Do you work 5 days per week?

[Sampter]

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.

I take off Friday's now. Emergent stuff goes to doctor/on-call on Fridays. Secretary's/nurses tell patient I'm not back until Monday. To be honest, a lot of calls on Friday are people that want stuff without an appointment anyway.

[CM]

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.

I have the same problem with my cardiology clinic. Today is a "vacation day," but I'll be at work for about 4 hours handling pt calls, reviewing labs, interpreting studies, doing paperwork, etc. If I don't do this on my PDO, then the job is unmanageable upon return.

[Lordosis]

I would rather work 5 shorter days rather than take a whole day of routinely.

For the most part the benefits of being off mid week can be accomplished with a few hours. I still got to start my day and get kids to school. Might as well go to work. But if I could finish up when they get our or even a little before that would be awesome.

[endo4jc]

1099. Salaried to cover 10 days/month. Rarely go in overnight. The additional days over 10 are only paid 1/4 the amount of the base 10, so I try to avoid extra call. One day of clinic every three weeks.

[NumberWhizMD]

I would rather work 5 shorter days rather than take a whole day of routinely.

For the most part the benefits of being off mid week can be accomplished with a few hours. I still got to start my day and get kids to school. Might as well go to work. But if I could finish up when they get our or even a little before that would be awesome.

You can do this! Just take the leap!! It has made my quality of life and home life so much better, and I get more time with my kids.

In addition to ending earlier now (and starting early), I find my half day off each week to be plenty to accomplish my other things without being too much time off to get bored.