5:30 am. Alarm goes off. Time to pump breast milk for my baby.
6:00 am. Husband feeds the baby, I wake up the three-year-old.
6:15 am. Feed the kids breakfast, pack lunches, get the kids in the minivan.
6:45 am. Drive to day care and drop off the kids. They cry as I leave the room.
7:15 am. Arrive at the hospital and pump in the call room.
8:00 am. Grand Rounds, ironically on the topic of physician wellness and sleep deprivation. I wish they could live a day in my life.
9:00 am. Drive to clinic, prepare to see morning patients.
9:30 am. First patient is complex and takes more than the 30-minute allotted slot.
9:50 am. Cerumen impaction, takes longer than expected to remove.
10:30 am. I miss my pumping break and just move on to a Medicare annual physical.
11:30 am. Last patient, sinus infection, sick enough for antibiotics.
12:00 pm. Aching breasts and very hungry. Hunger wins.
12:20 pm. Finally get to pump again.
12:50 pm. “Rest” period prior to night shift. Spend entirety of this time finishing clinic notes, dealing with patient messages, and checking emails.
4:40 pm. Pump again.
5:30 pm. Start my night shift, assuming care for 15 acutely ill, hospitalized patients.
6:00 pm. Admit two patients to the hospital–an opiate addict with cellulitis and a ninety-year-old with a fever and slight hypoxia. I have a chance to pump before and after these admissions.
10:00 pm. Triage several pages about hospital patients and answer several phone calls as the outpatient on-call doctor. Fighting exhaustion.
2:00 am. Attempt sleep. I get almost an hour before the pager wakes me up. Somehow I feel even more tired after the nap.
3:30 am. Another admission–a complicated patient with lung problems, closely followed by a 19-year-old on labor and delivery in early labor.
6:30 am. End of night shift. Pass off patients to the day team, then shovel breakfast in my gullet as I pump again.
8:00 am. Finally done with all my paperwork, I drive home feeling woozy.
8:30 am. Shower, pump, so tired…
9:30 am. Pass out in bed. Get a luxurious 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, dreaming of my children.
Jessica Faraci
Colchester, Vermont
3 thoughts on “A Day in the Life of a Family Medicine Resident/Parent”
Reading this reminded me that while residents may have “duty hour restrictions,” parents never do. Thank you for illuminating the challenge in working and parenting!
Just sending love and support to you at this time. Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your world.
Dr. Faraci, that was an informative and entertaining description of one day in your professional life. We males are often completely clueless about the extra hoops our female colleagues jump through on any given day. I have an adult daughter in the military who has shared with me days much like you present in your piece. You, like her, have kept a sense of humor about things, but your main focus is the serious need for medical schools, hospitals, and other physicians to understand better the responsibilities and needs of professional women in the workplace.