Hours per shift preference

[vtucci]

Hey guys. I was wondering if as residents you had a preference with the number of hours per shift. Please correct me if I am wrong but in reviewing some programs, it seems like there are 8, 10 and 12 hour shifts. For those with lower hours, there are usually more days. Is that right?

What do you prefer and why? I think I would rather have less days at 12 hr/day but maybe I am just crazy?

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[GeneralVeers]

Hey guys. I was wondering if as residents you had a preference with the number of hours per shift. Please correct me if I am wrong but in reviewing some programs, it seems like there are 8, 10 and 12 hour shifts. For those with lower hours, there are usually more days. Is that right?

What do you prefer and why? I think I would rather have less days at 12 hr/day but maybe I am just crazy?

It comes down to personal preference, family life, etc. I'm single, and the 12 hour shifts are great, as I get more days completely away from the hospital to go to the beach, etc. My impresion is that those with wives/kids prefer 8-9 hour shifts as they still get some time every day with their families.

 

[EctopicFetus]

It comes down to personal preference, family life, etc. I'm single, and the 12 hour shifts are great, as I get more days completely away from the hospital to go to the beach, etc. My impresion is that those with wives/kids prefer 8-9 hour shifts as they still get some time every day with their families.

 

[kungfufishing]

I like having more days totally off but find that I lead a more normal life on 8-9 hour shifts, both during work stretches and on days off. Whether on days or nights, 12s consume all of your time. I will reiterate though, sometimes it is nice to have the next 5 days off....

 

[Telemachus]

I like 8's because they are more enjoyable than 12's (usually don't ever feel tired, impatient, or hungry). I'd rather have more shifts and enjoy them more than fewer shifts that I like less. But it is really a personal preference thing, i think.

 

[Hercules]

I like 8's because they are more enjoyable than 12's (usually don't ever feel tired, impatient, or hungry). I'd rather have more shifts and enjoy them more than fewer shifts that I like less. But it is really a personal preference thing, i think.

Agreed. To me, 8's are great for two reasons. One, they don't consume your whole day, so you can still have a life when you're working a string of 8s. Two, they feel so short that you rarely get completely exhausted on your shift and hence enjoy them more. For me: 8's tend to end before I get a chance to get tired, 10's drag a little by the end, 12's leave me checking the clock for about the last 3 or 4 hours a lot of the time.

 

[12R34Y]

Absolutely 8's!

Reason being is that when you are done with an 8 hour shift which with getting there a little early and leaving a little late each shift can easily turn into a 9-10 hour shift.

10's can easily turn into 11-12 hour shifts and.......

12's can turn into 13-14 hour shifts.

I cannot ever imagine being in the ED for that period of time.

I like 8's because you still feel relatively fresh after a shift even if you are really busy (can go to movie, dinner, play with kids etc....)

After a 12-13 hour shift I'd be lucky to do anything other than to walk through my house and directly into bed. That's over 1/2 of a day!

so, i'm a big fan of 8's.

again i'm a family guy first so they're nice for my breed.

I can understand how some folks like the 12's though.

It's all personal preference. I personally start losing stamina after about 8-9.

later

 

[turtle md]

We do a combination of 8, 9, 10, and 12. I prefer 8 for most of the reasons above - still have time for the family, not a zombie after work, not clock-checking the last few hours. 12's do drag on. We do these on the weekends so that we can get more weekends off. I don't mind this too much, since it is only a few 12's a month, and the rest usually 8's or 9's. But all 12's would just not be too much fun.

 

[roja]

Used to be one of the 12's people.

Then started 8's. Definately 8's. No doubt. muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better. Going to 10's as an attending/fellow is going to require a touch of adjustment...

 

[deleted6669]

ideal: 4 eight hr shifts/wk = full time
nice: 4 tens
not bad 3 12's
awful 4 12's
really awful 5 10's

 

[shortbread9]

it seems like most of the programs out there are in 12hr shifts. Anyone out there with 8hr shift? if so...where are they at?

 

[12R34Y]

There are a lot of 8-9 hour programs out there. I have no idea where ALL of them are at, but if you just go to saem.org and look at the residency catalog you can go to ALL EM residency websites and find out.

there's around 135 programs so you probably will just get a few answers here, but you can do the research and get the definitive answer on your own.

later

 

[Telemachus]

it seems like most of the programs out there are in 12hr shifts. Anyone out there with 8hr shift? if so...where are they at?

If you are really interested in shift length, you have to talk to residents in the program(s).

The EM residency at my med school does 8's that are really 10's, whereas the program I'm headed to does 9's that are really 9-9.5's. Besides knowing the alleged shift length you need to know how the shifts overlap/transition to understand whether the quoted length has any relevance to the real shift length.

 

[GeneralVeers]

If you are really interested in shift length, you have to talk to residents in the program(s).

The EM residency at my med school does 8's that are really 10's, whereas the program I'm headed to does 9's that are really 9-9.5's. Besides knowing the alleged shift length you need to know how the shifts overlap/transition to understand whether the quoted length has any relevance to the real shift length.

Our 12s are really 13s, sometimes 14s.

 

[DrQuinn]

We do mostly 12s as PGY1s and 2s, and nearly exclusively 10s as PGY3s. Our shifts really are 12 or 10 hour shifts, no staying behind... which is real nice.

Q

 

[roja]

We did 12's as first and second years. 8's as third years. 12's are 12's. 8's are 8's. (okay each is about 15 minutes more but essentially theya re what they are)

 

[deleted52758]

cook county does all eight hour shifts exclusively.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Those county shifts are no joke though.. when i rotated there I never had a moment to rest.. it was run run run.. I think if they worked 12's at cook people would be dying..