I'm on call this weekend

As physicians and surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons we take a lot of "call". What that means for a specialty like ours, is that we are available to rush in to the hospital at any time and answer any pages that come our way. Most of the calls are simply for orders on our patients in the hospital. Some are from patients at home who need urgent advice about an acute issue. But sometimes, it means I need to drop everything and rush to the hospital. That means that I can't comfortably relax in a movie or in the drive through line at at In & Out when I am "on call". I'm not complaining. When I was a resident, I had to take in-house call every other night for seven years. At least now, I can go home. But the burden of being on call is not to be minimized. 

When we go out to eat as a family, we take two cars in case I'm called in. When we go to church where cell reception is weak, I spend much of the service worrying about missing pages from the hospitals. When I go to bed, I make sure that my phone is by my pillow. When I get out of the shower I check for messages. I'm on call about 3/4 of my life.

I'm well compensated for my work, so I consider that just part of the job. But as you think about medical care issues and health care and your relationship with your doctors, you might want to think about this kind of stuff. Next time you sit down on the toilet, think about what you would do if called upon to jump up and go save a life. And wash your hands.