Contributor; Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

A 2026 survey asked Canadian emergency medicine (EM) physicians about their eating and drinking habits while on shift.

Among 527 respondents, 35% reported that they never or hardly ever ate during shifts, and 37% said the same about drinking water.
Lack of time was the most commonly cited barrier, reported by 91% of respondents.
Lack of available food, personal health goals, perceived mental clarity, and emergency department culture were also commonly identified factors.
Physicians who did not eat or drink on shift often reported that this negatively affected their work.
Years in practice were associated with eating more often while on shift, suggesting that newer physicians may be less likely to eat during shifts.

A 2023 study by Kontrick et al. found that 89% of US-based EM residency programs did not have a dedicated meal break, which may help explain why early-career physicians are less accustomed to eating during clinical shifts.
Studies outside of emergency medicine have also suggested that inadequate food and fluid intake can affect fatigue, mood, attention, and cognitive performance, though direct evidence in emergency department physicians and patient care remains limited.
Future studies could examine whether physician eating and drinking habits during shifts are associated with patient outcomes and broaden the scope of this study to other emergency department providers, nurses, and technicians.

References:

Farquhar, Madeleine et al. "A lot on their plates? Examining the on-shift eating and drinking habits of Canadian emergency medicine physicians." CJEM vol. 28,1 (2026): 64-73. doi:10.1007/s43678-025-01044-8
Kontrick, Amy V et al. "Do emergency medicine residents have access to healthy food options during work hours?." AEM education and training vol. 7,4 e10890. 17 Jul. 2023, doi:10.1002/aet2.10890
Lemaire, Jane B et al. "Physician nutrition and cognition during work hours: effect of a nutrition based intervention." BMC health services research vol. 10 241. 17 Aug. 2010, doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-241
Wittbrodt, Matthew T, and Melinda Millard-Stafford. "Dehydration Impairs Cognitive Performance: A Meta-analysis." Medicine and science in sports and exercise vol. 50,11 (2018): 2360-2368. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001682

Summarized by Sam Pahl | Edited by Sam Pahl & Ahmed Abdel-Hafiz, NREMT-P