Information about Residency Specialties

[Vishenka69]

I posted a full review in MDFamily, but hopefully this will give a better idea to those who don't subscribe and will complete Alison's overview.

1. What type of Residency: Anesthesia

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)
1 year internship, 3 year anesthesia. All fellowships are 1 year, I haven't heard of anyone doing research in anesthesia.

3. How long are the work weeks during training?
Depends on rotation but sticks to 80-hr rule. Most rotations have him out by 5:30-6am and back by 7-8pm. He only does a few short and regular calls a month, but his program is very well staffed.

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?
He's on call may be once a week (very rarely twice) and on back-up (call from home) one weekend every other month or so. Depends on specific rotation.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)
NYC being one of the lowest paying markets in the country starts at $250-$300K (depending on how much you're willing to be on call, private/academic, partnership track or not.) Further into the neverland pays more.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)
As good or as bad as you want them to be. Anywhere from Q2 to never and from 4 weeks vacation to 12, all depends on region and practice.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)
See above, as much or as little as you want. In private practice, partnership track usually has a few calls (more calls = more vacation time, less calls = less vacation time), non-partnership tracks don't usually have any calls at all, but pay a bit less.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)?
We're waiting until the end, but I guess it's doable at any point. My particular spouse doesn't like to help with the dishes let alone a baby. He gets 4 weeks vacation a year and wants to be in another state/country for each one of them. He also has lots of weekends off. If having a baby is important to you (and your spouse), it's totally doable.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?
See above, anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. I haven't heard of anything less or more, but I guess it's possible.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)?
Very laid back people who like to travel, eat, dress well and check their stock quotes multiple times during the day. All conferences take place in exotic locations and we just got a brochure for anesthesia lectures on cruises. Anesthesiologists believe in enjoying life.

[Gwendolyn]

1. What type of Residency: Ophthalmology

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possibilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)
1 year internship, 3 year ophtho. All fellowships are 1-2 years. There are research options

3. How long are the work weeks during training?
Depending on the rotation...typically for the clinical based-(cornea/glaucoma) to work at 7:00 home by 6:00. More emergent rotations (plastics/retina) same start time, but not home until 7:00+

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?
He is on call one night a week and one weekend a month. All from home.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)
Truly depends on the specialty and location plastics/retina 500K+, general/glaucoma/cornea 300Kish

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)
As good or as bad as you want them to be. Plastics and Retina have emergencies, so will demand a call schedule and a more demanding clinic. Everything else depends on how you choose to design your practice.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)
See above, as much or as little as you want. Private practice you will take call from home...academic medicine has the perk of residents so you will have much less call or third backup call.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)?
After intern year would be great. But, we survived with one fourth year of medical school.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?
All depends on how much income you are willing to give up by not working

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)?
We have a joke that laidback nerdy types tend to be in ophtho. There is a strong research community, but most go into ophtho for the same reasons DH did. Surgery with patient contact and the ability to have a real life.

[Laker]

I borrowed some of the derm post...

1. What type of Residency: Radiation Oncology

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer):

5 years including internship (there are a handful of 5 year programs but most are 4+1).
Few programs have all 5 years together and the remaining you can do a prelim medicine/surg or transitional year.

3. How long are the work weeks during training?
Varies a fair amount by program, but about 60+ hours per week.

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?
Varies by program. Most programs have home call. DW has 9 weeks of home call per year. She gets pages, but usually doesn't have to go in more than 1-2x/wk.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)
Depending on region, starting salary is typically $200-300K for 5 day work week.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)
Not there yet, but hoping around 50.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)
Probably take home call with rare instances of going in.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)
Probably not as bad as some other fields.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?
Not sure yet. Variable depending on practice environment and contract. Probably 4-6 weeks per year.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)
Hopefully Rad Onc is a specialty allowing for outside interests and family. I guess they tend to enjoy working with cancer patients and making a positive difference in their lives.

1. What type of Residency: ie internal medicine, ob, fp, er, etc. pediatrics

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer) 3 years, then subspecialties are usually 2-3 years

3. How long are the work weeks during training? eh, range from 40 on ambulatory. to 80ish on wards/icu

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training? everything is Q4 except ambulatory, which is Q6 peds icu call

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in) private practice, anywhere from $125K to $200K, subspc. can make from $175K-$250+, almost ALL subspc in peds are at teaching hospitals

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours) in our region, peds is mostly clinical (as opposed to research/clinical) with random attending in two-week chunks, so roughly 8-5, so make that 7:30 until 5:30 at the children's hospital, priv. practice weeks are 8-5 with call as often as there are people in the clinic?

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house) all from home!!

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times) we had a baby in Aug. of his intern year. it hasn't been too bad. he's in peds, so they consider your own kid more eduacation than they can teach in the hospital!

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training? 3 weeks, then every three years, they add another 3 or 4 days each year

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...) pediatrician...it was funny, you can almost tell who's going to do what...all the class clowns are now peds people from DH's class...but it's sweet b/c they take their babies/kids very seriously

[SuzySunshine]

I've never replied to this - probably because until it popped back up I'd forgotten about it. We are finishing our 2nd year so all is subject to change!

1. What type of Residency: Neurosurgery

2. How long is the residency? Seven years of residency plus 12-18 months of fellowship

3. How long are the work weeks during training? 88 hours is the work maximum and 95% of the time he sticks to it. Some weeks its even significantly less, it truly depends on the consultant(attending) he is working with.

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training? Averages about Q9 but its not a consistent Q9, one week he could have two call nights and the next could be none.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn? Here they max out at $500,000. Private practice can make a lot more.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours) In an educational institution they are better than residency b/c you have the residents to take call, etc. In private practice they can actually be worse depending on the practice and situation.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house) Here each consultant (attending) takes call by the week from home, one week out of 8. Once you get past a certain age you are exempt from call.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times) There really isn't a good time, years 5-6 are "easier" because they are research years but the schedule isn't condusive at all.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training? Depends on the academic institution or private practice, I'm not sure what the usual is here.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...) I wouldn't say neurosurgeons are hard to talk to at all. I think you go into this field because you LOVE it, not like it, not kind of love it, but LOVE it. You enjoy the minute detail of the surgery, you enjoy knowing that when a patient leaves your table they will most likely have a life changing result, and you enjoy working with patients and their families to make the right decision for them.

I'm going to answer the questions from my perspective, but Heidi may be able to add some "stuff".

1. What type of residency : Orthopedic surgery

2. How long? Residency is 5 years after med school and then any fellowship options, my SO is doing Tumour and arthroplasty so 2 more years after residency

3. Length of work weeks : LONGGGG he gets to work daily for 6:00am and arrives home around 7:30pm when he is operating, clinic days he gets home around 6:30. As a junior he was working approx 100 hours/week, it was actually a huge problem here (no labour laws for them) so now the Jr's can go home at noon post call.

4. Call : In your first 3 years it's all in house and they work 1:4 so it worked out that he was gone 7 to 8 nights a month. In your final 2 years as a senior it's home call, but honestly I can't remember a time that he was actually here....there is always a trauma and he is up operating all night. They only do one weekend a month though so that's better than every weekend being tied up. Call as a senior is still 1 in 4, but they work the entire Fri Sat Sun so there are only 3 or 4 more nights away.

5. Salary as an attending : Here the attendings start off at $450,000 and that starts as soon as they get a job (remember though that is CDN dollars so doesn't count for much They are salaried here so basically you just get your salary unless you do insurance stuff or soemthing else on the side.

6. Hours post training : The attendings pretty much work 10 to 12 hour days 5 days a week, but call is only 1 in10. Most of them still round on weekends too so they would be gone from 8 until 11:00 Sat and Sun.

7. On call post training : Oops, just answered that above....it's all home call when they are finished unless they have a trauma that they have to operate on.

8. Hmmmm, good time to start a family...most seem to start a family in 2nd or 3rd year. 1st year they were too tired to do anything other than sleep and 5th they are too busy studying. Fellowship years are also popular...

9. Vacation time : as a resident they are allowed 4 weeks and honestly I don't know as an attending....at least 4, but I think they have options

10. Type of people in specialty : I asked my SO about this and he laughed....people who like power tools was his answer. from my observations I would have to say that almost all of them are super laid back and easy going, but pretty dry!

1. What type of Residency: Psychiatry

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)? 4 years of residency, fellowships are usually 1-2 years (children & addiction are 2, geriatric is 1)

3. How long are the work weeks during training? usually 50-60, never more than 88. The medicine and neurology rotations can be a bit rough--100+ hours if you don't speak up (they aren't directly monitored by the psych residency director during those rotations, so to only work the max, usually the psych director needs to get involved)

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training? all calls are at the hospital.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in) starting salary is typically 125,000. The range can be 125k-170 but usually tops out at 200K. But those entering child start at 150+. Those with a prestigious practice (like in NYC or other metropolitan areas), or at a private clinic (like the celebrity addiction clinics) make considerably more.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours) from what I know they are very reasonable. Though those employed at a hospital usually work much more than those entering private practice or a private clinic (like for addiction or eating disorders).

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house) mostly home call, some in-house if not doing private practice.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times) any time after second year (second year is the worst of the four). Third and fourth year are a lot of outpatient clinical, so their schedules are more flexible and not as demanding.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training? Those working at hospitals-usually 4 weeks. Private practice or clinics maybe 5 or 6 weeks

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty? It seems from DH's residency program mostly family oriented people. Some a bit nerdier than others, but overall an outgoing group.

[alison]

I updated mine! It's above.

Re: Information about Residency Specialties

1. What type of Residency: OTOLARYNGOLOGY

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer) 5 years, and then possible 2 year fellowship in either peds or otology to do cochlear implants, facial plastics, etc

3. How long are the work weeks during training? Supposedly 80hrs, but call doesn't count this year.

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training? All out-of-house call from 2nd year on. Sounds much nicer than it is. Pagers going off at all hours that wake the baby tend to upset me. He's getting 4 weeks of vacation this year, which is pretty sweet.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in) $300-500K

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours) Approx 62 hrs/week. 2nd lowest in any surgical field, behind optho.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house) Should be all at home.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times) Uh, too late for us. I was pg with our second baby when DH got into med school. DH is one of very few married residents, and one of two with kids. It's a fairly big service too.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training? Unknown

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...) Laid-back, good sense of humor

[v-girl]

1. What type of Residency: ie internal medicine, ob, fp, er, etc.
Pediatrics

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)
Well, he wants to do peds hem/onc or genetics so I think we're looking at 5+ years

3. How long are the work weeks during training?
6 days a week

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?
a living hell -- it varies, so far he did peds ER (2 weeks of 7p-7a, 2 weeks of 7a-7p), now on NICU (on call every 4 days)

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)
no idea, but it better be enough that I can quit work at some point

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)
no idea

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)
no idea

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)
during medical school

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?
not sure

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)
he definitely gets along better with children than adults, loves children, he'a a great daddy and can sit and talk to his boy for an hour (they just babble back and forth and make faces at each other)

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Information about Residency Specialties

1. What type of Residency: ie internal medicine, ob, fp, er, etc.

Neurosurgery (PGY1 = general surgery year; PGY2-7 = NSG)
2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)

Seven years (there are a couple of six year residencies left, but most are going 7 years). Fellowships are almost all one year, except for a few which are two years.
3. How long are the work weeks during training?

-Officially, PGY2-7 training does not exceed the 88 (note: not 80) hours rule--which is not exactly a guaranteed "no more" than 88 hours in any one week, but is an average.

-Unofficially (ie, in reality), it exceeds 88 (averaged) hours a week. I've heard of NSG residents (not at my DH's program) who actually just don't go home from the hospital as junior residents. They eat, sleep, shower, etc. at the hospital. That, however, is not the norm in terms of what I've seen. I can't complain about my DH's hours. I see him a lot more than I thought I would. Honestly, it's probably between an averaged 90-110 hours. But, of course, that's just in-hospital time. He spends at least another 10 hours a week on studying, presentation prep, etc.
4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?

I can speak only about my DH's program.

Currently, the junior residents (PGY2-4) take in-house call when they are at the main hospital. They do not do a "Q" schedule. Rather, it works out that you are on-call overnight (that's a full day shift--beginning about 5:30 AM, followed by a full night shift--until about noon) maybe every other weekend. However, you also have 3 months a year when you are night shift. You work all nights, Sunday night-Thursday night, plus all day on Sunday, but have Friday afternoon-Saturday night off. When you are at the children's hospital, you are on a Q3 (it's changing to Q2) schedule, but it's home call.

PGY 5-6 years are weird. Part of the time is spent in the lab and you do surgery only when you are needed for relief (for example, if one of the chiefs is out of town at a conference or something). That's pretty rare, I think. You also spend a 6-month period of that time at a surgeon exchange program. I don't know what the call schedule is when overseas.

The PGY7 year is the chief year. It is hell, from what I've witnessed. You are pretty much Q2 and get no vacation, the best I can tell. You lose weight, are chronically, severely sleep deprived, and usually have a lot to make up for in your personal life when you're done. But, it is what it is, as they say, and you have to do it.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)

Academics: Depends on the amount of protected research time you get (which, in terms of value-added, brings nothing to the hospital--so the more research time you get, generally the lower your pay). I guess anywhere from $180-$300K.

Private Practive: Totally different story. For example, private practice spine--you're talking $500K and up. But that's just one example I heard of. I don't really know. My DH wants to go into academics, so why torture myself knowing how much the private practice boys are pulling in?
6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)

I can't speak on an informed basis on the difference in hours between post-training academics and private practice, other than to note that the hours remain long. However, I think the lifestyle is a lot better. On in-house call, less middle-of-the-night cutting, etc. Most of the young attendings I've met generally look relieved--like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders as they slowly begin to recover from the training beat-down.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)

At the institution where my DH is, no attending has in-house call. That's what chief residents are for. They have some sort of rotating system by which they assign an attending for home-call. I don't know how often each guy's "number is up," but it doesn't seem to be too bad.

I can't speak to private practice, other than to say, private practice spine seems to be THE LIFE.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)

DH does, in fact, make it home often enough to have sex and procreate. Otherwise, nothing about this residency is proactively "family friendly." I wouldn't go so far as to call it "family destructive," but--come on--this is NSG. DH is gone 15-16 hours a day, 24-26 days a month. The residency is one long exhausting beat-down. If you want someone who will 50-50 share the childcare, housework, family obligation, etc. load, this residency will send you into either insanity or divorce court. If you have kids, be sure that you understand: you, as the non-NSG half of the couple, will be single parenting in many ways. And, often, your NSG spouse won't understand why you are so exhausted--especially when he's getting home after a 34-hour call shift. I think, to some degree, they really do think (but may not necessarily say--if they're smart!): "Come'on...it's watching kids. It's not **brain surgery** Nobody's life hangs in the balance. What do you have to complain about? I literally haven't sat down for almost two days." But you can occasionally feel that sentiment, and it makes you want to run his face into the grill of a fast-moving tractor trailer.

But, with that warning being said...

DH and I have one child, a 3-year-old son. We plan for more. I work full-time, but took a less stressful (and less prestigious) job when DH began residency, to accomplish our family goals. We are very happy. Genuinely. DH spends every free second he has with DS, when DS is awake. I come a distant second--but that's OK. We work it out. Life is just not that bad! But, I am a very laid-back person in terms of needing attention and affection. That is not self-complimentary. It just is my personality. I am not a super emotionally needy person (to the point where my DH, I know, wishes are were a little bit more...reliant...to give him a sense of purpose?). That helps a great deal. If spending tons of time with your spouse, when they are awake and attentive, is important to you, this is not the right residency for you as a couple...and definitely not for you all as a family.

As to timing for kids during a NSG residency, I would advise against the PGY2 year or the PGY7 years--the two worst years. Maybe, ideally, during any research time?

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?

In academics, I think it is between 3-6 weeks, depending on the institution and your length of practice. In private practice, that totally depends. You can negotiate just about anything.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)

I haven't heard the comment that was made in the question regarding NSGs being hard to talk to. Most of the NSGs are know are affable, non-nerdy folks who can sustain a conversation about anything in almost any social context (although, honestly, if you get more than two of them together, the conversation eventually will get back to NSG).

People who are drawn to NSG tend to be perfectionists, assertive, comfortable being in control, completely intolerant of stupidity (not of ignorance...of stupidity...people not learning from their mistakes), competitive BUT can be team players, love a challenge, kind of adrenaline junkies (if they weren't NSGs, they'd have been fighter pilots or astronauts or Navy SEALs or something), and have a complete passion for the brain.

[samssugarmomma]

Re: Information about Residency Specialties

1. What type of Residency: ie internal medicine, ob, fp, er, etc.
General Pediatrics

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward)
Residency = 3 years
All fellowships = 3 years

3. How long are the work weeks during training?
80ish hour

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?
All call is in-house call. PGY1 is 8 months of Q 4 call. PGY2 is 7 months of Q4 call. PGY3 is 6 or 7 months of Q 4 call.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)
Umm...never. I think it is location dependent for general pediatrics. Where we are, DH has heard in the 90's - 110's for academics, 90's - 120's for private practice.

We've heard the pay does increase nicely if you do a fellowship.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)
For general peds in private practice the hours are nice - mostly 8ish - 5/6ish and call is shared among the partners in the group.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)
For private practice, all call is home call. I think that call is mostly home call DH's attendings too unless there is a major emergency or a fellow residents kid comes in.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)
I think like everything in medicine, it depends on how much the non-medical spouse is willing to take on. DH's program is reasonably family-friendly but he doesn't do any of the day-to-day stuff or take off work to stay home with sick kids. Scratch that - during his month of private practice clinic, he stayed home with our DD one day when she was sick - but only because he was doing private practice and his preceptor person was only doing a 1/2 day that day.

For vacation - he gets 4 weeks a year and they are true vacations (the pager is off).

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?
Not sure.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)
Most of the people that I've met share DH's goofy sense of humor and laid back personality type.

[Vanquisher]

Re: Information about Residency Specialties

1. What type of Residency: ie internal medicine, ob, fp, er, etc.

Orthopaedic Surgery

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer)

Orthopaedic surgery residency is 5 years. Many programs are 6 year programs that include a research year. After residency is over, I would say most ortho residents will want to do a fellowship of some kind. Most fellowships are one year appointments, though tumor might be two years.

3. How long are the work weeks during training?

LONG. I would say the average is 110 hours/week. This depends entirely on the program, but most ortho programs that I know of break the 80 hour rule.

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training?

This is entirely program dependent. Here almost all call is techinically "home" call. That is, you can go home if there are no orthopaedic issues to deal with. They use "home" call as their way to get away with fuzzy math. Years PGY1-3 are spent doing average of Q3 call, sometimes Q2. At this program as a PGY-4, your call does get much better circa Q8.

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in)

A lot. It is one of the highest paid specialties.

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours)

As much as you want them to be. I would say the average is about 60 hours, but this can be so much more or a little less. It depends on how YOU set up your schedule, your practice environment, and what your partners/you expect.

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house)

This depends what kind of setting you are in, what hospitals you cover, how many physicians are in your practice. It varies widely.

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times)

Never. Post-training maybe. This is not a family-friendly specialty.

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training?

Depends entirely on your job. I would say 3-6 weeks.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)

Orthopods typically like to build things, fix things, use power tools, like sports. They are very type-A, workaholics, and many of them can be raging A-holes.

[Auspicious]

Bump

[Deebs]

1. What type of Residency: Emergency Medicine

2. How long is the residency (and specialty stuff afterward and the possiblilities that will make our spouses be slaves longer): 3-4 years, which is program specific

3. How long are the work weeks during training? 60 hours max of patient care while in the Emergency Dept, 80 hours otherwise (plus time for conference, research, etc)

4. What is the in-house/out-of-house call schedule like during training? 1 month home call, 4 month in-house call (1 OB, 2 Trauma surg, 1 Cards ICU) - varies greatly depending on the program (most EM programs currently have 6-12 months in-house call)

5. How much does an attending in that specialty earn(when do the big bucks start rolling in) - There are different structures and regional differences - academics $175K-$225K, community $225K-350K (keeping in mind - the better the job and location, the less the pay)

6. how long are the hours post-training(regular hours) - widely variable and not adjustable (also, no such thing as holidays, weekends, or vacation days)

7. how much on-call is there post-training(home vs. in-house) - NONE!

8. What is a good time to start a family with this specialty(how helpful the spouse can be and vacation times) - Probably depends on the program, but hand surgery would have been a good month, I guess

9. How much vacation time do you get post-training? None - you work a specified number of shifts per month. You don't work? You don't get paid (groups advertise vacation, but it is averaged out over the year in calculating number of monthly shifts). Generally, people request to have shifts grouped toward the beginning of one month and end of another to end up with a 2-3 week vacation block, but it doesn't always work out.

10. What type of people generally tend to go into the specialty (ie. peds people are more child friendly....neurosurgeons are hard to talk to....plastics spouses are superficial...)
High adrenalin, people with ADHD, those who like a fast paced environment and enjoy not knowing what to expect, those seeking a lot of action

There is a lot of job availability everywhere. DH could have a job wherever he wants right now, and there is a predicted shortage of board-certified and residency-trained EPs for at least the next 15-20 years.