Hours of psychiatric internship/residency

[GrabLife]

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I've seen some related threads, but none that give specifics about the amount of hours that are standard during internships, residency, and even med school. Do they vary much among programs?

I am considering an MD and wondering how realistic it is for me as an older student when considering the time commitment. Long shifts would not bother me so much as the total hours spent away from home in any given week. Are we talking 50? 60? Is it consistent, or does it depend on the week? Is there time off?

How about med school itself? Of those who have been through it at a later age, were you more comfortable studying at home? School? How much time per week did classes and studying absorb?

Thanks.

 

[peppy]

The hours in internship really depend on the program and most programs will have different hours/workload on different rotations. For example, as a general rule, the Internal Medicine rotations that psychiatry interns do are very time-consuming (usually six days a week, numerous overnight calls, etc.)
I'd say that 50 hours per week is probably the lowest typical workweek you can reasonably expect as an intern. There are some programs though where you might be working an average of 80 hours per week routinely. Most programs still have overnight call. With overnight call, you can expect to work 30 hours straight (though some programs are nice enough to let you go home after just 24 hours).

3-4 weeks of vacation per year is typical for residency programs (though a couple of programs I interviewed at only offered 2 weeks of vacation for interns).

As for the issue of med school in general, you might want to try posting over in the non-traditional category of this board to get their perspectives on that. That's a big topic in itself.

 

[michaelrack]

Psychiatry rotations during internship are typically 50-60 hours
psychiatry rotations during residency are typically 40-50 hrs/wk

a lot of variation between programs

 

[masterofmonkeys]

AMA-FREIDA now publishes average work week figures for PGY-1s in each specialty.

Psych was 54.

*snort* is all I have to say. At least at my program, which admittedly is very very front loaded with a month of 5day/week night float plus 9-10 24h calls in PGY2, and no overnight call in PGY3.

Psych interns at our program put in at least as many hours as the internal medicine interns do throughout the year.

 

[billypilgrim37]

As a VERY imprecise trend, the best and worst programs will tend to have the longest hours, while the middlish programs will be a bit more casual. Longer hours in desirable cities as well. R=0.5 maybe?

 

[peppy]

As a VERY imprecise trend, the best and worst programs will tend to have the longest hours, while the middlish programs will be a bit more casual. Longer hours in desirable cities as well. R=0.5 maybe?

That fits my experience too. Vanderbilt and Univ of Cincy are two program that come to mind as being very good programs where the intern work very hard. Some people would view it as worth the pain to get a great education at a place like that. Unfortunately, a no-name community program that I am familiar with also seems to work their interns and PGY-2s quite hard (and there were allegations that call schedules were not being made up fairly so some got more than their share).
I wound up at a program that doesn't have quite the "name" as Vandy or Cincy but does seem to cultivate a relatively calm, family friendly schedule. I wouldn't have it any other way. 😍

 

[GrabLife]

Thanks for the quick replies. Very helpful. It leaves me wondering how people work 24 hours and still think straight. Uh, or think at all. I could in a special circumstance, but not as part of a regular schedule. 😴

 

[whopper]

That fits my experience too. Vanderbilt and Univ of Cincy are two program that come to mind as being very good programs where the intern work very hard. Some people would view it as worth the pain to get a great education at a place like that.

I didn't go to U. of Cincinnati as a psychiatry resident, but I'm currently here as a forensic fellow (and will be graduating very soon).

Several people I now work with are U of C grads, and from their talk, it was definitely harder than my own residency (UMDNJ at Atlantic Regional Medical Center) in terms of the call and work hours. I actually think my own program was one of the best in terms of hours. I did about 60 first year, 50 2nd, and 3rd and fourth were cakewalks. I usually got home from call about 8-10pm from call (though they would beep me for admission orders once I got home). 1/3 of the time I barely got beeped and had a full night of sleep.

The benefit of U of C is you're on a very fun campus, it's a great department, and if you want to do research, or get taught by some of the best in the field (who are proud to teach well) there's plenty of faculty for that. I do though hear it was a hard first two years for the psychiatry residents.

Residency is what you make of it, even if you aren't at a top program. If you want to go into a route other than just clinical, and want to do research, you could always do a fellowship. Yes, it's great to be taught by one of the best, but you still have plenty of opportunities after residency if you want to get to the big leagues in the field.

(And just because someone is one of the best does not mean they teach well. Several big people don't want to teach, or can't teach well).

 

[Manicsleep]

Thanks for the quick replies. Very helpful. It leaves me wondering how people work 24 hours and still think straight. Uh, or think at all. I could in a special circumstance, but not as part of a regular schedule. 😴

They don't think straight but you aren't alone and you have done 4 years of medical school prior to that.

Actually being awake for 24 hours is equivalent to being intoxicated at a DUI level.

What ends up happening is that by the time you leave residency and nobody is monitoring you, your level of dealing with emergencies is very much like walking and chewing gum. This is actually a big problem with people who don't undergo this type of training. You certainly cant learn it online.

My internship program averaged 80 hours per week internship year.
65-70 hours per week PGY2
50 hours per week PGY3
55-60 PGY3 depending on your electives.