Describe your typical week in practice

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I thought it may be helpful to applicants/students/others to list and/or describe a typical week of practice in your given setting. People don't need to keep my formatting, I just chose it bc it fits how I break down my time.

Setting: VA Hospital
Direct Pt Contact: 30-35 hrs./wk; outpatient psychotherapy with OEF/OIF veterans; one day out of week spent doing brief mental health screenings for polytrauma team
Notes/Report Writing: just brief process notes (psychotherapy) and screening write-ups pertinent to the above
Clinical Mtgs: 1-2 hr./wk
Consultation Time: Nothing formal...15-30 min/day informal discussions with other members of the team regarding specific cases

Administrative Paperwork:maybe 5 hrs.
Administrative Mtgs: 1hr

Research Mtgs: 0
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: 4-8hr
Journal Reading/Review 3-5hr
Total Hrs/wk: ~50-60hr.

My only caveat is that I have a lot of flexibility in my wk, so I could cut down to 40-45hr/wk...but I'd miss out on a lot of really interesting research and related activities that I typically enjoy.

Members don't see this ad.
 
My clinic opens at 8 and closes and 4:30. I assume because you are in the hospital proper, you arent kicked out at 430?
 
My clinic opens at 8 and closes and 4:30. I assume because you are in the hospital proper, you arent kicked out at 430?

Oops...my bad on the post. Big typo from cutting and pasting the format. I work standard hrs. (8-4:30 M-F). 40hrs/wk (sometimes work til 5 to finish up notes, return email and such (I can lock up when I leave).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Setting: University Counseling Center at an R1, large (36,000 students), diverse (~65% students of color) public West Coast university
Position: predoctoral intern
Direct Client Hours: 10-12 returning clients, 1-3 intakes, 1.5 group therapy, 3-4 crisis walk-in
Receiving Supervision: 2 individual, 1 group
Providing Supervision: 1 to advanced doctoral student
Providing Supervision Preparation (tape & note review): 1
Training Seminars: 6-8
Case Conferences: 1-2
Staff Meetings: 1-2
Research Time: 2
Indirect (notes/consultation/tx planning/etc): 8-10
Outreach: 2-4 hrs/month (often after business hours)
ADHD Assessment: 0-6 hrs/month
Lunch: 1hr/daily
All hours weekly unless otherwise noted

Total Weekly Hours: 40-44 (not to exceed 44 per state law)

My regular day is 7:30-4:30. I also typically spend 1/2 day writing/reading each Saturday morning, 4-6 hrs. All staff are on call to respond to campus emergencies 1 weekend each semester. I've not been called yet this year but other interns have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Setting: Medium-sized rural hospital
Direct Pt Contact: 40+ hours of psychotherapy a week, about one assessment per month, additional coverage of ER and inpatient crisis stabilization unit for one week per month
Notes/Report Writing: dictate notes between patients, write assessment during a no show
Clinical Mtgs: none
Consultation Time: extremely brief meetings or emails with other professionals
Administrative Paperwork: none
Administrative Mtgs: 2 hours per month
Research Mtgs: n/a
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: n/a
Journal Reading/Review: This has been lagging as of late.
Total Hrs/wk: 40 on regular weeks plus about 10 more when on call.

I crank out the productivity because my pay is based on that and it leads to a relatively high salary. I also get my professional dues and licensing fees paid as well as 5k toward educational conferences.
 
Last edited:
Hope people don't mind me giving this thread a bump.

Anybody working in new settings or seen duties shift recently?
 
Setting: Regional office of a large, private human services agency focused on autism treatment and diagnosis (clinic-, home- and school based services)
Direct Pt Contact: 8 hours per week of direct, clinic based assessments/intakes; 6-10 hours per week of school based consultation (mainly consult to staff, but some direct work with students); 2-4 hours per week home based consultation (some direct work with kiddos, some billed supervision of direct staff).
Note- assessment services billed as psychologist. School/Home based services billed as BCBA, with occasional psych billing thrown in for assessments, senior level consults, etc.
Notes/Report Writing: 8-10 hours per week
Clinical Mtgs: 2 hours every other week
Consultation Time: avg. 5 hours per week of billed consultation time (as a psychologist, I provide case reviews to BCBAs)
Travel: I average 150-200 miles of work travel per month (reimbursed), driving to schools, client homes, and between multiple offices. I'm in a rural area and a lot of this is on back roads or in town, so it can be slow going. I probably spent 2-4 hours per week in my car, more if I have to go to the maim office (3 hours round trip)
Administrative Paperwork: 2 hours (our payroll and billing system is super cumbersome!)
Administrative Mtgs: 3 hours per month
Research Mtgs: 2-4 hours per quarter
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: I'm required to produce an original research project once every two years. In return on get conferences paid for. Cash bonuses for publications in top journals in field
Journal Reading/Review: I aim to at least review a minimum of 3 articles per week.
Other: Adjunct instructor for two hybrid model graduate ABA classes. Averages ~6 hours per week, up to 10 if there are papers to correct
Total Hrs/wk: 50 on regular weeks, but lots of flexibility. I have to meet some minimum weekly billable requirements (which I generally try to exceed by 25%). These are reviewed on a quarterly basis, so I have a lot of leeway week to week, as I like to have a good overage of billable hours in case I need a "light" week
 
Setting: Academic health center with medical specialty focus
Direct Pt Contact: Variable; I mostly provide clinical consultation and brief intervention with a handful of psychotherapy cases ongoing at any given time; 8-12 hours/week is typical
Notes/Report Writing: 4 hours per week
Clinical Mtgs: n/a
Consultation Time: 30-60 minutes per week, usually in response to calls or emails from staff or questions to referring providers
Travel: I go to a conference about every 4 months
Administrative Paperwork: ~1 hour per week, maybe a bit more if you count emails with clinic staff
Administrative Mtgs: Too many of these; probably 8 hours/month
Research Mtgs: 1-2 hrs per week, spread across several groups/collaborators and two research committees
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: Variable but probably averages to 10-15 hours/week
Grand Rounds/Ethics Rounds/Faculty Talks: ~1 hour/week
Journal Reading/Review: Not as much as I'd like; maybe an hour on a good week (ie, journal reading not directly related to an ongoing project)
Other: I'm an associate editor at one journal and on the editorial board of another, and I also do a lot of ad hoc peer reviewing, which usually adds up to at least 3 hours a week but sometimes more; occasional guest lectures, department presentations, etc.
Total Hrs/wk: 40-45 hours
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Updated over the past few years...

Setting:
R2 University (faculty) and medical center (part time clinical)
Direct Pt Contact: 5 hrs per week
Notes/Report Writing: 3 hours per week
Training Mtgs: 4 hrs per week (supervision/didactics for clinical/research activity)
Consultation Time: 1 hour per week, broadly defined
Travel: 3-4 conferences per year
Administrative Paperwork: 1 hour per week
Administrative Mtgs: 3 hours per week
Research Mtgs: 1 hour per week
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: 12 hours per week
Grand Rounds/Ethics Rounds/Faculty Talks: 2 hours per week
Other: Teaching - about 6 hours per week face to face and 8 hours per week prep/grading. Occasionally give invited talks. I also review for a few journals and am on a couple of committees for professional organizations. I spend a fair amount of time talking with former students.
Total Hrs/wk: ~45-50, with some variability
 
In the 2.5yrs since I originally started this thread my typical week has really evolved. The hours spent on clinical v. other duties remain unchanged from my first post, but the mix of my research/admin/leadership time has morphed into what I saw with my mentors back in the day; it's like waking up one day and realizing that you are totally your father in many ways.

I've stacked some of my admin duties (phone conferences + paperwork simultaneously), taken on more collaborative work that meets less frequently, and delegated more tasks to my staff to handle. The net result is having the same time allocated, but being on twice as many committees/task forces/etc. This has been huge because my leadership responsibilities (state & national level) have grown so I typically have 2-3 phone conferences per wk and at least 1hr of prep time per wk for those calls. My job related leadership has grown, though that has been harder to balance because I still have all of my clinical hours to complete. Do yourself a favor and read up/learn about time management, how to refine communication skills, how to run a meeting, how to better manage people, etc. Some of the training will feel froofy and/or overly corporate, but the tidbits and processes that do help…they are worth their weight in gold.

I cut my research time, partly for funding reasons and partly for sanity reasons, but I kept my collaborative working groups. I'm getting more done in less time, as these working groups are more efficient than I was with my research time. I'm actually having a really productive year in my secondary area of research, so that's been a nice surprise. Overall, I "gained" probably 6hr/wk of found time, and put most of it towards golf/travel, as I realized I have little interest in working more than 45hr/wk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Do yourself a favor and read up/learn about time management, how to refine communication skills, how to run a meeting, how to better manage people, etc. Some of the training will feel froofy and/or overly corporate, but the tidbits and processes that do help…they are worth their weight in gold.

I've gotten some time/project management skills from observing skilled mentors or just figuring things out on my own, but I have room to grow. Do you have any specific suggestions for books or workshops that were especially helpful to you?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I've gotten some time/project management skills from observing skilled mentors or just figuring things out on my own, but I have room to grow. Do you have any specific suggestions for books or workshops that were especially helpful to you?

I'd be interested in this as well. Always room for improvement in these areas.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I've gotten some time/project management skills from observing skilled mentors or just figuring things out on my own, but I have room to grow. Do you have any specific suggestions for books or workshops that were especially helpful to you?

David Allen is presenting a keynote address titled "Getting Things Done: Staying Relaxed, Focused, and In Control, In a World of Too Much to Do" at our regional behavior analysis conference (MassABA) in a few weeks. I'll try to remember to report back on how it is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Setting: Various
Direct Pt Contact: 20 hrs per week
Notes/Report Writing: 5 hrs per week
Consultation Time: 2 hrs per week
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: 5-10 hrs per week
Lecturing: 8 hrs per week
Administrative Paperwork: 5-15 hrs per week
Total Hrs/wk: ~52 hrs per week typically...but sometimes it is as few as 30 and as much as 60, depending on what's going on.
 
Y'all crazy. 40 hour work week or bust here. +10 hours of EPPP studying but that's not forever.
 
Updated

Setting: VA medical center outpatient primary care clinic
Direct Pt Contact: ~20 patients per week (most sessions/contacts are half hour or less)
Notes/Report Writing: 3 hours per week
Training Mtgs: 1 hrs per week (Internship related)
Consultation Time: 1-3 hour per week, broadly defined (mostly with PACT team members and other mental health staff)
Travel: Not much work travel these days
Administrative Paperwork: 3-6 hours
Administrative Mtgs: 3 hours per week
Research Mtgs: None
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: Done outside work hours if I'm doing/involved in a project
Grand Rounds/Ethics Rounds/Faculty Talks: Not reguarly
Other: Co-lead group supervision; Trouble shoot intern issues; internship program development/assessment

Total Hrs/wk: ~40, with some variability
 
Update:

Position: Independent practice neuropsych with affiliations at: two private psych hosptials, an R1,a few consultancy groups, a few group practices, etc.
Direct patient hours: 30- 40 hrs/wk
Notes/Report/Intake Writing: 8-16hrs/wk
Consultation: One 3 hr face to face meeting/month. Hours depend on project and client.
Travel: Median: 10hrs. Range 10-30ish hrs. Only including car and flight time.
Research: I resigned from my research appointment.
Team/Clinical Meetings: I closed my clinical practice. I have always refused to attend clinical meetings for psych hospitals.
Court hearing/inquests: I'll estimate 3 depositions per month.
Supervision of students:I have one graduate student. Nice dude.
Lunch break: none.

Total time: 40-90hrs/week. Standard week is around 50hrs.
 
No one is listing the weekly hours spent advising SDN members

(I've found this thread really helpful/interesting fwiw)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Ugh.

Between patients and other duties. After dinner and before family time and our bed time routine. Total=2-3 hours per week, I would guess. I type fast.
 
Ugh.

Between patients and other duties. After dinner and before family time and our bed time routine. Total=2-3 hours per week, I would guess. I type fast.

I was kidding! Sorry, man

You all give great advice to tons of students pro bono and it's just nice. That's all I meant to say by that.
 
Last edited:
I thought this article is relevant to this thread and might be a good read for some:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/you-do-not-need-work-80-hours-week-succeed-academia

A couple of comments I liked from it were, "I think it is time to start calling BS on such posturing. Nobody works 80 hours a week regularly" and "another important reason for the persistence of this myth [the 80-hour-workweek] is that people are bad at recognising how much they actually work." I saw that PSYDR suggested they worked up to 100 hours per week (14+ hours/day), which made me think of this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I thought this article is relevant to this thread and might be a good read for some:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/you-do-not-need-work-80-hours-week-succeed-academia

A couple of comments I liked from it were, "I think it is time to start calling BS on such posturing. Nobody works 80 hours a week regularly" and "another important reason for the persistence of this myth [the 80-hour-workweek] is that people are bad at recognising how much they actually work." I saw that PSYDR suggested they worked up to 100 hours per week (14+ hours/day), which made me think of this.

In PSYDR's case, I'd actually believe it (although I also think it's been ratcheted down significantly since then). I also know of 1 or 2 other folks who regularly work 14- to 16-hour clinic days. But outside of them, I'd say the mean is closer to 45 hours/week. With the caveat being that the folks I know who're in academia live a good ways from me, and so I don't have any idea how many hours they typically work per week. I wouldn't be surprised to hear it's 50-60, at least in the year or two leading up to tenure review.

But the article seems like it'll be a good read (haven't had a chance to check it out just yet). There certainly seem to be large segments in society, not limited to academia, where there's a perpetual pressure to work more, and where you're seemingly made to feel guilty for working "only" 40 hours/week. While I sometimes put that pressure on myself, I'm fortunate to work in a setting where that mindset isn't perpetuated.
 
The 35-40hr work week was really confusing to me at first, though now I understand how valuable that kind of job is within the context of our field. I choose to work more now, though I have no qualms about stepping off of the gas when my needs shift. Right now I need to play catch-up with my retirement and toy collection. :D

Four years later...and I'm ready for a permenant <45hr/wk. Mix in some forensic work and I'll bump up my earning too.
 
despite being an old thread that got randomly bumped, i am apparently looking for ways to procrastinate grant writing, so here we go:

Setting: federally funded research center in a va medical center
Direct Pt Contact: 4-5 hours/week (typically 2 intakes, 4 30 minute follow ups)
Notes/Report Writing and Chart Review: 1.5 hours/week
Training Mtgs: 0.5 hours per week (or, 2 1-hr mtgs per month)
Training: 3.5 hours per week, including training meetings, supervision, and supervision prep
Consultation Time: 1 hour/week
Travel: 1 to 4 conference per year depending on my interest level
Administrative Paperwork: only when i travel, unless you count IRB paperwork
Administrative Mtgs: 1 hour per month
Research Mtgs: 5 to 8 hours per week
Research Writing/Reading/Stat'ing: the rest! (25-42 hours per week)
Grand Rounds/Ethics Rounds/Faculty Talks: Not regularly
Other: 3 hours per month of calls for professional societies in which i hold a position; approximately 8 hours per year of teaching/guest lecturing
Lunch: at my desk while working 3 days a week, with a friend for 30-45 minutes 1 day a week, at home 1 day a week (hooray teleworking). weather permitting, i also go for a 20 minute walk each day, time varying based on other obligations

Total Hrs/wk when a grant is not looming over me: 42-50
Total Hrs/wk when a grant or other deadline is looming over me: up to 60
 
My typical week looks nothing like it did two years ago; thought I'd update and give a non-clinical example.

Setting: Finishing up 1st year as TT faculty at a top 20 SLAC.
Direct Pt Contact: none
Teaching: 10hrs/wk
Planning/Grading: 4-7hrs/wk
Meeting with Students: 4-6hrs/wk
Research: 8-12hrs/wk
Service: 0-1 hr/wk (Minimal in 1st year)
Dept Meetings: 2hrs/month
Conference Travel: 2-4/year (2 this year)
Other: 3-5 hrs/week (Planning conference travel, attending student activities, guest speaking, long-term planning, reviewing conference submissions, networking with colleagues, SDN/CHE message boards)

Weekly Total: ~40hrs

I'm typically on campus 4days/week, 7-4 and our academic year is roughly 8 1/2 months long. I do miss clinical work ever so slightly and this summer the plan is to start a small practice. In the long term I expect to do clinical work 1 day/week, perhaps more during summer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Some salary info would also be helpful! Thanks to those who have already responded.
 
Some salary info would also be helpful! Thanks to those who have already responded.
From all sources of income (day job + adjunct teaching), I make 133% of the national average psychologist salary (175% of the median psychologist salary in my state. Also get 50% medical insurance, 2500/year student loan reimbursement, all licensure/certification/CEUs paid for, retirement contribution, paid attendance/per-diem at regional and national conferences (must conduct one research project every 3 years). My co-workers also buy me a beer every now and then!

Check out Psychologists, All Other for more salary info
 
Top