Lower workload for medical residents

[Belgianmedicalstudent]

If all goes well, next year I will obtain my M.D. in Belgium. Currently, I am struggeling with my future career choices. As in many countries, medical residents in Belgium have a very high workload (officially 60h/w, but often more), and that just seems too much for me. In my opinion, a lower workload would lead to better job jastisfaction and leave more time for personal study. So my question is;

which country (or university) has reasonable working hours for medical residents and allows time for personal study?

My current fields of interest are: critical care, pediatrics and internal medicine (nephrology or cardiology). I have good grades and a publication in 'intensive care medicine' (impact factor 10). I am fluent in English, Dutch and French and I have a basic knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian so a program in one of these languages is a big plus. N.B. the US does not recognize foreign M.D.'s.

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[TraumaLlamaMD]

Residents in Belgium are capped at 60h/week? Where can I sign up?!

In all seriousness, I don't think there are "reasonable" hour limits in medical training anywhere. You'd need a ten year residency to gain the same amount of clinical experience, and some people already feel that residency isn't long enough to prepare them for real world practice.

And you definitely won't get satisfactory answers in the US forum, where our hypothetical (but frequently violated) limit is 80h/week.

That said, this is residency. Depending on the specialty and practice setup you choose, your hours as an attending may be better. Not sure how many are under 60h/week though...

 

[BoardingDoc]

N.B. the US does not recognize foreign M.D.'s.

While we appreciate you pointing out that you probably can't train in the US, I don't think any of us were going to suggest it seeing as you seem unhappy at the prospect of working 60 hours a week, whereas you're speaking to a group composed primarily of people who work (or trained at) 80+ hours/wk.

I'd suggest moving this to the international forum which you can find here: General International Discussion

 

[bannie22]

How is 60 hours a week a lot?

Maybe try Britain, arent they <50 hours a week?

Definitely not the US or Asian countries.
Also try Australia. I've heard they've got a nice duty hour cap there too.

 

[hamstergang]

N.B. the US does not recognize foreign M.D.'s.

That's not true. Not that the US would be good for you necessarily given the duty hours request, but there are certainly many residents in the US with foreign medical degrees.

 

[tiedyeddog]

You're capped at 60 hours a week? Do you only get 8 hours of sleep a night as well? Rough life, brother.

 

[rokshana]

If all goes well, next year I will obtain my M.D. in Belgium. Currently, I am struggeling with my future career choices. As in many countries, medical residents in Belgium have a very high workload (officially 60h/w, but often more), and that just seems too much for me. In my opinion, a lower workload would lead to better job jastisfaction and leave more time for personal study. So my question is;

which country (or university) has reasonable working hours for medical residents and allows time for personal study?

My current fields of interest are: critical care, pediatrics and internal medicine (nephrology or cardiology). I have good grades and a publication in 'intensive care medicine' (impact factor 10). I am fluent in English, Dutch and French and I have a basic knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian so a program in one of these languages is a big plus. N.B. the US does not recognize foreign M.D.'s.

1. good luck getting any sympathy here for thinking 60 hours/week is a very high workload and
2. you have to think about what you want out of training...a cush life or the ability to see and learn as much as you can in the short period of time you are in training. Because, realize, that once you are out of training, people will consider you trained and capable of working independently...you don't get the chance to become comfortable with the bread and butter as well as the ability to recognize the zebras, well in the end you are the one that loses.