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Resident Schedule and Work Hours

Our residency schedule is created to maximize learning while helping residents to achieve a good work-life balance. While residency can bring long hours, we monitor our residents’ work hours closely to ensure our residents’ wellness as well as compliance with all ACGME-duty hour requirements. Residents at Children’s National complete three hours of work hour sampling, and we are 100% complaint with the ACGME-duty maximum work hour regulations.

What Sets Our Program Apart?

Longitudinal Research Time

Our REACH program offers a half day of dedicated time during the second and third years of residency to work on a meaningful project. This longitudinal time allows residents to work on meaningful research projects and produce impactful academic work.

Hybrid Inpatient/Ambulatory Rotations

Traditionally, programs offer inpatient or outpatient rotations in various specialties in the hospital. Our residents can structure rotations to be an experience that combines time with faculty in both the hospital and clinic setting, giving them better insight into what fellowship or a career in that field can look like.

No "q3" or "q4" call

All inpatient rotations in our program, including those for interns, are covered by a night float system on weekdays. Residents complete 24–28-hour shifts on the weekend. Therefore, no rotation is covered by a resident taking call. This prevents a “q3” or “q4” call system, which can be incredibly taxing when done for months at a time.

Platinum Weekends on Inpatient

All interns are guaranteed one 3-day weekend on each inpatient block.

Vacation & Holiday Time

All residents get two 2-week vacation blocks, each year of residency amounting to one month total. All residents also get an additional 4 days off around at least one holiday of their choosing.

Beach Week

All interns get an additional week off at the end of the year. Typically, this is used for “Beach Week,” where the interns take a group trip together to decompress, relax and recharge before starting second year.

Elective Time and Opportunities

Our residents get a lot of elective time! Children’s National Hospital’s unique location in our nation’s capital offers an extraordinary array of opportunities for residents to explore during their elective time.