commute during residency

[gman33]

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In the middle of interviews, trying to figure out the top 3 in my rank list.
Without getting into my criteria for programs, there is one issue that keeps coming up.

Where I am going to live and the commute to work.

Due to stuff with my wife's work, the best scenario is for me to stay living in our current location. We could move, but it would suck for a couple of reasons and cost us a ton more money.

There are two programs that I am considering for my #1.
I'm trying not to overthink it as I know I may not even end up at either place.

Both are very good programs, but one seems like a much better fit for me.
Problem is this place is going to leave me with about an hour commute.
More like 45 minutes with minimal traffic, can get longer with bad traffic.

Second choice would be about 30 minutes each way.

In my back pocket is the thought that if the commute just is not manageable, I could end up moving if we really, really had to.

I know that other residents in this program do a similar commute each day.

Either place would give me excellent training, but place A just excites me more.

Thoughts?

 

[Greenbbs]

My wife and I had the same issue during our residency. I drove 45 min and she did 30 min. We picked a place that was equally inconvienient to live at. I didnt mind the drive because it allowed me to decompress after a shift so when i got home, i had already had some "alone time"nto clear my head and allow me the rest of the day to spend with the kids, etc

 

[SeekerOfTheTree]

You can do it man. I have to drive 1.5 hrs each way....thats if I am lucky.

 

[pinipig523]

45 is probably the limit for me.

 

[tkim]

In the middle of interviews, trying to figure out the top 3 in my rank list.
Without getting into my criteria for programs, there is one issue that keeps coming up.

Where I am going to live and the commute to work.

Due to stuff with my wife's work, the best scenario is for me to stay living in our current location. We could move, but it would suck for a couple of reasons and cost us a ton more money.

There are two programs that I am considering for my #1.
I'm trying not to overthink it as I know I may not even end up at either place.

Both are very good programs, but one seems like a much better fit for me.
Problem is this place is going to leave me with about an hour commute.
More like 45 minutes with minimal traffic, can get longer with bad traffic.

Second choice would be about 30 minutes each way.

In my back pocket is the thought that if the commute just is not manageable, I could end up moving if we really, really had to.

I know that other residents in this program do a similar commute each day.

Either place would give me excellent training, but place A just excites me more.

Thoughts?

I'd avoid driving any longer than you have to, particularly during those rotations where you are post-call. Dangerous.

I'd avoid having to move again during residency. Stressful.

Unless your wife's work has the crazy hours that residency entails, I think it would be far less stressful for you to move so your travel time is less.

 

[docB]

I commuted during residency. It was about 35 - 40 minutes without traffic. Up to an hour with traffic. Our main satellite facility was about 50 min without traffic. It's annoying but doable. You really are giving up the free time you have to the commute. If you think about it you've given up a work out, dinner out, a movie, etc. every day. You and your wife need to go in understanding you may have to grab a nap sometimes before you can head home post call.

 

[gman33]

My wife would move to a location more in the middle if that's what I wanted.

Current living situation is that we live for next to nothing and my wife doesn't need a car.

If we move the additional expenses will be $1500-2000 more a month.
Also my wife will be further away from friends/family etc.
Not so good, considering I won't be around most of the time anyway.

I really like my living situation and don't want to move.
My #2 program has a much easier commute, but I really like the program that is further away a lot better.

Another factor is that the program that is further away seems to have less overall work hours. It might be a wash as far as overall time, just some of that will be in a car as opposed to working a shift.

The "harder" months like ICU, trauma will be trouble.

 

[Tiger26]

I walk 7 min to work from my house every time I have a shift--it's awesome. I would strongly recommend taking the shorter commute--more time left for non-residency you . . .

 

[xaelia]

Yep, it took me longer to walk from the parking lot to the hospital than it did to drive to the hospital for my residency. Best quality of life feature of my program by far.

A commute as "decompress" time might sound good in theory, but, really, you need to get that time back for any number of constructive uses that you will no longer have time for once you get deep into residency. Errands, exercise, studying, research projects, housework, family time, you name it.

Post-call and post-night long-drives are bad - especially if it's post-night with AM rush hour traffic.

My commute is up to 15-20 minutes to each of two hospitals in attending life; no great inconvenience, but I certainly wouldn't want to stretch it much longer....

 

[UnderwaterDoc]

I support the short-commute crowd. I live 15 mins from work, door to door, and I love it. A couple of my fellow interns started the year commuting around 45 mins to an hour and they both have moved closer because it just got too hard after a while. Keep in mind that we work 8-9h shifts too, so this would be compounded if you worked 12s.

 

[gman33]

All things being equal, a short commute is better.

That's not really my question.

Which would you do?
(Long commute + program you like better) OR (shorter commute + program you like less)

 

[tkim]

All things being equal, a short commute is better.

That's not really my question.

Which would you do?
(Long commute + program you like better) OR (shorter commute + program you like less)

Well I guess you have to figure out if the program preference trumps commute time. Having gone through residency, driving home absolutely blind exhausted at times post-call, my choice would be closer program. Unless you can point to some deficiency at the closer program, "like" sounds weak.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

i say the opposite. you're commuting either way. might as well make it worth it and go to the one that you're actually feeling the positive vibe for.

 

[la gringa]

i knew 3 residents who did long commutes where i was a resident (30-45 on a good day, 1-2 hrs on a bad)... all 3 had some sort of car related issue post-call during residency, be it a wreck, falling asleep, near-miss, etc.

one thing i'd add is, consider if there's much variability in the commutes... if it's like i described above, those 1-2 hr days mean you may have to leave 2 hrs before work if the bad factors are at play (wrecks, weather, etc).... and you may be late frequently.

i'm majorly, majorly in the short commute crowd... i had a situation like xaelia and it was invaluable. my 2 attending jobs have been 15-20, max 30 min commutes. i'm single though, and therefore don't have another person's needs to worry about. i would also though, echo those who mention that your wife is very unlikely to have a job w/ similar demands, and if it's at all possible, you should minimize your commute for safety reasons.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

I had a 1/2 hour bike ride. I almost fell asleep a couple of times after a night shift on that commute. I can't imagine a real commute.

I'd limit it to 15 minutes or less.

 

[gutonc]

The "harder" months like ICU, trauma will be trouble.

I don't have any personal experience with this since I consider a commute >20 minutes excessive. (I currently bike 15 minutes and could drive it in 5 if I wasn't too cheap to pay for parking...plus I get paid extra to bike to work.) I have always chosen my housing based on where I work, which is one of the reasons I still rent.

But...I had a colleague in residency who was married to a guy who was an Army EM resident at a military program. The two hospitals were located ~125 miles apart (although almost all of his off-service rotations were at a hospital an additional 30 miles away). They lived in a decent-sized town that was a 45 minute drive for her and a 60-70 minute drive for him. Whenever either of them was on a rotation that required call or (planned) shifts >12 hours long (ICU and wards for her, trauma, ortho, ICU for him), they rented rooms near the hospital and went home on their days off/post-call. I would personally have killed myself doing this (if my wife hadn't killed me first) but it seemed to work for them.

Moral of the story is that, you can probably make whatever situation you wind up in work out but you need to be flexible and consider closer, short-term housing options on your inpatient/call rotations.

 

[UnderwaterDoc]

All things being equal, a short commute is better.

That's not really my question.

Which would you do?
(Long commute + program you like better) OR (shorter commute + program you like less)

Long commute with better program, 15-20 mins more or less is not enough of a difference. However I would still advice you to move, you can't put a price on free time.

 

[WilcoWorld]

All things being equal, a short commute is better.

That's not really my question.

Which would you do?
(Long commute + program you like better) OR (shorter commute + program you like less)

Long commute + program you like better...and I hate commuting.

However, if you're actually ambivalent about the programs, and you're down to comparing benefits & parking then your commute is probably the thing you should weigh heaviest.

My commute in residency could vary from 30 min to over 2 hours. A quiet call room is a great place for a post-overnight-pre-noon nap.

 

[Nervous Ned]

If it were me, I'd move close to whichever program I wound up matching to, preferably within walking distance. You won't appreciate how odious a long commute can be until you have to do it when you're dog-tired, and then wake up five or six hours later to rinse and repeat.

I live within walking distance of the primary UMass campus. Every time I have to rotate at another hospital, it reminds me how good I have it when I'm rotating at the main hospital. The secondary campus where I did OB is only a 2.5 mile drive from where I live. But still, it's not a great thing to be driving at all on a time-intensive rotation like OB where you're like a zombie for the whole month. Last month when I had to drive 45 miles round trip to the community site, I was really hating life, even though I liked the rotation itself. Think about it: you work hard during your shift for 8-12 hours, and then you have to get into the car and fight your way home through rush hour traffic if it's the day shift, or try to stay awake while you drive the unlit back roads of rural whatever state you're in if you work the evening shift. Plus, gas prices are pretty steep. It's not like I drive a gas guzzler like a Hummer or anything, but $30+ per week for gas adds up quickly.

If you can't or won't move, then look into your options for taking a nap or staying over between shifts if you are too tired to drive home. One of the pluses about UMass for me was that we have call rooms that are only for EM residents. If your program doesn't have a perk like that, you can probably take a nap in the resident lounge. Or maybe see if one of your classmates would let you crash on their couch once in a while. It's still not ideal though.

Also, if you do wind up having to drive a lot, I recommend getting an ipod and adapter so that you can listen to podcasts while you drive. You won't have much time to study on your work days, so at least 1.5 hours of podcast listening will be better than nothing.

 

[StevieStud]

Time lost is time lost.

Study time, family time, sleep time. You know the drill.

Currently you are willing to give up the time..... but what will your wants, desires, needs be in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years down the road?


My first "real" job (not medical) had a 50 minute commute each way. No traffic to fight, just a long boring interstate drive.

It was great the first month or two. Got to listen to the latest cassette tape (remember those?) or catch an afternoon ball game on the radio.

And then school, family and everthing else started to place demands on my life.

Of course those "you gotta come back and work for Suzie" call backs were a bytch.


Every job since then has been a very simple 4 to 5 mile drive. No exceptions.

 

[EM2BE]

I lived only 15-20 min away during intern year and almost fell asleep on the road for that commute.. I know live 1 mile away, about 5 min which I wouldn't trade for anything. Sadly, even living that close, I almost fell asleep at the stop light when I was tired after a call. Make sure you take care of yourself if you do live further away. I understand this is for your marriage that you would take the risk, and many do the same thing. Just do everything you can not to fall asleep while driving. A debilitating car accident isn't what you want.

 

[gman33]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great input.

If I didn't have a wife to consider, I'd move next door to the hospital no question.

I've been looking into crashing options post-call, etc.
Also thought about getting some type of crash apartment near the hospital.

Intern year would be the worst. Program is front loaded with most of the off-service rotations. One plus is that first years spend a bunch of months at a hospital that is about 15 minutes closer to where I live. More like 30-45 minutes depending on the time.

I'll have to talk it over with my wife and see what she thinks about everything.
She is super supportive and would move if I told her that's what I needed to do.
It's more that I want to make sure that her life is good during residency.
She already puts up with enough of my stuff.

 

[docB]

I wouldn't worry about the "wife will be farther from friends and family" part. If the choice is about moving 15 to 30 min away friends and family are still within easy reach.

I'd be more concerned about the extra $1500 to $2000 per month. That's significant.

I fall into the commute crowd. I hate commuting but I would prefer to go to my top choice, I'd want to keep my expenses down and my wife happy. There are work arounds.

I suggest not doing the crash pad unless you can rent it with many other people to split the cost way down (and even then you have lease issues). You will need it occasionally but not that often. You'd do better to find a call room or a motel.

 

[gman33]

I've resigned myself that I could figure out some way to make it work.
I'll give it some thought and just rank them where I want to be most.

Thanks all.