Duke Residency's New 'Life-Work Balance' Adjustments

[psychphan]

So with the rank list due date quickly approaching, I received an email from Duke, wishing me well and informing me about some new changes they have made that will be implemented this upcoming year. The key points being; 1) Inpt Neuro now being outpt; 2) one of the inpt IM months now being outpt; 3) Lowering the cap on Duke inpt psych services from 11 down to 7; 4) the potential to allow moonlighting, with the prospect on having it in house.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? The big knock on Duke seemed to be there very heavy work schedule. The two off service months going outpt is definitely nice. As far as the inpt adjustmustments, dropping the cap by 4 seems great, although if you still are required to cover the hospital 12 hours a day 6 days a week then I'm not sure how much the work life balance will improve. Also,the prospects of moonlighting seem great to me, as moonlighting is definitely something I plan on doing and Duke was the only program I interviewed at that didn't allow it.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments on the changes?

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[splik]

when did you receive this email?

It is good they are making the changes but I dont think they actually deal with the issues which are 1) there needs to be short call so residents aren't working 12 hours/day 6 days/week 2) need to look at some sort of saturday day call 3) these changes are for intern year - the schedule is even more brutal in PGY-2

 

[SmallBird]

I also got this email, and it seemed very encouraging. Quite on the mark in terms of addressing my primary concerns!

 

[notdeadyet]

It's excellent strategy for the program, too. Keep your ear to the ground about reservations and concerns applicants have about your program, then reveal a program modification in the 11th hour addressing those concerns. You confer a positive impression in the final moments of an applicants rank list, and by doing so so late in the game, there's no time to accurately evaluate if these proposed changes are actually going to be effective or are just smoke. Very, very savvy...

 

[Bartelby]

It's excellent strategy for the program, too. Keep your ear to the ground about reservations and concerns applicants have about your program, then reveal a program modification in the 11th hour addressing those concerns. You confer a positive impression in the final moments of an applicants rank list, and by doing so so late in the game, there's no time to accurately evaluate if these proposed changes are actually going to be effective or are just smoke. Very, very savvy...

Very true. At the same time, I think splik hit the nail on the head with:

"1) there needs to be short call so residents aren't working 12 hours/day 6 days/week"

I think most people can handle doing more inpatient work, but the above is the big issue in my mind. Almost all programs are five days a week, and most have shorter workdays too. Just imagine two years of having only one day per week off (and probably being expected to catch up on reading, sleep, and household chores because there is no time for any of that every other day). I'm not opposed to working hard, but two years of nonstop work from sunup to sundown-- how can that not factor into someone's decision? That does not rule out Duke, but it puts it at a comparative disadvantage for many applicants I think.

So I guess if someone has their ear to the ground that would be the best thing to address. Heck, most of us would probably even be fine with 12h/day as long as we ended up with some weekends off (maybe at least 1/2 of weekends are two days long?).

 

[psychphan]

Yeah they are no dummies over there at Duke. But it does show me that they are willing and able to adapt. And sure it's a recruiting tool, but I don't see it as a false gesture. They are able to show tangible real changes that will be made. Sure there are other issues, but I think it's an improvement.

 

[Psychotic]

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[Psychotic]

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[RedSox87]

Hey maybe I can speak to your question above. So the average Duke work week is about 6 days a week for 4 months of psych, and it's not until 7 pm. It's until 5 on average. And every other weekend is only until noon for some psych services (just rounding). And then the 3 months of inpatient medicine at Duke regional and Duke Medical center are 6day work weeks (no surprise there) and they are until about 5pm. Then there's 4 months of ER psych & neuro consults & medicine clinic/peds clinic which are free weekends. And then you have 1 month vacation. And you do have the option to golden some of your weekends on inpatient psych and medicine. And as far as moonlighting, there is in house moonlighting available from Duke and it's pretty excellent as far as pay goes. PM with more questions