Commuting during residency (1.5 hours) to save money?

[nebuchadnezzarII]

Is it worth commuting 1.5 hours door-to-door, max (3 hours total, back and forth) during residency in order to save money? Cheap apartments that are reasonably near the hospital are an outrageous $1600-$2000/month.

If I live with family:
- 100% everything is paid for/meals provided. NO RENT. My student debt is $300,000+
- Transport will be via train ride, so I can probably read something for a good 30 mins while I travel or zone out
- Most of my days are around 8 AM - 5 PM so I think this might be feasible? Call days are longer.
- The actual commute is 50 mins, but I have a habit of leaving early on public transport

I would appreciate any input. Thank you all.

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[anonperson]

Is it worth commuting 1.5 hours door-to-door, max (3 hours total, back and forth) during residency in order to save money? Cheap apartments that are reasonably near the hospital are an outrageous $1600-$2000/month.

If I live with family:
- 100% everything is paid for/meals provided. NO RENT. My student debt is $300,000+
- Transport will be via train ride, so I can probably read something for a good 30 mins while I travel or zone out
- Most of my days are around 8 AM - 5 PM so I think this might be feasible? Call days are longer.
- The actual commute is 50 mins, but I have a habit of leaving early on public transport

I would appreciate any input. Thank you all.

3 hours a day commuting is too long.

Save your sanity and live closer at least for the first year.

 

[rokshana]

Some programs will want/require you to live within 30 mins.

3 hours of a commute during intern year would suck...

I was 4 mins...door to parking lot all through residency...well worth it.

 

[deleted480308]

I did it, I do not recommend it.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Is it worth commuting 1.5 hours door-to-door, max (3 hours total, back and forth) during residency in order to save money? Cheap apartments that are reasonably near the hospital are an outrageous $1600-$2000/month.

If I live with family:
- 100% everything is paid for/meals provided. NO RENT. My student debt is $300,000+
- Transport will be via train ride, so I can probably read something for a good 30 mins while I travel or zone out
- Most of my days are around 8 AM - 5 PM so I think this might be feasible? Call days are longer.
- The actual commute is 50 mins, but I have a habit of leaving early on public transport

I would appreciate any input. Thank you all.

That would not work. You need to live close.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

I did it, I do not recommend it.

Can you please tell me a little bit about your experience? And what specialty this was in?

Given the wisdom of everyone here, I am deciding against it. But if the worst case scenario occurs, I'd just like to know someone's journey through it. Thanks!

 

[Chemist0157]

Don’t do it. You’ll find that lost time is worth more than the money.

 

[deleted480308]

Can you please tell me a little bit about your experience? And what specialty this was in?

Given the wisdom of everyone here, I am deciding against it. But if the worst case scenario occurs, I'd just like to know someone's journey through it. Thanks!

Did it during school too, I often have had to stay at the hospital for days during times when i was on call or had short turn around between shifts that would have made it dangerous to drive.

It was survivable but i would gladly have taken more debt to live closer. It impacted my performance and happiness

 

[Raryn]

Is it worth commuting 1.5 hours door-to-door, max (3 hours total, back and forth) during residency in order to save money? Cheap apartments that are reasonably near the hospital are an outrageous $1600-$2000/month.

If I live with family:
- 100% everything is paid for/meals provided. NO RENT. My student debt is $300,000+
- Transport will be via train ride, so I can probably read something for a good 30 mins while I travel or zone out
- Most of my days are around 8 AM - 5 PM so I think this might be feasible? Call days are longer.
- The actual commute is 50 mins, but I have a habit of leaving early on public transport

I would appreciate any input. Thank you all.

No way in hell would I ever be willing to commute 1.5 hours in residency. I would likely have died driving home after a call shift.

In fellowship one of our hospitals where we rotated ~3 mo/year was about 1.5 hours for me driving home in rush hour (though usually under an hour in the morning) - and that was crazy enough.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

Thank you all. It seems I will have to get an apartment. Do you think it would be more feasible to commute during 2nd year and onwards, especially since it will be more like 9-5 then? This is psychiatry, so the hours aren't completely outrageous.

 

[deleted480308]

Thank you all. It seems I will have to get an apartment. Do you think it would be more feasible to commute during 2nd year and onwards, especially since it will be more like 9-5 then? This is psychiatry, so the hours aren't completely outrageous.

If you’re single i would at least rent a room to have to option to not drive on a given day

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Thank you all. It seems I will have to get an apartment. Do you think it would be more feasible to commute during 2nd year and onwards, especially since it will be more like 9-5 then? This is psychiatry, so the hours aren't completely outrageous.

I wouldn't. Just suck it up and live close. You'll be happier.

 

[Raryn]

Thank you all. It seems I will have to get an apartment. Do you think it would be more feasible to commute during 2nd year and onwards, especially since it will be more like 9-5 then? This is psychiatry, so the hours aren't completely outrageous.

Even psychiatry programs have some call, depending on the program.

Why don't you sign a one year lease, see how residency starts, and talk to your upper levels and see what the workload is really like? Where I did IM, the psych residents certainly had reasonable hours PGY3 and 4, but the second years still often worked late doing hospital consults. And the interns had medicine and neurology months where they worked quite long hours for the first six months.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

I wouldn't. Just suck it up and live close. You'll be happier.

Will do, the expense is kind of crazy though. Thank you.

Even psychiatry programs have some call, depending on the program.

Why don't you sign a one year lease, see how residency starts, and talk to your upper levels and see what the workload is really like? Where I did IM, the psych residents certainly had reasonable hours PGY3 and 4, but the second years still often worked late doing hospital consults. And the interns had medicine and neurology months where they worked quite long hours for the first six months.

I'll probably do just that, thanks. And yeah, years 3 and 4 seem like 9-5. Years 1-2 seem heavy, though not as harsh as IM. As you can tell, I'm just trying to offload the loan burden. But it honestly doesn't seem worth it.

 

[evilbooyaa]

If you are truly Cali born and raised, $1600-$2000 for a one bedroom apartment shouldn't be a shock.

Get roommates and that price drops.

 

[Mass Effect]

Yeah, I was going to say, aren't you from CA? Seriously $1600/month in any metro city is pretty standard for a decent place.

 

[Mad Jack]

0/10, would not recommend. One bad car accident from sleep deprivation will wipe out any savings you had and possibly mess you up physically for life

 

[The wise one]

3 hours = 1000 anki cards, 100 questions on Uwords; close to 10 lecture on online med if not more. I can't believe you are willing to spend 3 hours of your time driving??

 

[Perrotfish]

Thank you all. It seems I will have to get an apartment. Do you think it would be more feasible to commute during 2nd year and onwards, especially since it will be more like 9-5 then? This is psychiatry, so the hours aren't completely outrageous.

One thing to consider: residency is less tolerant of lateness than any other job you will ever work. You need to leave early enough that if there is an accident/marathon/whatever you are still early. If the average drive is 1.5 hours I don't know how you do that and still sleep.

 

[Crayola227]

Consider call duties

 

[Ironheme]

Will do, the expense is kind of crazy though. Thank you.


I'll probably do just that, thanks. And yeah, years 3 and 4 seem like 9-5. Years 1-2 seem heavy, though not as harsh as IM. As you can tell, I'm just trying to offload the loan burden. But it honestly doesn't seem worth it.

The further you get along in medical training, the more you realize time is worth much more than money. I could pull extra shifts or ......I could sleep in on the weekend after a rough week.

I agree with the above as a compromise to your situation. Rent for a year close to your hospital, then reassess and see if you think doing PGY-2 and 3 is feasible with 1.5 hour commute.

 

[AMEHigh]

What specialty are you and where do you live?
I think that makes a big difference.
I think 1.5 hours is pushing it but 1 hour is doable, especially with public transport. All the omg no way people probably aren’t used to public transport. I also am not in a crazy specialty with crazy hours like neurosurgery.

During intern year I did a commute about an hour each way on public transport and no regrets. I’m sure sometimes it was over an hour when there were delays. I had zero desire to live near the hospital. I wasn’t the only one with a commute like that, it was typical where I was.

During my residency I did a commute up to 50 min in the car if it was during rush hour. Again no regrets because I had zero desire to live near the hospital.

I think you should weigh all the pros and cons but if it’s truly 1.5 hours each way then that’s probably too long.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

What specialty are you and where do you live?
I think that makes a big difference.
I think 1.5 hours is pushing it but 1 hour is doable, especially with public transport. All the omg no way people probably aren’t used to public transport. I also am not in a crazy specialty with crazy hours like neurosurgery.

During intern year I did a commute about an hour each way on public transport and no regrets. I’m sure sometimes it was over an hour when there were delays. I had zero desire to live near the hospital. I wasn’t the only one with a commute like that, it was typical where I was.

During my residency I did a commute up to 50 min in the car if it was during rush hour. Again no regrets because I had zero desire to live near the hospital.

I think you should weigh all the pros and cons but if it’s truly 1.5 hours each way then that’s probably too long.

It’s actually 50 min - 60 mins but my intention is to leave with an extra half hour in my hands just in case public transport messes things up. Thanks

I’m doing psych so first year I might need to be close to the hospital for medicine rotations. But after that, especially years 3-4, it doesn’t seem too bad.

 

[J ROD]

I am psych and I’m my final months of residency at a medium level workload program. I would not recommend that commute for 1st year. 2nd year it is probably doable with some rotations like night float, emergency that may suck. 3rd and 4th year totally doable. Save money where you can!

 

[LucidSplash]

It’s actually 50 min - 60 mins but my intention is to leave with an extra half hour in my hands just in case public transport messes things up. Thanks

I’m doing psych so first year I might need to be close to the hospital for medicine rotations. But after that, especially years 3-4, it doesn’t seem too bad.

I’ll defer to those who did psych regarding your plan in general; it would not be feasible for my specialty.
But I see mention of public transport. If you plan to rely on public transport aline, without a personal vehicle backup option, for this length of commute, I think that will also be a no-go.

 

[Mass Effect]

I'm a psychiatrist and think this is a very bad idea, especially the first two years. Maybe years 3 and 4, but definite no-go for years 1 and 2.

Look up your hospital's rules. A lot of hospital's stipulate that you must live within a certain distance of the hospital. The fact that you'd be relying on public transportation is actually worse. Sure, it'll protect you against accidents, but what do you when you run late at work (which happens often, even in psychiatry) and before you know it, it's 11 pm you have to wait an hour or two for a train? Or what about during times when public transport shuts down, either due to a blizzard/noreaster/hurricane/strike/whatever? It won't happen often, but even happening one time in the first two years is going to be a huge headache for you especially if you're on medicine.

Live closer to the hospital the first two years and then re-assess.

 

[gutonc]

I won't belabor the point because it's been well made above and the OP is going to do whatever s/he wants to do, regardless of what anyone here says.

BUT...I lived a 5 minute drive/15 minute bike ride from the hospital for the duration of my 6y of training and that was about as far as I would ever want to live.