26hr photo project: "The rewarding piece is the collaborative teamwork."

Dr. Mary Fras says: "It’s challenging working in a lot of different places. You never feel truly competent, and you want to give your best to each family you see. Working a week in clinic, and then coming to ICU and shifting your medical frame of mind; you want to make sure something isn’t being missed, not because medicine is unexpected and weird stuff happens all the time, but because it was something you should’ve thought of because someone else would’ve known. It’s wanting to make sure you’re giving the best to the patients all the time, and feeling like you’re pulled in lots of different directions. If medicine was just patient care, not that it would be easier, but it’s so much bigger then that and it’s challenging, and you don’t want to let anyone down.

"The rewarding piece is the collaborative teamwork. Doctors are great, but really, the crux of successful outcomes in PICU is the team; the nurses, RT's, the residents, the unit clerks, everyone working together. Sometimes when we’re in a code, it always feels unsettled, but for like nine nanoseconds I can see it from above and you can see everyone working in their own space, but together. It’s nice to be included in a group of people working for good things. And when it goes well, and even when it doesn’t, at least you can think, all these people really gave it their all." Swipe below to see Dr. Fras before and after call.

About 26hr photo project: Photographer Rebecca Hay is a resident physician training in Paediatrics in Calgary. "Physicians commonly work shifts up to 26 hours long—often without breaks or sleep, caring for families and vulnerable people. A lot can happen in that time, both beautiful and exhausting. I started the photo project "26hr" to highlight the human aspect of medicine and the incredible people working these shifts, and to explore their stories and perceptions."

Rebecca is on Instagram as @liferecaptured.