How to handle this?

[Testing124]

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Long time listener, first time caller.

 

[cbrons]

my holiday schedule is always heavier because I'm told I don't have a family.

Whether or not you have a family should not play into the distribution of holiday days off.

 

[cbrons]

Any other suggestions?

My suggestion is to drop it, suck it up, and work the shift.

Unless of course your PD is a reasonable person who will listen to your complaint without taking offense and possibly consider changing your schedule. If that isn't the case (you already said your PD doesn't like you), then you should bite the bullet and work the shift.

They can always hurt you more.

 

[Amygdarya]

Long time listener, first time caller.

I'm currently a resident. I feel like I have taken more than my share of call shifts in my program. I've covered an insane amount of maternity/paternity leaves while getting no compensatory time off, and my holiday schedule is always heavier because I'm told I don't have a family. Now today I'm being told that I have to work a weekend a couple of weeks from now. I had plans on this weekend because when the schedule came out in October, I wasn't listed to work. The departmental schedules that have come out since then have said the same. Then today the latest update comes and I'm scheduled to work that weekend. This is the only way I even knew. No one had the decency to even tell me. I'm pissed.

I'm thinking about going to GME in the morning. In my program, you don't get an elective if you have a baby. The person who was supposed to work that weekend somehow got an elective in February. She also took a 7 week maternity leave at the beginning of this year. She's also BFFs with the PD, so the rules of the program never seem to apply to her. She and I also abhor one another. Guess who was supposed to work the weekend I'm now working? She should have to take one of my weekends I was scheduled for the rest of the year, and from what I'm hearing I'll instead still be working all I was slated to do. I think it's BS and I'm sick of it. My PD doesn't especially like me, so going to her isn't an option. Thus, my thought is to go to our GME director to make it right. Any other suggestions?

I'm just a medical student (though an older one - one of those people who had a life and another career before medical school), but I'd like to comment on the emotional tone of your post. You have perfectly valid reasons to be pissed off; nobody should be taken advantage of like this, and there shouldn't be any favoritism in call assignments. However, for your own sake, I hope that you have enough strength in you not to make it sound personal whenever and with whoever you discuss this situation at your program and hospital (GME office or whatever... by the way, what's your relationship like with chief resident(s)? Can you get them to help in this situation?). Because, regardless how unfair and how personal the situation is, it's better to be as impartial as possible, professional, stick to the facts (here's how many calls I've covered for other people... I expect to have my well deserved weekends off - not to mention it's time for those people to pay back and cover some of my scheduled calls etc). Claiming PD's favoritism, however true it may be, is not going to reflect well on you. And yeah, seek some support at the program - chiefs, attendings, fellow residents you have good relationships with.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Residency can be really tough, hours wise. Trust me, I come from a large and very busy program and I've had similar complaints in the past. Here's my advice: the schedule is often a set of moving pieces, you don't really know what's going on behind the scenes and the reasons for schedule changes. Most people in my program that have children will owe significant time at the end of their residency - would you rather be in their shoes, rather than starting fellowship or making attending money? Some owe up to 4-5 months since they take so much maternity leave - it's their call (and federal law allows them to take it, but your specialty's board will only allow so much time off which is why they will have to add time at the end).

If you feel you are truly being overworked, after contemplating it for a few days the best course of action is to be honest on your annual ACGME and program evaluations - there are always questions about education/work/life balance, be honest in your assessment. Discuss your concerns with your advisor. If you have a good rapport with your chief residents you can discuss it with them as well, but often it can get you labeled as a complainer which would be counter productive.

Honestly, just be glad residency is a finite amount of time - it sucks, and it seems like you are working all the time covering shifts and what not, but it will come to an end. You might be best served by keeping you head down and not rocking the boat - your call.

 

[deleted480308]

If you're still under the max allowed hours, keep your head down and get through it.....they can always hurt you more

 

[shopsteward]

How important are the plans you made for that weekend? Can they be moved?

If they can't be moved, or you would rather not move them, you could go to your chief and say "the October schedule and the departmental schedules showed that I was off on this weekend, so I made plans that I can't change. Today's schedule now shows me as working that weekend: is it possible to change that?" Don't mention your PD. Don't mention the person who is the PD's BFF. Don't mention people with families, or maternity leave. Don't mention having a heavier schedule because you don't have a family. Just make a polite request based on having previous plans.

If the response is a negative, you have to decide where your priorities are. You say the PD doesn't especially like you, which means that your position if you start making waves might not be strong. Remember that success is the best revenge: when you graduate from residency you can give them all the finger as you drive away to your first job as an attending.

 

[Shinken]

I agree with AdmiralChz and shopsteward, their advice is spot on.

OP, you don't mention which PGY year you're in and which specialty, but if you're in a 3 year program, it will go so fast it'll make your head spin. Do what shopsteward recommends and make a polite request. Residents that take a lot of FMLA time off will need to make up the time and graduate late, that's the trade-off.

 

[Perrotfish]

If you're still under the max allowed hours, keep your head down and get through it.....they can always hurt you more

On the other hand, if you're way over the max allowed hours... keep your head down and get through it. They can always hurt you more.

 

[Perrotfish]

My PD doesn't especially like me, so going to her isn't an option. Thus, my thought is to go to our GME director to make it right. Any other suggestions?

If you do this, there are two possibilities.

1) Your GME director has more sense than you do. (S)he calms you down and then never mentions it to anyone ever again.

2) Your GME director tries to intervene. Your schedule improves and you get the weekend off. It is impossible for this to happen without your PD getting wind of it. Within a week you fid yourself in the PDs office for some 'serious concerns' that she has about your empathy/clinical management/knowledge base/whatever. You spend the next year (at least) digging yourself out of that hole.

 

[WinslowPringle]

The long-term answer is shockingly simple.


Have a baby. You get your maternity/paternity leave you're entitled to and no longer have to work the terrible shifts because now you have a family. Equality!


;-)


Or not.....

If your program is benign, going to your GME and really nicely pointing it out probably won't hurt anything. If your PD is terrible and your program is malignant, it'll hurt you potentially a lot. At my program, if something like that happened, I would have no problems discussing it with whoever made the schedule (because I know it would've just been an oversight and we work really hard that everyone has as equal vacation time as much as possible). But your program might not be like that - it doesn't sound like it is.

Also, document everything. Write down exactly how many vacation days and holidays each of your fellow residents have if possible (here, we get a master schedule copy so we all know what everyone formally has on/off for holidays and call). It may be that other people really are taking their fair share - or it may be shockingly obvious that you are the one and only resident being abused by the schedule. If it's the former, it may help you rationalize it. If it's the latter, it helps a lot to have documentation (no emotions!) that you can point to and show that you have been required to work 75% more holidays than anyone else. Also, make sure you honestly record your hours. If you are working extra weekends, by current ACGME rules you should still have the average number of required days off. PDs usually don't like records of ACGME work rule violations. Be nice, suck up to the PD and the GME coordinator, but keep good records.

 

[rokshana]

How important are the plans you made for that weekend? Can they be moved?

If they can't be moved, or you would rather not move them, you could go to your chief and say "the October schedule and the departmental schedules showed that I was off on this weekend, so I made plans that I can't change. Today's schedule now shows me as working that weekend: is it possible to change that?" Don't mention your PD. Don't mention the person who is the PD's BFF. Don't mention people with families, or maternity leave. Don't mention having a heavier schedule because you don't have a family. Just make a polite request based on having previous plans.

If the response is a negative, you have to decide where your priorities are. You say the PD doesn't especially like you, which means that your position if you start making waves might not be strong. Remember that success is the best revenge: when you graduate from residency you can give them all the finger as you drive away to your first job as an attending.

agree with this...also you could simply see if someone will switch weekends with you...yes, you still have to do more than you initially expected, but at least you get to go to whatever you have planned for the weekend.

and if working that weekend puts you in a position to violate ACGME hours, then you may want to point that out to the chief...sometimes that get overlooked, but they will certainly fix it to avoid a documented violation in hours.

 

[mestielest]

If you're still under the max allowed hours, keep your head down and get through it.....they can always hurt you more

On the other hand, if you're way over the max allowed hours... keep your head down and get through it. They can always hurt you more.

Sad But True from Metallica plays at the background...

Anyway, I think you suffer from double standarts in your program. There is also restrictions in favor of mothers (which I think it should be) my country. Most programss try to equal the situations with some measures. For instance, the one in your program should taken out from electives strictly. Try to talk with your director, I hope it helps. Good luck.

 

[caffeinemia]

Sad But True from Metallica plays at the background...

Anyway, I think you suffer from double standarts in your program. There is also restrictions in favor of mothers (which I think it should be) my country. Most programss try to equal the situations with some measures. For instance, the one in your program should taken out from electives strictly. Try to talk with your director, I hope it helps. Good luck.

Just don't do it on tilt. You'll probably end up losing any case that you had. Raising a concern versus acusing of unfairness may be essentially the same, but it's all about delivery...