HOW MANY WEEKEND shifts do hospitalists work every month, and what does that number do to hospitalist career satisfaction?
According to data from our 2024 Compensation & Career Survey, hospitalists who treat adults work an average of 3.6 shifts per weekend per month. (The number was 3.1 shifts per month for pediatric hospitalists.)
While that number has changed slightly over the years, it’s remained relatively stable. In our 2018 survey, hospitalists reported working an average of 3.4 weekend shifts per month. In our 2023 survey, it was 3.6.
When you scan our data for differences in weekend work for hospitalists, there aren’t huge variations in different practice settings. Nonacademic hospitalists work slightly more shifts per month (3.7) than their academic colleagues (3.5), for example. And hospitalists with national hospitalist management companies work slightly more (3.7) than those in multispecialty/primary care groups (3.5).
But our survey did find some trends in the number of shifts hospitalists work over the weekend. The bigger the hospital, for instance, the fewer shifts hospitalists had to work over the weekend. Those at hospitals with fewer than 100 beds reported working 3.7 shifts per month on the weekend. Hospitalists in hospitals with more than 500 beds, by comparison, reported 3.3 monthly weekend shifts.
Our data found another trend: The more weekends hospitalists work, the less satisfied they are with their career. Here’s a look at data on weekend work and hospitalist career satisfaction based on weekend shifts/month:
- Very satisfied: 3.5 shifts/month
- Satisfied: 3.6 shifts/month
- Dissatisfied: 3.7 shifts/month
We saw a similar trend when we asked about the significance of burnout:
- Insignificant: 3.2 shifts/month
- Significant: 3.6 shifts/month
- Very significant: 3.8 shifts/month
Finally, we saw some minor trends in weekend work by geography. Hospitalists in the Southwest region worked the fewest number of weekends per month (3.3) compared to those in the Midwest region, who reported 3.9 shifts per weekend.
For more data on how physician compensation is affected by bonuses, experience, shift work and location, check out our overview on hospitalist pay.
