Programs with 8 hour shifts

[FiveIronFrenzy]

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I'm curious to know which EM programs primarily schedule residents to 8 hour shifts (or 9's); thought others might be interested too since its interview season. Looking for places that don't mix or at least have the majority at this length.

So far I'm aware of Mayo. Others?

 

[pinipig523]

Cook County.

 

[Transmogrifier]

A majority of places will be 8s, 9s, or 10s. Some do a combo with 12s on the weekends. There are still some doing straight 12s though not quite so many. I think shift length should be a pretty minor criterion when looking at programs. Whatever the ED shift length you're still capped at 60 hours a week. Remember that you'll pretty much be working 12 hour days on all your off service rotations no matter where you go.

 

[FiveIronFrenzy]

A majority of places will be 8s, 9s, or 10s. Some do a combo with 12s on the weekends. There are still some doing straight 12s though not quite so many. I think shift length should be a pretty minor criterion when looking at programs. Whatever the ED shift length you're still capped at 60 hours a week. Remember that you'll pretty much be working 12 hour days on all your off service rotations no matter where you go.

Understood, but I know residents for whom this is a big deal and would think there are applicants for whom it is as well (not a deal breaker per se, but we all have our preferences).

Mayo and Cook County so far. Others?

 

[BlueStructure]

Christiana went to pretty much all 8s a few years ago.

 

[deleted77919]

…

 

[dotcb]

Email the residency coordinators of programs you're interested in.

 

[WilcoWorld]

Also note that 8's = 9's at many places. When a 9 hour shift is 8 hours of picking up patients and 1 hour of cleaning up after the new team starts, you'll usually get out at the same time as you would if the shifts were "8's" with no overlap.

 

[Belleza156]

I think the better question is where are 8 hour shifts at 3 year programs vs 8 hour shifts at 4 year programs. A 4 year program with 12 hour shifts would just be brutal.

Plus a lot of places have different hours according to your PGY status.

I'm curious to know which EM programs primarily schedule residents to 8 hour shifts (or 9's); thought others might be interested too since its interview season. Looking for places that don't mix or at least have the majority at this length.

So far I'm aware of Mayo. Others?

 

[RustedFox]

Its going to be 'variable' at a LOT of places; especially if you're at more than one ED (at my joint, we rotated between "Community General", "Academic Mothership" and "County Free-For-All".

 

[Aesculapius]

As someone who goes to a residency where we do strictly 12's: 12's suck. It pretty much means that day is shot, and you're too tired to do much in the way of reading/studying.

 

[Hair Police]

As someone who goes to a residency where we do strictly 12's: 12's suck. It pretty much means that day is shot, and you're too tired to do much in the way of reading/studying.

I am at a program where we do mostly 12s. Initially they were hard, but they've become much easier with time. I do appreciate the trade-off of more days off.

Things get even easier when you have your overnights set up right. We do a month of M-R overnights all in a row, followed by F-Sun off. That way you do very few overnights for the rest of the year.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

EMRA match app lists shift length, may or may not be accurate. Program websites sometimes list it, also may or may not be accurate. I have come across one program that lists it differently on different pages.

 

[FiveIronFrenzy]

I've yet to find one resource that consistently publishes this information. In response to other posters, thanks for sharing what you know. Will find out from programs at the interview I'm sure, but appreciate the willingness some have to add to the knowledge of the applicant community. After looking at several sources it seems that this info is really not reliably available for most programs.

 

[FiveIronFrenzy]

I am at a program where we do mostly 12s. Initially they were hard, but they've become much easier with time. I do appreciate the trade-off of more days off.

Things get even easier when you have your overnights set up right. We do a month of M-R overnights all in a row, followed by F-Sun off. That way you do very few overnights for the rest of the year.

The month of nights sounds pretty good as far as planning a schedule goes. As for the rest of the year, how many 12's do you typically do in a month?

 

[gutonc]

I've yet to find one resource that consistently publishes this information. In response to other posters, thanks for sharing what you know. Will find out from programs at the interview I'm sure, but appreciate the willingness some have to add to the knowledge of the applicant community. After looking at several sources it seems that this info is really not reliably available for most programs.

One thing to keep in mind is that shift length/schedules can change at the drop of a hat. There's basically nothing keeping a PD from deciding between now and July 1 that, instead of 8s, s/he wants to switch to 10s or 12s (or vice versa). That's why there's no ultimate resource, as well as why it's kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Hair Police]

The month of nights sounds pretty good as far as planning a schedule goes. As for the rest of the year, how many 12's do you typically do in a month?

I want to say we do something like 18->17->16 from intern to senior year.

 

[Hair Police]

One thing to keep in mind is that shift length/schedules can change at the drop of a hat. There's basically nothing keeping a PD from deciding between now and July 1 that, instead of 8s, s/he wants to switch to 10s or 12s (or vice versa). That's why there's no ultimate resource, as well as why it's kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Yes and yes.

Also - remember that residency is a protected time, where you're expected to fail. The only way you get good is by seeing as many patients as possible. EM is lucky in that we see a constant stream of patients, unlike, say, the surgical sub-specialties, where they have to wait for patients to appear and end up fighting over cases. It doesn't matter if you do tens or eights or twelves. The patients will always be there, you just need to put in the time.

 

[EBKame]

Brown - Mostly 9s, but sign out occurs at hour 8, so you typically get out on time. Trauma moved from q3 24s to 12s (four on, two off) last year.

 

[shenanigi]

MCG mostly 9s

 

[sharksRfriends]

Denver does only 8s. But an 8 at Denver is more like 12 as an intern/R2 and more like 10 as an R3/R4. Maricopa does half 8s. The other half are 10s.

 

[deleted547339]

If I remember correctly, the only programs at which I interviewed that had 8h shifts were: MUSC, UAB, UF-Gainesville.

In case any 4th years weren't aware, there's a review sticky that is AMAZINGLY helpful. You can also look at last year's ROL thread, which will have some of this info, too.

I would strongly encourage any 4th years to review the programs at which you rotate and, to a lesser extent, interview. This can help your peers and future classes. If anyone wants to post review anonymously, I'd be happy to post on your behalf. Good luck.