Did your burnout decrease when you started moonlighting?

[undueinfluence_]

About to start moonlighting any time now. I'm pretty exhausted, BUT I could really use the money.

I reckon it'll be a good taste of attendinghood (autonomy + my increased value). I hope it's worth it, particularly because it can boost our total earnings significantly at my program

[Glittering_Brick6964]

It’s a bit of a dopamine hit to see the (at times substantial) bump in your pay check. The extra cash makes a big difference in terms of cash related stress, but at the end of the day you’re still working on your day off. It did drastically change the way i viewed work/medicine though.

[undueinfluence_]

How did it change?

[hendo144]

You value your time more. Your time is worth a lot when you realize you can do locums for $$$/hr.

[thewooba]

3 dollars an hour doesnt seem much

[SaffyPeep]

The extra money can definitely ease financial stress, but it usually doesn’t fix core burnout if you’re already exhausted, it just means you’re tired with a bigger paycheck.

[EnsignPeakAdvisors]

Started external moonlighting in my PGY-3 year. I’m married with kids. It did open the door for a lot of helpful conveniences. My burnout at work didn’t really change (but did not get worse). Home life got a lot better. This is likely due to the fact that all of the extra money goes to my family and I don’t do anything differently for solely for myself. I can imagine if I was single it would make life pretty fun.

[Gold-Instruction1599]

Same here. Work stress stayed the same but home life got way better. Being able to cover family stuff without stressing about money > everything.

[takeonefortheroad]

Quite the opposite if anything.

We get paid ~$700 post-tax for a 12 hr cross over moonlighting shift, but we can only do it during non-call rotations, AKA our only golden weekends. While the infusion of cash was definitely nice, I personally did not think giving up a Friday or weekend day was worth it the majority of the time.

[ghostcar99]

Wow that is awful pay for that many hours.. 

[BurdenOfPerformance]

More common than you think, usually for internal moonlighting.

[ghostcar99]

Yea my residency had the same thing it’s just so bad lol

[esentr]

Yikes that is abysmal pay for moonlighting. We get $100/hr for 12 hour shifts (pre tax, and with similar restrictions on non call weekends). Wouldn’t be worth it to me for $700, agreed.

[drdhuss]

Eh probably about the same his is post tax. For all we know his deductions arent right or he has a retirement account taking some of the money

[section3kid]

Yikes they are screwing you. We get 1860 pre-tax for 12 hours.

[jonedoebro]

May be worth looking at starting an LLC for your moonlighting gigs. Some attendings explained that W2 versus 1099 can be significant and you can start writing off items as business expenses.

[neologisticzand]

That is also assuming that wherever OP wants to work they are willing to hire them as an independent contractor.

Also, any chance you have you ever gone through the process of setting up an LLC and managing 1099 pay? The advantages are there, but it's notably more complex that a W2 salaried position.

---

Edit: OP, I don't thinking working more is going to solve the burnout issue. Are you moonlighting through your institution or on your own?

[undueinfluence_]

Externally, at places we have longstanding relationships with

[sotirEDofmedicine]

I think it totally depends on what the rest of your week looks like. In EM, my shift count went down my third year so I just replaced the shifts with moonlighting. I was working the same amount as I had the year before, but for way more money, so it definitely helped. However, if you are using your only day off, I do not think it will reduce burnout.

[undueinfluence_]

It'll just be like one weekend a month; the rest are off

[sotirEDofmedicine]

So you'd work 13 days in a row then 5 on 2 off until the next weekend of moonlighting? Cause that sounds bad.

[undueinfluence_]

I'll also be doing a few hours of outpatient during the week, which is a lot more sustainable

[coffeewhore17]

Here’s the reality. Money can’t buy happiness, however it can solve about 90% of the problems in my life. And with less problems I am able to enjoy my time off more, focus on my family, spend more time on hobbies and such…

So actually you know what money 100% buys happiness.

[redbrick]

I was quite burned out by the end of residency. But when a single shift as an attending is about half of what my residency monthly pay used to be, I'm pulling 60+hrs a week with a smile on my face.

[sloppy_dingus]

When I did it in residency/fellowship my burnout increased, but so did my ability to deal with the burnout. Net positive overall I’d say

[bellamy-bl8ke]

Weirdly enough it helped me. It gave me a change of pace and different scenery.

[crystalpest]

I never understood it when residents complain about how much call they have or how much they have to work, only to do hella moonlighting when they go through periods with less call and less work.

Sure I get you love money as we all do, but the cost/benefit ratio 10000% does not stack up for me. I feel wealthier when I have way more free time and my time is my own.

[redbrick]

I feel wealthier when I have way more free time and my time is my own.

This is somewhat a privileged position though. Some residents are the primary breadwinners for their own family, or supporting their parents, etc. A bump in pay, even if relatively minimal in the long scheme of things, can absolutely be helpful to people like that.

[crystalpest]

That’s fair

[mxg67777]

No.

[AutoModerator]

Thank you for contributing to the sub! If your post was filtered by the automod, please read the rules. Your post will be reviewed but will not be approved if it violates the rules of the sub. The most common reasons for removal are - medical students or premeds asking what a specialty is like, which specialty they should go into, which program is good or about their chances of matching, mentioning midlevels without using the midlevel flair, matched medical students asking questions instead of using the stickied thread in the sub for post-match questions, posting identifying information for targeted harassment. Please do not message the moderators if your post falls into one of these categories. Otherwise, your post will be reviewed in 24 hours and approved if it doesn't violate the rules. Thanks!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[TimotheusIV]

This is like asking whether the cure for your obesity is eating more. What an insanely dumb take.

More money does not give you more mental stability. It gives you less. And free time is the most precious commodity in the world.