Maybe I'm being ridiculous here, but I would like to know your opinions, and I hope you guys can share

My pdoc seems to take vacations and mini vacations quite often. He works Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but he likes to take Fridays off every 2-3 weeks (and he never tells me which Friday it is, which tells me he does this on a whim). Sometimes he'll even give himself a "mini vacation" by taking two consecutive work days off.. And about every 2-3 *months*, he'll go on vacation for 2.5 weeks. I wish this situation was an exaggeration.

How do I find out when he's out of the office? I call his phone asking for help, but then I just get a voicemail message saying he's not in the office and that I should contact the covering doctor. Well, I don't want to contact the covering doctor! The person knows nothing about me! Usually I need a modified Rx (a higher or lower dosage), but I'm not going to get that with a covering doctor. The only answer I get from the covering doctor is a polite way of saying "sucks to be you!"

Now, he does see a large number of clients, so it's not as if he takes time off in anticipation of no appointments. In fact, if I reschedule an appointment, it takes two weeks to get one! Sometimes it's even three!

Do you think it's worth ditching him based on that alone? I'm thinking yes, but at the same time, I don't know if this type of "schedule" (if that's what you want to call it) is fairly typical.

[stopdog]

The two women (not mds but lcsw's) are both semi-retired. One works a couple of days at the beginning of the week and one works one day at the end of the week. I rarely bother with the second one anymore. They are not super busy.
Psychiatrists, being mds, are more difficult to get ahold of from what I hear. I don't use one of those.

[skeksi]

I don't see my psychiatrist that often, but as far as I can tell he keeps to a pretty regular schedule and has vacations or absences mapped out well in advance. This is the same as my dentist or GP.

My T does not tell me when he's going to be out until the week or two prior. I find that a bit annoying but more understandable as his clients probably vary more.

Monday-Friday, full day. Always knew his time off in advance unless it was an emergency which didn't happen often.

[kecanoe]

My pdoc has missed a lot of days in the office in the last year or so. His 20-something daughter was dying from brain cancer and he was doing everything in his power to help her. I would get a call from his office cancelling my appt, and the next open appt would be a month or more out. I've started seeing a nurse-practitioner because there aren't really any options around here for pdocs. There are only 3 besides mine and they are all booked solid, and I have heard bad things from people I respect about 2 of them.

I will go back to pdoc when he resumes normal office hours-if he even does that. But if your pdoc's hours don't match your needs and you have the possibility of switching to another, then if I were you, I would make an appointment with another pdoc and see if I like them. Obviously your pdoc has the right to work whenever he wants-but also obviously you have the right to seek other care.

[stopdog]

I was always irritated when the therapist announced their forthcoming absence weeks ahead of time. I was like - I can deal with you cancelling an appointment with only a few days notice. Telling me 3 weeks ahead of time does nothing except make me think you are more self involved than I already think you are - your absence is not a huge deal to me.

[luvnola]

I've no idea my pdocs schedule. I make an appointment when I see him, usually for 3 months out, and I go to that appointment. On the rare occasion that I needed to reschedule, it usually takes a month to get in.

My t works 2 days a week, 12 hour days. I don't see her regularly anymore, so I schedule when I need. It usually takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to get in unless she has a cancellation.

[DodgersMom]

M-F but he does home visits on M and W, thankfully he isn't horribly busy, so he always has openings during the week. I like that though, I'd hate having to fight with tons of other ppl to get a space.

My brother sometimes has to wait 3 weeks because scheduling fills up

[junkDNA]

he works 8am to 7-8pm sunday - thurs. i think only on mornings on Thursdays though. he hasnt been on a vacation in 2 years (by that i mean an extended one) i think hes going soon , though

[ruh roh]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Maybe I'm being ridiculous here, but I would like to know your opinions, and I hope you guys can share

My pdoc seems to take vacations and mini vacations quite often. He works Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but he likes to take Fridays off every 2-3 weeks (and he never tells me which Friday it is, which tells me he does this on a whim). Sometimes he'll even give himself a "mini vacation" by taking two consecutive work days off.. And about every 2-3 *months*, he'll go on vacation for 2.5 weeks. I wish this situation was an exaggeration.

How do I find out when he's out of the office? I call his phone asking for help, but then I just get a voicemail message saying he's not in the office and that I should contact the covering doctor. Well, I don't want to contact the covering doctor! The person knows nothing about me! Usually I need a modified Rx (a higher or lower dosage), but I'm not going to get that with a covering doctor. The only answer I get from the covering doctor is a polite way of saying "sucks to be you!"

Now, he does see a large number of clients, so it's not as if he takes time off in anticipation of no appointments. In fact, if I reschedule an appointment, it takes two weeks to get one! Sometimes it's even three!

Do you think it's worth ditching him based on that alone? I'm thinking yes, but at the same time, I don't know if this type of "schedule" (if that's what you want to call it) is fairly typical.

Yes. I think it's worth ditching him over this. When I saw pdocs, I had this happen all the time and hated dealing with the fill-ins. Eventually, I switched to a nurse practitioner. Now, I don't see any medical mh types and it's been awesome, but that's a different issue than what you brought up.

[velcro003]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Maybe I'm being ridiculous here, but I would like to know your opinions, and I hope you guys can share

My pdoc seems to take vacations and mini vacations quite often. He works Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but he likes to take Fridays off every 2-3 weeks (and he never tells me which Friday it is, which tells me he does this on a whim). Sometimes he'll even give himself a "mini vacation" by taking two consecutive work days off.. And about every 2-3 *months*, he'll go on vacation for 2.5 weeks. I wish this situation was an exaggeration.

How do I find out when he's out of the office? I call his phone asking for help, but then I just get a voicemail message saying he's not in the office and that I should contact the covering doctor. Well, I don't want to contact the covering doctor! The person knows nothing about me! Usually I need a modified Rx (a higher or lower dosage), but I'm not going to get that with a covering doctor. The only answer I get from the covering doctor is a polite way of saying "sucks to be you!"

Now, he does see a large number of clients, so it's not as if he takes time off in anticipation of no appointments. In fact, if I reschedule an appointment, it takes two weeks to get one! Sometimes it's even three!

Do you think it's worth ditching him based on that alone? I'm thinking yes, but at the same time, I don't know if this type of "schedule" (if that's what you want to call it) is fairly typical.

If this was my T that kept a schedule like this, AND never told me about it ahead of time...yeah I'd ditch her.

If it was my pdoc? I don't know. I see her once a month or so, and make the appointment with the receptionist after every appointment. I know she is on vacation next week because that was when my monthly appointment was due, but we just moved it to the week after.

But, my pdoc is a resident, and it is all affiliated with the major university here, so there probably are much more strict regulations over that type of thing.

How often do you see pdoc? Does he just prescribe medication, or is he a T as well?

[ScarletPimpernel]

My Pdoc works 4 full days a week. I don't know when she takes vacations or has meetings. She must not take long vacations because I always get an appointment when she schedules. However, making a sooner appointment can be a problem. She has a lot of patients, so it can be hard to fit people in.

My T only works 2-3 half days a week. She can usually fit me in if I give her a weeks notice. She might even be able to fit me in that week. But I have never needed an emergency appointment with her.

For me personally, your Pdoc takes off too much. I need someone to be more available.

[waterlogged]

My T is fulltime-ish. I think mostly her first appointment is at 10am (though for awhile she was seeing me at 8:15) and I'm not sure how late into the evening she works. Given the times I've seen her over the years, I would guess that she sees 4-5 patients a day M-Th and fewer on Fridays. She generally takes 10-14 days off during December, 1-2 weeks at the end of August, a week in the spring, and assorted long weekends throughout the year. She generally gives 2-3 months notice about her scheduled vacations and vacation days.

[velcro003]

I think my T does not take enough time off, and I gather it is because of financial reasons. This year is the first time she's ever taken more than a day or two off, and it is only a week. I feel sort of bad for her.

[Myrto]

I see my psychiatrist every three months so obviously not that often. She works Monday to Friday mornings in a hospital and then she has private consultations on Monday and Wednesday evenings. She goes on holidays here and there, nothing outrageous.
But my ex T used to take a lot of vacation. I'm talking like A LOT. Like more than 3 months in total every year.
It was just too much imo. Your situation with your psychiatrist would really bother me: consistency is important and you clearly often need refills. If it's possible to find a new one, I would.

[Squirrel1983]

My pdoc is medical director at the local mental heath hospital in the mornings and sees patients in his private practice Mon-Thurs afternoons. He normally take a week off in December and a week off during the summer to go visit family out of state and it is always planned. There was one time that I got a call from his office the morning of my appointment saying that he had to cancel for a personal emergency as offered to fit me into the ARNP's schedule for the day since rescheduling would not work as I was due for my shot. When I got the the appt, the office manager (also pdoc's wife) apologized and explained that pdoc had to go out of town to see his daughter because she was rushed to the ER in the middle of the night and had to undergo emergency gall-bladder surgery. I didn't ask why...she just told me. I would call that a valid reason though.

Other than that, his schedule is pretty full patient-wise. When I have to reschedule they usually say he has nothing for a few weeks, then remember that I can't wait that long because of my shot and will double book me with another patient on a sooner day and explain that I may have to wait a bit. They will also double book me with the same explanation if I call needing to get in sooner with a crisis (usually same day then).

[brillskep]

My therapist is not a psychiatrist. I can't comment on how normal this is for a psychiatrist, but I believe this is not at all typical for any MD. Whether or not you should ditch him based on this alone is, I think, a matter of how much the scheduling issues affect you and how willing you are to change. What are the benefits of staying?

My therapist sees clients three days a week, mostly in the afternoon and two evenings. He takes a few weeks off every year - a couple of weeks during winter, a couple of weeks during summer and a few days during spring. I wouldn't feel very safe if he took time off frequently on a whim and didn't have appointments available for two weeks when rescheduling.

If you do decide to see someone else, you could discuss scheduling details in the beginning so as to avoid such a situation.

[LonesomeTonight]

My current p-doc works 4 full days a week and is accessible by e-mail (or I guess phone) when she's not in the office--the couple times I've e-mailed her about possible negative reactions to medication, she's gotten back to me within a day. I think she was on vacation a couple weeks ago, but I only see her monthly, so it hasn't affected me much. I'd be bothered if she was as inaccessible as your pdoc, bluebicycle.

My T I guess is semiretired and works full days M-W. She's had a few vacations, but usually only a week or so, so I haven't had to miss much time. I could generally contact marriage counselor if I'm having issues/in crisis while she's out of town (and vice versa).

MC works M-F (though I think only in the evening on Tuesdays) and every other Saturday for part of the day, I think. He's taken a few vacations (usually just off a week), though had to miss a lot of time--often at the last minute--in the past couple years due to his wife's illness (she passed away in late December). There was one period maybe 2 years ago when he canceled at the last minute (I had no idea what was happening with his wife at the time), then it took a long time to get him to reschedule. Like I left a voice mail, heard nothing for a week, and eventually had my T give him a note for me (they're in the same office), and then he finally called. So that was difficult because I had no idea when we'd be able to see him again (I think H and I were going through a bad patch then too). We then started having a standing appointment, so at least if he canceled, then we'd presumably just come the next week (rather than having to track him down to schedule).

If I didn't like him so much (and didn't have transference/attachment to him), I could see that having been a reason to stop seeing him. T actually said at that time that she had stopped referring people to him (she referred us) because he had to cancel so often (I assume others had complained to her about it).

[feileacan]

My T works four days a week. He usually takes off 2 weeks around Christmas and six weeks in summer. I know all his vacations at least 6 months ahead of time. I wouldn't imagine if he would tell me a week or two in advance that he's going to take a vacation. We are doing very intense therapy work were the daily and weekly continuity is very important and I'm glad that he acknowledges and appreciates it fully.

[jesswah]

My T keeps a pretty regular schedule and I haven't (yet) had any issues with getting/keeping appointments. Same for my pdoc. Even it restricting to late afternoon/evening appointments, I have no problem getting in within 2 weeks and she is only there 2-3 days a week.

I had a doc many years ago that was very hard to see. Make an appt 3-4 weeks out, then the week before they call to cancel and reschedule as he was going to be out of office. Another 3-4 weeks out. Could take 2-3 months to get in. After 2 visits I left. Why deal with that?

T works Mon-Tue-Thu. Pdoc has Thursdays off.

[BonnieJean]

T works 2.5 days a week and has rarely been out of the office on those days.

[laxer12]

I actually have no idea how much my T works...she offers me times that are typically pretty consistent and I have a full time job so I don't often ask for other times. I know she works Wednesdays and Fridays and maybe Tuesday/Thursday?? I honestly have no idea...lol

It would be very frustrating if she did not work consistently or took time off randomly. If she is going out of town, she gives me a couple weeks heads up which is important for me. If I couldn't rely on her to be there every week, I wouldn't be able to work with her.