It be like that sometimes.
âI asked one of the doctors at work if sheâd had lunch, and she just sort of⌠laughed at me.â - My roommate (a radiographer). We were having a chat about how different lunchtime is for different colleagues in hospital. I do feel that it comes across a little horrific to non-medics when you casually mention that you can go through 13h shifts and just not find time to eat, or drink, or pee. Itâs just so normalised in our circles that sometimes itâs weird to realise other people think thatâs⌠really bad? Because it is really bad, but itâs so normalised in medical circles that it just becomes something you hate but accept happens sometimes. I remember recently reading someoneâs comment complaining that someone hadnât eaten for like 7h, and my first thought was âthatâs not so badâ. And thatâs wrong, because not eating for 7h is unpleasant, and when I go all day on a 9-5 without eating, itâs sucky. But itâs nowhere near as sucky as those 13h shifts where you donât get to eat or drink or pee. And just like 13h shifts make the 9-5 day feel so short (seriously, itâs the only good thing about long day shifts; normal workdays just feel so easy in comparison!), experiencing something worse alters your perspective about things that are actually still not right. Iâs not just the shifts when you never eat anything, itâs the way you learn to ignore your own body thatâs the real problem. Itâs not healthy by any means; because we have to eat when we can (no scheduled break, people get sick when they get sick) you learn to eat when you have time), not when you are hungry. When you combine it with night shifts and generally flipping your circadian rythm around like a ragdoll, it can make it difficult to maintain that connection with your body; and knowing when you are hungry and when you are full. And thatâs really important for the metabolism and for avoiding over- or under-eating. When you get used to ignoring when you are hungry, and telling your body âwe eat when we eatâ, basically divorcing yourself from its needs⌠it has repercussions when youre not working. I canât speak for everyone, but I definitely sometimes have to remind myself to eat when Iâm not at work, because I can easily skip a meal or two before I realise. Which never used to be the case, before medicine. Which actually all leads on from a conversation I had at work last night with the night nurses and the difficulties they have making sure that they actually get to take their break. Itâs really tough when you canât predict when people are going to get sick, and we all jsut have to do the best we can and support each other. And hopefully work towards ensuring that everyone gets a break at a reasonable time whenever possible. I want to be that kind of senior; the kind who ensures their juniors get a break, but also the kind who leads by example.
:( yes as someone who loves her meals and snack breaks, it really bothers me how itâs almost expected that you donât have lunch in medicine! Or if you do, itâs to quickly grab a sandwich and eat it while you do paperwork. I wish something could change, so that doctors and other staff arenât so hesitant to take breaks! But i can totally see why they wouldnât - if theyâve got jobs piling up, and everyone around them is working without taking a break, I think Iâd feel guilty going to get some food. Which is actually pretty sad, it should be a given that everyone gets breaks
Not a doctor or a med student, but I have to say I find it weirdly ironic how doctors, who are supposed to be the people making sure everyone is healthy, are forced to have a super unhealthy lifestyle. I wonder how many times doctors have asked me, "do you eat three meals a day?" while they themselves do not. I wonder how many made sure I was getting enough sleep, eating healthy, going to the bathroom on a regular schedule, when they couldn't. I wonder how many people have been told their illnesses were due to poor lifestyle habits; specifically poor lifestyle habits their doctors had to keep as well. Not sure where I'm going with this, and I get that people don't get sick on schedule, but something about this feels really, really messed up.





















