Vacation. Everyone needs a vacation. You and I, and everyone needs it. Vacations are one of the only times wherein we get to relax from the heavy work and schedule, as well as to decompress from the hectic world and be renewed. Vacations usually happen in the summer or just whenever a person feels like it, especially if they are free.
Professionals are no exception to vacations as well, of course. Although they only go on vacations sometimes or when their schedule and boss allow it. But there are actually some cases wherein some professionals are unable to take a vacation due to how busy their schedules are and how in demand the industry they work in.
A perfect example for this is are the professionals who work in the medical field. It is of basic knowledge that the medical field or medical industry is one of the busiest and most in demand industry in the world due to their responsibility of providing excellent quality of medical care as well as the provision of treatments to people through dispensing medicine, creating medicine, and providing surgical operations or check-ups in order to ensure the person’s health and safety.
Sure, most medical practitioners are extremely busy, but a surgeon’s schedule is no joke. Aside for a surgeon’s hectic schedule, surgeons also have one of the hardest responsibilities in the medical field. Surgeons are trained for so many years in order to perform surgical operations on a person who is in need of surgical operations due to their critical conditions. Added to this, surgeries do not last for only an hour but it could range from 4 hours to sometimes a whole day of performing surgery. Surgeons have sacrificed so much such as their sleep just to provide the best health care services to the patients and to treat them from their diseases and save them from death.
Just imagining the responsibilities of a surgeon is extremely exhausting and very overwhelming. Added to the fact that life is full of unexpected moments which means that the number of patients who are in a critical condition who come inside the hospital is unpredictable, which is why surgeons perform multiple surgeries on a daily basis, to the point wherein they do not have any time to take a break.
Do Surgeons Get Vacation?
Now that we know how busy surgeons can get, do you think that surgeons get a vacation? To answer that question, it depends on the surgeon.
Some surgeons could take a vacation if they wanted to or they are given to. But take note that just because they wanted to go in a vacation, that does not mean that they have to go on a vacation very often. Surgeons are well aware of how loaded and big their responsibility is as well as their roles for the improvement of a person’s life in terms of their health and wellbeing, which is why surgeon could not just simply just take a break for long periods of time.
Surgeons normally go on a vacation if it is for familial purposes such as a holiday with relatives or an emergency, or to heal from work burnout due to the intense schedule and workload.
As for other surgeons, some of them do not really go on frequent vacations since they wanted to continue their services in their workplaces. There are also some times wherein the medical workplace is in short of manpower which is why surgeons do not just take a day off or vacation so easily because they serve as extra pair hands for emergency purposes.
How Much Vacation Time Do Surgeons Get?
Now that we know about how surgeons also get vacation or rest days, the next question comes to play about how often do surgeons get a vacation time. To answer the question, in an average, about third or half of the population of surgeons only get about 2 to 4 weeks of vacation every year.
This may seem as if it is not enough and just extremely exhausting but it is very natural and expected of surgeons to be prepared or be the beck and call when emergency comes. Although even if it is not on a dire situation, surgeons still work due to how some people need a surgery.
What do Most Surgeons do on Their Vacation?
Since we already know how some surgeons take a vacation despite their heavy responsibilities and hectic schedule, what could possibly be some of the things or activities that surgeons do when they are on vacation?
First of all, it would be spending time with family, relatives, or loved ones. This is the most common thing to do in general if someone is free from work. Spending time with family does not just establish a strong bond but it also a person to decompress from the heavy workload that they experience on a daily basis. Since surgeons are extremely busy, it is only normal and expected that they could possibly be spending time with their family at home or on a trip with them.
Next, some surgeons, besides spending time with family, they could be out with friend or their co-workers on a shopping spree, a theme park, or even just a simple get-together. Surgeons do need a little bit of social life after all.
Another thing or activity that surgeons do is to just spend their free time alone. It could be just in the comfort of their homes, like watching a movie, a TV show, and perhaps even just sleeping at home to compensate for the numerous sleepless nights and days they spent during their daily duties in their workplaces. Some surgeons, if they take a vacation alone, they could go to some places like a beach or anywhere that is peaceful in order to reconnect with themselves.
The Bottomline
Despite a surgeon’s busy schedule, they still take a time off from work, of course. They are still human after all and prolonged heavy workload could cause burnouts to every person which is why a vacation is not just a want but it is also a necessity for everyone in order to heal and reconnect with oneself.
