YOU, as a student, need to be in the OR as much as you can. A few extra hours, late in the day, when there isn't that much going on in lots of places, is not the same as being there during the busy 7-3 times when the bulk of the work is done, not to mention the bulk of the inductions, lines, blocks, or whatever you get to do at a given rotation.
There is NOTHING that I've seen from ANY of the program offices that says we should feel free to allow students to work extra hours in exchange for days off. That would NEVER have flown when I was a student - it simply didn't happen - we wouldn't have thought to ask. The expectation was that you were in the OR every weekday, plus evenings and/or weekends depending on the clinical site. Even now - we're being told by the program offices that unless students have a conference or presentation that day, there is absolutely no reason they need to be walking out the door at 3pm - yet most do.
What YOUR problem is, and is unfortunately typical of more than just a few students, is to see how little you can get by with and satisfy the requirements. It demonstrates a significant lack of maturity and a startling lack of initiative. I guarantee you - these same students will wonder why they don't have a better clinical grade, and why they have to settle for their 3rd or 4th choice for a job. Several of those students have posted on this board. Trust me - I watch EVERYTHING with a student, not just how well they intubate or answer my pimp questions in the OR.
As someone involved in hiring, I can tell you that your work ethic, or lack thereof, is a significant factor in determining whether I hire Student A or Student B. You are absolutely right - WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE THE BUST-YOUR-ASS WORK ETHIC ANYWAYS. I have a stack of applications from students from AA programs. When the time comes to decide who to hire, I will remember the student that tried to get by, that asked to leave early, that showed up late, and tried to BS their way through their rotation. I could give you a long list of that type of student. I will also remember the students who busted their ass, who didn't sit in the lounge with three hours between cases but instead asked if there was another case they could do, and who stayed and finished whatever case they were doing in the afternoon instead of watching the clock beginning at 2pm.
We have lots of students begging to come to our place for rotations, and we hire the best ones we can find. We do our best NOT to hire students with the attitude expressed in your last paragraph. I'm sure you think "gee, that's so stupid - J is just such an asshole". Think about it from MY standpoint - why would I want to hire someone who doesn't want to be the best they dan be at what they do?
Grow up.
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