Actually, Doctor's Day was yesterday, but I only found out about it a few minutes ago from reading another person's blog. So happy belated Doctor's Day.
I first learned about Doctor's Day in my PGY4 year of residency. I only found out about it because like ten physician recruiters emailed me to wish me Happy Doctor's Day. Since then, there have been only very peripheral reminders of this holiday's existence.
I think it's safe to say that nobody gives a shit about Doctor's Day. Case in point: this year it's on a Saturday. They would never dare have, say, secretary's day on a weekend day. Nurse's Day... well, that's not even something we have to worry about because they get a whole week. But obviously nobody cares about Doctor's Day, so why bother making sure it falls on a day when people are actually working? (Granted, a lot of doctors do work on weekends, but I'd say the majority are still likely to be home that day.)
I get it. Being a doctor is just so amazingly awesome that it's a reward in itself so why on earth would we expect anyone to acknowledge us on Doctor's Day? And we don't. And nobody does. I suspect 99% of people who work in medicine had no idea that yesterday was Doctor's Day.
Except then, seriously, why have the day? Who came up with Doctor's Day? Whoever you are, you're a moron.
Also, word to the wise: never, ever forget Nurse's Week. You may be shot.
I'm a NICU nurse, and we do celebrate doctor's day for our neonatologists. A nurse or other staff member makes their favorite dessert for them to enjoy (within the weeks before or after the actual day)
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that, for nurse's week, it's the hospital administration that gives us goodies/recognition and not our doctors. (At least, our doctors in our unit don't do anything for night nurses, I don't know about day nurses). March of Dimes gives us the best treats for nurse's week.
I've been a physician for close to a decade and I've never witnessed anyone bringing in anything for ANY doctor for doctor's day. Except last year, when I heard some therapists gave some leftover bake sale food for out of our outpatient docs, which was kind of offensive in that they only deemed this one particular doctor worthy of a snack. I actually BOUGHT stuff at the bake sale to contribute to whatever charity it was.
DeleteAs for nurse's week, I have always brought in goodies for our nurses, as have the other doctors on my unit.
Possibly it's more akin to the difference between Bosses' Day and Secretaries' Day-- Bosses' Day is considered in poor taste by the arbiters of business etiquette because gifts should never go "up the chain". Bosses give gifts to their employees but not the reverse. To some extent, doctors are higher up in the Official heirarchy than nurses, even if the nurses really run things.
ReplyDeleteI don't know... it's not like a child/parent relationship. I think once everyone is an adult, they should be expected to acknowledge these things equally.
DeleteI had not thought of it this way before, but in a way it makes sense. Sure, doctors aren't the bosses of nurses in the sense of management (hiring/firing, payment, scheduling; private practice, where a physician really is the boss of everyone, is an exception). But in the "hierarchy" they're considered higher.
DeleteI always figured it was because of the stereotypes about doctors. I mean, do we have a "lawyer's day" or a "rich banker's day" (or even a "banker's day")? I wouldn't be surprised if we do, but you never hear about it. Why celebrate people who are regularly celebrated, or who have enough money to celebrate themselves, right?
There are a lot of jobs and careers that don't get special recognition, though. I don't think there's anything with trying to make a special day (or week) to recognize them. We all assume that jobs deserving recognition are recognized based on payment, but it isn't always the case. It also overlooks that nearly every job is critical to society's function in some form, no matter how low the payment or barriers to entry are. So while I'm not surprised that very few people know about or make a deal out of Doctor's Day (which I also just discovered this year), I appreciate that it's there.
Every year, the admin at my husband's hospital puts on a Doctor Appreciation event. This year it was on Friday. He comes home with some pretty cool stuff for the both of us!!!! Over the years, we've received everything from sweatshirts (with hospital logos--of course), umbrellas, car trunk organizers, backpacks, computer bags, foam stress balls (???), gift cards to grocery stores, reusable bags, instructions on how to lose weight...etc, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hope your admin/office gets with the program. You're missing out! I mean, who doesn't need a Hawaiian shirt with a hospital logo embroidered on it?? ;)
Actually, now that you're mentioning this, I *do* remember one year there was a free breakfast in the lobby of our hospital from the admin that was supposed to be for Doctor's Day.
DeleteI've never heard of Doctors Day. Nurses Week celebrations are put on by nursing at my hospital. Docs come raid our pot lucks. :) Admin comes around and waves, after nursing sends out an email announcement of the party we threw for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteSomeone sounds a little bitter and uncelebrated. Hehe. It's kind of cute.
ReplyDeleteYou should start a round up and get another co-worker to make it a celebration every year. Bring cookies, chips, etc and have a little snack table set up. That'd be awesome. Who doesn't love food. Maybe once you start it, it will become a thing of tradition.
Nurses' week is even recognized in our local paper. Mind you, that isn't a bad thing, because nurses are underappreciated. But no one in my hospital besides me even knew about Doctors Day. Since it was on the weekend, the admins (who would be the ones that gave recognition) were not working.
ReplyDeleteAbout the only thing I've ever seen is a stale cake they put in the doctor's lounge for doctor's day. Otherwise no one gives a shit. Including me.
ReplyDeleteNo, a nurse wouldn't shoot you for failing to recognize them during nurses' week!
ReplyDeleteExLax in the chocolate brownies brought in by the nurse on "doctor's day" is a real possibility, however.
(Is ExLax even around any more or have I dated myself, once again?) TCG, RN
HAHA agreed about the nurses!! (Canadian) Lab professionals get a whole week for recognition, too bad no one notices either... Without doctors (and Lab professionals), health care stops. Nurses are just good at being heard.
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Doctor's Day to yah!
Thanks for doing your job :)
-lab student
How about Engineer's Week? We design just about EVERYTHING on the planet, including things for doctors. No one ever says "Happy Engineer's Week" to me or thanks me for being an engineer.
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 years ago, our large level 1 trauma center stopped celebrating nurse's week and declared it "hospital week"....we don't get our mug or lunch bag or t-shirt anymore, yet we still make up the largest group in the hospital (administration is close in number though!). I'm not saying we deserve special treatment...but... we are the ones cleaning up everything that spews out of our patients AND when the docs pull the narcs, we're the ones getting hot coffee and fists thrown our way....so the occasional recognition goes a looong way!
ReplyDelete