It's Fifth Friday!

Today is Friday, April 29, which is officially the fifth Friday of the month.  Having five Fridays in a month only happens about four times every year.  When I was a pediatrics resident at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, we used to celebrate every "Fifth Friday" by canceling afternoon clinic and gathering together for a barbecue, a friendly game (usually basketball or volleyball), and enjoying our time together with all of the members of our health care team.  It was a great tradition, and one that I wanted to continue after leaving the Navy.  Unfortunately, I was never really in a position of authority to actually make every "Fifth Friday" an actual event.

A few years ago, I found myself in the right kind of position to start celebrating "Fifth Friday" at our hospital.  We started off by alternating every "Fifth Friday" with either breakfast or lunch.  We started off with just our physicians, but in later iterations we invited all of the member's of our hospital medical staff (physicians, dentists, optometrists, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, and clinical psychologists), as well as all of the physicians in training (medical students, residents, and clinical fellows).  For me, it was always a great time to meet with everyone and express my gratitude for everything that they did to make our hospital a great place to work.

After leaving that institution, I started a similar "Fifth Friday" celebration at my new hospital.  Despite everything that has happened with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have gained momentum and the celebration is usually well attended.  My goal is to continue to push the envelope on this and expand this to the rest of our hospital workforce at some point in the future.  

"Fifth Fridays" are a great excuse to dedicate some time to team-building, celebration, and stress relief.  Given the growing epidemic of burnout in health care, these kinds of events are needed more than ever!  I recognize that there are many, many other things that hospital leaders can and should do to help alleviate stress and burnout, but I think our Fifth Fridays are at least a start.  

Happy Fifth Friday to all!