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My brother-in-law is an ER doctor who will get long shifts, especially overnight ones, where he's sleeping in the hospital bunker until he's needed. He said it'

My brother-in-law is an ER doctor who will get long shifts, especially overnight ones, where he's sleeping in the hospital bunker until he's needed. He said it's not a problem for him. I had similar questions for him just last month. He pointed out that working so much keeps his critical skills really sharp which is what you want when you're doing surgery/emergency. I suppose when you get woken up to intubate someone, you want it to be second nature rather than a faded skill you practice every couple months because you dropped down to saner hours. But he's also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that. Fun fact: he said one of the most preventable deaths he sees in the ER is people choking on food alone in their home. I think about that every time I almost choke to death on some gooey cheese. Make sure to chew well, folks.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
I dropped out of US med school after my intro ER rotation, over a decade ago (pre-ACA). It is my opinion that you simply cannot pay a US-trained physician (I have no outside perspective) enough money for the inhuman sacrifices required, simply to take care of (y)our lazy asses... =D My electrician career averaged less than 40 hours per week, and four-day workweeks were our norm. Life is nothing but sacrifices for an acceptable level of self-decided laziness/relaxation.
boppo1 3y ago
That's scary. I was recently struggling with some peanut butter (I often eat it directly) and had the thought 'could I wind up choking? Nah, no way'. Spooky.
jstarfish 3y ago
> Fun fact: he said one of the most preventable deaths he sees in the ER is people choking on food alone in their home. I think about that every time I almost choke to death on some gooey cheese. Make sure to chew well, folks. I normally advocate not living alone (slip-and-falls are also a concern; only god can help you if you have a stroke), but if you insist, take the Red Cross CPR class. It's cheap/free, a few hours long, will teach you how to resuscitate anything, and most importantly...how to perform the Heimlich on yourself.
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  it's just measurement bias in any case. It's like asking a mechanic which car is the most reliable. They have no idea, they fix the ones that break down the most. Likewise, oncologists mostly see people dying of cancer.
gus_massa 3y ago
> He pointed out that working so much keeps his critical skills really sharp Has anyone tested this? When I teach for long hours (much less than a medical doctor), I make more mistakes. It's a mimus sign in a matrix in the blacboard that I'm solving using the Gauss method. If none of the studens see the error, I'd notice when I verify the solution. It's not a big deal. My error can't kill anyone. Airplane pilots and truck drivers have mandatory rests. Because when they make an error people may die. You don't want a super sharp pilot that has worked 100 hours last week.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago

I dropped out of US med school after my intro ER rotation, over a decade ago (pre-ACA). It is my opinion that you simply cannot pay a US-trained physician (I have no outside perspective) enough money for the inhuman sacrifices required, simply to take care of (y)our lazy asses... =D My electrician career averaged less than 40 hours per week, and four-day workweeks were our norm. Life is nothing but sacrifices for an acceptable level of self-decided laziness/relaxation.

boppo1 3y ago

That's scary. I was recently struggling with some peanut butter (I often eat it directly) and had the thought 'could I wind up choking? Nah, no way'. Spooky.

jstarfish 3y ago

> Fun fact: he said one of the most preventable deaths he sees in the ER is people choking on food alone in their home. I think about that every time I almost choke to death on some gooey cheese. Make sure to chew well, folks. I normally advocate not living alone (slip-and-falls are also a concern; only god can help you if you have a stroke), but if you insist, take the Red Cross CPR class. It's cheap/free, a few hours long, will teach you how to resuscitate anything, and most importantly...how to perform the Heimlich on yourself.

sidewndr46 3y ago
it's just measurement bias in any case. It's like asking a mechanic which car is the most reliable. They have no idea, they fix the ones that break down the most. Likewise, oncologists mostly see people dying of cancer.

gus_massa 3y ago

> He pointed out that working so much keeps his critical skills really sharp Has anyone tested this? When I teach for long hours (much less than a medical doctor), I make more mistakes. It's a mimus sign in a matrix in the blacboard that I'm solving using the Gauss method. If none of the studens see the error, I'd notice when I verify the solution. It's not a big deal. My error can't kill anyone. Airplane pilots and truck drivers have mandatory rests. Because when they make an error people may die. You don't want a super sharp pilot that has worked 100 hours last week.