Comments on: More on work hours and scut work

By: PK

PK — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:42:22 +0000

I have actually been a bit disappointed at the lack of procedural skills I have been exposed to. The only IV that I have started in my 4 years is the one that I started on my brother (who is an RN and wanted to teach me).

I’m actively trying to pick up a few of these menial procedures, but at this point I have done more CVLs than IVs or blood draws combined. I realize that in the real world I will likely not have to perform these tasks, but they are still things I would like to be able to do.

By: Stalwart Hospitalist

Stalwart Hospitalist — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:59:04 +0000

The “golf ball washing” analogy extension only works if we stipulate that resident physicians are as good at medicine as Tiger is at golf.

To torture the analogy further, I would argue that a “golfer in training” needs to at least know that a clean ball travels farther and straighter.

By: More on work hours and scut work golf bar

More on work hours and scut work golf bar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:47:46 +0000

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By: Kendra

Kendra — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:38:30 +0000

I’ve executed every type of scutwork possible. I’ve done everything from drawing blood to chasing down lab results to photocopying to getting coffee for a resident. There were times when I felt overwhelmed by the amount of scutwork asked of me. However, in retrospect, I think about 90% of the scutwork that I had to do helped me along my journey in some way. Drawing blood and changing bedpans gave me skills that I need to have if and when a nurse is not available. Photocopying various forms taught me how the clerical side of medicine works. And some of the scutwork merely taught me humility. Sometimes our “education” is not merely learning the mechanism of diseases or which drug to chose, but learning about how the hospital runs and appreciating how all the various hospital employees function together to care for a patient. I’m glad to have done my fair share of scutwork. I happen to think it will make me a better doctor. Just my three cents.

By: Ed Whitney

Ed Whitney — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:56:12 +0000

Looking at the urine, doing the Wright’s stain and looking at the peripheral blood smear, and doing the Gram stain of the sputum in the lab on the floor–these were all part of the basic patient workup, no different from looking at the eye grounds or listening to the lungs. If the “lab police” are now prohibiting these activities, something is very wrong indeed. Rarely, you might see that the supernatant was a bit cloudy after spinning a hematocrit, and pick up a lipid disorder that you had not suspected. Walking back and forth from radiology to pick up old films was a waste of time and it is just as well that it is no longer done.

But if they start making housestaff fill out CPT codes, the time for revolution will have come.