Professional Pet Peeves: Med Students & Residents

People who use the emergency department as a walk-in clinic. When you're working in a big emergency room and have to see close to 100 patients a day, it's annoying to have someone insist that you sit down and talk to them about the back pain that they've had for five months, while you're worried about the three or four possible heart attacks and the person who can't breathe in the other room!

–Resident

On the other hand, there are also patients who don't come to emergency when they should, like when they've had a stroke or a heart attack.

–Resident

Patients who demand inappropriate medications, such as antibiotics for viral infections.

–Resident

The patient who has a serious medical problem and puts off seeing the doctor until the last appointment on a Friday afternoon.

–Medical student

Distant relatives who show up in the middle of the night and demand to "talk to the doctor." When I'm the only resident on call, the best I can do is piece together bits and pieces from the patient's chart, while simultaneously admitting new patients and dealing with emergency cases. The relatives would be much better off speaking to the patient directly.

–Resident

Being asked for directions all the time. Although it only takes a few minutes, this really adds up over the course of a day. As a resident, I'm only in a department or hospital for a few weeks at a time. I have no idea where the eye clinic, or even where the nearest coffee shop is!

–Resident

A word of advice to patients: Bring in your list of medications or labeled pills to the hospital. I've spent many long hours trying to google a patient's pharmacy, hoping to find a number where I can reach someone at nine o'clock at night, or trying to page one of five specialists to figure out what dose of medication a patient is on.

–Resident

Patients who refuse to tell you their medical history because "It's all in the chart." They don't realize that the chart is a huge collection of admission histories, imaging reports, and illegible scrawls. Additionally, I've seen patients mistakenly labeled with conditions they don't have, and this can be perpetuated throughout the chart if it's not corrected.

–Resident

People who cough or sneeze without covering their mouth.

–Resident

Undergrad, MCATs, medical school, USMLE I, USMLE IIs, Residency, Fellowship, and eternal debt. Still, I love what I do, and I'm not bitter!

–Medical student

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