Psychiatry residencies / on-call/workload?

[rpkall]

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Hi all;

I'm headed to med school in the fall, and very much interested in possible career options in psychiatry or child-psychiatry. The field seems a great fit for me not only because I enjoy the study of mental illness (especially from a medical perspective) but also because of the lifestyle which I've heard is a little more flexible and allows for a little more off-time to devote to my family.

I was wondering the following: how demanding is the psych residency itself, as far as hours spent on call/time off, etc? I've poked around various websites but few of them have accurate details on the on-call schedule/additional time requirements, etc.

Would anyone be willing to share some info or personal experiences related to the workload in the typical psych residency? Would I have a shot at remotely "being there" for my kids during those 4 (or 5 or 6 if I did Child/Adol.)? I have met many IM/surg residents that miss EVERYTHING that happens in the lives of their spouse/kids, and I just don't want to be "that dad" any more than I have to be...

 

[cyanocobalamin]

I'm rotating through psych now - the residents get in around 7ish, morning meeting is 8ish (dicsuss discharges and new arrivals) and rounds are 9ish. Seems like most residents are done by mid afternoon. Call is maybe 5 times a month and can be either hectic or not. Post call you get out 11 or earlier. Outpatient psych I'm not so sure about..

When psych rotates through neuro there is nocall as the neuro residents take their own calls, not sure about medicine.

Compare this with surgery where rounding was at 430-5am, signout 630ish, morning report/m&m/tumor board 7ish OR 8ish and evening signout 5-7pm-ish with call maybe q3-4 for interns.

Hi all;

I'm headed to med school in the fall, and very much interested in possible career options in psychiatry or child-psychiatry. The field seems a great fit for me not only because I enjoy the study of mental illness (especially from a medical perspective) but also because of the lifestyle which I've heard is a little more flexible and allows for a little more off-time to devote to my family.

I was wondering the following: how demanding is the psych residency itself, as far as hours spent on call/time off, etc? I've poked around various websites but few of them have accurate details on the on-call schedule/additional time requirements, etc.

Would anyone be willing to share some info or personal experiences related to the workload in the typical psych residency? Would I have a shot at remotely "being there" for my kids during those 4 (or 5 or 6 if I did Child/Adol.)? I have met many IM/surg residents that miss EVERYTHING that happens in the lives of their spouse/kids, and I just don't want to be "that dad" any more than I have to be...

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Would I have a shot at remotely "being there" for my kids during those 4 (or 5 or 6 if I did Child/Adol.)? I have met many IM/surg residents that miss EVERYTHING that happens in the lives of their spouse/kids, and I just don't want to be "that dad" any more than I have to be...

The short answer is "Yes". Call and work hours are quite reasonable in most psych residencies. Internship and inpatient years are a bit harder, but outpatient time is sweet...

 

[rpkall]

Whoohoo! Sounds good to me. Now all I have to figure out is how not to analyze my family all the time so that they can't stand me, and I'll be all set. I guess I have a few years to learn that little trick, though.

Thanks for the responses. 🙂

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Whoohoo! Sounds good to me. Now all I have to figure out is how not to analyze my family all the time so that they can't stand me, and I'll be all set. I guess I have a few years to learn that little trick, though.

Thanks for the responses. 🙂

That was my excuse for not doing child..."I get enough child psychopathology at home."

 

[rpkall]

That was my excuse for not doing child..."I get enough child psychopathology at home."

I'm sure there's more than enough of that to go around in any one family, no matter what mom and dad do for a living! 😉