Typical Schedule??

3rd year of medical school varies widely based on the rotation, but just to give a brief generalized overview (from most demanding to least):

Surgery - average six days a week. 5am-6pm for a regular day. Call is typically overnight, every fourth night and you stay until noon the next day.

Ob/Gyn - average five to six days a week. 6am-6pm for a regular day. Call is typically overnight and was about every sixth night at my school.

Internal Medicine - average six days a week. 7am-5:30pm for a regular day. Call is usually every fourth night but at many places, there is a night floast system in place so you usually leave around 10pm and are expected to work a full day the next day.

Peds - average five to six days a week. 7am-5:30pm for a regular day with call every fourth night. My school had night float, so again, you stay late but not overnight and work a full day the next day.

Neurology - five days a week with an occasional weekend day thrown in. 8am - 5 pm with a late call once a week or so. No overnights for students at my school.

Psychiatry - five days a week with an occasional weekend day call thrown in. 8am - 4:30 pm with late call once a week or so. No overnights.

Family Medicine - five days a week, 8am - 5pm at my school. no overnights.

Fourth year varies very widely based on your rotation. Typically a school will have a few required months such as ICU, medicine or surgery sub-I, emergency medicine, surgery selective, etc. Any ICU or sub-I will be demanding, typically every 4th night overnight call unless a night float system is in place. Electives should be incredibly easy (5 days a week, out by noon) if you pick right (radiology, ophthalmology, anesthseiology for example) provided you obviously aren't trying to match into one the above.

Residency is another beast all together and will totally depend on what field you match into. Expect anywhere from 55 hours a week for something like dermatology to 80+ hours a week for general surgery with the average probably being around 70 (I am pulling these numbers from the top of my head so take it with a grain of salt), maybe a little more during internship.

 

It varies by school as well. For instance the other med school in town has it's students coming in at 3-4 AM for surgery and leaving around 5-6. Call is every 7 days I believe but there is no post call, you work until 5-6 reguardless if you took call or not. Needless to say I'm glad I didn't have that rotation.

 

I'll include my schedule beneath as well for comparison.

12 weeks, 6 days per week, usually 1 golden weekend per month, broken down into the following:
1. Trauma/ICU: Arrive 4:30am, leave usually around 3-4pm, longer if a patient getting a PEG/Trach. Overnight call Q3-Q4.
2. General surg: Arrive by 6am, leave around 7-8 pm depending on case load. Overnight call ranging from Q4-5 depending on number of students on service.
3. Plastics: Arrive 7am, leave around 5-6pm, also take G-surg call.
4. VA: Arrive 5-5:30, leave 6-7 pm, No call.

6 weeks, 6 days per week, you take L&D call until 11pm Q4-5 throughout the entire rotation, Everyone on Gyn clinic and L&D does postpartum prerounds in AM, broken down as follows:
1. Labor and Deliver: Arrive 4:30 am for preround, leave around 6 pm.
2. Gyn Clinic: Arrive 4:30 am, leave clinic around 5pm. Only do clinic 5 days per week.
3. Gyn Surg: Arrive 5:30 am, dismissed usually around 5-6.

12 weeks, 8 weeks inpatient and 4 weeks outpatient, inpatient overnight call was Q8, no outpatient call.
1. Inpatient: arrive anytime between 6-8 am to preround depending on attending and how many patient you are carrying (I had anywhere from 3-6 patients), usually leave around 5 pm.
2. Outpatient: arrive 9 am, done around 5 pm

6 weeks, 6 days per week. Broken down as follows:
1. Inpatient: 2 weeks, overnight Q4 call, arrive 5am, leave around 5-6 pm.
2. NICU: 2 weeks, two overnight calls, arrive 4 am to preround, leave like 6 pm.
3. Clinic: 2 weeks, 5 days per week, no call, arrive 8 am leave 6 pm.

Didn't have a required rotation.

6 weeks, 5 days per week, all outpatient, no call, arrive 9am and leave by 5pm

6 weeks (including 2 weeks on inpatient service), 5 days per week.
1. Inpatient service- work two full weekends including overnight call on Friday and Saturday nights where I would admit anywhere from 2-4 patients per night. Arrive at 6am for preround, leave usually by 4 pm.
2. Outpatient- no call, arrive at 8am and leave at 5pm.

 

Man, 12 weeks of surgery for some of your schools? Ugh, that would have been torture for me. Luckily, we only had an 8 week surgery rotation. The 1st week was all lectures, and the last week we had off to study for the shelf, so it was really only 6 weeks. Guess we're lucky. Then again, we also have two sub-i's required in internal medicine 4th year, and most places only have one.

 

Even if you aren't interested in IM?

 

We are not required to do any sub-I's... take that!

Surgery here was ok, it was OB that killed me. Two med students were paired to each service (that means that there were 2 on clinic, 2 on L&D, and 2 on GYN for a total of six students, then we would rotate every 2 weeks). The guy that I was paired up with and I had decided we would each cover rounds for a whole weekend, so that we could both have a golden weekend during the rotation instead of splitting days off every weekend. All I can say is that at day #13 in a row of having to get up at 3:30AM, I was not happy (and neither was he when it was his turn).

 

Pretty sure that it is. They have to cover the same rotations (different hospital, of course), so I can't imagine it would be that different from what the Allopathic students do.

 

Yep...

Here is what my schedule was like:

Family Medicine (4 weeks):
- Inpatient: 6a - 5p Monday through Friday (no call)
- Outpatient: 8a - 4p M, W, F ; 8a - 8p T, Th

Internal Medicine (4 weeks):
- Inpatient: 6a - 6p Monday through Friday (call once/week)

ICU (8 weeks):
- 5a - 5p Monday through Friday (call q4d)

OB/GYN (4 weeks):
- 5a - ??? Monday through Friday
- One week of night float (7p to 7a)
- Call q4d the other 3 weeks

Cardiology (4 weeks):
- Inpatient: 7a - 5p Monday through Friday

Psychiatry (4 weeks):
- Inpatient: 9a - 3p Monday through Friday

Emergency Medicine (4 weeks):
- 4 shifts 7a - 7p
- 4 shifts 11p - 7a
- 4 shifts 11a - 11p
- 4 shifts 3p - 7a
- Must work 4 weekend days out of the month

Rural Medicine (4 weeks):
- 8:30a - 6p Monday through Friday

Osteopathic Medicine/Family Medicine (4 weeks):
- Outpatient: 8a - 6p M, W, F ; 8a - 2p T, TH ; 8a - 12n Saturday

Pediatrics (4 weeks):
- Outpatient: 9a - 5p Monday through Friday

General Surgery (4 weeks):
- 5 a - ??? Monday through Friday
- call q4d for entire month

Orthopedic Surgery (6 weeks):
- 5:30a - ??? Monday through Friday
- trauma ortho call once/week for 6 weeks

Anesthesia (2 weeks):
- 7a - 2p Monday through Friday

Radiology (4 weeks):
- 8a - 4p Monday through Friday

Urban Medicine (8 weeks):
- 9a - 3p Monday through Friday

Colorectal Surgery (4 weeks):
- 6a - 4p Monday through Thusday

Vascular Surgery (4 weeks):
- 6a - 6p Monday through Friday
- 8a - 12n Saturday (office hours)

Research Month (4 weeks):
- When I woke up - When I got tired

Surgical Sub-Internship (8 weeks):
- 5a - ??? Monday through Friday
- call q4d for 8 weeks
- Every other weekend 5a - 1p

Hope that helps.

 

I'll chime in:

Inpatient Medicine (6wks): 6d/wk, 5a-5p (5a-10a weekends), call q4

Outpatient Medicine (5wks): 5d/wk, 7a-1p, no call

Inpatient Peds (4wks): 6d/wk, 5a-5p (5a-8a weekends), call once a week

Outpatient Peds (3wks): 5d/wk, 7a-4p, no call

Gyn Surg (4wks): 6d/wk, 4:30a-5p, L&D call once a week

L&D (4wks): 6d/wk, 4:30a-6p, call once a week

Inpatient Psych (7wks): 5d/wk, 8a-4p, clinic once a week, no call

Inpatient Surgery (7wks): 6d/wk, 3a-6p (weekends 3a-10a), call q4

Outpatient FP (5wks): 5d/wk, 7a-5p, no call

Inpatient FP (2wks): 6d/wk, 5a-5p (weekends 5a-9a), call once a week

Total vacation time: 2wks at Christmas + 2wks (variable based on your schedule)

No protected study time for shelf exams.

 

Wow! My 3rd year schedule was not nearly as bad as some of the others!

Inpatient Medicine (7 wks): approx 6d/wk, 6:30a - 5p, call q4

Inpatient Psych (3.5 wks): 5d/wk, 8a-4p, call approx q6 until 11pm

Outpatient Psych (3.5 wks): 5d/wk, 7:30a - 4:30p, no call

Neurology (4 wks): 5d/wk, 8a - 5p, no call

Gyn Surgery (3 wks): 5-6d/wk, 5a - 6p, call q5 for OB

Gyn Clinic (1 wk): M-F, 8:30a - 4:30p, call q5 for OB

OB (3 wks): 5-6d/wk, 5a-5:30p, call q5

ICU (2 wks): approx 6d/wk, 6a - 5:30p, call q6 for general surgery

Vascular Surgery (2 wks): approx. 6 d/wk, 6a - 5p, call q 6 for general surgery

General Surgery (4 wks): approx 6 d/wk, 4:30a - ??? btwn 5:30-8p, q6 call

Outpatient Peds (3.5 wks): M-F, 9:30a - 4:30p, no call

Inpatient Peds (3.5 wks): 6d/wk, 5:45a - 6-7p, call 5 weekdays and 1 full weekend until 11pm during the 3.5 weeks

Outpatient Rural Internal Medicine (4 wks): M-F, 8a - 5:30p, call 1/week and 1 full weekend from home, only had to go in for hospital admissions and to round in the AM before clinic

Family Medicine (4 wks): M-F, 7:30a - 5:30p, no call


Have now had 2 months of 4th year rotations, for which the schedule has been excellent!

Emergency Medicine (4 wks): 15 eight-hour shifts broken down into 5 days, 5 evenings, and 5 overnights, plus an EMS ridealong

Cardiology Consult (4 wks): M-F, 7a - 5:30p, no call


I think I would have pretty much poked my eye out if I had to be anywhere at 3am...honestly, what is the point?!

 

Seriously. I didn't have to be in until 5:00-5:30 on my Surgery rotation. Making a student come in at three is ridiculous. What do you do at 3 am? Pre-round? Why don't they just have you pre-round at night before you leave.

 

Because when you have have 6-8 patients, two are in the unit, four need dressing changes, and you have to round with the residents at 5:30a, you come in a little early to get your work done.

 

It's bad enought to come in at 5:30. If they are making you come in at 3 to perform the above, they are exploiting you plain and simple. Don't they have nurses to perform dressing changes? Also, a patient does not need to be seen 3 times in a morning, especially not a surgery patient, who typically get rounded on once for maybe 3 minutes, with a 5 line note written.

 

I know on one trauma service here in town where they round at 3 or 4 in the morning. So in order for you to have your notes done you had to be in there around 3.