Is 35 minutes too far to drive?

[MirkoCrocop]

My wife and I are trying to find a house and it's getting to be a real pain. We're trying to find something affordable, but that we both like and that isn't too far from the hospital.

It looks like we're leaning towards a particular house that will have me driving about 35 minutes each way. Wife completely refuses to get a condo/townhouse (in our price range) that would be closer.

I know path residencies aren't the worst residencies out there, however I know there are certain rotations that require you to stay later than others. My particular residency is probably on the "lighter" side of things.

I really have no idea what to think about this. Given the "typical pathology residency" (and I know it would vary from prgm to prgm and rotation to rotation) what are your thoughts on a 35 minute commute each way?

Please give me your input. This is causing a lot of confusion around here. 😡

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[mlw03]

while that isn't too bad a commute, i sure wouldn't want to do it. you're wasting at least an hour in the car every day, as well as 2-3 gallons of gas at $3.50/gallon.

i don't think this has much to do with being a pathology resident. long commutes suck no matter what your job is, and you and your spouse have to decide what overall is most important to you.

 

[Neddy]

Well my program is probably on the "heavier" side, and I have a 25-30 minute daily commute (public transportation and walking). I don't think its unreasonable at all, and I like putting some distance between myself and work. The AM commute helps me wake up (although if you're driving this might be less ideal), and the PM commute helps me wind down after work. If you feel the need to squeeze in some more education, there are podcasts / CDs with relevant material available.

 

[caffeinegirl]

As someone who lives across the street from the hospital, I like just walking to work. But as the years go by, I think some distance would have been nice, as Neddy said.

Our program has guidelines for call, such that when a frozen is called after hours, we have 45 minutes to get to it. So, as long as you can get into the hospital 45 minutes from when you're paged, you're golden. I would recommend checking to see if your program has such a guideline...

 

[MirkoCrocop]

Thanks for yall's thoughts.

Any other opinions?

 

[EUA]

I also walk to work, and don't regret a second of it. It's been wonderfully convenient, especially for midnight frozens and early morning conferences! I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[deschutes]

As others have said, I'd recommend checking re: call response times at your program.

35 minutes is a little long, for me. I'm the sort who gets frustrated if I leave at 5:30pm and have to sit in traffic for half-an-hour when I could just as easily leave at 6:30-7 and get back to my apartment in 10 minutes.

Thing is, there's your wife to consider. Does she commute too, and can you split the difference in distance? Alternatively, is it worth your putting in 35 minutes of commute each way each day if it gives you peace on the home front? Things like that.

 

[djmd]

Thanks for yall's thoughts.

Any other opinions?

Is that 35 minutes drive distance or 35 minutes with morning/evening traffic...?

Because depending on traffic a 35 min drive can balloon upwards...

35 min with traffic is fine... (assuming there aren't rules that require a 30 min response time for calls (on the upside when being called in at 11pm-4am drive times go way down))

 

[MirkoCrocop]

Is that 35 minutes drive distance or 35 minutes with morning/evening traffic...?

Because depending on traffic a 35 min drive can balloon upwards...

35 min with traffic is fine... (assuming there aren't rules that require a 30 min response time for calls (on the upside when being called in at 11pm-4am drive times go way down))

From what I'm told (haven't had a chance to drive this myself), 35 minutes is about as bad as it will get in rush hour traffic. In regular traffic, it will probably be on the order of 25 minutes or so. We also spent a great deal of time (maybe half) at a closer hospital (what I figure to be about 15-30 minutes depending on traffic).

 

[djmd]

From what I'm told (haven't had a chance to drive this myself), 35 minutes is about as bad as it will get in rush hour traffic. In regular traffic, it will probably be on the order of 25 minutes or so. We also spent a great deal of time (maybe half) at a closer hospital (what I figure to be about 15-30 minutes depending on traffic).

If it is a major city and major highways.. google and yahoo maps both have live traffic features.. lets you see how slow traffic is..

it won't tell you travel time.. but it may help

Some cities have their own traffic webpages.. some even have webcams and lots of other helpful features.. so you can really get a sense of how bad the traffic is..

 

[Matte Kudesai]

A commute within 15 minutes of work is optimal as a resident. This is for the sake of convenience.

Increasingly though physicians as the educated leaders should consider their carbon foot print.😀



If you don't believe in the green thing there are some calculators that help you break down commuting distance vs cost in dollars: check it out



http://www.commutesolutions.com/howmuch.html

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

you could always tell your wife that if you're not spending an hour in traffic every day, you will be able to spend more time with HER 😍

 

[docbiohazard]

If it is a major city and major highways.. google and yahoo maps both have live traffic features.. lets you see how slow traffic is..

it won't tell you travel time.. but it may help

If you pull up driving directions in Google maps, it'll usually tell you an estimated travel time with and without traffic...

BH

 

[djmd]

A commute within 15 minutes of work is optimal as a resident. This is for the sake of convenience.

Increasingly though physicians as the educated leaders should consider their carbon foot print.😀



If you don't believe in the green thing there are some calculators that help you break down commuting distance vs cost in dollars: check it out



http://www.commutesolutions.com/howmuch.html

Not to mention how much you will hate a long drive after peak oil.. (if that hasn't already started)

If you pull up driving directions in Google maps, it'll usually tell you an estimated travel time with and without traffic...

BH

True... actually I just noticed a recent addition to their live traffic feature.. you can choose to overlay estimated traffic on different days and times... pretty cool...

Definitely something to look at when moving someplace and figuring out one's commute...

 

[deleted113029]

As someone who lives across the street from the hospital, I like just walking to work. But as the years go by, I think some distance would have been nice, as Neddy said.

Our program has guidelines for call, such that when a frozen is called after hours, we have 45 minutes to get to it. So, as long as you can get into the hospital 45 minutes from when you're paged, you're golden. I would recommend checking to see if your program has such a guideline...

45 minutes? must be nice...wake up, make some coffee, read the newspaper...then drive to do a frozen.

 

[docbiohazard]

I've had a variety of commutes in my day. Living within walking/biking distance is nice, but often impractical or too expensive. In terms of driving, for me 15 minutes was nice. Anything less than 30 minutes is ok. I have a 45 minute commute right now, which pushes my patience level... above 45 minutes to an hour or more is too much.

Fuel prices are rising, so if you're going to live out a ways, I'd look at your mass transit options. You definitely have to balance with the family considerations. Driving long distances to work stinks, but only you know you personal tolerance level...

BH

 

[cytoborg]

I'm at what you'd probably call a "heavier program."

First 2 yrs of residency I lived within walking distance to the hospital, which was nice - particularly for late frozens (and the neighborhood around UCSF is nice enough that it's safe for a woman to walk back and forth to the hospital at 2 am).

For the remainder of my training I have lived about 35 min away in rush hr traffic, from the door of my house to the door of the morning conference room. It's more like 15 min at 2 am, so that's not so bad. It helps that I bought a car that's fun to drive, and has a nice stereo system, which takes the edge off the traffic, and I really, really enjoy my house now - much bigger and nicer than what we could afford in the city, and like somebody else said it's nice to have that distance from work.

Overall I'm happy with the move, and normally I'm someone who hates to commute.