Work-life balance as a neuropsychologist

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pcpsych

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Hi all,

I'm an intern who is doing a 50% pediatric neuropsychology track at an APA-accredited site. I've been at my site (which also has an APPCN fellowship and is a fairly well-regarded AMC) for a couple of months. I'm already starting to feel pretty burned out, which I've heard is true for many interns. However, I've also seen that several of the fellows and even a few faculty appear tired and struggle with work-life balance. I'm wondering whether this lack of work-life balance will continue even after I'm done with training and am working full-time as a neuropsychologist. I don't mind hustling as a trainee but I imagine doing so for the rest of my career will be wearying. In my brief interactions with behavioral med interns/fellows at the same site, I notice they seem considerably less stressed--but that could just be a "grass is always greener" point of view.

If any neuropsychologists (especially on the pediatric side) would be willing to provide some insight about their own experiences (or even what they've heard from colleagues/friends), that would be really helpful. If possible, it would be useful to hear about:
1) the type of setting (AMC, general hospital, VA, private practice)
2) how many full evals providers are being expected to complete per week
3) the number of hours worked total (including report-writing, feedback, etc)
4) how much time do providers spend on research/teaching/clinical supervision/volunteer work?
5) tips/strategies you recommend to protect your personal time and prevent work spilling over into your life

Thanks in advance!

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I generally don't feel burnt out by work too often, but there are definitely weeks after which I feel worn out; the burn out is typically more from administrative headaches than actual clinical work or training. I average probably 45 hours/week at a VA site, plus whenever I decide to fit in non-VA work on the weekends (8-16 hours of actual work, depending); it could be much more, but I make it a point to cut things off at the VA when my actual work day is done. My time is relatively evenly split between training and clinical work; if I were 100% clinical, I'd likely be expected to complete 4-5 full outpatient evals weekly (with no testing support).

The best tip I have for protecting your personal time is just to make it a priority, because no one else will. If you let yourself be worked more, then that's what will happen. And don't be afraid to push back if you feel the demands are excessive, just try to have some objective support as to your definition of "excessive." Mind you, working more isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just depends on what your goals are and whether or not what you're doing is getting you closer to those goals.
 
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I generally don't feel burnt out by work too often, but there are definitely weeks after which I feel worn out; the burn out is typically more from administrative headaches than actual clinical work or training. I average probably 45 hours/week at a VA site, plus whenever I decide to fit in non-VA work on the weekends (8-16 hours of actual work, depending); it could be much more, but I make it a point to cut things off at the VA when my actual work day is done. My time is relatively evenly split between training and clinical work; if I were 100% clinical, I'd likely be expected to complete 4-5 full outpatient evals weekly (with no testing support).

The best tip I have for protecting your personal time is just to make it a priority, because no one else will. If you let yourself be worked more, then that's what will happen. And don't be afraid to push back if you feel the demands are excessive, just try to have some objective support as to your definition of "excessive." Mind you, working more isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just depends on what your goals are and whether or not what you're doing is getting you closer to those goals.

Thanks! That's very helpful.
 
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Your efficiency. How quickly can you see patients and write reports? Will you use a technician model? How focused are you able to stay in completing reports?

To an extent (e.g., insurance won't pay you for 8 hours of report writing time) report writing doesn't need to be as rushed as it once was 132 and 133 are pretty much your higher RVU codes of the assessment. As a provider, the only thing that is really killing your productivity in an institutional setting is your testing time, those are the RVU sucks.
 
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Hi all,

I'm an intern who is doing a 50% pediatric neuropsychology track at an APA-accredited site. I've been at my site (which also has an APPCN fellowship and is a fairly well-regarded AMC) for a couple of months. I'm already starting to feel pretty burned out, which I've heard is true for many interns. However, I've also seen that several of the fellows and even a few faculty appear tired and struggle with work-life balance. I'm wondering whether this lack of work-life balance will continue even after I'm done with training and am working full-time as a neuropsychologist. I don't mind hustling as a trainee but I imagine doing so for the rest of my career will be wearying. In my brief interactions with behavioral med interns/fellows at the same site, I notice they seem considerably less stressed--but that could just be a "grass is always greener" point of view.

If any neuropsychologists (especially on the pediatric side) would be willing to provide some insight about their own experiences (or even what they've heard from colleagues/friends), that would be really helpful. If possible, it would be useful to hear about:
1) the type of setting (AMC, general hospital, VA, private practice)
2) how many full evals providers are being expected to complete per week
3) the number of hours worked total (including report-writing, feedback, etc)
4) how much time do providers spend on research/teaching/clinical supervision/volunteer work?
5) tips/strategies you recommend to protect your personal time and prevent work spilling over into your life

Thanks in advance!
1) Private group practice. Team of 5 psychologists working out are own offices spread across the state. Pure assessment- mainly children 1-4 y.o. for me
2) I could meet minimum billable requirements with 3-4 assessments and the same amount of intakes per week. If i do more, i get paid more. Things are averaged out quarterly (e.g., I can do whole bunch this week and none next week). I've been doing 5-6 evals (all autism evals) per week lately, because what the hell else am i going to do?
3) work 25-40+ hours per week at day job, then another 0-20 per week adjuncting, depending on number of courses, time of semester, # students, etc.
4) Mode=0, range 0-5 hours per week
5) Schedule personal time, stick to schedule, do the day job stuff during the day. Get up early. Stay on top of reports so you aren't worrying about getting them done (ideally, finish them the same day you do the eval). Make sure personal time includes activities that are positively (vs. negatively) reinforcing. Don't work for a bad company or people who are jerks.
 
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1) Private group practice. Team of 5 psychologists working out are own offices spread across the state. Pure assessment- mainly children 1-4 y.o. for me
2) I could meet minimum billable requirements with 3-4 assessments and the same amount of intakes per week. If i do more, i get paid more. Things are averaged out quarterly (e.g., I can do whole bunch this week and none next week). I've been doing 5-6 evals (all autism evals) per week lately, because what the hell else am i going to do?
3) work 25-40+ hours per week at day job, then another 0-20 per week adjuncting, depending on number of courses, time of semester, # students, etc.
4) Mode=0, range 0-5 hours per week
5) Schedule personal time, stick to schedule, do the day job stuff during the day. Get up early. Stay on top of reports so you aren't worrying about getting them done (ideally, finish them the same day you do the eval). Make sure personal time includes activities that are positively (vs. negatively) reinforcing. Don't work for a bad company or people who are jerks.

I wanted to re-iterate everything above, particularly the bolded. Reports are so, so much easier to write when the information is still fresh in your mind. Prioritize getting them done quickly, or they probably will take longer to do (if you're anything like me, that is).
 
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1) Private practice, affiliated with an AMC and additional hospitals.
2) Depends on how much money I want/need to made.
3) Total hours worked is significantly;y different than billable hours worked. If you ask me, I say I work 40-50hrs per week. If you ask those who observe me in my life, it's more like 60-80hrs.
4) About 10hrs per week in academic pursuits, averaged across a year. I have recently stopped a very time consuming line of pro bono work.
5)

a. Determine what information others actually need from your reports. Give them that. There's a lot of nonsense that psychologists put in reports which seems based upon tradition, rather than science or need.
b. Never take phone calls from patients. Have them come in . Only face to face time is billable.
c. Stick to your hours. Don't check emails on your off time. A few extra minutes one night, a few emails on the weekend, and it's blood in the water to those trying to get more out of you.
d. Really look at the LIFESTYLE of whoever you are trying to mimic. There are many research people who have nice publications, but crappy lifestyles.
 
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All great posts in here. Peds neuro should never have a hard time finding work, it is more about how much you want to work and how much unbillable time you are willing to waste each week....whether it be dealing w. Parents, sitting in meetings, doing research w/o grant funding, etc.

Learn to say No....a lot. There is a ton of need, likely less appreciation for what you do, and a difference between what people think they should have to pay for and what they actually pay for.
 
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All very helpful replies--thank you all for your responses.
 
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