How much do you work?

[Perrotfish]

Alright, a little bit of Intern year burnout is beginning to set in, and I'm starting to wonder about the light at the end of the tunnel. Deployments aside, what kind of hours do you guys work as AD physicians? How common are real weekends, federal holidays, and vacations? I'm especially curious about junior attending type commands like Lejune, Guam, or Guantanamo, but any perspective would be helpful. I'm doing Peds, if that helps.

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[NavyFP]

Alright, a little bit of Intern year burnout is beginning to set in, and I'm starting to wonder about the light at the end of the tunnel. Deployments aside, what kind of hours do you guys work as AD physicians? How common are real weekends, federal holidays, and vacations? I'm especially curious about junior attending type commands like Lejune, Guam, or Guantanamo, but any perspective would be helpful. I'm doing Peds, if that helps.

I would expect to work 50 hours a week plus call. Evenings and weekends are generally free and most holidays. Call will be the big variable. Depends on the staffing at your command.

 

[cautionmaster]

Alright, a little bit of Intern year burnout is beginning to set in, and I'm starting to wonder about the light at the end of the tunnel. Deployments aside, what kind of hours do you guys work as AD physicians? How common are real weekends, federal holidays, and vacations? I'm especially curious about junior attending type commands like Lejune, Guam, or Guantanamo, but any perspective would be helpful. I'm doing Peds, if that helps.

Hang in there...

I would expect to work 50 hours a week plus call. Evenings and weekends are generally free and most holidays. Call will be the big variable. Depends on the staffing at your command.

That's not too bad. Maybe I should have stayed in.

 

[Homunculus]

I would expect to work 50 hours a week plus call. Evenings and weekends are generally free and most holidays. Call will be the big variable. Depends on the staffing at your command.

i was at an army meddac as as staff pediatrician. good weeks were 50-55 hrs of clinic with call q3. weekend coverage was roughly 1-2 weekends a month. no work hour restrictions and "post call" days vary from command to command. as peds, we also were "back up call" to the FP's so that always sucked away off time as well. overall, it was manageable and once you got some kind of system down for notes/followup it wasn't bad. make sure you try to get on a few committees to get some admin time away from clinic

as a subspecialist fellow, my hours are better (as crazy as that sounds). as staff subspecialist, it will depend on where i go but will also be better. hence me doing fellowship

--your friendly neighborhood no more ADHD for me caveman

 

[Perrotfish]

i was at an army meddac as as staff pediatrician. good weeks were 50-55 hrs of clinic with call q3. weekend coverage was roughly 1-2 weekends a month. no work hour restrictions and "post call" days vary from command to command. as peds, we also were "back up call" to the FP's so that always sucked away off time as well. overall, it was manageable and once you got some kind of system down for notes/followup it wasn't bad. make sure you try to get on a few committees to get some admin time away from clinic

as a subspecialist fellow, my hours are better (as crazy as that sounds). as staff subspecialist, it will depend on where i go but will also be better. hence me doing fellowship

--your friendly neighborhood no more ADHD for me caveman

What does attending pediatric call at this kind of site entail?

 

[Homunculus]

What does attending pediatric call at this kind of site entail?

for me, it was at home call, but you were on for ward/nursery coverage, c-sections, ER consults/admissions, and occasional "mommy pages." we had a pretty busy L&D (normally 60+ deliveries a month) and we were expected to live within 30 minutes of the hospital. which made call weekends awesome since you couldn't go anywhere civilized and were chained to the area. the winter was always crappy, but during the "well" months i'd say i would get 1/4 calls or so without an overnight page requiring a drive in. but there were always the 2am csections and ER consults to drive in for that would really screw up a few days.

postcall we were expected to see acutes until noon, then we finagled some "admin time" post call in the afternoons. which worked ok, but it left us little room for excuses when it came to mandatory training and such because we had that time allotted to get those things completed..

in a decent location with some good colleagues, it would not be a bad lifestyle. i was peds chief for awhile and managed to not run the place into the ground-- and learned a lot about contractors, unions, and hospital politics in the process. i knew i wanted to subspecialize and i think i am better off having the experience in gen peds first. i definitely appreciate things more

--your friendly neighborhood vbac hating caveman

 

[Homunculus]

oh, and holidays are split between staff as far as coverage but you can get 3 (and sometimes 4) day weekends off for federal holidays. vacation is as the schedule allows, but you can take all that leave you've saved up during residency. no work hour restrictions, but with no one to staff with it will seem at first pretty free. until you wish you had someone to staff with, lol.

--your friendly neighborhood "what do you mean you had a heart transplant?" caveman

 

[Perrotfish]

Thanks everyone. Its good to know I have something to look forward to.

we were expected to live within 30 minutes of the hospital. which made call weekends awesome since you couldn't go anywhere civilized and were chained to the area.

I am trying to imagine a world where I am upset because I have to stay home and lay on the couch.

 

[Homunculus]

Thanks everyone. Its good to know I have something to look forward to.



I am trying to imagine a world where I am upset because I have to stay home and lay on the couch.

oh, it's much better than residency, don't get me wrong. it just gets old after awhile. only so much DVR and sports. plus your significant other will go stir crazy. and if you start a project that requires a time committment (movie/mowing/gardening/running/cooking/etc) you have to be ready/able to drop it and leave. nothing like coming into a mec delivery looking like a grass stained hobo. . .

--your friendly neighborhood a little dirt is good for your baby caveman

 

[oneyearwonder]

Who looks like the grass-stained hobo. the pediatrician or the patient..... or both?

 

[NavyFP]

a little dirt is good for your baby [/B]caveman

Just to hijack the thread.......

I once read that we eat 3 pounds of dirt prior to age 4. This is most certainly dated, as parents tend to try to sterilize the world around their children, but I have always wondered if "we" keep today's kids too clean. After all, there is a considerable difference in the amount of allergies/asthma in farm kids.

 

[Kingfisher]

Just to hijack the thread.......

I once read that we eat 3 pounds of dirt prior to age 4. This is most certainly dated, as parents tend to try to sterilize the world around their children, but I have always wondered if "we" keep today's kids too clean. After all, there is a considerable difference in the amount of allergies/asthma in farm kids.

I wonder if there is a difference in child order as well? I know with my own kids I was much more germ-a-phobic with my first.

Oh and not to hijack too much. I work~ 50 hours/week with no weekends and only cell phone call. it's glorious

 

[Mirror Form]

Alright, a little bit of Intern year burnout is beginning to set in, and I'm starting to wonder about the light at the end of the tunnel. Deployments aside, what kind of hours do you guys work as AD physicians? How common are real weekends, federal holidays, and vacations? I'm especially curious about junior attending type commands like Lejune, Guam, or Guantanamo, but any perspective would be helpful. I'm doing Peds, if that helps.

I'm not sure about peds, but at the MEDDAC I work at, most people work about 45 hours per week plus call and the occasional weekend depending on your specialty. The hours aren't bad at all. Of course in my specialty that's pretty standard outside of the military too.