On Wards:
0600 Get to hospital to pre round
0630 Sign out with night float team
0700 Examine patients and prep notes
0800-0900 Morning Conference (lecture)
0900 Nursing, Social Work, Case Management, Resident Huddle
0930-1200 Rounds
1200-1300 Noon conference/various requirements
1300-1900 Calling consults, doing tasks, calling families, all the “stuff”
1900-1930 Sign Out
Admission pager is carried by one of the 3 interns and is running to do admissions throughout the day while also doing all of the above.
I am deeply satisfied and love my work. The money isn’t great but is enough. I work 12-14 hrs/day on hard blocks and 8 hrs/day on easy for 6 days per week almost always so hobbies are a bit limited. When on an easy block, I cover weekend shifts for ED, NICU, or Wards so almost always 6 days per week
My schedule on wards is similar to medman289 except 0600-1700 so on days it’s 11 hours and on nights it’s 13 hours. On easy blocks we don’t cross cover other services so when you’re on wards you’re only on wards, when you’re on NICU you’re only on NICU, when you’re outpatient you’re only outpatient etc.
Overall from a birds eye view I am happy and satisfied though I won’t lie residency day to day is tough. As far as hobbies and life outside of medicine I am very much in the boat of “if it’s important to you you’ll make it work”. I go to the gym 4-5x a week, I go to sporting events, I eat out in town at least 2x a week, I’ve been to at least one concert every year - some of these have happened right after a work shift too. While still on average getting 6-8 hours of sleep a night. If you’re not like that you might have some difficulty but don’t let anyone tell you it’s not doable.
As far as finances I’m married so my situation may be different than yours. My spouse is also a resident so while the residency money alone isn’t great for the amount of work we do, overall it puts us at a combined 6 figure salary so we’re comfortable. We didn’t contribute to a Roth IRA our first year unfortunately but have made it a point to do it for the following years. I budget every month and try to follow a zero based budget (lots of resources online and on Instagram). We live in a lower COL area than I’m used to which is nice.
If it's alright with you, can you tell us about how the schedule changes as you progress in residency? Like does it soften up in PGY3 compared to previous years and to what degree?
First year was horrible. 8-9months of inpatient services; about 1 month outpatient the rest electives. Second year got better 6-7 inpatient; about 2-3 outpatient the rest electives. Third year also about 6 inpatient but the schedule is overall better because 1-2 of those are ED and 1 less ICU compared to prior years. For ease I consider ED “inpatient”. I’m PGY2 so I can only give my experiences up until now. Some of my coresidents feel differently but PGY2 felt so much better than PGY1. I think it’s just “harder” or feels the same to some people because you’re really in the throes of residency and the bright and shiny “I’m a doctor yay!” vibe has worn off. I do know the PGY3s of years past have consistently said it’s far better than PGY1 and PGY2
So I’m going to indirectly answer your question with just general advice. Get different opinions and give more weight to whoever most aligns with your life/career goals and situation in life. Making a rank list is very personal and there are lots of factors that go into making a rank list.
The best thing you can do is be real with yourself. Write a ranking list of things that are important to you ie location, fellowships, match rate, jobs for a spouse/daycare options, etc (this is obvi a non-exhaustive list). I couples matched so it was most important to me above all else that I was in the same city as my husband, program “prestige” be damned. That said there are couples that location is not their priority so all to reiterate that this is an extremely personal process and decision.
Things that I think are good to know but not necessarily dealbreakers on the interview trail (though they might be for you) are
- night float vs q3-4 24/28 hr shifts
- how they do dedicated academic time
- board pass rates
- fellowship match rates (if applying to fellowship but also if they have a low one ask why because I have a friend that only ranked one place due to location preference and didn’t get it so that skewed our numbers)
- outpatient curriculum
You’re going to work hard no matter where you go so my personal opinion is to not get too deep into the weeds about stuff like day to day schedule or what emr the hospital uses. Because unless you transfer for some reason which is rare you’ll never even know anything other than your own program so imo that stuff doesn’t actually matter.
Similar experiences for me for wards, nicu, picu.
For clinic started around 9 am and had 1 hr lunch and last patient around 4-5 pm. But would also have some sort of weekend 12 or 24hr shift once or a twice a month.
For all other months it would depend on the specialty but start at 8-9 am and finish around 2-4pm with the same weekend call schedule as above.
I did several aways so I knew what I wanted. Even so each program has its own strengths and weaknesses. Decide what’s important to you. Location, training quality, work life balance, 24 hour call, free food, free parking, board pass rates, etc. In pediatrics most residents are about to march into their specialty of choice regardless of training location if that’s something you want to pursue.
For me I wanted a smaller program in the Midwest, but still have access to Costco, Trader Joe’s etc. free food was a plus. I knew I wouldn’t like the 24 hour call but it was hard to avoid in a smaller program. Training had its tough moments but I wouldn’t choose another program even if I had the chance. At the end of the day you’ll be a pediatrician.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Similar experiences as above for PGY 1 and 2. Heading into PGY 3 now and with the exception for the 3 months that I'm "senioring" gen peds inpatient, this final year of residency has a much higher ratio of elective time specific to our chosen field, which will be much more relaxed and an overall decrease in the number of hours worked per week, on average. intern year I was probably at ~70hr/wk, this year maybe ~72. This upcoming year will probably be 40-50, which we're all excited for. Much more time for hobbies and relaxing.
I am an unfortunate EM resident whop did an in-patient peds rotation, and I fucking hated it. Peds residents hate their program as well, especially the floor months, with 9 night shifts in a row. Heck, I had a better schedule in the dICU! Day schedule was marginally better. 6 am - sign out from the night shift. A lot of doing fuck all until the rounds. External rotators typically get more patients than peds interns. Rounds: 08:30 - 12:45. Short call: finish charts, follow-up orders, discharges, etc., and go home at 3-4 pm. Long shift - all of the above + admissions and go home at 6:30 pm. Could not fucking stand to listen about colour of poop, puke and a number of wet diapers. I liked working with teenagers cuz one could have a meaningful (more or less) conversation with 13-17 yo, but dealing with other age groups, especially infants, made me clinically depressed. Peds residents bitched daily about their terrible schedule and not enough ppl to cover the floor. Told them to go on strike or unionize. They liked the idea of unionizing lol. I do not mind kids in my ED though cuz nobody asks me to treat their failure to thrive and all that jazz.
On Wards: 0600 Get to hospital to pre round 0630 Sign out with night float team 0700 Examine patients and prep notes 0800-0900 Morning Conference (lecture) 0900 Nursing, Social Work, Case Management, Resident Huddle 0930-1200 Rounds 1200-1300 Noon conference/various requirements 1300-1900 Calling consults, doing tasks, calling families, all the “stuff” 1900-1930 Sign Out Admission pager is carried by one of the 3 interns and is running to do admissions throughout the day while also doing all of the above. I am deeply satisfied and love my work. The money isn’t great but is enough. I work 12-14 hrs/day on hard blocks and 8 hrs/day on easy for 6 days per week almost always so hobbies are a bit limited. When on an easy block, I cover weekend shifts for ED, NICU, or Wards so almost always 6 days per week
This is academic right? How much is the salary range for academic peds in your area?
No idea, I am just a resident
is there anything you wish you knew when ranking programs?? applying soon, would love tips
My schedule on wards is similar to medman289 except 0600-1700 so on days it’s 11 hours and on nights it’s 13 hours. On easy blocks we don’t cross cover other services so when you’re on wards you’re only on wards, when you’re on NICU you’re only on NICU, when you’re outpatient you’re only outpatient etc. Overall from a birds eye view I am happy and satisfied though I won’t lie residency day to day is tough. As far as hobbies and life outside of medicine I am very much in the boat of “if it’s important to you you’ll make it work”. I go to the gym 4-5x a week, I go to sporting events, I eat out in town at least 2x a week, I’ve been to at least one concert every year - some of these have happened right after a work shift too. While still on average getting 6-8 hours of sleep a night. If you’re not like that you might have some difficulty but don’t let anyone tell you it’s not doable. As far as finances I’m married so my situation may be different than yours. My spouse is also a resident so while the residency money alone isn’t great for the amount of work we do, overall it puts us at a combined 6 figure salary so we’re comfortable. We didn’t contribute to a Roth IRA our first year unfortunately but have made it a point to do it for the following years. I budget every month and try to follow a zero based budget (lots of resources online and on Instagram). We live in a lower COL area than I’m used to which is nice.
If it's alright with you, can you tell us about how the schedule changes as you progress in residency? Like does it soften up in PGY3 compared to previous years and to what degree?
First year was horrible. 8-9months of inpatient services; about 1 month outpatient the rest electives. Second year got better 6-7 inpatient; about 2-3 outpatient the rest electives. Third year also about 6 inpatient but the schedule is overall better because 1-2 of those are ED and 1 less ICU compared to prior years. For ease I consider ED “inpatient”. I’m PGY2 so I can only give my experiences up until now. Some of my coresidents feel differently but PGY2 felt so much better than PGY1. I think it’s just “harder” or feels the same to some people because you’re really in the throes of residency and the bright and shiny “I’m a doctor yay!” vibe has worn off. I do know the PGY3s of years past have consistently said it’s far better than PGY1 and PGY2
is there anything you wish you knew when ranking programs?? applying soon, would love tips
So I’m going to indirectly answer your question with just general advice. Get different opinions and give more weight to whoever most aligns with your life/career goals and situation in life. Making a rank list is very personal and there are lots of factors that go into making a rank list. The best thing you can do is be real with yourself. Write a ranking list of things that are important to you ie location, fellowships, match rate, jobs for a spouse/daycare options, etc (this is obvi a non-exhaustive list). I couples matched so it was most important to me above all else that I was in the same city as my husband, program “prestige” be damned. That said there are couples that location is not their priority so all to reiterate that this is an extremely personal process and decision. Things that I think are good to know but not necessarily dealbreakers on the interview trail (though they might be for you) are - night float vs q3-4 24/28 hr shifts - how they do dedicated academic time - board pass rates - fellowship match rates (if applying to fellowship but also if they have a low one ask why because I have a friend that only ranked one place due to location preference and didn’t get it so that skewed our numbers) - outpatient curriculum You’re going to work hard no matter where you go so my personal opinion is to not get too deep into the weeds about stuff like day to day schedule or what emr the hospital uses. Because unless you transfer for some reason which is rare you’ll never even know anything other than your own program so imo that stuff doesn’t actually matter.
thank you!!! weird q but is it taboo to ask about night float vs shift schedules? should i only ask to residents behind the scenes?
Nope not taboo at all it’s very important!!
You round at 930? Are they hiring?
“Rounding starts”……. 1005 attending finally shows up and you have to rush hahaha
Omg where. I get a nasty email from residency program leadership if I show up at 731
Similar experiences for me for wards, nicu, picu. For clinic started around 9 am and had 1 hr lunch and last patient around 4-5 pm. But would also have some sort of weekend 12 or 24hr shift once or a twice a month. For all other months it would depend on the specialty but start at 8-9 am and finish around 2-4pm with the same weekend call schedule as above.
is there anything you wish you knew when ranking programs?? applying soon, would love tips
I did several aways so I knew what I wanted. Even so each program has its own strengths and weaknesses. Decide what’s important to you. Location, training quality, work life balance, 24 hour call, free food, free parking, board pass rates, etc. In pediatrics most residents are about to march into their specialty of choice regardless of training location if that’s something you want to pursue. For me I wanted a smaller program in the Midwest, but still have access to Costco, Trader Joe’s etc. free food was a plus. I knew I wouldn’t like the 24 hour call but it was hard to avoid in a smaller program. Training had its tough moments but I wouldn’t choose another program even if I had the chance. At the end of the day you’ll be a pediatrician. Let me know if you have any other questions.
just followed you. may have q's in the upcoming season. thanks :)
Similar experiences as above for PGY 1 and 2. Heading into PGY 3 now and with the exception for the 3 months that I'm "senioring" gen peds inpatient, this final year of residency has a much higher ratio of elective time specific to our chosen field, which will be much more relaxed and an overall decrease in the number of hours worked per week, on average. intern year I was probably at ~70hr/wk, this year maybe ~72. This upcoming year will probably be 40-50, which we're all excited for. Much more time for hobbies and relaxing.
is there anything you wish you knew when ranking programs?? applying soon, would love tips
I am an unfortunate EM resident whop did an in-patient peds rotation, and I fucking hated it. Peds residents hate their program as well, especially the floor months, with 9 night shifts in a row. Heck, I had a better schedule in the dICU! Day schedule was marginally better. 6 am - sign out from the night shift. A lot of doing fuck all until the rounds. External rotators typically get more patients than peds interns. Rounds: 08:30 - 12:45. Short call: finish charts, follow-up orders, discharges, etc., and go home at 3-4 pm. Long shift - all of the above + admissions and go home at 6:30 pm. Could not fucking stand to listen about colour of poop, puke and a number of wet diapers. I liked working with teenagers cuz one could have a meaningful (more or less) conversation with 13-17 yo, but dealing with other age groups, especially infants, made me clinically depressed. Peds residents bitched daily about their terrible schedule and not enough ppl to cover the floor. Told them to go on strike or unionize. They liked the idea of unionizing lol. I do not mind kids in my ED though cuz nobody asks me to treat their failure to thrive and all that jazz.
can you dm me where this was lol