Week on-week off style surgical private practice

[Ttan]

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I was running this idea through my mind and wondering if it already exists.

Say you are a surgeon, whichever type of surgeon from general to CT to neuro to ortho to ENT, and you want to live a little bit like an ER doc.

Say you enter a high demand zone for your services, where you can generate a strong patient base and have lots of call at the hospital you affiliate with, to the point where you would be an overworked and well-paid surgeon.

Then you got together with your buddy, who is also a surgeon in your same field. And you split the work in 2, going 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off with the entire practice.

This then gives you a lifestyle where you have a 2 week stretch that kicks your a$$, followed by 2 weeks of absolutely no time commitment, where you could travel, watch tv, play with your kids all day, whatever.

Do/can people do this?

 

[ACSurgeon]

I know of at least one general surgeon who works as a surgical hospitalist. Works week on, week off. During his week on, he's on call for consults during normal business hours and 1-2 week nights and the entire weekend. During his week off, he's off, but still plans some elective stuff (b/c he wants to).

 

[filter07]

Trauma Critical Care

 

[balaguru]

I am currently in a practice that is a week on, week off. We do only emergent stuff. We bill out of network so the only elective stuff we do are those cases we can negotiate a rate with the patient's insurance. This is done most commonly for ostomy reversals and cholecystectomy after C tube. We have 20+ surgeons in the group but we cover multiple hospitals across different cities and states. Scheduling can be quite complex.

If you wanted to setup a week on, week off type practice I think one way to do it is have a minimum of 3 surgeons. Surgeon 1 takes the beating and takes call while managing a full schedule of elective cases. Surgeon 2 provides backup, scrubs 2 surgeon cases and runs clinic. Surgeon 3 is off to do whatever he/she wants. And then they just rotate every Friday. This would work best if you limit call to only one hospital or a small number of hospitals that are close to each other; otherwise, you get into coverage issues.

 

[maxheadroom]

Say you are a surgeon, whichever type of surgeon from general to CT to neuro to ortho to ENT, and you want to live a little bit like an ER doc.

This then gives you a lifestyle where you have a 2 week stretch that kicks your a$$, followed by 2 weeks of absolutely no time commitment, where you could travel, watch tv, play with your kids all day, whatever.

Do/can people do this?

I know a lot of folks who went into Emergency Medicine thinking that this type of schedule/lifestyle would be a good idea. Probably about 1/3 of my classmates (graduated 10 years ago) who went into EM are now doing something different. That lifestyle sounds good when you're 26. Not so much when you're 36 or 46.

Build a practice by working hard, getting "good" referrals, taking good care of patients. Say "yes" as much as you can, but don't be afraid to protect yourself and your family and say "no" when needed.

 

[Ttan]

I know a lot of folks who went into Emergency Medicine thinking that this type of schedule/lifestyle would be a good idea. Probably about 1/3 of my classmates (graduated 10 years ago) who went into EM are now doing something different. That lifestyle sounds good when you're 26. Not so much when you're 36 or 46.

Build a practice by working hard, getting "good" referrals, taking good care of patients. Say "yes" as much as you can, but don't be afraid to protect yourself and your family and say "no" when needed.

General surgeons are some of the most versatile physicians there are, with broad knowledge and skills. Why not make the career more versatile too? 🙂

I am a hard worker. I work like a crazy person when I set my eyes on something. For example, I know in my soul that I could tackle a neurosurg residency if I wanted and stay a happy dude. But there's nothing I dislike more than being forced into a corner, where I have no choice but to work the way other people want me to for all my life in order to succeed. There is no fun in being a cow that is driven with the herd. The future of medicine is about being versatile and adaptable.

 

[balaguru]

I know a lot of folks who went into Emergency Medicine thinking that this type of schedule/lifestyle would be a good idea. Probably about 1/3 of my classmates (graduated 10 years ago) who went into EM are now doing something different. That lifestyle sounds good when you're 26. Not so much when you're 36 or 46.

Build a practice by working hard, getting "good" referrals, taking good care of patients. Say "yes" as much as you can, but don't be afraid to protect yourself and your family and say "no" when needed.

I think you have to be a little careful comparing EM to surgery. A busy ER combined with the metrics those guys are held to make for a pretty stressful grind without the emotional payoff of seeing their patients get better. And if they went into EM for the love of the lifestyle over the love of the actual work then it just gets worse. Anecdotally, in my current practice it's actually the older surgeons who seem to be the happiest with the trade off of predictable income and hours against the autonomy and risk of a more traditional practice. This is a population of surgeons 10+ years out of training who had their own private practices or came from academic positions, including a former program director.

 

[maxheadroom]

I think you missed my point. I was responding to a post in which the poster stated that he wanted to live "a little like an ER doc."

My point was that at 10 years out from medical school, most of my EM friends are 7 years out and several have burned out. All of the ones who have burned out cited their ignorance as medical students regarding the nature of the EM lifestyle.

My mantra to the medical students and residents that I mentor is:
1. You are an ignorant decision maker.
2. Choose the field that makes you happy.
3. Lifestyle is important, but can be managed, especially if you're doing something that you enjoy.

 

[balaguru]

I don't want to speak for the OP but I interpreted "live a little like an ER doc" to mean is it possible to be a surgeon and have regular protected time off to pursue other interests. I think with the right partners and practice setup, you can.

 

[anonperson]

Like others have mentioned. It would mainly work in a single hospital setting or with the hospitals very close together. It can get extremely tough covering multiple hospitals. In addition, having to cover the workload of another physician, or multiple physicians, is not an easy task for a long period of time. I know there is the 2 weeks off that you mentioned but those 2 weeks on would be exceptionally rough and I am not sure how long one could sustain like that.