Sub specialty life

[LoGo]

I'm on an ortho rotation now, and have noticed the weekly time commitments to be far less than what is typically talked about on these forums (I did 46h in clinic/hospital for scheduled cases/patients, 16h home call where I had to go into the hospital for 6 hours, plus maybe an extra 15 hrs of study at home - so 52h out of the house, ~77h all-in including time at home but on the job). I'm wondering is this normal, or is this perhaps a function of the specific sub specialty I am rotating with? The at-home work is basically not work, so I am mostly interested in getting a sense of the in-clinic/in-hospital time for the different sub specialties during ortho residency and life as an attending. Also if anyone could comment on which sub specialties best allow for dedicated research time as an attending, that would be awesome.

Foot/Ankle
Sports
Arthroplasty
Oncology
Upper extremity/hand
Trauma
Pediatrics
Spine

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

What subspecialty were you on?
Research time depends less on subspecialty and more on what your hospital will let you do. I carved out a day for admin/research as part of my agreement with my hospital, but not everyone is generous--and if you are in private practice, you will be much less likely to get any protected time. You also described 77h all in which is pretty consistent with Ortho residency and more than what most Ortho attendings do.

 

[LoGo]

What subspecialty were you on?
Research time depends less on subspecialty and more on what your hospital will let you do. I carved out a day for admin/research as part of my agreement with my hospital, but not everyone is generous--and if you are in private practice, you will be much less likely to get any protected time. You also described 77h all in which is pretty consistent with Ortho residency and more than what most Ortho attendings do.

Thanks very much! I was on arthroplasty. I guess for some reason I was always thinking the 70-80h weeks quoted were actual in-hospital/clinic time - is 45-55h/week in-hospital/clinic plus some time reading, research or home-call pretty typical during residency (aside from maybe trauma)?

 

[DarkHorizon]

Thanks very much! I was on arthroplasty. I guess for some reason I was always thinking the 70-80h weeks quoted were actual in-hospital/clinic time - is 45-55h/week in-hospital/clinic plus some time reading, research or home-call pretty typical during residency (aside from maybe trauma)?

There's a lot of behind the scenes work in arthroplasty, but it can be pretty cush. You have to prepare for cases and template which takes some time, dictations in the office take some time, I would say probably add another 5-10 hours a week, so roughly 60 hours a week. Again as with anything, if you want to kill it, you'll be busy. Anyone doing 500+ joints a year will work hard.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Thanks very much! I was on arthroplasty. I guess for some reason I was always thinking the 70-80h weeks quoted were actual in-hospital/clinic time - is 45-55h/week in-hospital/clinic plus some time reading, research or home-call pretty typical during residency (aside from maybe trauma)?

Yes. And even in trauma, very dependent on season, how much support you have, etc. I have an AMA thread that talks about this, and other things re Ortho.

 

[massmocha]

Thanks very much! I was on arthroplasty. I guess for some reason I was always thinking the 70-80h weeks quoted were actual in-hospital/clinic time - is 45-55h/week in-hospital/clinic plus some time reading, research or home-call pretty typical during residency (aside from maybe trauma)?

No. This is not realistic for residency. We round every day starting 5-6, unusual to get out before 7. On average you will work 1 day per weekend (some weekends off, some both days... so averages 1/weekend). That puts you at 13-14 h/day x6 days per week = 78-84h/week IN HOSPITAL. When you get home you need to prep for cases and conferences/presentations/research for the next day, which will depend on how capable you are of staying awake. Don't expect to be in hospital 45-55 hour per week as an ortho resident, you will be rudely surprised.

And home call doesn't count as hours. So if you're on home call and get called in that gets added on top.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Is a 7-5 or 6-6 doable as an attending 5xweek though? Residency is 5 years, but the work hours of the other 30 years is what I am concerned with.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Is a 7-5 or 6-6 doable as an attending 5xweek though? Residency is 5 years, but the work hours of the other 30 years is what I am concerned with.

Depends on where you are, if you're private practice, how nice your partners are, and what stage you are in in your career. Yes possible if you are not a brand-new attending in a nice hospital with partners who don't take advantage of you.

 

[massmocha]

Is a 7-5 or 6-6 doable as an attending 5xweek though? Residency is 5 years, but the work hours of the other 30 years is what I am concerned with.

Agree, the rest of your life is more important. I thought the OP was inquiring about residency

 

[LoGo]

Agree, the rest of your life is more important. I thought the OP was inquiring about residency

Thanks very much! Yes I was wondering about residency primarily. I figure afterwards it is somewhat flexible, although if at an academic center I'd guess still 7-4 or 7-5 M-F, plus call 1 in 4 or 5.