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A shift in PlanMyRounds is a named time block that defines when doctors are on duty — for example, Morning OPD, Night ICU Cover, or Weekend On-call. Shifts are the building blocks of every roster: when you create one, you choose which shifts to include and the scheduler assigns doctors to cover them.
This page covers individual shift templates, listed under Shift Requirements in the sidebar. To combine several shifts into a reusable weekly pattern you can reuse across rosters and Auto Duty, see Shift Schedules.

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What a shift template defines

Each shift template captures everything the scheduler needs to know:

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Default vs. custom shifts

PlanMyRounds ships with a set of default shifts that cover common hospital patterns. These can’t be edited — they’re there to get you started quickly. You can also create as many custom shifts as you need, tailored to your department’s schedule. Custom shifts are scoped to your organisation — other teams can’t see or use them.

Default shifts

Provided by PlanMyRounds. Visible to every organisation. Can’t be edited or deleted.

Custom shifts

Created by your admin team. Scoped to your organisation. Editable any time.

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How shifts appear on a roster

When you view a published roster, each shift is shown in a distinct colour on the calendar. The colour palette cycles through four colours based on the order shifts were configured, so you can tell them apart at a glance.
Senior doctors are marked with an asterisk (*) next to their name on the calendar — a quick way to confirm the senior-to-junior ratio on any given day.

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Who can manage shifts?

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Next steps

View your shifts

Browse, search, and inspect the shift library for your organisation.

Create a shift

Build a custom shift template for your team.

Build a Shift Schedule

Combine shifts into a reusable weekly pattern for rosters and Auto Duty.

Set up an Auto Duty

Use a Shift Schedule to generate duty plans on a repeating schedule.

Coverage requirements

How Required Doctors and Min Seniors Required are used by the engine.