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> keep the channel clear, or contact me otherwise I realize that I live in an unusual life vis-a-vis most HN readers. I do not work in tech, and I never have.

> keep the channel clear, or contact me otherwise I realize that I live in an unusual life vis-a-vis most HN readers. I do not work in tech, and I never have. I'm a physician: specifically, an anesthesiologist. I have always enjoyed tech, and I'm certainly miles ahead of most of my colleagues on that. But. Remote work is not possible. Relocating involves getting a new license to practice medicine (3-8 months), getting accepted by the medical staff of any hospital or surgery center you want to work at (~2 months after license is secure and job contract is signed), and all the usual stuff. So I cannot not answer any number that isn't outside the US system when I'm on call. I can't silence the phone when I'm on call. I can't ignore messages. But we're a partnership, so there's no HR to file a complaint with when someone banters on a business channel, and I can't order them to do something any more than they could order me.

lxgr 2y ago
I get not being able to ignore calls (although that sounds like hell too, given how common spam calls are to US numbers), but it would really not be possible for people to agree to call you if they urgently need something? Not doubting your description of your situation, and it does sound extremely stressful.
- devilbunny 2y ago
  No, not really. I’m on call for the whole hospital, after all. Any doctor or nurse can ask who’s on call for anesthesia and get my number. Some call, most text.
  - lxgr 2y ago
    So your hospital uses the same group chats for banter and on-call pages? That really sounds quite dangerous (in addition to stressful for the person receiving pages). Again, not sure if you are in any position to suggest changes here, but would an actual on-call paging system not make sense here? There are so many apps/services available for this exact purpose that can alert (with or without sound, per user choice) through iOS's and Android's "do not disturb" mode, can call or text several numbers in sequence (useful in places with weak signal but a landline) and much more.
    - devilbunny 2y ago
      No, hospital doesn’t, but my group does often mix business and pleasure and I don’t have the luxury of ignoring them even if I happen to be on call. The multiple-dial might help if we had a fixed location, but we don’t. Getting boosters or microcells in dead spots is just now happening, but the IT department could also enable WiFi calling, which they block. It’s a long litany of hair-pulling.

lxgr 2y ago

I get not being able to ignore calls (although that sounds like hell too, given how common spam calls are to US numbers), but it would really not be possible for people to agree to call you if they urgently need something? Not doubting your description of your situation, and it does sound extremely stressful.

devilbunny 2y ago
No, not really. I’m on call for the whole hospital, after all. Any doctor or nurse can ask who’s on call for anesthesia and get my number. Some call, most text.
- lxgr 2y ago
  So your hospital uses the same group chats for banter and on-call pages? That really sounds quite dangerous (in addition to stressful for the person receiving pages). Again, not sure if you are in any position to suggest changes here, but would an actual on-call paging system not make sense here? There are so many apps/services available for this exact purpose that can alert (with or without sound, per user choice) through iOS's and Android's "do not disturb" mode, can call or text several numbers in sequence (useful in places with weak signal but a landline) and much more.
  - devilbunny 2y ago
    No, hospital doesn’t, but my group does often mix business and pleasure and I don’t have the luxury of ignoring them even if I happen to be on call. The multiple-dial might help if we had a fixed location, but we don’t. Getting boosters or microcells in dead spots is just now happening, but the IT department could also enable WiFi calling, which they block. It’s a long litany of hair-pulling.