overworked on call residents and a gift on Christmas day
My on call residents at the university hospital were on call overnight on Christams day. They couldn’t spend the day with their family but were spending the day taking care of sick patients, serving in the path they have chosen. But still, I think staying in the hospital on a holiday overnight can be a little challenging. I was supervising them but am able to go home and have a Christmas dinner. My girlfriend and I bought them each a gift- a scarf and a book, to keep them warm and open their mind. We went to an office that is open, gifts wrapped and labeled for each of them. We told the clerk not to say that we dropped it off so it would be anonymous. Then I texted them on their pager with no name.The next day they were so excited. They were shocked about how kind an act they were recepients of. I think medicine can forget the root of compassion at its core since among residents they often feel brutalized.They were curious as to who did it for them. They still don’t know.