> ## 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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/overview.md#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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/staff-profiles-and-user-accounts.md). |
| **Location** | A physical site your organisation runs from, for example a specific campus. Independent of department and pod. See [Setting up locations](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/locations.md). |
| **Department** | The clinical or organisational unit a doctor belongs to, for example Cardiology. Independent of location and pod. See [Setting up departments](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/departments.md). |
| **Pod** | An optional sub-group within a department, for splitting a large team into smaller ones. See [Setting up pods](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/pods.md). |
| **Staffing Role** | An organisation-defined category used to staff shifts, with a rank that sets seniority order. An alternative to the standard Senior/Junior Level field. See [Setting up staffing roles](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/staffing-roles.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/roles-and-permissions.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/rosters/overview.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/shifts/overview.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/shifts/shift-schedules.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/auto-duty-planning/overview.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/auto-duty-planning/running-a-planning-cycle.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/leave/overview.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/leave/applying-for-leave.md#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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/team/doctor-profiles.md). |
| **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](https://www.planmyrounds.com/docs/swaps/overview.md). |
| **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.


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