Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 12/23/24

I enjoyed Mr. H’s recent survey asking, “Which winter holiday is most important to you?” It came at a time when someone had sent me a meme about how to best leverage holidays in 2025 for long-weekend travel, and my first thought about it was “yeah, if you’re not a frontline healthcare provider.”

In my first job as an employed physician, we received the minimum holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. The rest of the time, I was expected to have my office open and available to see patients, regardless of whether my entire staff wanted to take time off or not. There wasn’t any such thing as flexible holidays and the physicians had no autonomy to modify the schedules in a way that suited them. I’m glad to see that many organizations have evolved from this approach, although I’m sure there are some that still only recognize a minimum number of holidays.

When I moved from traditional primary care into the emergency department, we were assigned to Holiday Track A or Holiday Track B, which alternated years and made it clear which holidays you would be working each year. Honestly, it made things more straightforward and I enjoyed the predictability of the schedule. I suppose that’s why I selected New Year’s Day as my survey response. I’m nothing if not predictable, and I enjoy starting the year with fresh new spreadsheets to track my household budget, fitness goals, and various other things. I use some online tools as well, but there’s just something about seeing my data in the same format I’ve been using since 2009 before wearables and linked software really changed the game.

If your favorite holidays involve snow and you’re a physician, Epic is hiring for its physician team. It’s a relatively small team and I’m not sure if someone is leaving or if they’re expanding, but the job posting was shared in one of my online physician forums. Unlike other physician informaticist job postings I’ve seen over the years, this one doesn’t have a lot of detail as to the actual job description. It focuses on the positive aspects of working for Epic, including the campus, the food, and Epic’s sabbatical program for workers who stay at least five years. The posting received some scathing reviews on the forum where it was shared, primarily because the requirements specify “MD with several years of inpatient and/or outpatient experience” which raised the hackles of physicians who are DOs. I’m not sure if that’s an oversight or if Epic believes the MD credential is more relevant to the work. Others pointed out the fact that it requires COVID-19 vaccination, which isn’t something you often see in job postings in 2024. Let’s just say it was a lively discussion.

Although some people love the holiday shopping experience, I’m not one of them, so I made sure to time my Target run for 10 p.m., which seemed to work out well. In addition to the bathmat that I was in search of, I was surprised to see Oura rings for sale. It’s the first time I’ve seen them in person and the finishes available seemed nice. The store was sold out of sizing kits, so I’m guessing it’s likely to be a popular holiday gift.

Whoever does the merchandising at my local store has a sense of humor. There was an entire endcap display of “things you need to make fudge” but without any kind of signage or display. I only recognized what was going on with those particular shelves because I had just made a batch. I’m not sure others would make the connection. The Christmas section of the store was picked almost clean, but there were still a few things left in the Hanukkah section. I didn’t see specific areas for any of the other winter holidays and observances. Based on my recent mood, if they had anything for Festivus I would likely have considered it.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my decision to be part of a clinical trial, and I’ve just completed my first round of testing. Although completing the tests was straightforward, I’ve been told to expect to wait four to six weeks for release of my results. That experience is a departure from what we’ve all become used to over the last decade, with near-instant release of most labs performed locally. Even those that are send-out or complicated typically result within a week or so, unless they’re something really unusual.

It’s a good reminder of the progress we’ve made in healthcare, even when a lot of the other aspects of care delivery seem to be undesirable. Once the test results are back I’ll find out which of the screening interventions I’m assigned to. Not sure how long that piece will take, but at least it gives me something to look forward to in my email other than solicitations by other LinkedIn members looking to sell me something.

I receive hundreds of press releases each week and I admit I probably miss a lot of interesting news because there is just so much junk out there. I did enjoy reading a recent release that covered Providence Mission Hospital’s efforts to provide concierge services as an employee benefit. The goal is “to make life easier for hospital staff by helping them tackle everyday tasks so they can focus on what they do best: providing exceptional care to patients.” Services offered include running errands, scheduling personal appointments, arranging travel, shopping and gift wrapping, and managing household tasks. I’m sure the devil is in the details, but this sounds like a great benefit to me. I know I’m not the only one that puts off straightforward tasks because I don’t have the time to make phone calls during the day and can’t make appointments online – things like having my car’s tires rotated or scheduling a chimney inspection.

I know a lot of corporate employers offer conveniences at the office to increase employee willingness to work long hours, including dry cleaning services as well as discounted meals, gyms, and fitness classes. I’m wondering how many offer this kind of personal concierge service and how it’s working out. Does your employer offer unique benefits? Which is your favorite? Leave a comment or email me.

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