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

A country surgeon with kids: A day in the life

Hope Amantine, MD
Physician
June 7, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share

shutterstock_101193772

I have this life. It’s not a cubicle life — there’s a lot of everything in it, and I never really know what the next hour will hold.  Whenever I talk to people about what I do, it’s surprising to me that almost no one has any real clue what my life is really about.

Here are the impressions that they tell me, when I ask other people what they think I do:

  1. Chopping, slicing, hacking, dicing.  (Eh, no.)
  2. You’re like Peter Benton on ER, right?
  3. Office hours from 9 to 4, except on Wednesday afternoons, when you play golf.
  4. You never sleep.  (Close, but no.)
  5. Hip replacements.
  6. You decide when people will get better — as in, the specific date and time — and when they will leave the hospital.
  7. You always have a Swiss army knife in your pocket in case someone needs an emergency procedure of some kind. (Hell, no!)

So let’s dispel the mystery, shall we?  Here’s a day in the life of a simple country surgeon.  Today, in fact:

4:00 a.m. Page from the ER about a college kid with appendicitis. Discuss the case with the wonderful, organized, succinct and reliable ER doctor, and agree to admit him to my service (agree to be his doctor for this illness during this hospital stay).  Look at his CT scan.   Review his bloodwork. Online order entry for admission orders.
4:10 a.m. 7-year-old daughter had a nightmare (more like, probably heard mommy talking to the ER guy that woke her up) so she climbs into bed with me.
5:30 a.m. Get up, get a shower and get ready for work.
6:00 a.m. Wake up 12-year-old son.
6:03 a.m. Make a cup of hot chocolate (my breakfast, and also my daily vice) and start breakfast for 12-year-old kid.
6:10 a.m. Wake up 12-year-old kid again; kiss 14-year-old kid good morning as he gets his own stuff together without the need for parental supervision. (Thank God for him!)
6:15 a.m. Pack a lunch for 12-year-old kid
6:30 a.m. Wake up 12-year-old kid again with a stern voice and mild threats.
6:40 a.m. Cajole 12-year-old kid to eat the food in front of him because he is still half asleep at the breakfast table.
6:50 a.m. Kiss the boys on their way to the bus.
7:00 a.m. Wake up daughter.
7:10 a.m. Make breakfast for daughter.
7:15 a.m. Discuss clothing choice with daughter and send her back to change.
7:20 a.m. Pack lunch for daughter.
7:30 a.m. Encourage daughter to eat the food in front of her.
7:40 a.m. Sign school notes for daughter’s after school activity, and get her stuff together.
7:55 a.m. Walk daughter to school bus stop.
8:00 a.m. Daughter on bus; get in car to drive to work.

Car ride: Phone calls to surgery team to get the appendicitis patient ready for OR. (That’s not rushing him down the hallway on a runaway gurney, I mean paperwork.)

Also conversation with the nephrologist about dialysis orders for my patient in ICU.

Also, call with my mother about pick up planning for my daughter after school.

Also, call with the school because I forgot to stick the darned school note in her bag.

8:45 a.m. Arrive at hospital; see appendicitis patient.  Interview and examine appendicitis patient, and explain laparoscopic appendectomy to the patient.
9:15 a.m. Pop into ICU to see my patient there, review overnight events with her nurse for any quick order needs
9:20 a.m. Back in the car to go to satellite office.
10:00 a.m. Office visit with patient who has an umbilical hernia that just doesn’t seem right. He has had it for years, but now wants it fixed. The patient has emphysema, severe heart disease, early dementia, and an abdominal aortic aneurysm (according to the medical record, not according to him), thus a high-risk patient. He really wants to have surgery. I send him to his cardiologist to assess his risk of cardiac complications should we decide to go forward with a surgery plan.
10:40 a.m. Back in the car to go back to the main hospital.
11:30 a.m. In OR, to do an appendectomy.
12:45 p.m. Appendectomy all done, talk with parents. (“So how many times have you previously done this procedure?”)
12:50 p.m. Dictate operative report
1:00 p.m. Office patients, main office. A lipoma (benign fatty tumor), a sigmoid diverticulitis, and a guy with jaundice.  I spend the better part of 30 minutes setting up a same day visit to a gastroenterologist, the doctor he actually needs to see for his problem.
3:00 p.m. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.
3:30 p.m. Back to ICU to round on my ICU patient — go over everything with a fine-toothed comb — discuss with cardiologist, discuss with nephrologist (again), discuss with infection disease specialist, discuss with family. Write note. Only a page today.  Yippee!
4:00 p.m. Sign out to my partner who is on call today. (Tonight he takes the calls for all our patients in the group.)
4:30 p.m.-Meeting with administration regarding hospital staffing issues and office business.
5:30 p.m. Drive home.
6:15 p.m. Arrive home. Dinner already prepared by the nanny. (Gotta love that!)
7:00 p.m. Watch TV with kids.
8:00 p.m. Bathe daughter.
8:30 p.m. Read with 12-year-old kid.
8:50 p.m. Read with 7-year-old kid.
9:15 p.m. Shower.
9:30 p.m. Blog.

Now, the list of what I thought I was going to get done today that never happened:

Never mind.  It’s twice as long.

“Hope Amantine” is a surgeon who blogs at Simple Country Surgeon.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

This doctor transcends the differences he has with others

June 6, 2015 Kevin 2
…
Next

I started a family medicine practice for $11,000. You can, too.

June 7, 2015 Kevin 7
…

Tagged as: Surgery

Post navigation

< Previous Post
This doctor transcends the differences he has with others
Next Post >
I started a family medicine practice for $11,000. You can, too.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Hope Amantine, MD

  • I’m waiting for the day when breast cancer will become routine

    Hope Amantine, MD
  • What’s it like to be a rural surgeon? Read this to find out.

    Hope Amantine, MD
  • We all have the ability to touch other people’s lives every day

    Hope Amantine, MD

More in Physician

  • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

    Howard Smith, MD
  • Mastering medical presentations: Elevating your impact

    Harvey Castro, MD, MBA
  • Marketing as a clinician isn’t about selling. It’s about trust.

    Kara Pepper, MD
  • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

    Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD
  • How art and science fueled one woman’s path to medicine

    Amy Avakian, MD
  • In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Key strategies for smooth EHR transitions in health care

      Sandra Johnson | Tech
    • Reassessing the impact of CDC’s opioid guidelines on chronic pain care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • It’s time for pain protocols to catch up with the opioid crisis

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

      Sara Meyer | Social media
    • How locum tenens work helps physicians and APPs reclaim control

      Brian Sutter | Policy
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How Mark Twain would dismantle today’s flawed medical AI

      Neil Baum, MD and Mark Ibsen, MD | Tech

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

Leave a Comment

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

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Key strategies for smooth EHR transitions in health care

      Sandra Johnson | Tech
    • Reassessing the impact of CDC’s opioid guidelines on chronic pain care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • It’s time for pain protocols to catch up with the opioid crisis

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

      Sara Meyer | Social media
    • How locum tenens work helps physicians and APPs reclaim control

      Brian Sutter | Policy
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How Mark Twain would dismantle today’s flawed medical AI

      Neil Baum, MD and Mark Ibsen, MD | Tech

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

Leave a Comment

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

Loading Comments...