Surviving My First Night on Call

    Intern year begins. This anxiety provoking year is accompanied by long arduous nights on call. Last night, I survived my first 16 hour shift. The weird part is how it flew by and felt like no time at all. It was a Sunday night at the hospital, how busy could it be? I fielded page after page after page about pain, shortness of breath, bloody stools, abnormal labs, nausea, anxiety, insomnia, and more. I had a fairly critical patient that I helped diagnose pulmonary embolism and treat her. When I had downtime, I tried laying in the cold on-call bunk bed to rest my eyes. As soon as my anxiety subsided and the thoughts racing in my head quieted down, I was paged again. Throughout the night, I kept thinking I would get tired. However, the adrenaline coursing through my veins kept me up and my mind fairly sharp. At night, I had time to talk with patients and think over problems they were having. By the end of the shift, I was proud. I realized this is why I wanted to become a doctor in the first place. I got to help people and make decisions in treatment. I realized how the past 4 years of medical school had trained me well and that the most important part of being an intern is knowing where to find the information/knowing when to consult a person with more experience than you. 

    Most interns do not have overnight shifts longer than 16 hours due to duty restrictions (80 hour work weeks). However, after your first year, you can work longer shifts. Most intern years are filled with night float or long-call on medicine ward months where you stay later and admit patients. Nighttime is a great time for learning. Some propose that the 80 hour per week work restrictions leave residents underprepared after their training. However, work-life balance is much better for residents.