A 90-hour shift without sleep is hard enough to imagine. Mine included brain surgery. As a junior neurosurgery resident in 2002–2003, I worked from Friday at 4 a.m. until Monday at 10 p.m., without breaks or a real meal. After being awake all weekend, I still spent Monday operating... all day and into the evening. By Tuesday at 4 a.m., I was back at work. I’m not complaining. This was how we trained at the time. I’m glad there’s now a greater emphasis on treating residents humanely. How do you think you’d hold up? #MedTwittershow more

Well...I did a neurosurgery residency too...only 20 years before you. It was the same during my residency. The resident on call for the weekend came in Friday morning and didn't leave until Monday night.

Thx

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I foolishly took neurosurgery as a med school elective. In one 72 hr marathon session, I got 4 hours of sleep. This was 4 more hours than any of the residents got.. Toward the end, there were bright sparkles in the air and the walls were pulsating.

Thank you and all your colleagues for your hard work, but the last thing I would want is someone who has not slept in 90 hours - or even 24 hours- performing surgery on me. This has to change.

This was before work hour restriction laws 2003-4

I’m glad to hear that!! Hope you’ve all enjoyed some rest!

I worked beside exhausted residents as an RN decades ago, I would often ask, “aren’t they confusing you with NAVY SEALS?” The public should be aware of this unrealistic practice. Yup Doc Oren I’m aware of the hospitals secrets unfortunately!

This was before 80 hour work rules which happened July 2003

Just a random remote memory, here. When I was a neurology resident doing an elective 6 week rotation on neurosurgery at the U of Minnesota in 1974, with Dr. Shelly Chu as Chair, and Dr. George Allen (of nifedipine for SAH vascular spasm fame) as chief resident, residents who were up all night were told to “crash” for a few hours and were not permitted to be in the operating room. It was a safety issue.

I have heard that most respected surgery programs are illegally sidestepping the rules on limited resident work hours and the ACGME turns a blind eye to it.

I see other side very honest programs

I’m glad if I am wrong about this. I don’t want Libby Zion to have died in vain.

You are absolutely right. There was this time for us in residency and I am very happy to watch this mentality totally disappearing.

Yes 80 hour work week came about in 2003 helped

God bless you for your hard work

Thank you

In 1996 I was senior resident on a busy transplant service. Between me and the transplant fellow, I didn’t go home for an entire week. Always planting or harvesting, sometimes taking small jets to harvest. I logged about 20 hrs of naps during the entire week.

I’m retired, but due to a sleep disorder, I sleep very little anyway

Remember being the RMO for a suburban hospital for almost as long…7am Fri until 10pm Monday…really baffles me how…weekend included obstetrics & paeds as well as general medicine & surgery…would terrify me now!!

Yes…my husband was a resident then….he would come home after 36 hr shift & I’d say “if you walked into my hospital room I’d ask for a “fresh Dr”

Ah the good old days, in retrospect, we normalized these practices as a right of passage whilst in gitmo it was considered torture. Saw so many good doctors burn out from the culture. It was peak exploitation.

😳🙃🙏❤️

so u have 2-3x muscle memory, decision-making, and education of modern residents

I think it’s risky working healthcare workers too long. It’s not good for anyone. Would you want your newer pilots to be put through a residency program like that? Would you still board that flight. Nope!

I guess it is true then residents were all wearing Texas cath with overnight nursing home diapers to avoid looking bad to attendings and leaving during surgery... I doubt you learn better when you are exhausted.. And it is a worst type of gamble with patient's lives....

That level of sleep deprivation isn't a badge of honor-it's a patient safety risk. When do you draw the line between dedication and dangerous overwork?

So what you're telling us is that they made you operate while you were impaired. Yes, you were physically and mentally impaired; there's no way you weren't.