Vacation?

[Snugstar]

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Hi - maybe an odd question here. I am a pre-med student and recently, when I was shadowing a doctor (not a psychiatrist) and mentioned an interest in psych, I was told that psychiatrists can't go on vacations (bc. they can't leave fragile patients for any length or time).

What's this? I like to travel. Will I never take a vacation again?

 

[BDavis]

Hi - maybe an odd question here. I am a pre-med student and recently, when I was shadowing a doctor (not a psychiatrist) and mentioned an interest in psych, I was told that psychiatrists can't go on vacations (bc. they can't leave fragile patients for any length or time).

What's this? I like to travel. Will I never take a vacation again?

My wife is a psychiatry resident and she gets about 1-2 weeks of vacation per year. When she is not on vacation, she is required to carry her pager 24 hours a day, just in case her patients have a crisis or need to get in contact her. When she is on vacation, she asks one of her fellow residents to cover her pager (kind of like checking out to the night float, but for a week). If problems arise, the resident holding her pager already has been briefed about the patients' history.

 

[engineer]

psychiatrists get more vacation than anyone else. it is the best "lifestyle" job.

 

[mdblue]

My wife is a psychiatry resident and she gets about 1-2 weeks of vacation per year. When she is not on vacation, she is required to carry her pager 24 hours a day, just in case her patients have a crisis or need to get in contact her. When she is on vacation, she asks one of her fellow residents to cover her pager (kind of like checking out to the night float, but for a week). If problems arise, the resident holding her pager already has been briefed about the patients' history.

The average vacation time is 3-4 weeks per yr in residency and 4wks in a real job other than days-off for CME etc. You are supposed to carry a beeper/cell so that the practice/hospistal can contact you in emergency 24x7. This is true for most clinical specialty incl psych. It depends on you whether you'll allow u'r pts to call you directly if they are in crisis. Most of the attendings I know tell their pts to go to the ER/PES in emergency.🙂
Hope this helps.

 

[DrIng]

No one is irreplacable.
I think any psychiatrist who never takes a holiday "because my patient's might need me" really needs to take a close lok at themselves. Are you really going to be the only thing keeping a patient 'together'... Seriously. You probably need to warn them that you'll be away and check they have a back up plan but otherwise take your holidays and turn your pager off!