Surgery – Day 4

Today was my first weekend shift on surgery. There were no procedures, so today was just rounding on the patients who were already in the hospital or got admitted yesterday. Compared to internal medicine, handoff in surgery seems very inefficient and almost haphazard, but it also feels like there are less issues being tracked, but those issues may be slightly more volatile. The resident I worked with today is supposed to stay at the hospital until tomorrow morning. Part of me is confused as to why. Why does someone have to be on call for 24+ hours. Is it a continuity thing? Based on what I’ve seen, it’s not like being around the first half of the day makes you any better suited to care for a patient overnight than someone coming in fresh who received a strong sign-out. It almost feels like one of those archaic practices that is held on to as a source of pride, like “look at me able to withstand a 28-hour shift.” But also what do I know, I’m literally talking out of my ass. Maybe it is better for physician wellness. Maybe it is better for patient care. I bet there’s gotta be some studies out their pointing one way or the other.