Jeopardy Jail

I am currently on Jeopardy Same Day Access clinic for 2 weeks.
It might be my least favorite rotation yet.

While it means that my "scheduled" hours are quite nice in that I am supposed to be present and see patients in FP clinic from 8-5 (M-F) and have no scheduled weekend calls, I am only opened up for "same day" clinic slots in the chance that someone a) gets ill or has an emergency and can't go to work, b) forgets about and doesn't show up to work or call, c) has an alternative educational opportunity to attend during their rotation/call, d) is busy with a continuity OB delivery, or e) there is a scheduling snafu and someone's clinic has to be covered because they somehow were scheduled to be in 2 places at once.

There may be more scenarios that I am not aware of.
Basically, I am needed nowhere, but I have to be accessible at all times.
It is kind of a bummer.

It was actually convenient this past Monday, when I felt awful after fighting a week long URI with hacking cough (which certainly was not improved by skiing last weekend... more on that below) and was sent home from clinic (never mind the 30 or so patients I probably infected while seeing patients all day, bearing a mask, last Thurs and Friday). No one had to cover for me, because I am the jeopardy resident and, as mentioned above, I am sort of an "extra body" but not really anyone of any importance.

I would say I'd rather be on OB as Antepartum resident or at Mather VA than on Jeopardy, but that might be just being dramatic. I'm not sure I believe that. However, it is just quite restrictive and rather annoying.

I am not allowed to schedule in advance any of my own patients in clinic, in the off chance that I get "jeopardized" somewhere else to cover someone else. With already-limited clinic slots and somewhat lagging (relative to my classmates) in patient "numbers" (we are required by the residency accreditation committee to see a certain number of patients before graduating or completing each year) due to all the time I spend on inpatient OB, and with an upcoming away rotation in the month of February, I definitely don't have enough clinic slots to see my own patients on my panel. And I am still not really building numbers because they often don't open me up in same day clinic until a few time slots in the day have already gone by, so I basically sit in clinic, bored, "trolling" other residents' schedules for patients I can take off their hands in order to be doing something useful, if not only just something. It is not efficient. It is bad for continuity. However I must say, my inbasket (of results, patient calls to return, refill authorizations, etc.) is pretty pristine (perhaps the cleanest it's been in residency!).

And while I technically have weekends off, I don't really, because I have to be within an hour of here, and bearing my pager 24/7, to potentially cover someone if they need it. Bummer, with a three-day weekend coming up, and it being ski season with Tahoe so close.

Last weekend was awesome (note that it was the end of my ENT/ophthalmology block and pre-jeopardy). Despite not having a voice due to a bad cough, I was not about to let plans fall through (esp ski plans with good friends!) and I joined Erin, TJ, Christian, and Mike (friends of theirs from Stanford) skiing at Sugarbowl up by North Lake Tahoe.

It was awesome! Due to an early start, we basically got a full day in, from lift open to close.
It was so great to see Erin and TJ, as well as Mike and Christian, who I'd met before, both in Palo Alto and at Erin/TJ's wedding.
Mike had never skiied before, but (a true natural) was doing blue slopes by the end of the day!
The snow was good, it was not too crowded, the slopes were varied and interesting, the weather was great (warm in the 30s just until it started to rain at the very end of the day), I think I inadvertently made it down a stretch of black diamond (which I swore I would never intentionally get on), and I didn't fall the entire day (that is my measure of true success!).
Good times. Here are some pictures:

me and Erin on the gondola up

at the top

all looking at something interesting!

Jeremy asked if people wanted to go skiing this or next weekend.

I want. I want a lot. But I can't. I'm not a gambler and I can't head up there if the off chance I could be called back.

Please let me know if you want to be jeopardy jailbird for any of the above weekends :) I will pay you well :)