vacation time for docs

[USFjoe]

I was wondering if anyone knows how much vacation time a typical doctor gets and if it varies any by the specialty (eg to surgeons get 3 months off whereas a internist might only get a month?). What about anesthesiologists, radiologists, dermatologists, etc? I'm sure it depends on the group that you practice in, but what would be an 'average' amount of vacation time per year? I'm not saying that it's all about vacation time, but doctors work very hard and therefore are entitled to some breaks.

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[Monica Lewinsky]

I'm not saying that it's all about vacation time

The secret is that everyone lives for vacation time.

 

[Blade28]

Depends mainly on if you're working in academics or private practice. But then there are also the pros and cons of working in a large groups vs. partnership vs. solo practice...or working for an HMO (e.g. Kaiser).

In general, you're not going to find 3-month vacations in any given year, especially in procedural fields like surgery where you have to be consistently operating to keep your skills sharp.

 

[abooodMD]

I was wondering if anyone knows how much vacation time a typical doctor gets and if it varies any by the specialty (eg to surgeons get 3 months off whereas a internist might only get a month?). What about anesthesiologists, radiologists, dermatologists, etc? I'm sure it depends on the group that you practice in, but what would be an 'average' amount of vacation time per year? I'm not saying that it's all about vacation time, but doctors work very hard and therefore are entitled to some breaks.

what a life the docs live !!!! 🙁
actaully during the years of studying there is no vacations for rest and having fun .
it's our fate my friend, keep working till you die, die to make others live, what a life. 🙂
but u can find times to enjoy yourself.

 

[IHeartNerds]

I was wondering if anyone knows how much vacation time a typical doctor gets and if it varies any by the specialty (eg to surgeons get 3 months off whereas a internist might only get a month?). What about anesthesiologists, radiologists, dermatologists, etc? I'm sure it depends on the group that you practice in, but what would be an 'average' amount of vacation time per year? I'm not saying that it's all about vacation time, but doctors work very hard and therefore are entitled to some breaks.

my mentor attending, who works about 80-90 hours a week every week, took a one week vacation recently. it was his longest vacation since ending his fellowship. it's also the only one he is taking this year except for 2-3 days to go to a few weddings.

results may vary outside of academic subspecialties.

 

[Law2Doc]

I was wondering if anyone knows how much vacation time a typical doctor gets and if it varies any by the specialty (eg to surgeons get 3 months off whereas a internist might only get a month?). What about anesthesiologists, radiologists, dermatologists, etc? I'm sure it depends on the group that you practice in, but what would be an 'average' amount of vacation time per year? I'm not saying that it's all about vacation time, but doctors work very hard and therefore are entitled to some breaks.

It's going to depend on the deal you work out with whatever practice group you join. But generally professionals tend to get about a month off per year, plus or minus a week. If you are expecting 3 months off I wouldn't hold your breath. Professionals don't do this.

 

[opb]

The residents on my surgical rotation have 1 month (4 weeks) of vacation every year. And it's pretty much assigned to them... they don't get to choose.

 

[MrBurns10]

Radiology can offer quite a bit of vacation in private practice settings. I've seen several job postings with anywhere between 8-16 weeks vacation per year. How much your pay drops off or how much you work when you're on I have no idea, but there you go.

 

[BSN2DOC]

The Peds Intensivists at my hospital get 12 weeks a year (one week a month). However, to earn that 1 week a month, they work every single other day in the month. The ICU is covered by 3 attendings and a director -- the attendings work 1 week of days (4 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m.), 1 week of nights (4 p.m. to 5 or 6 a.m) and then their final week are alternating 24 hour call. THey work a ton of hours to get that 1 free week a month.

 

[45408]

You might be able to get a lot of vacation if you join a hospitalist group. My last attending works two weeks on (every day, 10-12 hours), two weeks off. She has children, so she wants to have a fair amount of free time with them. For the other members of the group, if they don't want/need half of each month off, there are other duties they can pick up.

Just remember though, more vacation = less money. If you only work half the time, you can start taking out large chunks of what is considered "average salary" for that field.

 

[mjl1717]

what a life the docs live !!!! 🙁
actaully during the years of studying there is no vacations for rest and having fun .
it's our fate my friend, keep working till you die, die to make others live, what a life. 🙂
but u can find times to enjoy yourself.

Geez..There is a lot of truth here... Its not a field to take a lot of vacations..
>agree-die tomake others live. maybe a short vacation🙄

 

[GreenShirt]

The United States in notorious for offering less vacation time to their employees than comparable industrialized nations (in Europem I hear 3 months in standard). I think 1-2 months of vacation is standard across the board in most professions. I don't know if physicians tend to be on the lower end of that spectrum, but they're not likely at 3 months either.

 

[USFjoe]

If anyone has doctors in their family and has observed their schedule maybe you could help shed some light on the topic. thanks =)

 

[Law2Doc]

I think 1-2 months of vacation is standard across the board in most professions.

No way 2 months is the norm for professionals. One month is closer to the norm, and 6 weeks is huge. Most attorneys I know got 3 weeks.

 

[MrBurns10]

If anyone has doctors in their family and has observed their schedule maybe you could help shed some light on the topic. thanks =)

My dad was a pathologist (he's now retired) and he owned a private practice with two other docs. He and the other docs were able to take vacation several times per year, as two pathologists were usually sufficient to do the work. I can't give you an exact #, but I remember him getting off 2 weeks around Christmas/New Year's and then at least another 3-4 weeks off to travel during the year. Since he co-owned the practice, his salary didn't really drop off because of it. However, this is becoming less common nowadays, at least in path (so he says).

 

[The Jesus]

The United States in notorious for offering less vacation time to their employees than comparable industrialized nations (in Europem I hear 3 months in standard). I think 1-2 months of vacation is standard across the board in most professions. I don't know if physicians tend to be on the lower end of that spectrum, but they're not likely at 3 months either.

I just finished an ortho/trauma rotation in Barcelona, and the surgeon I shadowed gets 5 wks. vacation a year. Franco imposed an obligatory 1 month annual vacation time during his dictatorship, which is usually taken during the summer, and people generally take a week off for Easter in addition to this. Most also take a week off for Christmas, but the doctors/residents I talked with all had 6 wks. or less of vacation time.

That said, the surgeon I shadowed also said that he works 53 hours a week, takes call once every 2 weeks and almost always has weekends off. I don't really know since I haven't done a surgery rotation in the States, but this seems pretty light in comparison to what I've heard U.S. schedules are like for surgeons (ortho in particular).

Where did you hear that European doctors get 3 months off standard? Maybe there is some country where this is true, but from what I've seen in Spain and from talking with folks here about European norms in general, it sounds like a myth to me.

 

[hwpo]

true

 

[abooodMD]

maybe a short vacation🙄

it will be very long 😉

 

[BSN2DOC]

2 months vacation is far from the norm for professionals. I have worked many different jobs (all of which had professionals working along side me), and the average is 3 - 4 weeks a year. 5 or 6 weeks is considered a lot of vacation.

I work for a county hospital -- it takes 15 years of service to the county to get 5 weeks of vacation.

 

[lexrageorge]

The amount of vacation time physicians are granted has little correlation with that given for "professionals". It varies all over the map based on specialty, practice setting, and individual desires. Some examples:

In some private practices in specialties such as rads, anesth, and pathology, it is not uncommon to get 8+ weeks of vacation annually. Usually there is a set rotation schedule, with call/night/weekend responsibilities and time off shared amongst the employees and partners.

Typical private practice setting for specialties that have direct patient care responsibilities (IM, peds, surgery, etc.) can expect 3-4 initially.

In some academic settings, it is typical to have a specified number of months for which you are required to be on service. During those months, you are very, very busy (aka, no time off). However, outside that time, it is possible to have quite a bit of flexibility in the amount of outpatient clinic time you want to pick up. Of course, you will get paid less, but for some the tradeoff is worthwhile.

Full-time employees of hospitals, including those with administrative/management responsibilities, typically can expect 3-4 based on service time (with the possibility of going to 5-6 after many years).

The longer you practice, the more flexibility you have. An experienced, senior surgeon who is well known is likely to be given more flexiblity to set his/her vacation schedule and vacation time than someone who just completed residency.

All of these are rules of thumb. There are/will be exceptions, in some cases the exceptions outnumbering the typical.

 

[mjl1717]

it will be very long 😉

Yes thats funny, you probably deserve it, Im basically taking this thread as comic relief..

But seriously if you work at a prison industrial complex, or VA or private hospital or private corp in the U.S. you can basically plan on 3 or 4 week vacation time, a couple personal days and maybe 3 or 4 sick days..
End of story...😴

 

[NonTradMed]

I believe most corporate jobs start you off with 2-3 weeks off a year as vacation time (not including holidays like Christmas, 4th of July, etc). I'm sure medical jobs are not too far off from that.

The ansthesiologist I spoke with said if you own your own business, you can take vacation whenever but that it will typically cost you 'extra' as you are not earning anything during those vacation days plus you are also losing money from your practice since you still have to pay employees and overhead.

I think the vacation days of physicians probably vary. A month of vacation is about as long as I've heard for any professional working in a decent job. Academia seems to give more vacation time. People who've been in their practice longer seems to 'earn' more vacation. But I don't think I've heard of anyone that took off more than a month of vacation time unless they were working under some special arrangment.

Expect being a doctor to be no different in terms of vacation and sick days.

 

[Law2Doc]

In some private practices in specialties such as rads, anesth, and pathology, it is not uncommon to get 8+ weeks of vacation annually. Usually there is a set rotation schedule, with call/night/weekend responsibilities and time off shared amongst the employees and partners.

Yeah, actually it is uncommon, based on what folks I know in this field have described. In none of these fields will you be a solo practitioner, so you will work in a partnership/group practice. When you are in a partnership EVERYBODY loses money if you aren't seeing patients. So the group typically works out a schedule that gives everybody a reasonable amount of vacation but doesn't cut seriously into anyone's bottom line. In a very small partnership (2-3 docs), you might be fighting to get 3 weeks of vacation because your extra couple of weeks in Nice could be the other guys kid's freshman tuition. In a huge partnership, I suppose some of the higher ups will abuse their employees and take several months off, but this is far from the norm these days.

 

[alfonzarel]

it seems that the er attendings at my institution (in a busy level 1 trauma center) have a sweet schedule.

they work like twelve 9-hour shifts a month + some required teaching hours. (residents work 20-22 ten-hour shifts a month, no call when in the er) i think they get around 3 weeks a year for vacation. pretty cool to only hafta work a few times a week.

i'm glad to be going into emergency med.

 

[lexrageorge]

Yeah, actually it is uncommon, based on what folks I know in this field have described. In none of these fields will you be a solo practitioner, so you will work in a partnership/group practice. When you are in a partnership EVERYBODY loses money if you aren't seeing patients. So the group typically works out a schedule that gives everybody a reasonable amount of vacation but doesn't cut seriously into anyone's bottom line. In a very small partnership (2-3 docs), you might be fighting to get 3 weeks of vacation because your extra couple of weeks in Nice could be the other guys kid's freshman tuition. In a huge partnership, I suppose some of the higher ups will abuse their employees and take several months off, but this is far from the norm these days.

Actually, in those fields, it is not that uncommon, based on several I've spoken with. May be a geographical thing. In any event, the longer you practice, the more flexibility you have, and using such flexibility is not considered "abusing" employees.

P.S.: If you want vacation time, go into Derm. 25 weeks vacation, 25 weeks time off, 2 weeks holiday.

 

[JeffLebowski]

P.S.: If you want vacation time, go into Derm. 25 weeks vacation, 25 weeks time off, 2 weeks holiday.

You know what the funny thing about this is? All those numbers add up to 52! 52 weeks per year off! Which is the total number of weeks in a year, suggesting that for dermatology, 52/52 weeks per year you get "off"! That's funny!

 

[ubcredfox]

I believe Canada and, especially, the US, lag significantly behind Europe and most other "industrialized" countries in terms of basic employee benefits such as vacation time, maternity leave etc.

In Canada most physicians get four weeks of time off per year. I'm not sure how it's divided. Also, anyone working in private practice or in fee-for-service schemes (which is the majority) may see more or less then that depending on individual and hospital proclivities.

In comparison, the EU mandates that any countries within the union must give all full-time employees at least four weeks of vacation time; most part-time employees also qualify for this. Importantly, this vacation time does not accrue, it is do immediately with hiring into a position. Australia and New Zealand also guarantee four weeks each, as a minimum.

 

[MrBurns10]

You know what the funny thing about this is? All those numbers add up to 52! 52 weeks per year off! Which is the total number of weeks in a year, suggesting that for dermatology, 52/52 weeks per year you get "off"! That's funny!

That was the joke he/she was making about Derm...that it's all a vacation.

If you already knew that and were just spelling it out for everyone, then I take it all back and insert a comment about Brett Favre.

 

[JeffLebowski]

That was the joke he/she was making about Derm...that it's all a vacation.

If you already knew that and were just spelling it out for everyone, then I take it all back and insert a comment about Brett Favre.

Who's Brett Favre? Is he that pitcher for Cleveland?

 

[Law2Doc]

In any event, the longer you practice, the more flexibility you have, and using such flexibility is not considered "abusing" employees.

Except that the rules have changed and fewer people rise to the top these days. It's now a race to the middle. Instead of getting to be the "abuser" taking long vacations after putting in your dues, many more people of our generation are going to be at the other end of the stick eternally.

At any rate, the norm is not to get much more than a month of vacation these days, if that. Sure, it could be geographically driven as you suggest, but in that case I'd just say whatever geographic area you are in doesn't happen to be the national norm.

 

[MrBurns10]

Who's Brett Favre? Is he that pitcher for Cleveland?

If you watch ESPN for a few hours, you may hear a vague reference to him once.

 

[lexrageorge]

Except that the rules have changed and fewer people rise to the top these days. It's now a race to the middle. Instead of getting to be the "abuser" taking long vacations after putting in your dues, many more people of our generation are going to be at the other end of the stick eternally.

At any rate, the norm is not to get much more than a month of vacation these days, if that. Sure, it could be geographically driven as you suggest, but in that case I'd just say whatever geographic area you are in doesn't happen to be the national norm.

You may want to browse the Anesthesia, Radiology, and Pathology boards. The experiences there seem to reinforce my statements, which are also supported by folks I know personally. So, don't be too quick to dismiss things as "not being the national norm".

 

[The Jesus]

I believe Canada and, especially, the US, lag significantly behind Europe and most other "industrialized" countries in terms of basic employee benefits such as vacation time, maternity leave etc.

Troof. In Spain, maternity leave is a mandatory 4 months. Paternity leave is 15 days minimum, and 1 month for civil servants. My wife works in IL and will have 6 wks. off if and when we have a rugrat.