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Advice for new grad regarding specialty (hospitalist vs. others)


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I'm sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum for this question. I'm going to be graduating in a few months, and am starting to apply for my first job. At my program, we have only one elective rotation, and we have to choose it this week. I had originally thought I would do another emergency medicine rotation. I really enjoyed it. However, I think it might be good to get exposure to some other fields.

 

I really like the variety of ER and the shift work idea. I don't want a job with call responsibilities. I'm an older, non-traditional student with a family. My husband is a surgeon, and works very long hours. The idea of working 3, 10-12 hour shifts/ week is appealing for me.

 

Do you find that hospitalists can typically find day shift jobs, or are they typically limited to nights and weekends? I've seen some community hospitals that only have hospitalist coverage after hours. Is this the norm? I'm not opposed to nights and weekends occasionally, but if it's not a realistic prospect, I know I wouldn't fit well in a job like that.

 

Urgent care is definitely a possibility, but I definitely enjoy the challenge of more acutely ill patients. It's not that I don't want to work hard. I just know my personal limitations with family obligations.

 

Thanks for any advice.

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I'm sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum for this question. I'm going to be graduating in a few months, and am starting to apply for my first job. At my program, we have only one elective rotation, and we have to choose it this week. I had originally thought I would do another emergency medicine rotation. I really enjoyed it. However, I think it might be good to get exposure to some other fields.

 

I really like the variety of ER and the shift work idea. I don't want a job with call responsibilities. I'm an older, non-traditional student with a family. My husband is a surgeon, and works very long hours. The idea of working 3, 10-12 hour shifts/ week is appealing for me.

 

Do you find that hospitalists can typically find day shift jobs, or are they typically limited to nights and weekends? I've seen some community hospitals that only have hospitalist coverage after hours. Is this the norm? I'm not opposed to nights and weekends occasionally, but if it's not a realistic prospect, I know I wouldn't fit well in a job like that.

 

Urgent care is definitely a possibility, but I definitely enjoy the challenge of more acutely ill patients. It's not that I don't want to work hard. I just know my personal limitations with family obligations.

 

Thanks for any advice.

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice regarding nor experience in a hospitalist position. However, I would urge you to complete your elective rotation in something you are interested in or want extra experience in. This is your one chance to get experience in any field without the repercussion and complication of being an employee, so use it how you want!

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I am not a hospitalist (and I don’t play one on TV either!), but I work with many of them. They work shifts, in general, with a lot of variety by place. In some places, they work 7 days on and 7 off. In others, other work patterns. They seem to be day people or night people. Night hospitalists around me often call themselves “nocturnalists” and prefer nights, often never working days. Likewise the day people seem to never work nights.

 

A rotation with a hospitalist is pretty much an inpatient internal med rotation. It might be interesting for you. At the same time, if you only have one optional rotation (I was in the same boat), pick whatever field you think you might enjoy. I did mine in cardiology and here I am, 10+ years later!

 

Good luck!

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I work an average of three 12-hour days per week. We have 1:6 night coverage, which consists of four shifts in a row followed by a week off to recover. I work 1:6 weekends.

 

At my institution a couple departments still have day-shift only hospitalists but most are moving their groups towards my model of 24/7 coverage. That said, I have coworkers who love nights and routinely pick them up and trade for them. So some of my coworkers barely work nights at all and some barely work days.

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