Reasonable commute in residency

[Abby_Normal]

The title is pretty self-explanatory. I thought I should get some opinions on this in advance so I can hit the ground running apartment-hunting after the Match (because of clinical obligations and distance I have a very narrow window of time to look for housing). Right now, my daily commute is a 15 minute walk, but I recognize that, for the programs at the top of my rank list, something that close will be harder to find. So, I was curious what current residents consider a reasonable commute. Thirty minutes? Forty-five minutes? Longer?

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[IkeBoy18]

Not a resident yet, but am a nontraditional student who worked for a while before med school. Personally commutes up to 30 min (including traffic) should be abt the max. Before medical school I worked somewhere with very bad traffic, it would take me 30 min with no traffic, 1.75 hrs in the AM and 2.25 hrs in the PM! I think 15 min door to door is the most I will consider now. Driving long periods post call is not ideal and even if you wanted to go home and return to work (if youve forgotten something or to eat etc) shorter commutes make it possible.

I understand that those with families might want to live in certain areas and they may tolerate 30/45 min. or longer!

 

[IkeBoy18]

Ive already found a place at my #1 choice, 5 min drive, in the same city I had 4 hr commutes I mentioned earlier!

 

[Law2Doc]

Closer is better.

 

[backrow]

The closest place that meets your needs. If you can get under ten minute drive (for walking I'd say a little longer walk is good too). Living further away (more than 20-30 in rush hour traffic) makes life a bit miserable at times.

With the newer intern work hour rules a 30 minute commute each way is a real drag if you only get the minimum off between shifts.

 

[Carlin]

Keep weather conditions in mind! If you match somewhere that sees a lot of snow in the winter, a 25 minute commute can easily become 60 minutes on snowy days.

 

[colbgw02]

nothing specific to add other than i encourage you to think of this on a macro scale because i think people tend to undervalue a short commute...

assuming a 3 year residency and 5 days a week (probably an underestimation), the difference between even a 30 vs. 15 minute one-way commute is over 15 days. that's a lot of time to spend in a car, bus, or train, and it should be weighed accordingly.

 

[Follow the Cairns]

Am I crazy in thinking that I have heard that some residency programs require that residents live within a certain max commute time from the hospital? I want to say we had a good friend in private practice who said when he was a resident, they had a rule that everyone had to be able to make it into work within a 20 minute window of being called.

Maybe he was yanking our chain or I misunderstood. Regardless, I agree with PPs, closer is better, assuming the area is safe and offers reasonably priced housing options.

 

[BoardingDoc]

Am I crazy in thinking that I have heard that some residency programs require that residents live within a certain max commute time from the hospital? I want to say we had a good friend in private practice who said when he was a resident, they had a rule that everyone had to be able to make it into work within a 20 minute window of being called.

Maybe he was yanking our chain or I misunderstood. Regardless, I agree with PPs, closer is better, assuming the area is safe and offers reasonably priced housing options.

Not crazy at all. This is from a recent post about an EM residency program.

2) Loma Linda - Absolute gem of a program. About an hour east of LA. PD was very cool and seemed very supportive. Residents were very nice. Has a great reputation for above average peds exposure. It's 3 years. Drawback is that while it's close to LA, you have to live within 60 miles of the hospital, which is basically in a pretty crappy area of California.

 

[eastcoastdr]

I personally wouldn't live more than 15-20 min away. Currently I live about 1 mile from 1 hospital I rotate at, and 4 miles from another site, and its perfect.

 

[rokshana]

Am I crazy in thinking that I have heard that some residency programs require that residents live within a certain max commute time from the hospital? I want to say we had a good friend in private practice who said when he was a resident, they had a rule that everyone had to be able to make it into work within a 20 minute window of being called.

Maybe he was yanking our chain or I misunderstood. Regardless, I agree with PPs, closer is better, assuming the area is safe and offers reasonably priced housing options.

not unusual...many cards and gi programs will require them to live with 20-30 mins since they do home call...otherwise i suspect they would have to do in house call...

 

[surg]

Live as close as is safe (Some hospitals aren't in the safest of areas). When you are exhausted, every minute counts. If you take home call, all the more reason. Home call hours only count against the work limit when you are in the hospital, so if you expend 20 min each way, every call that you actually have to come in for is a minimum of an hour lost of sleep. Multiple that over the course of a year and you start racking up the sleep debt. On top of that, the further away you live, the more tempting it is to manage the call from home when you really should go check on the patient. If you have that go wrong, the patient suffers and your reputation suffers as well. Personally I'd try to get within a 15 min radius if at all humanly possible. Anything more than 30 and you better be in a no home call residency or be prepared to sleep at the hospital sometimes when you could otherwise go home.

One last thing to keep in mind. The further you have to drive, the more you have to account for traffic that may delay you unexpectedly, so the earlier you have to leave to make sure you aren't late. Being late once in a great while is fine, being late consistently makes you the slacker in your residency.


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[Winged Scapula]

Am I crazy in thinking that I have heard that some residency programs require that residents live within a certain max commute time from the hospital? I want to say we had a good friend in private practice who said when he was a resident, they had a rule that everyone had to be able to make it into work within a 20 minute window of being called.

Maybe he was yanking our chain or I misunderstood. Regardless, I agree with PPs, closer is better, assuming the area is safe and offers reasonably priced housing options.

Not crazy. I'm not sure it was contractually obligated during residency and fellowship but the rule was "15 minutes". I know the attendings that took trauma call had the same rule.

But for the OP, I cannot imagine living 30 minutes away unless I was doing a very hours light residency.

 

[MSUSpartan642]

Currently an EM intern, live about 25 minutes away from my hospital. Doesn't seem bad at all. Especially coming from Chicago where I felt like I practically lived in traffic.

 

[Mass Effect]

As someone who had to spend the night in the hospital due to bad weather during intern year, I suggest you get a place as close to the hospital as possible, especially if you live in a climate with a lot of snow. Nothing makes a long shift worse than knowing you don't get to go home to your own bed at the end of the day.

 

[Abby_Normal]

A few more specifics about my situation. First, I'm going into psych so after off-service rotations intern year, hours should be reasonable, but I will have home call in third and/or fourth year.
Second, I'm trying to figure this out as it relates to one of my top choices. It seems that even a few miles out from the hospital, the commute via public transit can take up to 45 minutes. So unless I am fortunate enough to find an apartment right on top of the hospital (based upon a preliminary search, odds aren't great) I would have the option of a long commute via public transit or a short 10-20 minute commute by car possibly much worse at the height of rush hour. I am under the impression that this is a relatively common quandary in urban settings so I'd like to get some more perspectives on it before I decide whether it's enough of a quality of life issue to switch with the program below it on my rank list.

 

[backrow]

A 45 minute commute by mass transit is MUCH different than even a 30 minute commute by car. That time can be useful unlike if you are driving. Reading, studying etc.

I still wouldn't want that long, but I'd take it over a 30 minute drive any day of the week.

 

[Gfliptastic]

I know a lot of residency contracts have distance/time requirements. There are some of those w/ stipulations based on city limits. I know of a few that will double-check your address ZIP. These contracts can be hospital-specific, not specialty specific too.

I've mostly heard of time requirements being up to 30 mins away from the hospital. Which COULD mean 30 miles in a non-urban setting. But having been born & raised in Chicago I know time is more important measurement. On really s***ty snowy blizzardy days, I would not doubt a resident who lived on one end of Hyde Park being unable to get to U of C in 30 mins, despite living <5 miles away.

 

[dpmd]

A few more specifics about my situation. First, I'm going into psych so after off-service rotations intern year, hours should be reasonable, but I will have home call in third and/or fourth year.
Second, I'm trying to figure this out as it relates to one of my top choices. It seems that even a few miles out from the hospital, the commute via public transit can take up to 45 minutes. So unless I am fortunate enough to find an apartment right on top of the hospital (based upon a preliminary search, odds aren't great) I would have the option of a long commute via public transit or a short 10-20 minute commute by car possibly much worse at the height of rush hour. I am under the impression that this is a relatively common quandary in urban settings so I'd like to get some more perspectives on it before I decide whether it's enough of a quality of life issue to switch with the program below it on my rank list.

45 minutes with lots of options for public transit is one thing, but 45 minutes but if you miss a train and it is now double is not good.

 

[j4pac]

No more than 30 minutes by car (including traffic), or 40 minutes by rail.

 

[Chicago2012]

What if I travel by jetpack?

 

[BoardingDoc]

What if I travel by jetpack?

Do you show up looking like this?

 

[gutonc]

 

[brotherman]

In residency, I lived literally across the street from my hospital. While I could have found housing for a few hundred dollars less had I driven- the cost of gasoline, car maintenance, would have made it roughly the same. In addition, it was easy to just walk literally less than 3 minutes from my apartment to work, and vice-versa. This was especially good in times of bad weather and for those overnight calls. Of course, my hospital was a in a relatively nice suburban location. Most people do not consider the cost of their time- for me, time spent not commuting is worth every penny of increased cost.

 

[Siggy]

Take your commute, double that time, and then realize that's how much less sleep you'll be able to get every night.

 

[kemper6036]

Depends on the specialty/hours you'll be putting in and if you have take home call. After getting called in a few times in the middle of the night to go to the OR, I can assure you closer is better