Rick was my resident for a month during internship. He was notoriously lazy. The last to arrive for a code, the first to leave after call, and never seeming to be around when you needed him.
He wasn't the kind of lazy who intentionally dumped work on others. He didn't see why anyone had to do it, and encouraged me and the other intern, Karen, not to do things either. As a result Karen and I spent a few days getting reamed out by attendings until we figured out NOT to follow Rick's instructions on ignoring labs, med sheets, exam findings, etc.
Rick, as these people always are, didn't feel he was the problem.
Anyway, one day my team was on call, which meant we were responsible for all codes, with Rick being the one who had to run them. Around mid-day there was a code on the 7th floor. Karen and I were both in ER doing admissions, but immediately dropped everything, and (big surprise) got to the room before him. We were frantically trying to remember our ACLS drills when a cardiologist ran in, then the chief resident, pretty much tossing us out.
After a few minutes Rick, the guy who was supposed to be running the code, came in. He was pretending to be panting (not a drop of sweat on him) saying he'd run all the way up the stairs from the lobby coffee place.
He was carrying a styrofoam cup filled to the brim with steaming coffee.
Without a lid.
And he hadn't spilled a drop en route to the code. Not a single brown dribble mark on the sides.
That's the spirit Ricky boy. Nothing EVER should stand between you and your coffee.
ReplyDeleteThis story is really funny. People are hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI wonder where Rick is today and if he ever made it as a doctor. If so, hope he didn't go into emergency medicine.
ReplyDeleteRick is probably in some high up corp position now. These people always seem to get promoted. On the other hand, he's probably safer in an office than a hospital. And patients definitely are safer!
DeleteI think he did go into emergency medicine - I believe I work with him now and he still carries that damned cup of non dribbled coffee!
ReplyDeleteSo Rick was not only lazy, he was extremely coordinated. That took an incredible amount of control, running all that distance with a full cup/no lid/no spills.
ReplyDeletePathologist - no need to rush
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is right -- Rick is a corporate officer in some health company/insurance company telling you peon doctors (LOL!) how to do your jobs.
ReplyDeleteThis works in all careers, not just medicine.
Come on Grumpy, you HAVE to tell us what became of this guy. No wait, I know. He's a CEO or something, right? Has to be.
ReplyDeleteI think he's working locums, or at least his clones are.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, Grumpy, I work with his sister (or maybe his kid).
ReplyDeleteOur management is so astute that they give her nursing students to precept so she'll have someone to actually do the work.
So annoyed that I'd love to set her chair on fire so she'd have to stand for hours and really "suffer" while surfing on Facebook.
Here in Canada we have a coffee and donut shop called "Tim Hortons". Every so often they do something called "Roll up the rim" with their paper cups, where if you unroll the edge of the cup, you might win a free coffee, a donut, or some other prize, the most being a car or something.
ReplyDeleteMy sister insists that the way to win is by holding a hot cup of Tim Hortons coffee while driving in traffic, with no lid on the cup, while wearing white.
Maybe Rick knows my sister and is practicing following her advice for when he comes to Canada.
And, yet, each day, my purse slung over one shoulder, guidelines for status epilepticus (or MMWR, or ... ) wedged under one elbow, lunch bag strap in one hand, slough of ER orders rolled up in one fist, and the hot cup of coffee in a wobbly styrofoam cup snagged from the ER pot (either fresh-brewed for day shift, or 8 hrs old cold when that smart young doc that disdains the hot brown juice)--with a paper towel folded into an origami starling to cover the coffee if someone sneezes in the elevator. Inevitably, no matter how very careful, when I reach across to the wrong pocket with the free hand and lean over to reach for the door keys to the pharmacy ... there suddenly forms a little puddle outside the department in the hall. The first thing the person following me down the hall sees, is me setting everything down on the floor outside the pharmacy door and a little fat frumpy pharmacist cleaning up a coffee spill. Every. single.morning.
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