"lifestyle" programs

May wanna look for a different field. Try rads, derm, optho. I am a PGY-2, and I can tell you that the field demands a lot of time in the hospital and OUT. You need to read and be ready for cases.

Sorry, but I felt that I should be honest. As for light on trauma, well that's not a bonus. In fact that is bad. When I interviewed, I asked many interviewers what the most important thing ot look for in a program so I could learn from them, they all said "You need a lot of trauma." That is the most important thing you can learn in residency because no matter what subspeciality you choose, you will have to take call and DO TRAUMA. Plus, those are the Pt's that attendings let you do the whole case on.

Again, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if lifestyle is a concern ortho may not be the field for you.

I would have to disagree that "if lifestyle is a concern, ortho may not be the field for you." Don't get me wrong, one needs to know what they are getting into before the get into Ortho, but clearly the original poster has been exposed to his/her home Ortho program and understands that. He/She is simply asking if there are people out there who will vouch for their program as being one with a relatively better lifestyle compared to others that may not, because they are out there. I think it's wrong to give the impression that Ortho is automatically not a good lifestyle, or furthermore, that it is so bad that you should choose a different field for even bringing up lifestyle.

The bottom line is that as with any other field, you have to keep medicine and Orthopaedics in proper perspective in your life. I have two kids and a close-knit family, and no matter how much I love Orthopaedics, it will always rank second to my family.

I know plenty of orthopaedists who live a pretty nice lifestyle. The residency experience and the roll that medicine will play in your life varies from person to person. Obviously, there are going to be tough times in residency and practice in which your lifestyle gets compromised, but you do have some control over that by searching for the residency that suits you best and getting set up in a practice that suits your lifestyle needs as well as possible.

Bottom line, if you want to do Ortho, don't buy the idea that you can't think about your lifestyle or you should choose another field. In my opinion, that's bad advice, and if you don't look out for your lifestyle when looking at residencies/practices, you are doing yourself a disservice.

rwbrhp29

I think that the thing to realize is that an orthopaedic residency with a better "lifestyle" is relative. No program is going to be cake and be like radiology or derm, but there are differences between programs and I think that an applicant who doesn't consider this is not making an educated decision about the next five years of your life.
When I interviewed I always directly asked the residents how call was handled year by year. The differences from program to program was astounding.
The program that I matched at has its trauma rotations at a different institution than other rotations. That means that when you are not on trauma you don't take trauma call. The sports and foot and ankle is done at an new facility owned by the university. An example of how this affects call is that the 3 second years not on trauma share home call (a week at a time) covering the other institutions. Due to the outpatient/elective nature of some of the other services this is basically VA ER call and floor call from the other hospitals.
Programs that I rotated/interviewed at that had efficient call schedules had only one hospital to cover and shared call between year.s or had a nightfloat system where you paid your dues early and had it easier later in your residency

I totally agree. The variation you find when interviewing with regard to lifestyle really does exist. The resident are the ones who are your best resources to get the real inside scoop on this aspect of their training.

rwbrhp29