> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# PlanMyRounds terminology

> A glossary of the terms used throughout PlanMyRounds — Doctor, Member, Duty Plan, Shift Requirement, Shift Schedule, Auto Duty, and more.

PlanMyRounds uses a few terms in specific ways. This page collects them in one place so you can look one up without hunting through several pages.

| Term                    | Meaning                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Member**              | A person with a PlanMyRounds account. Members sign in, view rosters, and, if they're admins, run the organisation. See [Members vs. doctors](/docs/team/overview#members-vs-doctors).                                                                                                                               |
| **Doctor**              | The scheduling record used when generating a roster — department, seniority, hour limits, excluded shifts. A doctor profile can exist without a linked member account, and a member account can exist without a linked doctor. See [Staff profiles and user accounts](/docs/team/staff-profiles-and-user-accounts). |
| **Admin**               | A member role with full access: create and publish rosters, manage doctors and shifts, approve leave, invite and remove members. See [Roles and permissions](/docs/team/roles-and-permissions).                                                                                                                     |
| **Roster / Duty Plan**  | The schedule that says who is on which shift, on which day, for a given date range. "Roster" and "Duty Plan" refer to the same thing — the product sidebar calls it **Duty Plans**. See [How rosters work](/docs/rosters/overview).                                                                                 |
| **Shift Requirement**   | A single shift definition: name, start and end time, required headcount, minimum seniors, and recovery time. Listed under **Shift Requirements** in the sidebar. See [How shifts work](/docs/shifts/overview).                                                                                                      |
| **Shift Schedule**      | A named, reusable weekly pattern built from Shift Requirements — either the same shifts every day, or a different lineup per weekday. Selected when creating a roster or setting up Auto Duty. See [Shift Schedules](/docs/shifts/shift-schedules).                                                                 |
| **Auto Duty**           | A recurring setup that plans a roster for you every cycle: which team, which Shift Schedule, what cadence, and how much of the process runs unattended. See [How Auto Duty Planning works](/docs/auto-duty-planning/overview).                                                                                      |
| **Planning Cycle**      | One run of an Auto Duty for one period. Moves through five stages: Notify, Availability & Leave, Generate, Roster Review, Published. See [Running a planning cycle](/docs/auto-duty-planning/running-a-planning-cycle).                                                                                             |
| **Availability**        | A doctor's own input, during a Planning Cycle, on which upcoming shifts they can work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **Leave**               | A doctor's formal, approvable time off. Only **Approved** leave excludes a doctor from scheduling — pending and rejected leave have no effect. See [How leave management works](/docs/leave/overview).                                                                                                              |
| **Shift to Avoid**      | A soft preference, not a restriction. PlanMyRounds tries to avoid assigning the doctor to that shift, but may still do so if there's no other way to produce a valid schedule. See [Mark shifts to avoid](/docs/leave/applying-for-leave#mark-shifts-to-avoid).                                                     |
| **Excluded shift type** | A permanent doctor-profile setting (not tied to a date range) marking a shift type the doctor should never be assigned to. See [Doctor profiles](/docs/team/doctor-profiles).                                                                                                                                       |
| **Swap**                | A doctor-initiated exchange on a published roster: you take a colleague's shift, they take yours. Shown with a double-arrow icon. Doesn't need admin approval. See [How duty swaps work](/docs/swaps/overview).                                                                                                     |
| **Transfer**            | Like a swap, but one-directional: a colleague takes your shift and gives nothing in return. Shown with a single-arrow icon.                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Hard constraint**     | A rule the engine will never violate. If a valid schedule isn't possible while respecting every hard constraint, generation fails.                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **Soft constraint**     | A rule the engine tries to honour but may bend if there's no valid alternative — for example, a shift to avoid.                                                                                                                                                                                                |

<Note>
  This list only defines terms that already exist in the product. If a page uses a term that isn't here, treat that as a gap to report, not a new term to invent.
</Note>