whats ur opinion on the cushiest specialty based on the amount of 'actual work' that u do? id like to hear some opinions.

depends on how you define cushiest and work. and whether you would consider reimbursement as part of the equation-like anyone can leave at 5 but whether they could pay their bills if they left at 5.

derm.
ophtho.

Psych

i forgot radiology
;)

#1 Derm
#2 Derm
#3 Derm.

My friend is a dermatologist.
She has a PA and a very well oiled machine of nurses that do 95% of the work.

She breezes in and looks here and there.
Voila.

The scripts are pre printed.

oh I forgot, she is making a fortune

If I had the connections...I would've gone for dermatology...I guess I'll have to settle for ophthalmology;)

Jason Park MS-IV
NSU-COM


I'd also go for Radiology as well

1. pathology - unless you don't like to think / read. Then it's a problem. Long-term the specialty is very cush. pathologists work 45 hour weeks, and with partnership positions do quite well financially.

I'm biased, however. I love the field.

That's my 2 cents
:)

I think there are cushier specialties out there than derm.

Occ Med is pretty nice

Then there is pathology

Psychiatrists have very good lifestyles.

OCC MED may be cush but on the job satisfaction scale it ranks right up there with chronic pain clinic and addiction medicine...oops I forgot, that is occ. med...
seriously, my vote would have to be derm or radiology.
cush for me means no call and no emergent surgeries. I guess hmo fp would also qualify if you did outpt medicine only and did not cover admissions

emedpa,

is job satisfaction for occ med that low?

EM CAN be cush if you are in the right setting (small hospital, not too much high acuity stuff). I spent a summer in Alaska as a pre-med shadowing the EM docs up there (only hospital for a couple hunderd miles). THey saw maybe 40 patients a day, worke 12 hour shfits (3 shifts a week), and made 200+.

THAT, my friends, is pretty cush. Well, atleast to me.

I will admit that Derm is pretty dang cushy too...
Path is likely as cush but not sure about the pay.
Rads is pretty popular, but I just did a rotatino in it and the attendings worked pretty hard (lots of procedures).

Q

I think it's a misconception that Rads is a cush field. Especially nowadays with the shortage, Radiologists are working harder than ever to maintain jurisdiction over their turf.

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
I think it's a misconception that Rads is a cush field. Especially nowadays with the shortage, Radiologists are working harder than ever to maintain jurisdiction over their turf.
wrong. that's just what they tell people on the way home to justify their incomes

Actually radiologists in generally are working longer hours and doing more night studies than in the past. Given the number of exams/yr out pacing the number of (new radiology attendings-retiring radiologists), radiologists are reading more exams/per per person / year. Numbers tell the story. Not to mention the demand for IR services is skyrocketing. Of course you can still find 9-5 no call no weekend jobs, but you just won't be a partner. But hey, everything in life is a trade-off.

you mean people in radiology are working harder than before?
:eek:
;)

as opposed to the rest of medicine where everyone else decided they had been working too hard in the past and cut back hours?

Something that has to be consider when discussing "cushiness" is whether or not you'd actually want to do it for a living. Most often mentioned seems to be in no particular order derm, psych, rads. I dont know why everyone is so geeked to do derm and rads. No way i could spend the rest of career reading films in a dark room. And as for derm acne, acne, acne, mole, acne, pemphigus (nasty), eczema, acne, and so forth. I guess if you have a true passion for either of these then absolutely go for it. But it seems that many medstudents on this board and else where are gunning for the cushiest/most lucrative specialties. thats cool. but i always wonder when i work with these folks if they love the job or if they love the money. I'm old school i guess, i love the job.

prominence- many occ med pts are folks who don't want to go back to work and are addicted to narcotics.many of them are in the process of suing their past employers for real or imagined reasons resulting from their"injuries". typical occ med pt: "I have had pain in my wrist since my boss made me lift a 25 lb box in 1975,nothing helps except percocet". review of records shows neg plain films, bone scan, mri, emg, neuro consult, etc.
great pt population if you ask me...(read sarcasm). I don't know anyone who does it by choice. the occ med docs here are people waiting for slots to open up in their actual specialty and are just trying to earn a living until then.

Originally posted by emedpa
I don't know anyone who does it by choice. the occ med docs here are people waiting for slots to open up in their actual specialty and are just trying to earn a living until then.

why do people pick this specialty, if there is such difficulty finding jobs in occ med?

by "their actual specialty" I mean fp, im, etc, as in there are no fp jobs so they work occmed until an fp job opens up.there is no difficulty in finding an occmed job if for some reason you want 1.

where on the pay scale do occ med docs stand in relation to docs in other specialties?

in general, are they paid less than pediatricians, or general psychiatrists? do they even break $100,000 per year?

SORRY, CAN'T HELP YOU WITH THAT ONE. NO IDEA WHAT THEY MAKE.

quinn, first of all, nice picture =). second, people iin alaska make a ton no matter what they do. my cousin works there as a radiologist, works 24 hrs a week and makes about 300 grand. it is a very high paying state.
i'll take derm as easiest


Originally posted by QuinnNSU
EM CAN be cush if you are in the right setting (small hospital, not too much high acuity stuff). I spent a summer in Alaska as a pre-med shadowing the EM docs up there (only hospital for a couple hunderd miles). THey saw maybe 40 patients a day, worke 12 hour shfits (3 shifts a week), and made 200+.

THAT, my friends, is pretty cush. Well, atleast to me.

I will admit that Derm is pretty dang cushy too...
Path is likely as cush but not sure about the pay.
Rads is pretty popular, but I just did a rotatino in it and the attendings worked pretty hard (lots of procedures).

Q

Originally posted by jjackis
people iin alaska make a ton no matter what they do. my cousin works there as a radiologist, works 24 hrs a week and makes about 300 grand

A friend and I were joking about this very situation. We were imagining a Rad sitting in his room, looking over film after film, repeating the diagnosis... "I think it's frostbite" "Looks like frostbite" "The findings are indicative of frostbite" "Impression: Frostbite," and once in while receiving an Alaskan trauma film... "Linear fracture of the calvarium... probably secondary to being struck in head by whale flipper." How exciting!

:D

<<in general, are they paid less than pediatricians, or general psychiatrists? do they even break $100,000 per year?>>


Prominence, kind of not related to what you just asked, but don't pay attention to those average Psych salaries. A Psychiatrist once said to me, "If you know what you're doing in Psych (businesswise), you'll have a good chance of pulling in 400-500K a year. Peace.

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
A friend and I were joking about this very situation. We were imagining a Rad sitting in his room, looking over film after film, repeating the diagnosis... "I think it's frostbite" "Looks like frostbite" "The findings are indicative of frostbite" "Impression: Frostbite," and once in while receiving an Alaskan trauma film... "Linear fracture of the calvarium... probably secondary to being struck in head by whale flipper." How exciting!

:D

"Suboptimal study, but looks suspicious for frostbite; clinical correlation recommended. Would recommend MRI for more definitive diagnosis."

Now that sounds more like a Radiologist! ;)

Originally posted by Stinky Tofu
"Suboptimal study, but looks suspicious for frostbite; clinical correlation recommended. Would recommend MRI for more definitive diagnosis."

Now that sounds more like a Radiologist! ;)

:)

But everything is also very expensive in Alaska. Your $300K is about $250K in the lower 48.

Outpatient PM&R is 40-hours a week, no call. That sounds pretty damn easy to me at this point!