It boggles my mind that people everywhere are always talking about how great of a lifestyle being a hospitalist is because of 7 days off.
First, even if this were true. working 12 hours a day 7 days a week does not for a normal life make. Take a few minutes and think about this. You're setting yourself up for a very unhealthy and depressing life. 12 hours in a row (7AM-7PM) where you are 'on' the whole time is pretty rough by itself. You're not really going to be able to do much else besides eat and go to bed when you get home at what, probably 9 after you're done wrapping things up? Now imagine doing that 7 days in a row. Ok, so you made it through day 7 and you've got a week off. Well I'd bet anything you still have more work to do, notes to get caught up on, etc. Give yourself a day or two to clear that out, then you're down to 5. Not really enough tohave any meaningful vacation, so you probably just sleep and throw yourself out of the work routine you spent most of last week getting adjusted to. Then you become seriously depressed the day or two before you start again and the nightmare repeats itself. It sounds like a recipie for unhappiness, weight gain, failed relationships, and burnout.
A 7-on-7-off 12 hour shift schedule is an absolute nightmare if you take a second and think about it. But unfortunately all the med students who want to do this hear is blah blah blah 7 DAYS OFF IN A ROW blah blah blah $250,000 blah blah blah NO CALL blah blah blah, and somehow think they are getting a super high paying job with 6 months of vacation a year. Ok, well they've never worked before and are naïve. Granted I have never worked as a hospitalist, but people I have talked to that have say that it is largely paperwork and social work.
