ekimsurfer said:
SO here is my new question:
Generally how does a 5 year surgical rotation go as far as hours, vacation, etc? And after you get done with residency do you still feel that it was worth it?
All sorts of people, including the usually reasonable and thoughtful users at SDN, can react prematurely, inappropriately or appropriately based on information given. The trouble with web based bulletin boards is that it can be easy to misconstrue a message posted by another. Using appropriate language goes a long way toward eliminating or at least reducing confusion and the possible fire storm resulting from it. Toward that end, may I suggest that you be a little more precise in your language. The term "higher specialty" does not convey much and is open to misinterpretation, which is exactly what happened. "GPs" no longer exist in the US; the correct term is FP or Family Practitioner. A surgical training period after medical school is not a rotation, but a residency. If one takes the time to read posts carefully and give the OP the benefit of the doubt, it usually cuts down on responses such as those you received. Trouble is, when the language is confusing and possibly misleading, as yours was/is, many don't take the time to try and understand the intent. Perhaps if you read your posts and those of others with a more objective eye, we can all reduce some of the unpleasantness here.
On to your new question...
A 5 year + (some programs require or encourage research years in the laboratory and some fellowships will be a difficult match without that experience as well) surgical residency will vary somewhat with regard to hours.
I'm sure you are aware of the relatively new 80 hour workweek restrictions. I'd like to believe that most programs are making a concerted effort to adhere to these. However, the actual hours you work during residency will vary based on:
a) how much your program/faculty/senior residents enforce the workhour restrictions;
b) the rotation you're on - some, like Trauma may be more time intensive and have less allied health assistance and others, like SICU or an Anesthesia elective (if you have one) may be more shift like or have you working less hours per day. We have a fairly quiet Transplant rotation for example, but other places work plenty of hours on that rotation, so it will vary from site to site;
c) the amount of call you take; in general I've found that if you're on call more than twice in one week, its pretty much impossible to stay under 80 hours unless you are allowed to leave early/come in late, etc.;
d)whether that call is in house or at home; some rotations may allow you to take home call, and this is not unusual at the senior level. So while you may be on call, those hours don't count toward the 80 hours unless you come into the hospital;
But in general you should count on working a minimum of 80 hours per week during your junior years, with some rotations perhaps having less hours and some requiring more hours. As you become more senior, your in house call and the need to come in early for rounds decreases, but you may find you are in the hospital later (ie, doing more senior cases) or have to come in if you have a patient on your service in trouble. We've found that many of the senior residents are picking up the left over work as the juniors go home post-call; this leads us to add more hours to our tally.
Vacation time will vary from program to program as well, but most give you 3 weeks; I've seen some with only 2 weeks and a couple with 4 weeks. You may get a few additional days for conference time at some programs.
I can't answer the last question as I'm not done yet, but while a Surgical residency can be miserable, literature shows that Surgeons have some of the highest job satisfaction so I would bet that they thought it was all worth it (and these would be the guys who trained in old days before work hour restrictions). Some will be less comfortable saying so, especially that malpractice rates have risen and reimbursement has dropped.
