Penn Medicine residents made history recently being the first hospital in Pennsylvania to accept their union contracts! This is HUGE. What does this mean for the residents and fellows? Better pay, better duty hour protection and so many more benefits.

Around the country, residents and fellows have begun to unionize for good reason. Programs such as UCSF and Children’s National have been unionized for years, but more and more programs are popping up across the country. As cost of living (rent, daycare, student loans) sky rockets, it is so important that residents work together to ensure fair pay and safe working environments. In my opinion, it’s worth it for literally ALL residents.

The immediate benefits that come to mind for most people include better pay particularly in high cost of living areas and protection against duty hour violations. But unions can do so much more for medical trainees - they can fight for better benefits, 403b matches (not a given across institutions), daycare options for residents. And so much more!

The only con is the union fees, which in my mind are 100% worth it.

Odds are that there is someone at your institution working on unionizing, so ask around. Let’s be a part of changing the culture in medicine.