24-Hour Fitness: The Orthopedic Resident On-Call Workout

In-house call is an important component of orthopedic surgery residency, with a significant portion of the post-graduate year (PGY)-2 and PGY-3 duties devoted to 24-h clinical shifts in the hospital. A majority of this time is spent attending to the needs of pre- and post-operative patients and responding to emergency department (ED) and inpatient consultations—activities that demand priority over non-clinical endeavors. However, there is occasionally time available for other pursuits such as research, study, sleep, and exercise. A variety of publications have demonstrated the need to promote resident physical activity [1, 2, 5, 7, 12] and the beneficial effects it has on both the mental and physical well-being of the individual resident and his or her ability to provide high-quality clinical care [4, 11, 14]. In an effort to encourage resident fitness and improve patient care, an assortment of exercises were developed that can be performed while on-call using only repurposed supplies that are readily available in the hospital.