Vacation in residency?

[Guest windymountain2003]

Hi,

 

I've been looking at the program descriptions for a number of residency programs. It seems that each year, all of the rotations add up to 12 months, without mentioning any vacation time. Does anyone know if there is any vacation time in residency and if so, how it fits in?

 

Thanks,

 

WM

[Guest ttryit]

Hi WM...check the CaRMS website...there is vacation...I believe 1 or 2 weeks...but I know you have to book them awhile ahead of time (depending on how busy your residency is).

 

//tt

[Guest summervirus]

In the province of Alberta, there is a block for vacation every year. A block is four weeks long.

[Guest kosmo14]

I think all residencies give you 4 weeks a year to be taken usually during any one of your rotations

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

The CaRMs website does provide information for the benefits offered by each province. Vacation is a standard 4 weeks per year. However, some provinces offer extra time off for education/study/conference leave. Regarding the latter, I think that maximum I've read is 10 days although this varies by province. That adds up to a total of 6 maximum possible weeks off.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest medicator007]

Here in quebec at least we get one block of vacation as mentioned above, plus stat days and some study/conference leave. However, you are not allowed to take the whole block off and can only take one week of vacation per period. Thus the longest you can have is two weeks, taking the last week of one rotation and the first of your next rotation off.

[Guest windymountain2003]

Thanks for the replies. I actually have looked at the Carms site. The two programs that interest me have program breakdowns like this... 2 months family and 1 month surgery and 3 months electives...etc to total 12 months per year (no mention of vacation in there) so how would vacation fit in? Would anyone know for Ontario? Would you pick when based on which rotation you wished to shorten for example!?

[Guest therealcrackers]

You can pick when you take your vacation, to a total of 4 weeks throughout the year. You cannot take more than 1 week in a 1 month rotation, and 2 weeks in a 2 month rotation, without making special arrangements. Some rotations may not permit you to take vacation (ie. U of T will not let internal medicine residents take vacation during team medicine); some are so heavy (like 3 months of gen surg in a row) that you will need something to break it up and preserve your sanity. I have one week in January, one week probably in April, and about two weeks in June so I can head for the east coast and travel a little more extensively. It is MANDATED that you get 4 weeks of vacation a year in most provinces; but if you don't request it, you can't roll it over year-to-year.

[Guest jhislo]

12 blocks at 4 weeks per block = 48 weeks, but there are 52 weeks per year so you still have 4 weeks available for vacation,...

 

math wizard

[Guest shadowguitar]

You get 1 to 2 days off per year, plus noon to 3pm off on Xmas day.

[Guest McMastergirl]

In Ontario we get 4 weeks of vacation per year, PLUS 5 days of "academic/conference" leave... which you can use for "reading" if you want, you don't have to actually go to a conference. So really it's 5 weeks of time off.

[Guest cheech10]

You CAN take vacations during team medicine at UofT, you just have to be persistent. My senior took a week off a couple of months ago.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey there,

 

That's pretty neat that some places allow you to use your conference leave as reading time. I wonder if that's site-specific in Ontario? (For some reason I can't see UofT allowing their residents to fritter conference time away by not actually attending a conference. )

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest cheech10]

Again, if you're persistent, many programs at UofT will let you use at least some of your conference time without attending conferences.

 

Why do people seem to think UofT is a stubborn dictatorial place (not to flame anyone, but it seems that we're always thought of as a very strict school, when in reality we're roughly as relaxed as other places)?

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey there,

 

Sorry, but I've been coloured a little bit re: UofT with respect to one of their programs (and the field that interests me, unfortunately). I've heard that this one program has traditionally been a little rough on their residents, although I've heard nothing but glowing reviews for programs such as IM, Plastics...

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Becca]

I was under the impression that residency vacation time rules fell under the umbrella of PAIRO and thus was consistent across the province. Is this not true?

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Yes, it is true that vacation time and conference time is universally specified for all Ontario residents by the PAIRO contract. However, I guess it's school specific as to whether they'll allow you to use that conference leave for other purposes.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

When I asked about vacation, I was informed by my program (UWO Anaesthesia) that vacation time is as per PAIRO rules, which I think have been outlined above.

I must admit, that the prospect of having a 4-week block of time off for vacation was definitely a major drawing point of the Alberta programs. Lots of travelling can be fit into such a solid block of time! Oh well...

 

Best of luck!

Timmy