call schedule for teaching attendings

[AlexMack12]

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Just curious about the call schedule/length for teaching attendings that work (obviously) for an academic institution. I'm strongly considering this career path and would just like to find out more about certain aspects of it. I haven't really been able to find an answer on the threads. I've gotten an idea of call frequency/length in some PP jobs because I've searched for them online but it's a bit harder to find that information for clinical academic appointments. Also, many threads turn into a PP vs. academic war and that's definitely not my intention. Both have their pros and cons and both are needed to make the world go 'round. But if anyone can weigh in with some info, I'd appreciate it! (I imagine it differs by institution and speciality but any general info would be great!)

Thanks!!

 

[typhoonegator]

Difficult question to answer because it depends on what you mean by "academic". There are plenty of people who work at academic medical centers, like Hopkins or Columbia for instance, who work a full clinic schedule with very little non-clinical responsibilities. Their jobs are essentially indistinguishable from physicians working in regional hospitals or any other hospital-affiliated clinic or surgical practice. That is a pure clinical track from an academic perspective.

There are other academic tracks, however, including investigator, educator, administrator, etc. These require you to fill up a portion of your time with other academic pursuits, such as quality assurance, policy research, development, science, running a division or department, training residents and students, etc. Depending on the situation, either the hospital or outside funding agencies pick up salary support for these portions of your job, since you will make less money billing.

Because everyone is in such a different situation with different percentages of their jobs devoted to these other pursuits, getting an "average" look at the amount of clinic or call is difficult.

I work at a Harvard hospital, where I am a clinician-scientist with federal and private funding for my research. I work 10 weeks a year in the ICU. Everything else is devoted to my lab. Others in my group work more, others work less.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Call schedules are highly dependent on factors other than "academic" vs "private practice".

Most notably the number of people in the call pool and whether or not there is any seniority benefit (ie, whether senior partners/physicians in the group take less call).

Some hospitals cannot cover the call schedule with their own staff and have others fill in the "holes". Call may be in house (Trauma at Level 1) or from home, especially if you have resident coverage.

Our department always rotated on a weekly basis, with one surgeon in the department being first call and another being second call. Others may have daily rotations.

There are simply too many variations of the schedule for anyone to give you any useful information.