Post-Residency Hours?

[omgwtfbbq?]

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I have a question... I have heard varied things about EM hours post-residency.
My friend's dad is constantly having issues with the group he's a part of, is always forced to take these awful hours and they work everyone like crazy. His daughter says she hardly saw her dad growing up.

Other people seem to be suggesting that if you want to only work 3 days a week you can.

How does this work? I'm not very familiar with the group practice, or what that means if you need to live in a certain area.... are you then stuck working with just one group? are you always treated badly at first (or forever?)

If someone could give me some insight into how the hours work i'd be really appreciative.

 

[docB]

Here's a thread from the FAQ about schedules. There are hundreds of different ways to do schedules. My guess about your friend's dad's situation is that they were either paying him a ton to make the wacky hours worthwhile, he had some reason he had to fill holes in the schedule like he was the site director, he had a crappy job or he just talked like he had a crappy job. Lots of groups give new guys bad schedules for a few years but if you get more than a few years in and you're still never seeing the light of day and not by choice something's off.

 

[Apollyon]

If your friend is around your age, and her dad is an EM doc, and he's complaining about his crappy hours, he's either 1. new in that group or 2. been getting screwed by that group for a long time.

I don't have that problem. I work full time, and have so much time off I don't know what to do.

Word will get around. Is there a large turnover in the group? The group from which I came did screw some people, but, in the balance, I wasn't treated too badly, so I don't MF them. If someone asked for specifics, I would not gloss over anything, but I'm not aggressively hanging a black flag.

There's more to the story about your friend's dad. If he hasn't become partner in all this time, or if he's moved jobs, or whatever, there's more to the story. Even if by attrition, if he hangs out, he'll eventually become "the man", instead of screwed by "the man".

 

[Apollyon]

DocB and I posted around the same time, saying many of the same things. Either it's one huge conspiracy, or we're telling the truth (Occam's Razor here).

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

I would tend to believe you 🙂 Thanks so much for responding.

How does this work with the groups? Is there one group per hospital?

I'm new to being interested in EM so i'm trying to figure out if i shoudl throw myself into it making my 4th year schedule (we don't have a year 3 rotation)

Reading the threads, it seems that what i'm looking for may be in EM. I can't stand rounding, I cannot physically handle being awake for 30 hours, i don't like all the constant dictating and order writing, and non-patient contact you deal with on the other specialties, and i really want something that will be flexible work hour wise. I don't love any one specialty, i like to see it all, but i like to see it faster than in family medicine. I even enjoy psych patients (unarmed).

I love procedures but don't want to do an IM specialty or be a surgeon. (did my first lp the other day, got it to work, felt weirdly proud of myself, realized i need to get out more...), i am very calm in emergencies, I enjoy looking at EKG's, intubating, yelling clear (very important, it seems), stitching things up, and i'm even good at pelvic exams. I enjoy working with people who appreciate their lives outside medicine, are laid back, don't tend to be the type of people who are into cattiness and backstabbing, and have fantasies about being ninjas (you know you do). This may ahve to do with it , but i tend to really LIKE the emergency medicine people. I have not had this feeling about most other rotations.

So i was thinking it'd be a good fit. The reason I ask about the hours is I know i'll want to have a family and when I do, it's REALLY important to me that I can take a few years and try to work 3 shifts a week. Of course, that means WAY less pay, which is completely fine. I used to teach freshman comp, so any salary above $30,000 a year is peaches. I just wondered if it was possible. And i'm more than happy to work every christmas 🙂

 

[EctopicFetus]

The group im in is a private one.. the partners work between 96 and 130 or so hours per month.. We are fortunate that we are well staffed.. I work 12-16 days per month..

Not bad for a good salary.

 

[enfuegoEP]

I've heard horror stories about new ED docs joining a group out of residency working 2 years of nights and weekends with the promise of making partner only to be fired on the 23rd month for eating the last orange in the doctors lounge or parking in the wrong spot. It's hard to imagine doc's would do such a thing, but apparently it's true.

 

[digitlnoize]

I've heard horror stories about new ED docs joining a group out of residency working 2 years of nights and weekends with the promise of making partner only to be fired on the 23rd month for eating the last orange in the doctors lounge or parking in the wrong spot. It's hard to imagine doc's would do such a thing, but apparently it's true.

On this topic:

How common are situations like this? How often do new grads get shafted with all the crappy shifts?

I'm interested in community ER, and I'm certainly willing to work my share of weekends, nights, and holidays, but I don't want to take the short end of the stick here, either.

So, is it fairly possible to find post-residency gigs where you're working mostly humane, family-friendly hours?

 

[EctopicFetus]

On this topic:

How common are situations like this? How often do new grads get shafted with all the crappy shifts?

I'm interested in community ER, and I'm certainly willing to work my share of weekends, nights, and holidays, but I don't want to take the short end of the stick here, either.

So, is it fairly possible to find post-residency gigs where you're working mostly humane, family-friendly hours?

My group has equal shifts in the pre partner phase.. i think when you interview it is important to ask what happened to their last 5 or 10 hires. How many people didnt make it and why?

What my group does is pay 35% more for nights..so most people do it but feel good about it.

 

[J ROD]

My group has equal shifts in the pre partner phase.. i think when you interview it is important to ask what happened to their last 5 or 10 hires. How many people didnt make it and why?

What my group does is pay 35% more for nights..so most people do it but feel good about it.

I would gladly work nights...get off at 7AM....😍

In fact, I rather work in rural areas and do the 24hr shifts I hear about as long as I can get 3-4hrs sleep in there somewhere on most nights....

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

As long as we're talking about what we're in the mood for ..... I'd be more than happy to pull a night shift if I could do a couple billion procedures or at least a couple of stitches, an LP and an art line. I have the procedure itch tonight... and I live in a city with a big knife and gun club, maybe I'll go hang out in the ED.....