn't it be ideal to have enough trained physicians that every one of them can work 40 hours/week like the normal person? I understand the concern of continuity of care... But perhaps what we can fix is how we share information with the next physician. It seems to me that our society is moving towards creating a bunch of workaholics and drones... And I wonder if we will look back at age 100 (if we get there with the way we treat our bodies as physicians) and have serious regrets.
How can we ask other people to be healthy when we are not?

Nowhere in your first two posts in this thread did you discuss what encompassed a physician, rather you described a lifestyle wherein someone gains the respect that comes with being a physician with the work hours that come with being retired. Everyone, every single person that applies to medical school, if they're even remotely educated, knows that becoming a physician is a long, arduous path and even at the attending level the work is tough and the hours are long. You can have your ideal all you want, but I went into this deal expecting and looking forward to society expecting more from me than others, so changing the game mid-process is weak sauce!

As far as wondering about CRNAs, why as a physician would you care about whether or not a mid-level can do your job? Put in another way, if you're the chief executive of a business are you going to waste your time wondering whether or not the mid-level managers can do your job? If you were going into surgery, are you going to launch into an argument about "we should research whether or not PAs can actually do the surgery and we can just tell them how it's done"? No! You're going into the field fully expecting to actually perform surgery! If you're going into anesthesiology, a big part of that is the expectation and desire to care for the patient throughout their surgery.

 

[militarymd]

Mil, did you really say that about pregnant woman??😱 I can't find the original post...hmmm....

I did say it....however, u need to take it in context.

When I say "pregnant woman", I'm categorizing the person as something who wants REGULAR hours ...read CRNA....

The nature of the OR is NOT regular...and in PP.....the 9 to 5 MD just doesn't work.

Of course, there's the surgery center....but that's not really "medicine" now ...is it?

 

[SleepIsGood]

is Cyclene a CRNA?

sounds like it..

 

[Gimlet]

I thought this was an interesting story, given our discussion in the last few posts in this thread:

Pennsylvania Legislature approves ban on overtime for clinical-care workers.

Modern Healthcare (10/9, Evans) reports, "Pennsylvania hospitals, ambulatory-surgery centers, and long-term-care providers cannot require nurses and other clinical-care workers to work overtime under a bill that cleared the state's Legislature." In a 186-13 vote, the House of Representatives approved the ban on overtime, which also applies to "clinical workers who are not considered supervisors in union contracts or who earn an hourly wage." The bill does include language "that allows employers to require overtime under certain circumstances," but those circumstances are limited to "unforeseeable declared emergencies; a 'highly unusual or extraordinary event' that affects healthcare delivery or demand...or unexpected absences that will significantly affect patient safety." Employers cannot mandate overtime, however, to cover "'chronic short-staffing' vacancies." The legislation "excludes doctors, physician assistants, and dentists, as well as other jobs not directly related to care." Gov. Edward Rendell (D) is expected to sign the bill.

 

[core0]

I thought this was an interesting story, given our discussion in the last few posts in this thread:

The legislation "excludes doctors, physician assistants, and dentists, as well as other jobs not directly related to care." Gov. Edward Rendell (D) is expected to sign the bill.

Wow they spelled our name right.

David Carpenter, PA-C