Surgery residents, this is a message from your future:

Take care of your bodies now.

We know you don’t have much time to work out.

Please stretch at the end of the day. Do 10 minutes of yoga. Keep your core as strong as you can.

When you are doing bedside procedures, always always always adjust the bed (and the patient in the bed if you can) to your height and body type.

If you are short (like me) and standing on steps all the time, you have to work on your back, neck and core to prevent injuries.

The number one medical reason that surgeons have to stop working before they planned is chronic neck and back pain. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/15/surgeons-retiring-early-due-back-problems-brought-modern-surgical/amp/

I am 5 years out of residency. I finally have the time to work out every day.

It is taking very hard, very painful work to get my hip flexibility and neck mobility back after years of doing basically nothing good for my body.

So please. Take 10 minutes. Stretch. Do some cat/cows and some crunches.

And make your first investment with your grown up paycheck the right mattress and pillows for you.