Fasting
 

Ok, a difficult and delicate subject, some of my Muslim colleagues are fasting for Ramadan, I know full well that I couldn't do it, it involves such long hours without food or drink that I know my concentration and performance would suffer. If I were a doctor or a surgeon I would have serious misgivings about my ability to function properly, how does everyone else feel about this emotive subject? Should our Muslim colleagues have the fasting period off or should we expect them to still function on what is basically a starvation diet with sleep deprivation thrown in?

Re: Fasting
 

I suppose it depends on the individual. Who ever is managing people in that situation will have to decide if they are fit to work, if not then they should be sent home sick like anyone else would be.

WOuld you want to be in a fasting persons taxi or coach though?

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I wouldn't feel confident having an operation done by a fasting surgeon.

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But it is self inflicted 'sickness' - I would make them use their holiday allowance or no pay!

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Fasting is, whatever the religious implications, a personal choice. If you choose to live in a non-Islamic country and you wish to adhere to strict Islamic practise you should do so without it affecting your work or your colleagues. There should be no special treatment for those Muslims who fast; there is none for any other sect.

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I wouldn't have thought that non fasting surgeons will go from dawn to dusk without a bite to eat or even a drink of water. :(

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Seconded :alright: Karma sent.

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it is only during daylight hours- I know some muslims who have a hearty breakfast before sunrise and, after all, how many of us on here have realized, come two or three o clock in the afternoon that we havent eaten yet because we have been so busy - not much difference really.

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I agree,I fast all year round - only have one meal a day:confused:.At night.

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Thank you, Cherokee. :)

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Not me....I'd probably pass out if it got to 3pm and I hadn't eaten or drunk anything.

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you lucky bugga - there is many a weekend - i get up jump in shower - get girls ready and we go out, see family, they have a maccy d's or something for dinner with andy while i do bits of shopping etc
by the time i get home it is usully late afternoon - then i just wait until tea - not the best way to be i know but i get out of routine so quickly

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dont really see the harm in it, worked with em fer 23 years n it never affected any work performance on my shift, n was a job ya had to have yer wits about ya, so don't see a big deal wi it.

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listen its like this

amir khan fasted last ramadan and won his fight

he didnt fast this ramadan and lost in 54 seconds...

*LOL*

:D allow it hehehe

personally it doesnt start getting to me till around 6pm by which time if i was a surgeon i wud b sitting at home.

the only jobs that i'd think twice if i should fast would be the physical ones. you dont really lose concentration just cause your hungry but you would suffer if your thirsty mid-afternoon doing heavy labour.

but great question though.

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Dawn till Dusk Fasting??? Is that not what every single mother does?

I generally dont eat till 8-9pm, doesnt affect anything I do

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I was going to bring up this point...because i know many surgeons who function without food for long periods, but they usually grab a quick slurp of tea/coffee/water between cases.
I think that in the main most surgeons are professional enough to recognise if fasting diminishes their ability to function and would do something about it.

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Until quite recently, the typical shift pattern for junior hospital doctors (SHO's and non-senior registrars) involved a long one-in-three weekend. This involved a start at lunchtime on friday and finish at lunchtime monday. No time was set aside for sleep; the doctor grabbed whatever he or she could, when they could (which often involved kipping on a hospital trolley). It was no secret that the worse time to end up in A & E was a monday morning.

Nevertheless, this was the system that lasted over many years on the basis that it was character and stamina building for doctors and as such an integral part of their training. As such, going without a chicken butty and a glass of pop between the hours of sun up and sun down is minor in comparison. I would be far more concerned about the surgeon who is carried legless from the pub at one in the morning and is due in theatre eight hours later.

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Quote;I would be far more concerned about the surgeon who is carried legless from the pub at one in the morning and is due in theatre eight hours later.

You met him also what a coincidence.

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Fasting ..........no chance being the greedy ****** i am......:D

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If a person is getting paid to do a job of work and fasting interferes with their ability to do so to the satisfaction of the employer then that person should either break the fast, take unpaid time off work or use up their holiday entitlement.

Alternatively they could opt to take the night shift if there is one.

This should apply particularly to people who are responsible for the safety and well being of others, like an airline pilot and aircrew, bus/coach/train/taxi/HGV driver, officers on a ship, teachers, hospital staff, emergency services – the list is almost endless.

Maybe the answer is to make all people fasting during the day to use their holiday entitlement.

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It is one thing to fast for one day a month or forgetting to eat during the odd day and quite another to fast for 30 consecutive days.

In any case people who don’t eat during the day because they are too busy still take on sustenance in the form of drinks.

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what was scary is that once i searched a guy who turned out to be a high level consultant at warrington hospital and he had a £50 bag of cocaine on a night out.

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Now that woul sca the crap out of me mani:eek::eek::eek::eek:

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I want to know who he is. ;)

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I could probably do without the food during the day but I know I couldn't function to the best of my abilities without drinking water, and I am also concerned about the sleep patterns, if you are getting up at 3am to make a meal for your family and then not getting back to sleep that is a very long day.

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must be a new trend, getting up at 3-00 am cooking, me mates wife used to make a great big panfull during the the day to be scranned evening n next early morning, i know this cos i always used to get some.:D

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I agree with you on the water lindsay, I drink around 2 to 3 litres a day, in fact water is the only thing I drink usuall during the week, might have a coffee or two at weekends. If more people drank around 2 litres a day it would improve health, as water tends to clear your system of unwanted eliments

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Might Muslims be entitled to take time off on sick pay? Surely it's thier human right!

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I never stated that it was continual fasting. You know what I meant but then why let the opportunity to gain some Brownie points go by.

So let me make it quite clear.

It is one thing fasting between sunrise and sunset for one day a month and totally another to do so for 30 consecutive days.

Incidentally a human being will die not just ‘pass out’ without fluid intake for 30 days. But then I suppose that dying is passing out permanently.

I believe that the time limit is five days without any fluid intake and if you not dead you are beyond the point of recovery.

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If they were sick then yes.

But can a self inflicted fast be classed as sick?

I don't think that it can?

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The country would grind to a halt...

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Yep, she gets up at 3 to make a meal for her husband, and then after eating and failing to get back to sleep she comes into work looking very very tired.....:eek:

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Scientific research shows that to function properly the brain needs fluids (amongst other things)
Long periods without any new fluid will, without doubt affect a human beings concentration
I do not think that any religion should be allowed to interfere with a persons basic functions especially if these affect the rest of us

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Well then she is a very silly person.There is no reason to do that so it must be by choice.As Cashy said they can eat anytime after sunset and anytime before sunrise.

At the moment that gives them a 12 hour window - Must be after the sympathy vote - Won't get it here.:do-one:

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then to me, thats not a woman, its a SLAVE. no need fer it at all.:(

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commonsense tells me, there is underlying factors in it, no one would do that voluntary.

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Can't see any woman volunteering to get up at that unearthly hour but you never know

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She does it because he expects her to = male dominance and control

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Highly unlikely that you would have got any wrong items, all prescriptions are checked twice and the surgery you use have been having some "issues" recently with repeat prscriptions, but I am glad you can see what I mean and why I am concerned, makes you wonder about the doctors and surgeons eh?
:confused:

( Thankfully the fasting will be over tomorrow !)

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I hope your pills are in a blister pack so you can actually check the contents are what you should have. If they are loose in a bottle you could have anything.

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If you need to fast at least do 40 days and 40 nights in the dessert and give the sensible people a break from your religious rantings.

Good luck.

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Yes they are in blister packs and identifiable as what they should be but it just doesn't seem right that anyone should have to work when they look so obviously tired out. I know if I lose sleep for any reason (like being kept awake by a cough) I can't think straight at all the next day. I don't think it's so much the fasting that's the problem as the lack of sleep.