Commuting

[Postictal Raiden]

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I have 4 rotations during my upcoming year that require me to drive 40-50 miles each way. Two of these rotations are Surgery and OBGYN. The good thing that I'll be driving against traffic so according to google map, I'm expected to spend ~1hour commuting each way.

Has anyone done this before? How feasible is it?

 

[Crayola227]

this sounds horrific enough that I would consider trying to find a place to crash closer by

no joke, I lived about 5 min from the hospital and often on ob or surg only had time for 4-5 hours of sleep, 7 was a lucky night

sounds dangerous

 

[Bancrofti]

Not feasible, unless you don't care about your performance on the rotations. You should find somewhere close to your hospital to live during those rotations.

I put in relatively the same effort in on all rotations. My performance so far inversely correlates to the amount of time I had to spend commuting every day. Having an extra 1 hour (sound like it'll be 2 in your case) per day makes a huge difference.

 

[arewethereyet...]

We get split up and sent away for our third year rotations, so we're about an hour and twenty minutes from our school and there is one kid in my group that did not move and so had to drive an hour and ten for 12 weeks of internal medicine, 6 weeks of ob/gyn, and a few other less intense rotations. He is miserable. He complains all of the time and we all want to punch him in the face because it was his decision not to move. I would highly recommend against it if you can afford it. You will not perform your best.

 

[Cytarabine]

I have 4 rotations during my upcoming year that require me to drive 40-50 miles each way. Two of these rotations are Surgery and OBGYN. The good thing that I'll be driving against traffic so according to google map, I'm expected to spend ~1hour commuting each way.

Has anyone done this before? How feasible is it?

I would rather live in the call room

 

[Derivations]

I'm assuming you're DO like I am. This kind of situation sounds absurd to MD students but it is reality for us. 40-50 miles does seem on the high end but I also have rotations which are 30ish mile drives each way. There isn't really much we can do about it since we do not have a home site. My school is in a big city and my rotations are scattered, so the best I can do is choose a central location to live and grit through it. Moving closer is not a reasonable option for me because closer to one rotation means further from the next. In your case are those 4 rotation sites all in different directions? If they are all clustered together in one direction you should absolutely think about moving closer.

 

[Crayola227]

I'm assuming you're DO like I am. This kind of situation sounds absurd to MD students but it is reality for us. 40-50 miles does seem on the high end but I also have rotations which are 30ish mile drives each way. There isn't really much we can do about it since we do not have a home site. My school is in a big city and my rotations are scattered, so the best I can do is choose a central location to live and grit through it. Moving closer is not a reasonable option for me because closer to one rotation means further from the next. In your case are those 4 rotation sites all in different directions? If they are all clustered together in one direction you should absolutely think about moving closer.

if this is the case a truly awesome person would coordinate with people in the class to create a "living quarters swap"

 

[Bacchus]

I did this for my surgery rotation. Don't do it. It's dangerous. Looking back, it was a poor decision everyday I drove 2/2 sleep deprivation.

 

[deleted480308]

I'm facing an hour drive to my main site. I'll pack an overnight bag and just sleep in the car or call room if I'm going to be dangerous driving home. Money doesn't allow to rent a ton extra rooms and family situations don't make moving really workable. It will suck.

 

[metaphase]

Apparently I have had a much easier time than many of the above posters, as I commuted 40-60 minutes each way to every third year rotation and have experienced no impairment to my performance, driving safety, or mental state.

I probably wake up half an hour earlier than my classmates who live closer to the hospital, but get roughly the same sleep. If anything, the time cuts into extracurricular activities/social time much more than it does into vital study/sleep time. To make the most o fit, I listen to educational podcasts 80% of the time to get some review in and make studying quicker when I get home.

FWIW, some of the anecdotes here illustrate worst-case-scenarios of people with long commutes who may have not managed it as well as possible - there are likely dozens of your classmates, faculty, and even residents you have shared/will share rotations with who manage a similar commute with no ill side-effects, and you would never tell the difference because they manage their time well. No need to despair.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

I'm facing an hour drive to my main site. I'll pack an overnight bag and just sleep in the car or call room if I'm going to be dangerous driving home. Money doesn't allow to rent a ton extra rooms and family situations don't make moving really workable. It will suck.

Yup, this is my situation too. I don't have the liberty to move every month to be closer to my rotation sites and my school FinAid office is not too generous with COL allowance so I can't pay for two rents at the same time.

I figured they are only 4 months of long commutes, two of which happen to be rough rotations (Surgery and OBGYN). I'll have to cut on my social life to make time to sleep properly during these two months. I may be miserable, but I'll survive.

Thank you, everyone, for the inputs

 

[Bacchus]

The danger is this:

Students have no call limitations. I was often on call as an MS3, q4, for 24-30 hours. Not only did I have an hour drive, but it was on I95, 76 and R-1 in Philadelphia. There were many times I caught myself dozing. Beyond impaired, I also was driving a friend who was at the same site. Looking back, it was extremely dangerous to be doing what I'm doing. We often got no rest on call. From what I've heard, it has improved and the school has looked into some form of housing. Its not just a liability for the student, but the school and hospital system itself.

Don't underestimate it. Being on call is equivalent to being drunk.

 

[witzelsucht]

jesus ****, q4 real call? we only had either bull**** call where we could sleep, or real call q7 or so....

 

[Cytarabine]

Did q4 24-30 hr call as a 4th year but not a 3rd

Apparently I have had a much easier time than many of the above posters, as I commuted 40-60 minutes each way to every third year rotation and have experienced no impairment to my performance, driving safety, or mental state.

I probably wake up half an hour earlier than my classmates who live closer to the hospital, but get roughly the same sleep. If anything, the time cuts into extracurricular activities/social time much more than it does into vital study/sleep time. To make the most o fit, I listen to educational podcasts 80% of the time to get some review in and make studying quicker when I get home.

FWIW, some of the anecdotes here illustrate worst-case-scenarios of people with long commutes who may have not managed it as well as possible - there are likely dozens of your classmates, faculty, and even residents you have shared/will share rotations with who manage a similar commute with no ill side-effects, and you would never tell the difference because they manage their time well. No need to despair.

Get to hospital at 5, leave at 6-7. Hour commute each way, get home at 7-8. Allot an hour a day for ADLs. Leaves you 7-8 hours to "do as you please". Where's the flexibility to "manage your time well"?

 

[Crayola227]

social life on ob..... lol

 

[Crayola227]

when I said I was averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night on surg or ob... it wasn't because of all the "optional" things I was doing with my time like socializing

 

[Crayola227]

typical day:
wake at 4😳o am
leave house at 4:15 am (not supposed to do this... I would fall asleep in clean scrubs and wake up wearing them, brush my teeeth, wash my face, drink a cup of tea & eat a granola bar as I walked)
arrive surg rotation 4:30 am
pre-round, notes, read, until 6:00 am (surg was my first rotation of the year.... so I was clueless and needed the 1 1/2 hrs... also, we frequently weren't told what cases we would be doing until day of, so coming in that early would allow us to review the case and read for being pimped on anatomy/procedure)
6:00 am - 7 am speed rounds with team, dressing changes
7am - 6/7 pm surgery, clinic, grand rounds, noon report, that sort of thing (for surgery days maybe even LATER than that, like 7 pm depending)
6/7-7/8 pm finishing up stuff like clinic notes, a paper I was *assigned* to read and present, weekly research project we all had to do, etc etc
7:15-8:15 pm home

that means on a *good* day there was 45 min for ADLs like laundry (thankfully there wasn't much cuz scrubs), dinner, shower (I showered in the eve after a day of surgery rather than in the am), that means best case scenario I could get 7-8 hours

when I say I got 4-5 hours, it's because as I became more and more sleep deprived I got slower and slower
what started happening was that I wouldn't be done with the basic work of the day until 8 pm, and then I would still have assignments/other reading/etc until easily enough to last until 9-10 pm, and then once home would have home stuff until 11 or 12 pm

 

[MediCane2006]

Ugh I know it's really easy for people to say "oh just live closer" but that hour drive is really dangerous. We did that for our peds surgery and VA rotations, and looking back I'm honestly thankful I didn't die. There were definitely multiple times when I was actively nodding off after a night on call, or driving way over the speed limit because I was so desperate to get home.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I have 4 rotations during my upcoming year that require me to drive 40-50 miles each way. Two of these rotations are Surgery and OBGYN. The good thing that I'll be driving against traffic so according to google map, I'm expected to spend ~1hour commuting each way.

Has anyone done this before? How feasible is it?

why not just air bnb it?

 

[GUH]

why not just air bnb it?

I think @Ibn Alnafis MD was saying that he couldn't afford to have two places and for whatever reason couldn't move month to month.
I'm not sure why that would be an issue unless he has a family though.

I've done a lot of AirBNB on rotations to make sure there isn't a long commute and it worked out well. I don't pay much more in rent than when I lived in one place and my commute stays short. You get used to moving.

 

[hallowmann]

This is doable for some rotations like electives in sub-specialties and light outpatient only rotations, but you really won't know until you have an idea of the schedule.

I don't believe this is at all possible on Surgery or OB/Gyn unless you have ridiculously light rotations. Those rotations make it impossible to do that long of a commute. There's only so many hours in the day, and if you're spending 12-14 hrs in the hospital and 2.5 hours in the commute, I don't care how much you cut out "social time" (pretty much every 3rd year is already doing this), you're not going to be able to study and sleep a reasonable amount that day.

I don't know about your other rotations, but if we're talking IM it might be just as bad depending on the schedule. If I were you, I'd honestly look into crashing on someone's couch or sharing a place with a classmate for at least those months.

Calculate out the cost too. That commute itself might be costing you $15/day on gas, let alone added maintenance, car depreciation, and other wear & tear issues. Driving may seem like the cheaper option right now, but with everything factored in, it might be worth spending $400-$500/mo to avoid the commute.

I don't know if you could find a place that cheap, and I'm sure the time away from your family would suck, but you'll find a way to make it work, we all do. Driving doesn't seem like that way though.

I think @Ibn Alnafis MD was saying that he couldn't afford to have two places and for whatever reason couldn't move month to month.
I'm not sure why that would be an issue unless he has a family though.

I've done a lot of AirBNB on rotations to make sure there isn't a long commute and it worked out well. I don't pay much more in rent than when I lived in one place and my commute stays short. You get used to moving.

He's got a family.

 

[TheWorldWarrior]

I have 4 rotations during my upcoming year that require me to drive 40-50 miles each way. Two of these rotations are Surgery and OBGYN. The good thing that I'll be driving against traffic so according to google map, I'm expected to spend ~1hour commuting each way.

Has anyone done this before? How feasible is it?

Do not do this. I tried doing something like this when i was in medical school and it was a nightmare, and my commute was only 12-20 miles or so. I did it for surgery, medicine, pediatrics etc. during 3rd year. it was a nightmare; I had to wake up much earlier, sometimes traffic was so bad i ended up taking a train or trains. I'd come home later than usual, have to study and then go to sleep with little time to relax. Just fork up the cost and sublet a place close by. I started doing this later in 3rd year and it was great; got more sleep, performed a lot better and learned more; the stress you'll have from commuting will decrease your efficiency and most certainly, the most important thing, happiness!

 

[cabinbuilder]

Do not do this. When you are on call for OB and Surg you can be a maximium of 15 minutes away. You have to be available. Too dangerout on the road. You will kill someone and/or yourself. Stay in the call room if you have to. Sleep in the doctor's lounge.

 

[ProfMD]

I fell asleep driving on my surgery rotation once. I don't recommend it.

Find a place to say that is closer to the hospital or see if you can swap rotation sites.

I did commute that kind of distance fort FM rotation - that worked out fine.