Why Physicians Say Sick Days Aren’t Worth the Trouble

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A recent JAMA Pediatrics article found that 83% of clinicians admitted to coming to work while sick and 95% admitted to knowing that it could be dangerous for their patients.¹ “The decision to work sick is shaped by systems-level and sociocultural factors,” the study authors wrote.

In speaking with rheumatologists on the matter, I found they seem to typify the study’s findings of rarely calling out sick.

“In more than 20 years, I have only taken a sick day twice,” says Stuart Kaplan, MD, chief of rheumatology, South Nassau Communities Hospital, Oceanside, N.Y. “One was after I broke my foot. I took the day off to see an orthopedist and then returned to work on crutches for the next six weeks. The other time was when I had the flu and almost passed out at work. I went home to bed and returned to work the next day.”

Dr. Kaplan

Alexa Simon Meara, MD, clinical instructor and a rheumatologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, says the only time she has taken a sick day was when her water broke during a pregnancy.

“I was teaching medical students,” she recalls. “I had rounded that morning on a busy internal medicine inpatient service and had not finished my notes. While sitting in a hospital bed having contractions every three minutes and attached to a tocometer, I borrowed the nurse’s computer on wheels and staffed all of my residents’ progress notes from earlier that day.”

Evan Leibowitz, MD, MS, rheumatologist, Prospect Medical Offices, Midland Park, N.J., says he must be extremely ill to miss a day of work. “Symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea have kept me out of the office twice in the past four years,” he says.

Elyse Rubenstein, MD, rheumatologist, Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif., says she has not taken a sick day in more than 10 years. “If I do not feel well, I will push through,” she says.

Calling out sick is a significant inconvenience for patients and could even jeopardize their health, says Dr. Kaplan. “Physicians are trained to put patients’ interests before their own needs,” he says. “We are used to working under strenuous conditions, including when we are sleep deprived or not feeling well. In most cases, there isn’t anyone else in the practice who can pick up the slack and see all the patients who were scheduled to see the absent doctor. It may take weeks for those patients to get a new appointment.”