Tales from Residency: The Rotation of Far Far Away

When I was a resident, my program was contemplating adding a rotation that was about a two hour drive away from the main campus, where most of us lived. It was supposedly a “really good rotation,” which was meant to justify forcing residents to drive four hours round trip every day. I think that's incredibly far, don't you?

My program director was an incredibly nice, reasonable person, and I finally approached him about it during a clinic we had together:

Me: "Isn't that new rotation a really long drive away from here?"

PD: "Well, yes. About an hour and a half. Two hours at most."

Me: "You know, that’s going to be pretty rough for the residents who have kids.”

PD: "Well, nobody likes driving two hours each way."

Me: "Yeah, plus the gas prices are ridiculous."

PD: "True.

Me: "So why are you working so hard to add a required rotation that everyone will hate?"

PD: "Well, it will be a really good rotation."

Me: "Are you even allowed to add a mandatory rotation that's nearly two hours away from the main campus?"

PD: "Well, I'm not sure. We're looking into it..."

Me: "When I was in med school, they had a resident rotation that was an hour away from the main campus and they were required to provide housing for residents. I mean, some people just can't make that kind of drive every day."

PD: "Well.... maybe you won't be required to do the rotation."

I don't think you should have to be a squeaky wheel in order to be able to get the oil.