Resident burn out. Please help.

[ana22175]

Hello all,

I am CA1 about to be a CA2. I'm a hard worker, have never called in sick, show up on time or a little bit early, scored well on my anesthesia exams, but I need a break or a permanent break.

My choices seem to be:

1) Continue and hope for the best
2) Quit and work in a doc in the box or small ER for $50/hr
3) Take a leave of absence for 1 year and then come back.

My question is: has anyone heard of taking a 1-year leave of absence during residency? I don't have any other reason other than I feel burned out and want more time for myself. At my residency I only work about 60 hrs a week, but I still feel almost as if I don't want to do anesthesia anymore.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

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[supahfresh]

could not have said it better myself. same situation. CA-1 and had enough. maybe you just need a nice vacation or need to get laid. that always helps me. go out and have a good night of drinking with some friends. what city are you in? you need to get away, even if its a short trip.

but if you do need to take a year off, im sure its possible. pregnant girls in my program took more time off than were supposed to.

 

[UTSouthwestern]

Hello all,

I am CA1 about to be a CA2. I'm a hard worker, have never called in sick, show up on time or a little bit early, scored well on my anesthesia exams, but I need a break or a permanent break.

My choices seem to be:

1) Continue and hope for the best
2) Quit and work in a doc in the box or small ER for $50/hr
3) Take a leave of absence for 1 year and then come back.

My question is: has anyone heard of taking a 1-year leave of absence during residency? I don't have any other reason other than I feel burned out and want more time for myself. At my residency I only work about 60 hrs a week, but I still feel almost as if I don't want to do anesthesia anymore.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Ana, burn out after the CA-1 year is pretty common. What you have to look forward to however, are, depending on your location, more subspecialty rotations and generally less in house 24 hour call. If you are on call, most programs put their CA-2's and 3's on a short shift call (3pm - 7am), still with the post call day off.

You generally have more time to read and focus on the subspecialty rotations.

Taking a year off is a difficult, but not impossible request to grant. The problem is that it is pretty late in the year and your spot probably has been factored into rotations for the entire year. The program will likely have a tough time replacing you for the year.

Also, understand that your residency is the hardest part of your anesthesia career that you will encounter. When I left residency, I expected things to be as volume overloaded and time consuming as my residency with ASA 4 patients being the norm. You will find out that life in private practice can be as laid back or as intense as you like.

Look forward to being able to earn a great living with as much time off as you like, just by doing locums. I know of people that work six months then take six months off.

Step back and ask yourself if you are truly disillusioned with anesthesiology or if you just need a break. If you are at working at a breakneck pace and might just be burned out, talk to your program about taking some time off on the order of a few weeks to a month. This will give you enough time to reevaluate your situation and hopefully recharge and reinvigorate you.

 

[supahfresh]

we have at least 3 residents in my program that are out of sync with the normal year. one guy was a surgery resident and switched into the program in november so he will finish CA-3 year in november. this suggests to me that the program could be somewhat flexible. perhaps you could negotiate a month off. like UT said, a whole year may be tough on your program to pick up the slack but a month should be reasonable.

 

[stephend7799]

finish your anesthesia residency before you take a break.. taking a break now would not be very good... you are still in prison.. put your time in and take a break after you are board eligible.... I know I know it sucks and its hard work and you are not appreciated and you dont k now the meaning of life etc.... Just finish your residency, try to find as much joy in anything you can and please stay away from toxic people.. politely put them in their place..

 

[tachyphylaxis]

Yes, your residency is four years and yes you should make the best of it but at the same time your mental and your physical health or more important than any residency program in my humble opinion. If you feel burnt out it can make you more negative towards your colleagues and your patients. Thus perpetuating more burn out. Medicine is no different than any other career except the fact that you owe more debt than the average person. If you feel like you need a break then you should consider taking some time off. People do it all of the time to have children to switch programs or to switch into a different career into or out of medicine. And if your program won't let you do that then you have to ask yourself if that program is really for you. And yes you should stay away from toxic people but if your residency is filled with them and they are making you miserable then maybe you should consider taking a small break. Everyone has different opinions and priorities. The bottom line is that if you feel that you are so burnt out that it is affecting your personal and professional relationships then you should take some time off. --Just my two cents

 

[bubalus]

I'm in the same boat and have those feelings off and on. What's helped me is to try and figure out, if I can, the source of those feelings. Is it anestheisa, medicine, your program, or something else? Maybe it's been too long since you've had a vacation. Maybe you're comfortable putting healthy women to sleep for hysterectomies and want something more challenging. Maybe you need a glimpse of the private practice light at the end of the residency tunnel where ENTs don't start elective cases at midnight simply because they're on call and they can. Or maybe you'd be happier doing something other than anesthesia or medicine.

Taking some time off is not unreasonable. I'd suggest an amount shorther than a year, unless you feel that you need that much time. If you want to work in an ER for $50/hr, that's fine, but long term, finishing your residency and practicing anesthesia will pay better.

I'm feeling better because I finally got some vacation time, and my CA-2 schedule is much better than my CA-1 schedule--better rotations, more variety.

I find that I feel much better when I read comments by UT, Jet, and the other private practice guys because I realize that residency still sucks (though it's much better in anesthesia than other specialties), but you finish it and move on to a much better life (with nicer toys).

 

[EV-Stentor]

Dude I hate to sound harsh but 60 hours a week is a piece of cake in residency and real life for that matter. I am a CA2 and work about 70 hours a week which to me is real easy...okay I admit I use to be a surgery resident working 100 hours per week(in New York btw). I still go running in Central Park and go out at least once a week. I think the reason for your burnout maybe a lack of case variety and enough interlectual stimulation. My advice would be to request a cush rotation for a couple of months so you can recharge and then come back strong. I really won't suggest quiting now that you are almost a CA2 with the end a lot closer than you think. Keep hope alive bro and hang in there. As an attending you can work part-time if you like and do something else on the side. Thanks and peace.

I am CA1 about to be a CA2. I'm a hard worker, have never called in sick, show up on time or a little bit early, scored well on my anesthesia exams, but I need a break or a permanent break.

My choices seem to be:

1) Continue and hope for the best
2) Quit and work in a doc in the box or small ER for $50/hr
3) Take a leave of absence for 1 year and then come back.

My question is: has anyone heard of taking a 1-year leave of absence during residency? I don't have any other reason other than I feel burned out and want more time for myself. At my residency I only work about 60 hrs a week, but I still feel almost as if I don't want to do anesthesia anymore.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.[/QUOTE]