Do you work 5 days per week?

[NumberWhizMD]

Can you actually get out early? I would love to do something similar but if the phones are still on I can see the day getting stretched to 4-430 and losing the benefit of coming in early.

It is appealing though. Even getting out right at 5 and with a short commute I still only get a couple hours with the kids before bedtime. Most of that is dinner. Not to mention if someone is doing a sport or activity.

Absolutely! We have one provider who starts at 830 and ends closer to normal end of day time. We have staff here through 4:30 when our phones turn off. Staff is pretty good about getting messages out throughout the day as they come in. There will be an occasional couple of items to address after I leave, but the majority aren't urgent and can be left until the end of the day.

I'm pretty efficient and don't actually bring any work home. I sometimes get bored and check my basket, but notes and inbox are cleared before I leave each day. I'm out the door by 3:30 if not earlier. Its been the most helpful as my kids have gotten involved more with sports, as it gives us more time together before that time. Definitely worth considering, in my opinion!

[CordMcNally]

I am interested in backing down to 4 days at some point. I would be willing to work a little longer on the other days. We take an hour lunch which is unnecessarily long. But shortening it will piss off everyone else. I could easily start a half hour earlier.

I would rather have another afternoon off than a full day. I am thinking about pushing for this next spring this way I will have an extra afternoon to do fun things with the kids.

I would find it frustrating to get an hour for lunch when it takes me 10-15 minutes to eat and then just sit around for 45-50 minutes during the middle of the work day when I could just eat real quick, keep seeing patients, and leave 45-50 minutes earlier at the end of the day.

[Lordosis]

I would find it frustrating to get an hour for lunch when it takes me 10-15 minutes to eat and then just sit around for 45-50 minutes during the middle of the work day when I could just eat real quick, keep seeing patients, and leave 45-50 minutes earlier at the end of the day.

I do find it frustrating. The nurses and secretaries like it because they only take a 1/2 hours lunch and spend the other 1/2 hour "catching up" They are paid hourly so works for them. For me it is a waste of time. I have enjoyed my 2 mile lunch walk listening to sci fi audiobooks but there are better uses of my time.

[G]

I would find it frustrating to get an hour for lunch when it takes me 10-15 minutes to eat and then just sit around for 45-50 minutes during the middle of the work day when I could just eat real quick, keep seeing patients, and leave 45-50 minutes earlier at the end of the day.

You have time to eat?

[CordMcNally]

You have time to eat?

It doesn't matter how busy the shift is, I ALWAYS find time to eat.

[Zaphod]

Agree I hate lunches, I'd rather be home earlier, I can crush lunch in no time.

[legobikes]

0.8 FTE, salary prorated, same with vacation time, but fulltime benefits. Work 4 days per week, 8-11:15, 12:45-4:15. I have a 1.5 hour lunch, easily pushed to two hours if I leave a little early, but I live a mile from work and use it to go home, change out of my work clothes, eat lunch, play with the kids or go do something in the garage. Sometimes run an errand. I enjoy it. I'm still out in the afternoon by 430p.

Sometimes I wonder if it was a good idea to be so spoiled with my schedule so early in my career. But I need it and use it - mostly to have downtime and time with the kids.

I am interested in backing down to 4 days at some point. I would be willing to work a little longer on the other days. We take an hour lunch which is unnecessarily long. But shortening it will piss off everyone else. I could easily start a half hour earlier.

I would rather have another afternoon off than a full day. I am thinking about pushing for this next spring this way I will have an extra afternoon to do fun things with the kids.

Could you just room the patients yourself for the lunch hour? Arrange for the kinds of visits that require little/no nurse input? Heck you might only need one patient to fill the gap.

[InvestOnc33]

Heme/Onc

I see patients 4 days/week, Mon-Thurs. I get one hour for lunch but on busier days I take less time as needed. I could NEVER work at a place where I don't have time for lunch. Friday is an admin day however most of the admin stuff I take care of during the week and I only need to come in if there are urgent consults (rare). So basically it feels like a day off for me. It's my 2nd year out of training and I feel like quality of life is significantly improved with the 4 day work week, I can take care of all the things I need to on that Friday like car maintenance, appointments, etc.

Not sure I can go back to the 5 day per week schedule. And I am increasingly seeing that many places are using this format in IM (4/4.5 days with the other 1/0.5 as a admin day or even just a day off).

[Lordosis]

0.8 FTE, salary prorated, same with vacation time, but fulltime benefits. Work 4 days per week, 8-11:15, 12:45-4:15. I have a 1.5 hour lunch, easily pushed to two hours if I leave a little early, but I live a mile from work and use it to go home, change out of my work clothes, eat lunch, play with the kids or go do something in the garage. Sometimes run an errand. I enjoy it. I'm still out in the afternoon by 430p.

Sometimes I wonder if it was a good idea to be so spoiled with my schedule so early in my career. But I need it and use it - mostly to have downtime and time with the kids.



Could you just room the patients yourself for the lunch hour? Arrange for the kinds of visits that require little/no nurse input? Heck you might only need one patient to fill the gap.

I could but I feel that would be a slippery slope.

[B1GM0N3Y86]

Currently 4.5 days/week. Monday thru Thursday 8am-5pm and Friday 8am-12pm. The half day Fridays are a blessing, it allows us to beat traffic anytime we want to travel back to see family or only forces me to use 4 hrs of PTO if needing to take a Friday off.

2 years out of residency. FM office

[CM]

I start at 6 a.m. and work at rapid pace til at least 5 p.m. Mon-Fri, average about 55 hours per week. I'm not sure I've ever worked less than 50 hours in a week (in a medical job) since med school.

However, this is by far the best schedule I've ever had because I take no call.

[lakeswim]

I work 2 days a week from 9 to 4 pm with 1.5 hours for lunch. No call. I have young kids and have to support my husband's career, which entails a lot of travel. Someday I might go back to 3 days a week, but I'm in no rush to do it except for the money.

[hw]

I take most Friday pm off. I work 30 to 35 hours a week not counting hours of home call, which is somewhat variable.

[Fugue]

Derm. Work 5-5.5 days a week. 7:30-5 but will mix in occasional half days here or there. Well above the standard for the specialty where 4 days is the median.

I have 1 hr scheduled lunch but usually run a little behind so get 30-40 min which I use to catch up on notes.

Usually leave between 5-6. High volume specialty means more notes to do, more pt phone calls, path/labs to call back, etc

I'm curious to get the perspective of people who work four days a week. I would love to do this at some point in the future. However when I have taken a day off in the past, I always end up logging in or having to answer staff questions. Sometimes amounts to a couple hours of work. At least in this area, patients are very needy and will be upset if I don’t call back within 24 hours. I have had patients who call at Friday at 4:30 PM and are furious Monday at 9 AM that they have not been called back. What do you all do in terms of keeping up with patient messages and phone calls on your off day? Do you coordinate from home? Do you unplug completely? I feel like if I work a four day week, I would very much like to take the day off completely and not have to login. maybe this varies based on specialty and locale.

[Otolith]

Derm. Work 5-5.5 days a week. 7:30-5 but will mix in occasional half days here or there. Well above the standard for the specialty where 4 days is the median.

I have 1 hr scheduled lunch but usually run a little behind so get 30-40 min which I use to catch up on notes.

Usually leave between 5-6. High volume specialty means more notes to do, more pt phone calls, path/labs to call back, etc

I'm curious to get the perspective of people who work four days a week. I would love to do this at some point in the future. However when I have taken a day off in the past, I always end up logging in or having to answer staff questions. Sometimes amounts to a couple hours of work. At least in this area, patients are very needy and will be upset if I don’t call back within 24 hours. I have had patients who call at Friday at 4:30 PM and are furious Monday at 9 AM that they have not been called back. What do you all do in terms of keeping up with patient messages and phone calls on your off day? Do you coordinate from home? Do you unplug completely? I feel like if I work a four day week, I would very much like to take the day off completely and not have to login. maybe this varies based on specialty and locale.

Do you have a partner? our staff tells patients "Dr. X is not in office today and they will review this tomorrow, unless you feel it is an emergency and I can discuss with the on call doctor"... 99%patients wait. I find Mondays easier to take off and I make sure Friday all messages are responded to prior to leaving. Patients generally dont mind waiting since thats the norm, patients espiecially dont mind waiting if they know exactly how long they have to wait for. My patient population is needy too but this works well...

start by trying Monday AMs off and then gradually just take the entire day off. its not much but it gives you time to exercise, make doctors appointments or just catch up if thats what you prefer...I do log in on some of my days off but thats only to make my next day easier and if i'm busy i don't log in...