@ RunnerRae - the official rules say after 26 hours you can no longer take place in any -new- patient interaction; so if you were asked to see a patient (or multiple patients) in hour 26, it could take you until hour 30 or 31 to see everyone; then you would spend a few hours doing paperwork for admissions, etc. A lot of coffeeeee! I wouldn't want a surgeon who had been up for so long doing surgery on me either - one of the patients flat out asked for someone else to see her after she asked me how many hours I'd been working; but I am the "freshest" one on the team! The senior fellows work much harder!
@ Parsley - I sort of am a rebel and I refuse to wear scrubs on call (unless I'm in the OR or Med Emergency Team or part of the code team or obstetrics) - I think it's miserable enough that I have to be up for so many hours that I don't have to look miserable doing it. I am also consistently cold in scrubs - and there are never XS ones left (or S ones); so I end up with M ones that make me look like a deflated linebacker in green. I look terrible in greens!
Ditto with the white coat - the long one is "okay" in XXS, and I only wear it when I am on a consult service or need to convince someone to do something my way :p The subliminal power of the Long White Coat!
The only place I can wear my nice clothes is the hospital - where am I ever anywhere else? NB: I am also a psychiatry resident, so my contact with eww-gross things is very minimal. I got sneezed on once, though.
