Monday
- Morning: On Mondays I spend the entire day in the SUDTP Clinic (Substance Use Disorders Treatment Program) at the VA, clinic starts at 8 AM which means I have to be up by 6 AM and out the door by 7:20 AM. My mornings are pretty much always the same; wake up, make coffee, drink coffee, and get ready for work. On a full clinic day at the VA I will typically see around 7 patients in the mornings and 5-6 in the afternoon, depending on how many new patients are scheduled. Clinically this is my favorite day of the week since I get to spend the entire day doing what I enjoy most, treating patients with substance use disorders and comorbid PTSD/depression/anxiety/etc.
- Evening: On a typical day I will be home by 5pm and will usually either walk or play fetch with my dog, hang out with my wife, practice bass for an hour or so, and spend the rest of the evening cooking dinner with my wife and unwinding (reading, watching Great British Baking Show or Top Chef).
Tuesday
- Morning: Tuesdays are my other early morning of the week, I spend the first half of the day in the SUDTP Clinic at the VA and the second half at the BUMCS Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. I will typically finish up at the VA by around 11:30 AM which gives me plenty of time to get lunch and head over to BUMCS to get ready for my afternoon which starts at 1 PM.
- Afternoon: Throughout my PGY3 and PGY4 years I have typically scheduled 1-2 of my therapy patients on Tuesday afternoons, I will usually also see a few patients for medication management and will often be in my office until 4-5pm.
- Evening: I get home a little later these days, closer to 5:30-6 PM, and spend the evenings the same way I usually do hanging out with my wife, dog Toby and cat Kiwi.
Wednesday
- Morning: Wednesday mornings vary week to week, last month I had ECT on Mon/Wed/Fri so was up early and at the VA by 7:45 AM however this month I just have my usual Banner Clinic so my mornings typically start around 9 AM, meaning I get to sleep in a bit more than usual since I don’t have to head out until around 8:15 AM. At 11:30 AM I have supervision with my E&M attending where we review medication management cases from the previous week.
- Afternoon: As soon as I finish I typically grab lunch with my best bud Dr. Alsky before we make our way to Grand Rounds at noon. The rest of the afternoon is occupied by didactics and I will typically head out for the day right at 5 PM, getting home at around 5:30 PM.
Thursday
- Morning: On Thursdays I spend the entire day at the BUMCS Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic seeing patients, usually one therapy patient with the remainder being medication management. I will usually have patients in the morning starting at 9 AM, and at 10 AM I have therapy supervision where I meet with my therapy supervisor to discuss my patients.
- Afternoon: At noon I will often attend Addiction Grand Rounds if possible, otherwise if there is no Grand Rounds that day I will get lunch with Dr. Alsky and prepare for my afternoon appointments. Thursday afternoons can vary significantly, sometimes I will have patients all afternoon until 5pm and others I will be done quite a bit earlier.
Friday
Fridays are very similar to Thursdays, I spend the entire day at the BUMCS Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. Every other week I have a patient I see one patient in the afternoon CBT, otherwise I mostly see patients for medication management. Depending on the day my last patient could be anywhere from 2 PM to 4:30 PM.
Saturday
Saturdays I attempt to be at least somewhat productive around the house since realistically I’m unable to motivate myself to do anything productive after work on weekdays. My main task on Saturdays is to tend to my 100 + houseplants which typically takes me at least 3-4 hours. Once all the household tasks are taken care of I will usually spend the rest of the day working on my bass guitars and practicing.
Sunday
Sundays are my recharge day where I try to focus on resting and getting ready for the week. Depending on the time of year I may be up early to watch a Formula 1 race otherwise on weekends there’s little chance I’m getting out of bed before 7:30 AM. Depending on the weather my wife and I may go for a hike or a nice long walk with the dog. I try not to do too much on Sundays or else I find that it becomes even more difficult than usual to start the week.