Hi everyone :)

[alybell25]

Hey, nice to meet you! We're 2 residency years and a fellowship away from being in your position but I look forward to getting to know you.

I know a little bit about Kaiser from the business side and from what I can tell, it lacks a little bit in MD autonomy (a lot more EMR controls, etc.) since they're a closed (operating both healthcare services and a payor) system but also makes up for it in that the MDs are salaried so they know what to expect salary-wise.

I look forward to getting to know you. What do you do?

Thanks so much! The residency/fellowship days can seem never ending, but apparently there is a light at the end of the tunnel because we're starting to see it now ha. Hang in there

Those are both great points to consider re: Kaiser so thank you for that insight.

Currently I am a stay at home mom. I used to work in professional sports, but we relocated cross country for his fellowship and my job was kind of specific to the area we were in. I would consider going back to work in the future, but since I know we are looking at another long distance move post fellowship, I will continue to stay home. How about you?? Look forward to getting to know you too!

[alybell25]

Welcome! We're originally from NorCal, returning again for fellowship in August.
We're most likely going the PP route, but I know many people who've loved working for Kaiser. The retire rb system they have is awesome, from what I've heard of it.

Thank you! I am a norcal native too, I've been away for the last 7 years, can't wait to get back there next year hopefully!! I've also heard their retirement plan is amazing, definitely a point to consider!

[MrsC]

Welcome! Glad to hear you're nearing the end of training!
Like oceanchild said, my husband is in critical care too, although he's anesthesia/cc so it's a bit different. He does work in the MICU as well as the SICU though. He does 13 to 15 weeks if ICU a year and anesthesia the rest of the time. We're in PA so I don't know much about the west coast but a quick search tells me Kaiser would be the academic option. DH went into academics so he could do both anesthesia and CC and because he likes doing research/teaching. In our experience, there were few places hiring in academic CC but plenty of jobs in private practice. We saw a lot of the week on week off jobs too and I don't know if they're such a good thing. DH works a week of SICU, 24 hour call for 7 days and if it weren't for the fact that he has residents and can come home at night, he would live there. We have a toddler and I can't imagine him not seeing his dad for a week straight. I'm guessing they're not all that bad though, the bigger units probably have better schedules. Academics and pp are very different, DH has worked in both. It really depends on what your husband is interested in doing long term.
We started the job hunt in November, about 8 months before he finished up but he only interviewed for this job in February! I'm sure pp would interview earlier though. I'm happy to answer any other questions you have as best I can!

[ides]

I think the 7 off 7 on thing would drive me bonkers. I need more regularity. It would be like tossing normality up in the air every seven days. By the time the seven days are up you have adjusted only for it to change again.

[medpedspouse]

When DH started he had 14 on and 7 off. The 7 off sounds great in theory but those first couple of days back always sucked. Kind of what Ides said...as soon as he had a grasp of all his patients, he would be gone and return to a new list of patients and start all the over again...even though he had a PA, he wanted to examine every new patient. It made for long days when the service is large. I can see how it may be challenging with kids too. Just my 2cents.

[alybell25]

I think the 7 off 7 on thing would drive me bonkers. I need more regularity. It would be like tossing normality up in the air every seven days. By the time the seven days are up you have adjusted only for it to change again.

I've gotten so used to 12 on/2 off during fellowship (with the occasional 2 weeks of overnights thrown in) that it sounds pretty good to me LOL

[alybell25]

Welcome! Glad to hear you're nearing the end of training!
Like oceanchild said, my husband is in critical care too, although he's anesthesia/cc so it's a bit different. He does work in the MICU as well as the SICU though. He does 13 to 15 weeks if ICU a year and anesthesia the rest of the time. We're in PA so I don't know much about the west coast but a quick search tells me Kaiser would be the academic option. DH went into academics so he could do both anesthesia and CC and because he likes doing research/teaching. In our experience, there were few places hiring in academic CC but plenty of jobs in private practice. We saw a lot of the week on week off jobs too and I don't know if they're such a good thing. DH works a week of SICU, 24 hour call for 7 days and if it weren't for the fact that he has residents and can come home at night, he would live there. We have a toddler and I can't imagine him not seeing his dad for a week straight. I'm guessing they're not all that bad though, the bigger units probably have better schedules. Academics and pp are very different, DH has worked in both. It really depends on what your husband is interested in doing long term.
We started the job hunt in November, about 8 months before he finished up but he only interviewed for this job in February! I'm sure pp would interview earlier though. I'm happy to answer any other questions you have as best I can!

Kaiser is a mega-group on the west coast…in the simplest of explanations if you have Kaiser as your insurance, you go to Kaiser for EVERYTHING. From specialists to the pharmacy. It's a one stop shop, and you don't really get a choice as to who you see. That's probably a very rudimentary way to describe it, but close enough I'm sure as a physician working for them it's appealing not to have the burden of recruiting patients, or bringing new patients in, but less autonomy as some other posters have pointed out.

My husband is not interested in academics, and he loves the CC part of his job…so it would probably be for him finding a practice with a good mix of CC and outpatients/clinic. We have a 4 year old, he was born during residency and poor guy is used to seeing his Dad in bits and pieces.

Thanks so much for sharing

[MrsC]

Oh I see. So does Kaiser have a mix of ICU's with residents and some without? It seems like a lot of their locations have resisents and fellows. By academics, I just mean a teaching hospital. If he's not interested in working in a teaching hospital, then I'd imagine that a lot of the Kaiser system would be out of the question.
Those hours sound pretty brutal. I would be looking for far better than that out of training!
I would just be careful with the smaller ICU's, they are so short staffed, you could end up working round the clock. The pulm/cc docs here have a pretty good schedule and all of the anesthesia/cc docs want to move to their MICU. It's a 60 bed unit.

[alybell25]

I really appreciate the input, thanks again! I wish I found this forum years ago. My husband has done both residency and fellowship in mega urban areas and so his colleagues are all scattered around the city and not a lot married...I really haven't found a group of medical spouses or heck even just one I can talk to, ask questions, vent, etc. I'm so happy to hear from all of you and look forward to chatting more!

[MrsK]

Welcome. You've come to the right place.

[MAPPLEBUM]

Welcome! Oh how I'd love to end up in Northern California! I don't know anything that you're talking about but just wanted to chime in to say hi! My husband starts fellowship interviews in the fall -- EEK!!! I'm glad you're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's insane how each new step is both exciting and terrifying at the same time... I've learned a lot from this forum, you should have a good time here!

[scrub-jay]

Love more CA natives! I'm NorCal born & raised. I miss it. Although for me think wayyyyy north, like redwoods, not Bay Area.

[diggitydot]

Hi everyone

Welcome to the group!

Fellow west coaster, here, too. I've known loads of Kaiser peeps over the years. Some love them, some don't. The major points of contention from providers I've personally known who've left have been the lack of autonomy and the abundance of bureaucracy.

The transition to post-training isn't without its issues. The orgasms and rainbows aren't instantaneous, that's for sure. Expect it to take about 2 years to really catch your stride.

Please, PRETTY PLEASE tell me you worked for the Seahawks. Please?

[Flynn]

Welcome!!!!

(go hawks!!!!)

[alybell25]

Oh boy LOL. Never lived in Seattle, did not work for the Seahawks, and definitely NOT a Seahawks fan 😐😂😕