2 weeks on 2 weeks off

[future_dr]

I'm a highschool senior. I'm aware that people change their minds a lot between undergrad and med school.
That being said, my goals seem to align with hospitalist-ism. I don't want kids and I don't plan on getting married. So hours aren't really an issue. I certainly don't want to spend too much time doing a residency and fellowship. That way, I can be relatively young as a hospitalist (starting at 30). Starting salary is around $180,000. (Imagine a 30 year old with that kind of cash, dude.) My question is about the work schedule of a hospitalist. Do employers usually allow a doctor to work two weeks in a row? If it is allowed, then would any hopitalists here recommend it? Why or why not?

The reason I want 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off is mostly just the relaxation time that it comes with. I can work like a dog for two weeks and then travel, meet people, or just relax for the next to weeks. OR I could moonlight(?) at a different hospital for another week in case I need more income.

And I should clarify that in spite of the superficial reasons I've mentioned, my desire to be a doctor does go beyond them. It's just when picking an actually career within medicine, I have to obviously be more nuanced.

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[obiwan]

I'm a highschool senior. I'm aware that people change their minds a lot between undergrad and med school.

Tell you what kid, why don't you graduate high school and college, get into medical school, pick your specialty, match into a residency program, and maybe 2/3 of the way through residency, you can come back to this thread and talk to us. who knows, by then robots could have taken over the place of doctors you know??
When I was your age, the last thing on my mind was what the work schedule of a job position that I didn't even know existed.

 

[dyeguy21]

A lot of stuff is about to change for you. College is the first time you'll actually feel somewhat independent and feel responsible for your successes and failures.

You'll have to do a lot of leg work to get good grades and have a normal social life.

Then comes the MCAT with all its troubles and woes.
Then comes med school applications and interviews. Then the hopeful wait until you get that letter or call that says you're accepted.
Then comes the 1.5-2 years of anatomy, basic sciences, neurology, cardiology, pediatrics, obgyn, pharm, path, pulm, GI, Rheum, Heme Onc, Psych, health systems, ethics, biostats, and guidelines. Then you have to beat Step 1.
Then comes 3rd year where you actually see patients and are worried about your ability to pass shelf exams while still trying to get a good evaluation from your attending and residents.
Then comes deciding what you actually want to do. Then comes applying for it and going on 10-15 (possibly more) interviews depending on what you chose. Then comes passing Step 2 CK and CS. Then you wait for match day. Then you hopefully go to a residency for minimum 3 years. Then you start your job as a hospitalist.

All we're saying is...you have 1 year of HS left (possibly the most awesome period in your life, if you get accepted to college and have NOTHING to worry about), 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, and 3 years of residency before this will even be a thing.

Take in the present, right now your goal should be: 1. Get into a college you actually want to go to. 2. Do well in classes in college, give yourself time to do well in pre-reqs (namely Organic Chem and Physics). 3. STUDY for the MCAT and do well. 4. Get into med school.

Really the overall goal at this point, if you want to be a doctor, is get into medical school. Don't worry about what you want to be or the schedule it permits. Just make it to the first base camp before you try to summit the mountain.

 

[Raryn]

I'm a highschool senior. I'm aware that people change their minds a lot between undergrad and med school.
That being said, my goals seem to align with hospitalist-ism. I don't want kids and I don't plan on getting married. So hours aren't really an issue. I certainly don't want to spend too much time doing a residency and fellowship. That way, I can be relatively young as a hospitalist (starting at 30). Starting salary is around $180,000. (Imagine a 30 year old with that kind of cash, dude.) My question is about the work schedule of a hospitalist. Do employers usually allow a doctor to work two weeks in a row? If it is allowed, then would any hopitalists here recommend it? Why or why not?

The reason I want 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off is mostly just the relaxation time that it comes with. I can work like a dog for two weeks and then travel, meet people, or just relax for the next to weeks. OR I could moonlight(?) at a different hospital for another week in case I need more income.

And I should clarify that in spite of the superficial reasons I've mentioned, my desire to be a doctor does go beyond them. It's just when picking an actually career within medicine, I have to obviously be more nuanced.

I knew a few hospitals in the midwest that had a similar schedule. I have no idea if they'll have that same schedule now in 2015, much less in 2027.

 

[jdh71]

I'm a highschool senior. I'm aware that people change their minds a lot between undergrad and med school.
That being said, my goals seem to align with hospitalist-ism. I don't want kids and I don't plan on getting married. So hours aren't really an issue. I certainly don't want to spend too much time doing a residency and fellowship. That way, I can be relatively young as a hospitalist (starting at 30). Starting salary is around $180,000. (Imagine a 30 year old with that kind of cash, dude.) My question is about the work schedule of a hospitalist. Do employers usually allow a doctor to work two weeks in a row? If it is allowed, then would any hopitalists here recommend it? Why or why not?

The reason I want 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off is mostly just the relaxation time that it comes with. I can work like a dog for two weeks and then travel, meet people, or just relax for the next to weeks. OR I could moonlight(?) at a different hospital for another week in case I need more income.

And I should clarify that in spite of the superficial reasons I've mentioned, my desire to be a doctor does go beyond them. It's just when picking an actually career within medicine, I have to obviously be more nuanced.

I wish you luck. Long road ahead!

I think by the time you are done with training the two weeks off will not really make up for the two weeks on, and you probably won't want to work like that. However . . . you will probably be able to find a job that will let you.

I also hope you find a better salary than 180k per year. Sounds like some good gravy at your age, and too be fair, it's not starving and much better than most people, but always remember the money never goes as far as you might think it would.

Don't give up. Hope you get there.

 

[235009]

@gutonc should probably move this thread to hSDN where most people rightfully don't know what a Hospitalist even is.

One piece of crucial advice you haven't gotten yet is to have fun! Enjoy your youth. Do things and gain experiences that make you a more interesting person etc etc etc. Don't let academics take over your life.

 

[deleted480308]

Just have fun and get decent grades without beig arrested

And yes, this should be in the high school section

 

[Crayola227]

The fact that you think you have figured out at 17 or 18 yo that you are certain you do not want kids or to be married....

Good luck with that. Sticking with that is going to be more difficult than specialty choice.

Maybe you're asexual.... if not, I suggest you have some really good contraception pre-planned out, and do not engage in any mind altering substances including alcohol, in fact, you may just want to avoid any time with the opposite sex, stick to porn, but make sure that too does not become an interference with your rise to the top

at some point you may get lonely enough to do dumb things or be convinced by someone else to accidentally or intentionally create a family for yourself
or even just shack up with someone, you'll learn as a physician all the ways that biology is designed to defeat any otherwise well-intentioned isolationism

OK, I was being mean. I was a kid once and had dreams. I thought I would go to medical school, I would heal and help people, have money, and be happy. Doctors told me this was not the case, but everything they told me as a barrier or example of why it was not that easy, I somehow couldn't believe. Medicine sounds too good to be true. Because it is.

All right, that was jaded. Do us all a favor, go to college, take all your basic requirements, you don't have to dive into your major/pre-reqs all at once. I started my first year with second language (required, Spanish is good in healthcare and elsewhere), basic biology/zoology, and the math that had to be done.
Actually research different jobs, and DO NOT LOOK AT INCOME. Look at what education it requires, what skills. Are these things you want to do for 50 years? Look at how many hours per week for the job of interest. Now try to work that many hours on your grades, parttime job, volunteer activities, do well at those, and see how that feels. Your goal is 80 if you want to be a doctor. 80/hr for at least 7 years. So try it for a term.

Whatever you are looking for in a job of being a doctor, just for fun, write those things down. Then see if for each thing you can list one or more jobs that would help you get that one thing. Then you could see if there are jobs that do more than one of those things.
Then think about those jobs like I said above.

If nothing else, you need to do a bunch of classes and extracurriculars to prove you've pretended to do this thought process before anyone will be convinced that you are fanatical enough to throw away your youth and happiness in a medical career

I want you to be happy. Don't listen to me, I'm an a*hole doc. Get some life experience.

And wrap it up.

 

[Gpan]

Actually I am doing that right now. Not easy, but doable. Gluck with your next 12 years. They are all equally important as any year for the rest of your life