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A typical day

6:30 a.m. rounds on your inpatients with the residents. 8:00 first case in the operating room (OR): a keyhole gallbladder, about an hour. Then a hernia, then a bowel cancer resection that runs into the afternoon. Other days are clinic: 20 to 30 patients, consults and follow-ups. On call about one night in four, which can mean an appendix at 2 a.m. or a trauma page at any hour.