Administration

As one of the senior residents at Valley, I had the fortune to attend to the organizational aspects of the rotation. It reminded me how difficult and frustrating administration can be. With only six residents on the rotation, it would seem like the schedule would be straightforward to make, but three iterations took far more hours than I would have guessed. Trying to accommodate everyone's requests, skill sets, lectures, conferences, and vacations became a Sudoku puzzle where a solution wasn't certain. I also coordinate with the attendings so that everyone gets a good mix of cases appropriate to their level of training. I sympatheize for our chief residents who make the master schedule for 80 residents and the monthtly Stanford operating room schedule.