I know hospitalists have shift work, but do hospitalists work nights, weekends, and holidays like EM docs, or do hospitalists have more regular schedules, like just mon-fri?

Also, do hospitalists burn out or is it becoming a viable long term career option?

Thanks

I've heard that hospitalists have the highest burn out rate...apparently, after 4 years ,they go into private practice, or something less strenous...

that's what I've been told...

Hospitalists work shifts like ER docs (any time and any day are fair game) but with a better schedule. According to my advisor, a lot of people work 3 weeks on 1 week off plus vacation.

Burnout used to be severe, getting better now. If you do a PubMed search, this is something hospitalists are very aware of and are working very hard to sort out. It also depends on where you work -- academic medicine is much better than the private practice in many respects because residents do a lot of your work (of course, many private practices use NP's for the same purpose).