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A typical shift

Emergency department, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. You pick up a chart: a sprained ankle. History, exam, order the X-ray, splint it, discharge with instructions, run the plan past your supervising doctor between patients. Next a child with a fever, then a laceration you stitch yourself, then a chest pain you work up and hand over. Fifteen to twenty patients in a shift. On a surgical service, the day starts with 6:30 a.m. rounds, then hours holding retractors and closing wounds.