Pharmacy Rotation Commute - Is a 1.5 hour commute too much?

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yelahfox

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Hey! This is my first time posting, I am a P3 student at UIC College of Pharmacy on the Rockford campus (about 75 miles away from Chicago). We recently learned about a longitudinal APPE where you would do your 4x core rotations at one the UChicago hospital. It sounds like a great opportunity that allows for research opportunities and first pick at rotation sites.

However, it would be an almost 2 hour commute from where I live now and I would only be able to move to a suburb and cut the commute down to 1-1.5 hours (depending on traffic). I am also going to look into public transportation (buses/CTA).

I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has commuted this far daily for a rotation and what your experience was. Do you feel that it hindered you due to the time commitment driving?

Any feedback would be great! Thanks. 🙂
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I actually drove to my Adult Medicine pharmacy APPE with a 1.5-hour commute. I had to leave at 6:30 am to be there by 8 am and left the rotation site at 6:30 pm 4 days per week. I was encouraged to go home and rest due to the long drive. However, I only had 4 actual days of work, which made time management all the more sweet as I had 3 days off. If it was another location with 5 days, I probably would not have found a way there. The driving only hindered my NAPLEX study time and my work time to pay for my rent, not my overall learning or in meeting the rotation objectives. I could listen to my lectures while driving as I had Bluetooth, but that would have eaten up my data: I only had 5 GB per month. This was also my non-preferred rotation as I was hoping to pursue Drug Information at Florida Hospital. Preceptor workload prevented that opportunity from surfacing.

I earned a B on that rotation.
 
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Oh my.

I used to do an hour each way but that seems insane. Can you find a room to rent in the city closer to the hospital for Mon-Fri? If nothing else the gas costs will kill you.


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yelahfox said:
Hey! This is my first time posting, I am a P3 student at UIC College of Pharmacy on the Rockford campus (about 75 miles away from Chicago). We recently learned about a longitudinal APPE where you would do your 4x core rotations at one the UChicago hospital. It sounds like a great opportunity that allows for research opportunities and first pick at rotation sites.
However, it would be an almost 2 hour commute from where I live now and I would only be able to move to a suburb and cut the commute down to 1-1.5 hours (depending on traffic). I am also going to look into public transportation (buses/CTA).
I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has commuted this far daily for a rotation and what your experience was. Do you feel that it hindered you due to the time commitment driving?
Any feedback would be great! Thanks. 🙂
Click to expand...
Really?
That's interesting, because my wife and I were in Chicago last weekend and couldn't believe how cheap the real estate was.
I'm surprised to learn that the rental market is that bad.

There have to be some medical students or other P4s you could room with.

BTW: Roister is dope
 
It`s more than doable but only you can ultimately decide. However, ask your preceptor if he/she can make it 4 days a week thing instead of 5.

If it`s only for a month or two, it`s more than doable. If it`s for 4 months just make sure you are not the type that goes insane stuck in traffic.
 
I drove from Buffalo to Rochester in the dead of winter on icy roads for my research project, but I didn't have to be there every day. I've only been to Chicago a couple times, but I'd definitely recommend taking the bus/train/etc as that'll get you some relatively quiet study time.
 
yelahfox said:
Hey! This is my first time posting, I am a P3 student at UIC College of Pharmacy on the Rockford campus (about 75 miles away from Chicago). We recently learned about a longitudinal APPE where you would do your 4x core rotations at one the UChicago hospital. It sounds like a great opportunity that allows for research opportunities and first pick at rotation sites.

However, it would be an almost 2 hour commute from where I live now and I would only be able to move to a suburb and cut the commute down to 1-1.5 hours (depending on traffic). I am also going to look into public transportation (buses/CTA).

I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has commuted this far daily for a rotation and what your experience was. Do you feel that it hindered you due to the time commitment driving?

Any feedback would be great! Thanks. 🙂
Click to expand...

Where are you going to work? I.E field...etc. ?

What are your plans when you graduate?

how much are your student loans at this point? and what do you estimate upon graduation?

I'm curious to see whats going on in chicago. thanks!
 
3-4 hours a day for 5 days a week for four months? That would be hell for me. Only so many podcasts/audiobooks/lectures/whatever to listen to. I would personally need to find another arrangement to make that work, probably renting a room from someone who lives closer or something like that.
 
sozetone said:
Where are you going to work? I.E field...etc. ?

What are your plans when you graduate?

how much are your student loans at this point? and what do you estimate upon graduation?

I'm curious to see whats going on in chicago. thanks!
Click to expand...


This would be for my core rotations (ambulatory, community, institutional, and medicine) at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The rotations would just be throughout the hospital including cardiology, oncology, neurology, transplant, counseling programs, and specialty pharmacy. Our rotations are 6 weeks in length each, so this would be for at least x24 weeks, I will probably try to get at least x1 of my elective rotations in Chicago as well (so basically I would be driving there the whole year).

After graduation I plan on doing a PGY1 and PGY2 in emergency medicine. The University of Chicago also offers a PGY2 in emergency medicine so I feel like it'd be there and see what it is like.

I will have $150k in student loan debt at the end of my P3 year, at graduation I predict having about $200k. If I plan on moving I'd have to take out additional loans to pay for living since I wouldn't be working any longer, probably around an extra $10-15k.

Thank you for your input!
 
Talk to other students from Rockford who have done rotations at UofC. I don’t believe you would be the first.

It’s on the opposite side of Chicago from Rockford - are there any other similar programs on the north side of Chicago?


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I drove ~70-75 miles one way for two of my rotations. So 1.5 hours 1 way in the state I was in. Definitely doable. But it was by choice. Just out of curiosity what’s your site? If you don’t want to share, publicly, PM me.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
Really?
That's interesting, because my wife and I were in Chicago last weekend and couldn't believe how cheap the real estate was.
I'm surprised to learn that the rental market is that bad.

There have to be some medical students or other P4s you could room with.

BTW: Roister is dope
Click to expand...

So currently I live with my significant other and we split the cost of living, he works in Rockford so I was looking at places between Chicago and Rockford. Elgin is about 1 hr away from University of Chicago (good traffic, 1hr 40 min in heavy traffic) and 45 min away from Rockford (drive time doesn't really change). He is willing to commute. I was going to try and see about public transportation to the hospital so I'd at least be able to study/be productive during the commute.

I've commuted to Chicago before for internships, but it was only 2x days a week. I wanted to see if others have done that commute for rotations and what they thought about it.
 
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njac said:
Talk to other students from Rockford who have done rotations at UofC. I don’t believe you would be the first.

It’s on the opposite side of Chicago from Rockford - are there any other similar programs on the north side of Chicago?


Sent from my iPhone using
Click to expand...

This is the first time they are offering the longitudinal APPE from UofC to do all x4 core rotations there! So I'm not sure if anyone has done the commute that often, I'm sure there is a few students who have done a majority of their rotations in Chicago though so I will try to reach out to them. I believe UofC is the only ones offering this program currently! I really don't want to pass it up because it seems like a great opportunity.
 
projektreverb said:
I drove ~70-75 miles one way for two of my rotations. So 1.5 hours 1 way in the state I was in. Definitely doable. But it was by choice. Just out of curiosity what’s your site? If you don’t want to share, publicly, PM me.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how to PM, but basically it is a program where you do your x4 core rotations throughout the UofC health system. I'm a P3 that recently learned about this opportunity and am heavily considering it. I put a brief description of each rotation below.

1. Medicine: rotate through internal med and other different specialties.
2. Institutional: anticoag counseling, COPD education, and ED med histories.
3. Community: bedside discharge medication counseling and outpatient pharmacy
4. Ambulatory care: chemo clinic, specialty infusion, and specialty pharmacy.

The program is very clinical-based which appeals to me since I want to complete a PGY2. I also like the fact that there are research opportunities since you are at the same site for an extended period of time.

I found an area that I could rent a place in that would be about 1 hour away, which honestly doesn't seem too bad to me. May be 1.5 hours depending on traffic. I previously drove to Chicago for an internship x2 days a week, but wanted to see if there were people that did this commute x5 a week for their rotations and their experience with this.
 
eeyore spice said:
I drove from Buffalo to Rochester in the dead of winter on icy roads for my research project, but I didn't have to be there every day. I've only been to Chicago a couple times, but I'd definitely recommend taking the bus/train/etc as that'll get you some relatively quiet study time.
Click to expand...

There is a bus and train that could take me in from the suburb I'm considering moving to, it would make the commute 2 hours by bus/train instead of 1hr by car. Although I would then have time to work on my laptop during the bus ride. So much to consider...
 
I had a P4 rotation that was a little over an hour away and had to be there at 7am and didnt get off until 4 or sometimes 5 or later. It sucked but it was only a month. I also was working every weekend that month so it sucked even that much more. But it actually ended up being one of my favorite rotations...awesome preceptor.
 
jjcayce123 said:
I had a P4 rotation that was a little over an hour away and had to be there at 7am and didnt get off until 4 or sometimes 5 or later. It sucked but it was only a month. I also was working every weekend that month so it sucked even that much more. But it actually ended up being one of my favorite rotations...awesome preceptor.
Click to expand...

I don't plan on working so I'd have my weekends to myself, maybe that will be enough to push me through 4-5 months of commuting! Thank you for your input. 🙂 I feel like at the end of the day as long as the experience is worth it, I don't mind the drive.
 
Have you checked with your academic advisor/school to see if they have housing accommodations for certain rotation sites? That was the case with my school; got to live in a hotel for like 4 months (somewhat of a bizarre/memorable oddity in my life) for hospital rotations. Most I ever drove was 1 hour a day for 2 of my rotations (one being out of state & somewhat out of the way but convenient/home state @ the time)
 
yelahfox said:
This would be for my core rotations (ambulatory, community, institutional, and medicine) at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The rotations would just be throughout the hospital including cardiology, oncology, neurology, transplant, counseling programs, and specialty pharmacy. Our rotations are 6 weeks in length each, so this would be for at least x24 weeks, I will probably try to get at least x1 of my elective rotations in Chicago as well (so basically I would be driving there the whole year).

After graduation I plan on doing a PGY1 and PGY2 in emergency medicine. The University of Chicago also offers a PGY2 in emergency medicine so I feel like it'd be there and see what it is like.

I will have $150k in student loan debt at the end of my P3 year, at graduation I predict having about $200k. If I plan on moving I'd have to take out additional loans to pay for living since I wouldn't be working any longer, probably around an extra $10-15k.

Thank you for your input!
Click to expand...

I never gave any input, only asked a few questions. I have one other.

What is your backup plan if you do not get into a residency at all? what area would you got to next?
 
sozetone said:
I never gave any input, only asked a few questions. I have one other.

What is your backup plan if you do not get into a residency at all? what area would you got to next?
Click to expand...

I’d probably go into ambulatory care or wherever I could get in and apply for a residency again next year. My ultimate goal is emergency med so whatever it takes to get there.
 
gwarm01 said:
A one hour drive isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things. I did that for well over a year at my first job. Just subscribe to some long podcasts like Hardcore History and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...
yeah I agree. I mean even 4 hours a day driving is do-able if it's only for a 6 week APPE rotation. Why so much complaining. Now if it was like 3 hours each way + then it gets hard because you only have like 16 awake hours in a day. Nothing wrong with getting a tent and sleeeping in the woods or in your car. The hotel industrial complex makes renting a hotel so expensive. Most of the time the issue is Police not robbers or criminals. The police will harass you if you pick the wrong spot. PM me if you need help as I have years of experience.
 
Here in the Tri-State area 1,5 hour one-way commutes are rather common. I know people who have been doing it for years... I personally only did it for about a month before I was able to move. The downside is that you have no time or energy to do anything else on weekdays and you burn through gas like crazy (if you are budgeting, be prepared to fill up every day to every other day depending on your mileage/capacity). Otherwise, it's not that bad assuming you can get you start time adjusted if you are not a morning person (if I had to be at work at 8am, meaning get up at 5:30am every day - I would have shot myself; but because I didn't need to be there until 9:30-10am that wasn't bad at all).
 
I had a rotation where driving was half the battle. (1.5 h)
The driving distance wasn't that much but I get stuck in traffic for miles.
Morning traffic I couldn't really control but to avoid the evening traffic, I stayed at the rotation site until like 7 PM (I was done around 4 or 5 PM).
I worked on assignments/projects or just played video games on my laptop.
Saved me at least 30 minutes of unproductive time/gas.
 
I would consider the fact that most likely at least part of this rotation would end up being in the winter time and if you are talking snow storms your commute would be at least a little bit longer. And have back up routes mapped out so you aren't caught by surprise when you cannot go the way you normally would. I worked as a floater for a year and hated the commute part of it when the weather got bad because I would have to guess how bad the driving would be and how much time to add to my commute. I would seriously talk to your school about if they have a housing option attached to this site. I would think they should offer something since they are expecting you to stay for 24 weeks. Or at least try to make it so you are doing 4 days instead of 5 days a week at the site. Also if you are going the commute route make sure you have a reliable car with good gas mileage. Where I had to float I had a minimum of 1 hour each way just about everyday so I was getting gas at least once a week to twice a week.
 
Good point about the winter weather. I had a rotation in February at a site about an hour from my house, and we got struck by an ice storm midday. I saw three or four cars spin out of control, and had to stop and help someone who flew into a very steep ditch.

I guess what I'm trying to say is good luck.
 
I had a rotation that was 1.5 hours each way. I asked my preceptor if I could do 4 ten hour days and she agreed. It saved a day of driving which made it tolerable
 
At my school, the radius for matched rotations was 90 miles in any direction. You had to let the matching algorithm choose 3 of 4 core rotations for you within the radius. If a preceptor didn't or wouldn't choose to take you on for an elective on rotation night those went into the algorithm too. Luckily they started letting existing elective sites offer one of the core rotations. When you had a program out of the radius (which for me was back home) take you on for an elective or the one core rotation you didn't have to go into the match for that. Fortunately was able to do 4 blocks at home and 4 blocks at school (when you include my off-block). Unfortunately these literally alternated between home and school so I couldn't save on rent at school. I put 12,679 miles on my car during APPE year but can only imagine how much more it would have been if I was placed near the outskirts of the radius. On one of my winter-time rotations I had to be up on the floor ready for rounds at 6 AM, turning the front of my car into a snowplow on snowy upstate New York mornings since the roads were untouched at 5:15AM.
 
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