how busy is retina fellowship?

[docdoc2012]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys
just wondering how busy retina fellowship compared to ophthalmology residency. if one is contemplateing going to a big city for a fellowship, is this something to consider? are you so busy that you generally don't have time to have a life? from what i understand at my program, the retina fellow basically is called in for all the cases and is basically always on call (which is what you would want for fellowship training). is it like this at most places?
thanks!

 

[MstaKing10]

there is some variablity between fellowships in this regard. Most are quite busy. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. No duty hours for fellows, so there is much less concern from program directors in terms of your hours

2. Some programs have quite a few fellows, thus, call can be busy but not ofter. Other fellowships with only 1 or 2 fellows do have a lot more call. These tend to be a little less busy though.

3. You definitely have time to have a life, however, expect to be busy during work hours and on call. In general, my residency was actually busier than my fellowship, and I was in a pretty busy fellowship. Truth is, there is less after hours and weekend emergencies as there were many years ago, and a lot of stuff can be put off for the following day, making life a little easier for everyone.

 

[Slide]

Also, from what I've gathered in residency so far, more and more cases that would be "urgent" many years ago would simply be pushed to the next morning, or at least an early add-on case. This goes especially for RDs (more so if non-macula threatening), but at my program, we're a bit more old school...