Do residents choose the order of their rotations?

[NeedToStudy]

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I look at the website for several residencies and there is always a list of rotations that you do in R1, R2, etc. Do residents and interns get to choose which order they want to do their rotations?
Or does the hospital make your schedule for you?

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Varies extremely widely by specialty and program.

Some it will be completely at random. Some you get to list some preferences and then they make the schedule based on that. At my program they give us all tracks to choose from with the same rotations but in different order and then we all just decide amongst our class which one we want (usually based on preferences of when we want to schedule our vacations as there are some rotations we aren't supposed to take vacation on like trauma/EGS).

 

[Raryn]

My program basically asks when we want our vacation and to list our top X electives from the total list of all available, then schedules everything around that. Vacations can only be in non-wards or ICU months, so they fill all those blocks in and then everything left ends up being inpatient of some stripe or another.

 

[Top Gun]

I think its program dependent. In mine, we only got to choose when we wanted vacation. The program scheduled the rest of the rotations.

 

[DrSnips]

Our second and third year residents can request certain rotations be earlier in the year in case they are going into a related field and want more contact with faculty. Vacation weeks determine when outpatient rotations are. The schedule is otherwise random.

 

[NeedToStudy]

On the same topic is it possible for residents to ask which day of the week they want off. I know that residents are supposed to have one day that is not after call off. Is it possible to go to the PD and say I want saturday off or is that just crazy?

 

[Perrotfish]

On the same topic is it possible for residents to ask which day of the week they want off. I know that residents are supposed to have one day that is not after call off. Is it possible to go to the PD and say I want saturday off or is that just crazy?

Depends how the rotation is structured

If your rotation's system is that everyone gets one random day off a week, and everyone else just covers the off resident's patients that day (only works with big teams) then yes you should be able to request a specific day off. However keep in mind that most people want Friday, Saturday, or Sunday off, so if that's what you want your request is going to get balanced against your colleagues and requesting to be the one to get every Saturday off is not going to go over well. Requesting one specific day for a more specific reason (i.e concert/wedding/whatever) is usually more doable. You wouldn't ask your PD/chief for the day off in that case, just the program coordinator or senior resident (whoever makes the schedule).

However on many rotations the days off are weekends only, and are written into the schedule so that someone else who has Monday through Friday clinic can cross cover you. In that case you generally have to take the day off you're told to take. If you want a specific day off that's not assigned to you then you would need to talk to your chief resident and PD, and would generally be responsible for finding someone to cover you on the day you want off.

 

[NeedToStudy]

BTW in outpatient rotations do you generally have the full weekend off? I'm thinking in FM and Psych residency. I know in inpatient you generally only have one day off a week.

 

[gutonc]

BTW in outpatient rotations do you generally have the full weekend off? I'm thinking in FM and Psych residency. I know in inpatient you generally only have one day off a week.

He sort of answered your question already right here.

However on many rotations the days off are weekends only, and are written into the schedule so that someone else who has Monday through Friday clinic can cross cover you.

But the answer is "maybe...it depends". Sometimes you just deal with being shorthanded. Other times there's a covering resident who's on outpatient, consult or research rotation who will cover. I think the most weekend days I ever had off in a month of inpatient work was 2 out of 4. Usually it was 1 or none.

 

[Raryn]

He sort of answered your question already right here.


But the answer is "maybe...it depends". Sometimes you just deal with being shorthanded. Other times there's a covering resident who's on outpatient, consult or research rotation who will cover. I think the most weekend days I ever had off in a month of inpatient work was 2 out of 4. Usually it was 1 or none.

This really varies from program to program.

In my medical school, it was structured so that you always had a random non-call or post call day off, no matter what it was. Tuesday, Saturday, Monday, whatever.

At my residency program on the other hand, they made the conscious decision that residents generally prefer weekends. So on our rotations, it's always structured so your 4 days off during the 4 weeks are two golden weekends. Which means that a typical schedule for an intern is either 12 on, 2 off, 12 on, 2 off OR 5 on, 2 off, 12 on, 2 off, 7 on. The tradeoff of course is those 12 day stretches, and the fact your weekends where you work are a bit more hectic otherwise.

 

[smq123]

BTW in outpatient rotations do you generally have the full weekend off? I'm thinking in FM and Psych residency. I know in inpatient you generally only have one day off a week.

Not always. Just because you are on an outpatient rotation, it doesn't mean that you will not have to help cover call on the weekends. This is especially true in FM, where they may need a resident to cover adult admissions on the weekends, another resident to cover peds call on the weekends, and a third resident covering OB call. It can vary from program to program.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Not always. Just because you are on an outpatient rotation, it doesn't mean that you will not have to help cover call on the weekends. This is especially true in FM, where they may need a resident to cover adult admissions on the weekends, another resident to cover peds call on the weekends, and a third resident covering OB call. It can vary from program to program.

At my medschool, the medicine residents who were on outpatient months took Friday/Saturday night call to give the other folks their days off.

 

[KnuxNole]

BTW in outpatient rotations do you generally have the full weekend off? I'm thinking in FM and Psych residency. I know in inpatient you generally only have one day off a week.

Even in inpatient, you can have a "golden weekend" with both Sat. and Sunday off. On the flip side, there are also "black weekends" where you work both days.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Even in inpatient, you can have a "golden weekend" with both Sat. and Sunday off. On the flip side, there are also "black weekends" where you work both days.

You can, but it is certainly not guaranteed. And anecdotally it is more rare since the institution of the 16-hr intern limit.

We used to get real golden weekends at my program (post-call friday, so you leave in the mid-late morning, then off Saturday/Sunday); now most of our interns haven't had a true weekend off all year...best they manage is ~36 hrs off consecutively.

 

[NeedToStudy]

You can, but it is certainly not guaranteed. And anecdotally it is more rare since the institution of the 16-hr intern limit.

We used to get real golden weekends at my program (post-call friday, so you leave in the mid-late morning, then off Saturday/Sunday); now most of our interns haven't had a true weekend off all year...best they manage is ~36 hrs off consecutively.

Jeez this is depressing