Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

How call rooms reflect the personality of residency programs

Katie Lockwood, MD
Physician
September 27, 2015
126 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

An intern pushed open the call room door so that twelve medical students could crowd their eager faces together to see where we might sleep for the next three years. Only a few months away from medical school herself, the intern acted as if sleeping in such quarters were second nature. She gestured to the fluffy quilts the residents had brought from home to adorn their beds and giggled about how chilly the hospital nights were. Tiny white Christmas lights dangled from the top bunk. A sheet with a medical algorithm was taped to the wall above the desk phone and was decorated with doodles of flowers. And although this may have been the bed I slept in every fourth night for the next three years, the tour of it lasted no more than two minutes and needed no more than two seconds.

Although I had worked long hours as a medical student, I had only seen one call room while on my sub-internship, a rotation designed to simulate intern year for a medical student’s chosen area of specialization. My room, closet-sized with white walls and starched white hospital sheets on bunk beds, was an afterthought in both the minds hospital facilities management and my supervisors, who rarely let me see it. After returning home from my first night there, my husband asked if it was part of a larger lounge with flat screened TVs, leather couches, and a masseuse, as doctor lounges appear in TV and movies. “It can’t be that bad,” he said in disbelief after I described the white, windowless room I managed to lie in for a whole twenty minutes that evening.

Along the interview trail I saw many other call rooms, some as plain and bare as the one of my home institution and others as personalized and decorated as the one the intern had proudly displayed on my first tour. I began to see that these rooms were either a source of pride for some residents (a “home away from home”) or a means to an end (“a place to reapply your deodorant and brush your teeth” another told me). They became reflective of how my time on call would be viewed by each program. Either I was there to soak up every moment of learning and shouldn’t be sleeping much or naps were deemed a patient safety issue and required. Some programs saw the call room as a place for socialization with peers, individualized reading, or office space for work, while others saw it as a brief, resting post on a marathon call that focused on direct patient care as the primary purpose and means for learning. While call rooms never factored into how I chose my residency program, in retrospect I realized that I could easily have used them as a guide to the program that best suited my learning style.

Throughout the course of my residency, I spent varying amounts of time in call rooms, none decorated, but each with its own idiosyncrasies. My call rooms were a luxury, but not luxurious. There was one on the oncology floor that was positioned beneath the hospital’s tubing system, so you were equally likely to be awakened by a rattling tube of blood shooting across the hospital as you were your pager. There was another on the cardiology floor that it took me three weeks to find. In the meantime, I rested my head in my hands beneath the telemetry monitor and called that a nap. On the endocrine floor the room uniquely had its own bathroom, but was so cold that you had to remember to grab extra patient blankets on your way there or risk frostbite. And there was the one on a general pediatrics floor that was sometimes inappropriately occupied by a maintenance worker taking a break.

On a good night, I felt relaxed enough to take off my shoes and pagers and actually get some sleep. The kind of sleep where you need to set your alarm clock and that actually feels restful. More often though, I simply lay down fully dressed so that if a pager alarmed I could stand and run without having to look back. I purposefully kept myself in a light sleep and mostly just pondered my patients over and over, resting my body but not my mind. Occasionally as a bonus, a colleague from the night before may have left behind hospital tapas, a spread of snacks from the nutrition room: saltines, apple juice, ginger ale. If I was particularly lucky, I would get one of the rare rooms with a window and see the sunrise over the city.

Years later, as an experienced resident, I gave tours of our call rooms to prospective medical students. I opened the door and let the room speak for itself. Their usual responses were a disappointed collective “oh.” Occasionally someone would ask if they could bring in decorations from home, and I nodded, knowing that person wouldn’t be decorating a room at my program. This was a room for rest, regrouping, refuge, and hygiene. It was not a place for learning, for that came from patient care and colleagues. And it certainly was not my home away from home. Although my residency and hospital did feel like home to me, it was the people, the patients, and the medicine that felt familiar and familial, not the room that housed my body every fourth night.

Would I have loved a swanky call room as appears on TV? Certainly. Would it have made me a better doctor? Certainly not. As residency duty hours and intern schedules have changed over the years, so have the utility of call rooms. Without making any judgments about how much sleep residents do or do not need, I can say that my memories of my call rooms are vivid and yet unimportant in my journey as a physician. I am sure there are residents sleeping under quilts currently receiving a great education, but I know that for me, it was the life outside the call room that made my hospital home.

The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Katie Lockwood is a pediatrician who blogs at Mommy Call.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

3 tips to help physicians manage online criticism

September 27, 2015 Kevin 45
…
Next

It's time for hospitals to take nutrition seriously

September 27, 2015 Kevin 28
…

Tagged as: Residency

Post navigation

< Previous Post
3 tips to help physicians manage online criticism
Next Post >
It's time for hospitals to take nutrition seriously

More by Katie Lockwood, MD

  • A pediatrician’s approach to vaccine hesitancy in a pandemic

    Katie Lockwood, MD
  • I am grateful to Doctor Barbie

    Katie Lockwood, MD
  • Meals for new parents is food for the soul

    Katie Lockwood, MD

Related Posts

  • Which residency programs should I apply to (and how many)?

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Residency training, and training in residency

    Michelle Meyer, MD
  • Why residency applications need to change

    Sean Kiesel, DO, MBA
  • Let’s talk residency: COVID edition

    Angela Awad and Catherine Tawfik
  • 5 ways to transition to residency

    Stephanie Wellington, MD
  • The rewarding and grueling process of residency application

    Akhilesh Pathipati, MD

More in Physician

  • Heartwarming stories of cancer patients teaching us about life and the human spirit

    Johnathan Yao, MD, MPH
  • We need a new Hippocratic Oath that puts patient autonomy first

    Jeffrey A. Singer, MD
  • The meaning of death in medicine: the role of compassionate care in end-of-life patient care

    Ton La, Jr., MD, JD
  • How can there be joy in medicine if there is no joy in Mudville?

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • Physician entrepreneurs offer hope for burned out doctors

    Cindy Rubin, MD
  • The hidden factor in physician burnout: How the climate crisis is contributing to the erosion of well-being

    Elizabeth Cerceo, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How chronic illness and disability are portrayed in media and the importance of daily choices for improved quality of life

      Juliet Morgan and Meghan Jobson | Physician
    • The hidden factor in physician burnout: How the climate crisis is contributing to the erosion of well-being

      Elizabeth Cerceo, MD | Physician
    • Why affirmative action is crucial for health equity and social justice in medicine

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The power of coaching for physicians: transforming thoughts, changing lives

      Kim Downey, PT | Conditions
    • A patient’s perspective on the diminishing relationship between doctors and patients

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
    • Emulating Michael Jordan’s winning mindset: a path to success for health care professionals and entrepreneurs

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The growing threat to transgender health care: implications for patients, providers, and trainees

      Carson Hartlage | Policy
    • It’s time to replace the 0 to 10 pain intensity scale with a better measure

      Mark Sullivan, MD and Jane Ballantyne, MD | Conditions
    • “Is your surgeon really skilled? The hidden threat to public safety in medicine.

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
    • Breaking point: the 5 reasons American doctors are dreaming of walking away from medicine

      Amol Shrikhande, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the cycle of racism in health care: a call for anti-racist action

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Policy
    • Revolutionize your practice: the value-based care model that reduces physician burnout

      Chandravadan Patel, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The pros and cons of taking a gap year during medical school

      Med School Insiders | Education, Sponsored
    • A family physician’s journey on the OIG list and the struggle to return to practice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Heartwarming stories of cancer patients teaching us about life and the human spirit

      Johnathan Yao, MD, MPH | Physician
    • We need a new Hippocratic Oath that puts patient autonomy first

      Jeffrey A. Singer, MD | Physician
    • The meaning of death in medicine: the role of compassionate care in end-of-life patient care

      Ton La, Jr., MD, JD | Physician
    • From skydiving to saving lives: a surgeon’s journey on adversity, passion, and perseverance [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 6 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • NT-proBNP for All; Risky Weekend HF Admits; Ticagrelor for Infective Endocarditis?
  • Clinical Challenges: Test Your Knowledge of Dry Eye Disease
  • Clinical Challenges: Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Underdiagnosed and Undertreated
  • Best Exercise Time; FDA's Diabetes Guidance; Weight Discrimination Illegal in N.Y.C.
  • 10 Asian Americans in Healthcare Worth Following on TikTok

Meeting Coverage

  • New Model Aims to Study Intestinal Fibrosis in Crohn's Disease
  • Hypertension Tied to Worse Survival After Surgery for Upper Tract Urothelial Cancers
  • The Role of Amyloid PET in the Management of Alzheimer's Disease
  • New Inflammation Inhibitor Proves Effective and Safe for Dry Eye Disease
  • No Access to Routine Healthcare Biggest Barrier to HPV Vaccination
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How chronic illness and disability are portrayed in media and the importance of daily choices for improved quality of life

      Juliet Morgan and Meghan Jobson | Physician
    • The hidden factor in physician burnout: How the climate crisis is contributing to the erosion of well-being

      Elizabeth Cerceo, MD | Physician
    • Why affirmative action is crucial for health equity and social justice in medicine

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The power of coaching for physicians: transforming thoughts, changing lives

      Kim Downey, PT | Conditions
    • A patient’s perspective on the diminishing relationship between doctors and patients

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
    • Emulating Michael Jordan’s winning mindset: a path to success for health care professionals and entrepreneurs

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The growing threat to transgender health care: implications for patients, providers, and trainees

      Carson Hartlage | Policy
    • It’s time to replace the 0 to 10 pain intensity scale with a better measure

      Mark Sullivan, MD and Jane Ballantyne, MD | Conditions
    • “Is your surgeon really skilled? The hidden threat to public safety in medicine.

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
    • Breaking point: the 5 reasons American doctors are dreaming of walking away from medicine

      Amol Shrikhande, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the cycle of racism in health care: a call for anti-racist action

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Policy
    • Revolutionize your practice: the value-based care model that reduces physician burnout

      Chandravadan Patel, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The pros and cons of taking a gap year during medical school

      Med School Insiders | Education, Sponsored
    • A family physician’s journey on the OIG list and the struggle to return to practice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Heartwarming stories of cancer patients teaching us about life and the human spirit

      Johnathan Yao, MD, MPH | Physician
    • We need a new Hippocratic Oath that puts patient autonomy first

      Jeffrey A. Singer, MD | Physician
    • The meaning of death in medicine: the role of compassionate care in end-of-life patient care

      Ton La, Jr., MD, JD | Physician
    • From skydiving to saving lives: a surgeon’s journey on adversity, passion, and perseverance [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

How call rooms reflect the personality of residency programs
6 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...