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My wife is a surgeon. I'm up at 5am with her, drive her to work, then sit down and start working myself around 5:30. I find that I'm fantastically productive

My wife is a surgeon. I'm up at 5am with her, drive her to work, then sit down and start working myself around 5:30. I find that I'm fantastically productive from then until about 9 or 10am. I take a long lunch break (and go running or xc-skiing depending on how much snow is on the ground); aside from that I don't have any trouble going straight through the afternoon, though my afternoons are less productive (I usually spend them meeting with team members and doing more routine work because of that, which works well because that's when everyone else is around). In order to make getting up at 5 livable, we're asleep by 10pm. We were both night people once upon a time, but I really don't feel like I miss it.

gte910h 15y ago
OT: Why do surgeons start work at 5 am?
- joeyo 15y ago
  Table time for the first case of the day is usually quite early, as you want lots of time in case there are complications.
  - gte910h 15y ago
    That doesn't seem to change the available time. You can start at any time of the day, there still the same amount of available time (ie 6-1800 hours is the same as 8-2000 hours)
- dredmorbius 15y ago
  I've heard a few theories, including some speculation that body functions are slowest at this time. More practically, a morning surgery generally means the patient has fasted overnight, and has an empty upper GI tract, reducing the risks of vomiting. Aspiration of vomit is a significant surgical risk.
  - gte910h 15y ago
    Okay, that makes sense.
- tzury 15y ago
  they do it because of the patient who were not allowed to eat several hours before The reason why surgery is scheduled so early in the morning is because you will need to have an empty stomach for about 6-8 hours before your procedure. This ensures that your stomach is empty of any contents for general anesthesia. This way, if you get nauseated after surgery, you can try to throw up, but nothing will come out. With no stomach contents, you will not accidentally swallow stuff into your windpipe, or lungs. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5407499 http://EzineArticles.com/5407499
- stephencanon 15y ago
  First: not all surgeons start at 5; it varies somewhat with the specialty. The more "hard-core" specialties tend to start earlier in the morning because the cases can run longer (12-16 hour surgeries, while not typical, are not unheard of either). Second, they don't start operating at 5. They actually couldn't--the non-M.D. staff (nurses and techs) work on "normal" shifts, so there's only a minimal overnight crew (present to handle emergencies that cannot wait until morning) at that time. Surgeries actually start around 7:30-8:00 typically, but the team needs to round on the patients under their care and discuss what's slated for the day before they go into the OR. Since that takes a couple hours, they start at 5.

gte910h 15y ago

OT: Why do surgeons start work at 5 am?

joeyo 15y ago
Table time for the first case of the day is usually quite early, as you want lots of time in case there are complications.
- gte910h 15y ago
  That doesn't seem to change the available time. You can start at any time of the day, there still the same amount of available time (ie 6-1800 hours is the same as 8-2000 hours)
dredmorbius 15y ago
I've heard a few theories, including some speculation that body functions are slowest at this time. More practically, a morning surgery generally means the patient has fasted overnight, and has an empty upper GI tract, reducing the risks of vomiting. Aspiration of vomit is a significant surgical risk.
- gte910h 15y ago
  Okay, that makes sense.
tzury 15y ago
they do it because of the patient who were not allowed to eat several hours before The reason why surgery is scheduled so early in the morning is because you will need to have an empty stomach for about 6-8 hours before your procedure. This ensures that your stomach is empty of any contents for general anesthesia. This way, if you get nauseated after surgery, you can try to throw up, but nothing will come out. With no stomach contents, you will not accidentally swallow stuff into your windpipe, or lungs. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5407499 http://EzineArticles.com/5407499
stephencanon 15y ago
First: not all surgeons start at 5; it varies somewhat with the specialty. The more "hard-core" specialties tend to start earlier in the morning because the cases can run longer (12-16 hour surgeries, while not typical, are not unheard of either). Second, they don't start operating at 5. They actually couldn't--the non-M.D. staff (nurses and techs) work on "normal" shifts, so there's only a minimal overnight crew (present to handle emergencies that cannot wait until morning) at that time. Surgeries actually start around 7:30-8:00 typically, but the team needs to round on the patients under their care and discuss what's slated for the day before they go into the OR. Since that takes a couple hours, they start at 5.