cushiest specialty?

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

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.

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.

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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?



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.

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

Click to expand...

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

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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!

<<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 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!

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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!

Cushy? You signed on to become physicians, knowing on some level the demands of tending to patients who are afraid, uncomfortable, suffering, and all those things you wouldn't want happening to you, right? Now that you'll being choosing a specialty looking for a 'less demanding' endeavor sort of betrays the initial efforts to become docs. Maybe some of you looking for cushy careers ought considered some other field.

Perhaps they accidentally replied to the wrong cushiest thread.

rotty1021 said:

<<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.

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If you want to work like an internist, that's absolutely achievable. Most people go into psych because they don't want to do quickie visits and address problems superficially. Salary reports are low also because it's much more common to work even less than 40 hours. Would say a typical salary for reasonably chill but still real doctor work is in the 250 range.

But then there's, you know, feelings. Who wants to deal with that all day?

croak said:

Cushy? You signed on to become physicians, knowing on some level the demands of tending to patients who are afraid, uncomfortable, suffering, and all those things you wouldn't want happening to you, right? Now that you'll being choosing a specialty looking for a 'less demanding' endeavor sort of betrays the initial efforts to become docs. Maybe some of you looking for cushy careers ought considered some other field.

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Even though this is an extremely old thread, nothing wrong with someone choosing a specialty for that cush factor. Lifestyle IS a big deal for a lot of people. I don't think choosing something less demanding betrays choosing this job profession...at all.

If that was the case, you would be having problems with over 80% of physicians in the US!

croak said:

Cushy? You signed on to become physicians, knowing on some level the demands of tending to patients who are afraid, uncomfortable, suffering, and all those things you wouldn't want happening to you, right? Now that you'll being choosing a specialty looking for a 'less demanding' endeavor sort of betrays the initial efforts to become docs. Maybe some of you looking for cushy careers ought considered some other field.

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Lol, chill dude. You can want to help people but not want to kill yourself doing so. People have different priorities.

400k in psych is totally doable, but you have to work.


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chicagochildpsych said:

400k in psych is totally doable, but you have to work.


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agree

croak said:

Cushy? You signed on to become physicians, knowing on some level the demands of tending to patients who are afraid, uncomfortable, suffering, and all those things you wouldn't want happening to you, right? Now that you'll being choosing a specialty looking for a 'less demanding' endeavor sort of betrays the initial efforts to become docs. Maybe some of you looking for cushy careers ought considered some other field.

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Edit: Nevermind. I realized I was responding to a 63 year old retired surgeon.

Instead let's just agree to disagree on the majority of your post

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>10 yr necrobump is actually a class D felony. Clearly stated in everyone's sdn handbook.

MLT2MT2DO said:

Edit: Nevermind. I realized I was responding to a 63 year old retired surgeon.

Instead let's just agree to disagree on the majority of your post

Sent from my SM-G900V using SDN mobile

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Someone did this one time and the OP came back and replied!

I know Breast Surgeons that work 9-3. I also know Psychiatrists that work 65 hours/week.

So "cushiness" is all relative and dependent on the individual physician, to some extent. I see a lot of attendings who work like maniacs, but mainly to pad their ego.

Low risk, High pay procedures + no emergencies + 8 to 5 hours + with some services patients are willing to pay out of pocket for = big time cush

Ophtho reconstructive, plastics, mohs, pain, maybe gi. That's all I can come up with right now.

prominence said:

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

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Unless someone is actually in a specialty then he or she can't tell you how cush it is, let alone compare it to other specialties. And even still that's just one opinion.

The medscape physicians report is good for this type of statistic. I would look there for your assortment of information. People here are just n=1 and often times cynical. Those reports are over 22,000 respondees I believe.

Actually interesting to read. Timeless!

JPNSU said:

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

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Not to rag on someone, but it looks like this guy eventually went into radiology. I just wonder if ophtho PDs read much into someone "settling" for ophthalmology, especially since this person's name is out there for all to see. And I'm not bashing radiology because that's my field, too.

But to everyone: be careful what you post on the internet.

I didn't even realize the date on the post when I quoted it. Someone must have bumped it. Well for anyone else, the Medscape reports are very helpful.

croak said:

Cushy? You signed on to become physicians, knowing on some level the demands of tending to patients who are afraid, uncomfortable, suffering, and all those things you wouldn't want happening to you, right? Now that you'll being choosing a specialty looking for a 'less demanding' endeavor sort of betrays the initial efforts to become docs. Maybe some of you looking for cushy careers ought considered some other field.

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Maybe I shouldn't go here, but ftw.

This mentality is destroying medicine and driving talented young people away from the field. No one should be expected to work a ridiculous number of hours a week, just because an over-paid hospital exec wants to keep his payroll/expense down and his hospital's margins high.

The fact that we still have a physician class which broadly buys into the myth that medicine should mean giving up your life as a public service, is doing the field a great disservice. When residents are dying because they fall asleep at the wheel driving home, and kids of physicians grow up without parents, it's time for us to speak up and say it is OKAY to care about lifestyle, and maybe we should look to other countries(EU) who set much more reasonable work expectations of doctors , albeit with pay cuts.

Obviously derm, optho, psych, PMR, ... Rads I guess

I would venture to say that FM can be cushy; 9-5, clinic work, weekends off and no call with salaries ~ $220-$250k range for 4-5 days a week (heard of many making into the $300's, but that's above avg). Plus most of your patients are in decent health.. You do a good number of well child checks, back to school stuff, diabetes, htn, healthcare maintenance...etc not the most stressful stuff and you can have normal interactions with your patients... Not all your patients are crashing in front of you or have a late stage cancer...

Not as cushy as the above.. But you can pretty much find a job in any region without too much difficulty... Can't necessarily say that about rads, path, ...etc

NRAI2001 said:

Obviously derm, optho, psych, PMR, ... Rads I guess

I would venture to say that FM can be cushy; 9-5, clinic work, weekends off and no call with salaries ~ $220-$250k range.. Not as cushy as the above.. But you can pretty much find a job in any region without too much difficulty... Can't necessarily sY that about rads, path, ...etc

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Rad onc's not too bad either

Sculpin said:

Rad onc's not too bad either

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Radonc probably involves more brain power than most of the other fields mentioned above. Who else has to take a physics board exam

I'll play this game, even though my opinion probably won't impact your life at all. Disclaimer: I'm a GS PGY-1, so a lot of this information if from my limited access to various specialties.

I think it matters much more about the individual. I've seen a Neurologist work 8-4p in MS specialty clinics, and I've seen a Neurologist take q2 call as a stroke service staff. That guy looked haggard AF. I've seen pediatricians average 25 hr/wk and I've seen them average 60 hr/wk. I met one rural general surgeon who took Q1 call (crazy person) and I've met at least one surgeon who took no call (probably <3 yrs left in his/her career). It seems like the work is out there if you want more hours.

General specialty cultures for "relaxed" hours? Ophtho, psych, path, occ med, derm seem to have that culture. I am told by the EM folks that I work with that their hours can be nice if you're not at an underfunded county hospital (or "shop" as they say) and have access to scribes. General pediatricians seem to work relatively few hours, possibly due to the availability of Mommy/Daddy tracks (<1.0 full time equivalent, so you earn less too). Some medicine/peds subspecialties can have good hours, i.e. Rhuem, nephrology, endocrine, GI if in the right set-up.

Pholston brought up the medscape report (big fan of the mighty Pholston btw), I believe he was referring to the survey on hours worked per specialty. I would be hesitant to put much stock in self reported data of that type. I've seen firsthand how people overestimate the hours they work, and I'm not convinced that it's a systematic error evenly distributed across specialties that washes out.