is it possible to have a happy/relaxing life in medicine?

[Halfdolphy]

i know that med school is hard. studying is hard. and i know that there will be "classes"/lectures in residency as well.

but is it possible to have a relaxing life as a resident/attending?

im afraid that i will be miserable because a lot of people on the internet said that doctors are miserable. and the ones that I've worked with at a hospital seem miserable too…..

I'm thinking about doing psychiatry (easier residency in term of learning/memorizing stuff/having a life?) or pediatrics, or family med.

don't tell me to just go do some shadowing because i've tried to find it but i can't.

I really hate this endless amount of studying/gunning for A's/memorizing useless details and they make me unhappy. Does this kind of insane studying still happen in residency?

Happiness is very important to me. I don't really like facing new challenges everyday (as in seeing new biochem problems that i have no clue how to answer)

Has any resident/doc been to this kind of dilemma?

Real inputs only, please.

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[ofthesaints]

Can it be relaxing? Probably not. Can you be happy? Absolutely. It's a matter of perspective.

 

[gyngyn]

Satisfying, yes. Relaxing, not usually.
Happy? Some people are happy and others are not.
One does not achieve happiness simply by choosing this path.
If you find reward where your work is valued, this is a good way to achieve a sense of satisfaction.

 

[efle]

Have you not enjoyed being a student? I imagine it's a lot easier to be happy on the path to medicine if you actually enjoy the process of learning and forever pushing yourself

 

[WastedTime]

get out while u can

 

[DubVille]

Classes, or conferences are the least stressful part of the day. Although you are always learning/studying to some degree, it isnt the main portion of your job. You seem to be equating being a student/med student with being a doctor.
I'm happy so far and not particularly stressed out. I'm probably in the chillest specialty though.

 

[random9488]

Classes, or conferences are the least stressful part of the day. Although you are always learning/studying to some degree, it isnt the main portion of your job. You seem to be equating being a student/med student with being a doctor.
I'm happy so far and not particularly stressed out. I'm probably in the chillest specialty though.

Which specialty is that?

 

[DubVille]

Pm&r

 

[belle88]

i know that med school is hard. studying is hard. and i know that there will be "classes"/lectures in residency as well.

but is it possible to have a relaxing life as a resident/attending?

im afraid that i will be miserable because a lot of people on the internet said that doctors are miserable. and the ones that I've worked with at a hospital seem miserable too…..

I'm thinking about doing psychiatry (easier residency in term of learning/memorizing stuff/having a life?) or pediatrics, or family med.

don't tell me to just go do some shadowing because i've tried to find it but i can't.

I really hate this endless amount of studying/gunning for A's/memorizing useless details and they make me unhappy. Does this kind of insane studying still happen in residency?

Happiness is very important to me. I don't really like facing new challenges everyday (as in seeing new biochem problems that i have no clue how to answer)

Has any resident/doc been to this kind of dilemma?

Real inputs only, please.

My dad is a psychiatrist and he has a fairly relaxing job. He works for the state so he doesn't have to deal with a lot of the difficulties or demands of managing your own practice, but he doesn't make as much as he potentially could. So I guess, he sacrifices money for a more flexible schedule. He's job can still be stressful, but I think that's the going to be the case with any job, so you have to find something you enjoy.

 

[deleted577188]

I know a DO breast surgeon who says her job after fellowship is very, very close to a 9-5 with rare weekend working. She works at a hospital.

 

[Gandyy]

I mean...... you could end game gun for a dermatology residency. Thats probably about as relaxing as medicine can get lol, but I personally believe it would be boring

 

[698344]

I mean...... you could end game gun for a dermatology residency. Thats probably about as relaxing as medicine can get lol, but I personally believe it would be boring

Yeah. Is derm just super competitive because of the potential salary and lifestyle? In comparison to any kind of surgery, it just seems extremely boring.

 

[Psai]

Yeah. Is derm just super competitive because of the potential salary and lifestyle? In comparison to any kind of surgery, it just seems extremely boring.

what is your experience with derm or surgery

 

[DubVille]

I mean...... you could end game gun for a dermatology residency. Thats probably about as relaxing as medicine can get lol, but I personally believe it would be boring

Derm residents read like crazy. They don't "work" a lot but most I encounter do a ton of studying. Ophtho seems to have it good from my experiences, but I suppose it could vary.

 

[LizzyM]

Unless they're employed in quality control in a mattress factory, I doubt anyone can say that their job is "relaxing". They call it "work" for a reason. Work can be satisfying, fulfilling, exciting, but rarely "relaxing".

With shift work, one does have time off to relax without bringing the job home. With private practice on the wane and more physicians being employees rather than operators of small businesses, there may be more time to relax when one is not "on the job".

 

[Gandyy]

Derm residents read like crazy. They don't "work" a lot but most I encounter do a ton of studying. Ophtho seems to have it good from my experiences, but I suppose it could vary.

Ok, but which one would you say is more relaxing? Studying or Working?

 

[698344]

what is your experience with derm or surgery

Not much outside of shadowing. But then again, that's why I said "seems" and asked a question. No need to get hostile.

 

[Affiche]

Working. As @LizzyM said, you can go home at the end of a shift and not take your work with you. I'm too type-A personality to see an end-point in studying.

 

[698344]

Working. As @LizzyM said, you can go home at the end of a shift and not take your work with you. I'm too type-A personality to see an end-point in studying.

Donna...where did you go?

 

[Affiche]

@Nibus She's taking a break! I'm rereading the Harry Potter series and I need some more Snape in my life. I feel he conveys my emotion better when SDN posters are being particularly obtuse

And because I'm rereading Harry Potter, I'm 99% sure that my first interview question will be, "What was the last book you read?"

 

[PantherPride]

Pm&r

Ah, Pretty Money & Relaxation

 

[Gandyy]

Pm&r

Really? I thought they would have it rough because patients would be constantly asking them for morphine and narcotics all the time. Many PCP Doctors already complain about these types of patients quite a bit and they arent even Pain specialists.

 

[Mad Jack]

i know that med school is hard. studying is hard. and i know that there will be "classes"/lectures in residency as well.

but is it possible to have a relaxing life as a resident/attending?

im afraid that i will be miserable because a lot of people on the internet said that doctors are miserable. and the ones that I've worked with at a hospital seem miserable too…..

I'm thinking about doing psychiatry (easier residency in term of learning/memorizing stuff/having a life?) or pediatrics, or family med.

don't tell me to just go do some shadowing because i've tried to find it but i can't.

I really hate this endless amount of studying/gunning for A's/memorizing useless details and they make me unhappy. Does this kind of insane studying still happen in residency?

Happiness is very important to me. I don't really like facing new challenges everyday (as in seeing new biochem problems that i have no clue how to answer)

Has any resident/doc been to this kind of dilemma?

Real inputs only, please.

You don't even know what hard is yet. Oh, you have no idea. Undergrad will seem like a vacation in hindsight and you'll laugh at how stressed you were over a little orgo test a few years back.

I know plenty of happy physicians. Whether you can be happy or not depends on whether you pick a specialty that fits your personality. Work will always have some degree of stress, particularly when you're dealing with people's lives, but it's about picking the sort of stress you can handle. High volume and monotony may be your natural rhythm or the thing that crushes your soul (FM, IM). Working with your hands and doing pre and post op checks may make you feel like a god amongst men or a glorified plumber of internal organs. Staring at CXRs and CTs and MRIs may feel like a challenge or a chore. It's about finding what works for your personality. No one can answer whether medicine can bring you happiness and a relaxing lifestyle but yourself- you need to look at what you need in life to be hapoy, what specialties can meet those needs, and how realistic it is for you to end up in a specialty and practice environment that you will ultimately find fulfilling.

 

[Mad Jack]

Really? I thought they would have it rough because patients would be constantly asking them for morphine and narcotics all the time. Many PCP Doctors already complain about these types of patients quite a bit and they arent even Pain specialists.

Physical med and rehabilitation deals with pain, but isn't focused on it. It's more about the rehab side of things. Your difficult pain management cases will typically be referred to a pain specialist, rather than be managed by you personally, unless they're in an inpatient rehab facility. Also keep in mind that not everyone that requires rehab is in pain- there's a lot of ways to get deconditioned or disabled, from prolonged ICU stays to strokes that result in partial paralysis and much more.

 

[DubVille]

Ok, but which one would you say is more relaxing? Studying or Working?

I guess studying, but the only thing that is remotely stressful is being on call.

 

[efle]

Undergrad will seem like a vacation in hindsight

not universally true

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

not universally true

I've met a few med students and residents who felt that undergrad was more stressful than med school. n= about 5 though and they're most certainly a minority.

 

[doc05]

i know that med school is hard. studying is hard. and i know that there will be "classes"/lectures in residency as well.

but is it possible to have a relaxing life as a resident/attending?

no.

 

[NickNaylor]

Sure it is, but you have to make lifestyle a priority. Understand that this will necessarily limit your specialty choices. Some fields are generally (though not always) compatible with a "good" lifestyle. I would say most fields don't have a particularly "relaxing" residency though even this can vary to some degree.

Ultimately I think if you find something that you're genuinely interested in you will at least be satisfied with your work. There are many fields that will afford you a decent lifestyle, and sometimes it's about being creative with the way in which you set up your practice to allow for a "good" lifestyle.

Franky, though, your post smacks of immaturity and you sound as if you have very little interest in medicine itself and only have an interest in the money and perhaps "prestige" it can afford. If that's the case, then it probably isn't the field for you.

 

[jb94mg]

Franky, though, your post smacks of immaturity and you sound as if you have very little interest in medicine itself and only have an interest in the money and perhaps "prestige" it can afford. If that's the case, then it probably isn't the field for you.

Agreed. If you don't like learning and generally would rather be doing just about anything else other than studying (whether biochem or anatomy), it seems like medicine is probably not the best idea (unless you're just so brilliant that you don't really have to put in much effort either way, even when studying harder subjects).

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

@Nibus She's taking a break! I'm rereading the Harry Potter series and I need some more Snape in my life. I feel he conveys my emotion better when SDN posters are being particularly obtuse

And because I'm rereading Harry Potter, I'm 99% sure that my first interview question will be, "What was the last book you read?"

Forgive my ignorance, but who's Donna?

 

[Affiche]

Forgive my ignorance, but who's Donna?

She's a character from Suits, the tv show. She was also my avatar until today....but I'll bring her back soon

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

She's a character from Suits, the tv show. She was also my avatar until today....but I'll bring her back soon

Please bring her back ASAP! Redheads rock!

 

[vantheman]

One of the emergency physicians I work with owns and runs a night club in down town San Diego. He's a pretty happy guy haha

 

[cloudmurder1]

One of the emergency physicians I work with owns and runs a night club in down town San Diego. He's a pretty happy guy haha

Does he work part time?

 

[Gilakend]

She's a character from Suits, the tv show. She was also my avatar until today....but I'll bring her back soon

Donna = #1 (modern) TV crush

 

[desertrat12]

Can I be happy doing.....fill in the blank, or can I have a relaxing life doing.....fill in the blank. This question is asked so often when considering medicine it seems like. I asked it, it's a good question to ask. A good search of the forum would give you a million answers to it. It's hard to answer because we don't know what happy means to you or what your idea of relaxing is. Relaxing for me is spending an evening a week with my wife doing nothing that is related to school/work. Both going to school full time and working two jobs to pay for it creates an environment where a few hours of nothing seems like good relaxation. I think this lifestyle sounds very familiar to lots of people on sdn. Like other have said I think your perspective is important in evaluating what type of relaxation/happiness you want. Another thing to consider is the other side of the coin, can you have a happy/relaxing life NOT doing medicine. Relaxing? Probably. But if your heart is set on something and you turn it down for more relaxation I imagine the happiness that you also desire may suffer. It does sound like you are new to the game in making this decision though, but most of us find that there is true satisfaction in hard work and the hard work we put in to school makes the times of relaxation even better. Dont buy into the idea that pleasure=happiness and relaxation=satisfaction.

That being said, if you do feel like you can get the happiness you desire in another career, it's probably worth some serious thought to do something other than medicine.

 

[MrLogan13]

I don't really like facing new challenges everyday (as in seeing new biochem problems that i have no clue how to answer)

If you truly do not enjoy tackling new challenges and pushing yourself, perhaps you may consider a career field that is less ambitious?

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

If you truly do not enjoy tackling new challenges and pushing yourself, perhaps you may consider a career field that is less ambitious?

Also, a sick person isn't anything like a challenging biochem problem...

 

[partypantss]

I can see where the OP is coming from. Personally I know that I will enjoy medicine, but at the same time I'm not sure if there is anything in the world that I would enjoy doing for 60 hours every week. I am fine with having a super busy schedule in medical school/ first few years of residency, but only if I can look forward to eventually having some kind of free time outside of work.

I don't want every day of my life revolving around work, but at the same time I can't imagine what I would do if I don't go into medicine... How common is it for a physician to be able to work a reasonable amount of hours? I love the challenges of medicine and I love learning, but I still want a life.. I'm afraid that 10 years from now I'm going to be trapped working 60 hours a week and feel totally miserable.

Are there physicians that choose to work 40 hours a week or even less? What would their salaries be like at that point? I don't need to be making 200 grand a year if it means I can actually have some freedom outside of work.

 

[NickNaylor]

I can see where the OP is coming from. Personally I know that I will enjoy medicine, but at the same time I'm not sure if there is anything in the world that I would enjoy doing for 60 hours every week. I am fine with having a super busy schedule in medical school/ first few years of residency, but only if I can look forward to eventually having some kind of free time outside of work.

I don't want every day of my life revolving around work, but at the same time I can't imagine what I would do if I don't go into medicine... How common is it for a physician to be able to work a reasonable amount of hours? I love the challenges of medicine and I love learning, but I still want a life.. I'm afraid that 10 years from now I'm going to be trapped working 60 hours a week and feel totally miserable.

Are there physicians that choose to work 40 hours a week or even less? What would their salaries be like at that point? I don't need to be making 200 grand a year if it means I can actually have some freedom outside of work.

Again, this is specialty but even more job-dependent. Psychiatrists, on average work something like 35-36 hours a week. It is one of the "lower paying" specialties but still has an average in the realm of $200k (again, for ~35 hours/week). In psychiatry specifically it isn't uncommon for psychiatrists to have one or two part-time positions. It also isn't uncommon to have a part-time position at a hospital, community mental health clinic, etc. while also running a private practice on the side. Even some academic psychiatrists do something along those lines.

Some specialties are less amenable to this arrangement - I'm thinking of the hardcore surgical fields (e.g., general surgery, neurosurgery), but even then I imagine there are positions where something close to 40 hours/week might be doable. The difficulty, though, is that even if you're seeing patients only 40 hours/week, there will likely be additional responsibilities (i.e., documentation) that you may have to take care of outside of that time.

You seem to have some good insight into what is important to you. Hold onto that once you get into medical school and begin choosing your specialty. Again, you will be fine as long as you're honest with yourself with respect to what is important to you. Wanting a decent lifestyle but then going into CT surgery because you "love" it is a recipe for disaster.

 

[partypantss]

Again, this is specialty but even more job-dependent. Psychiatrists, on average work something like 35-36 hours a week. It is one of the "lower paying" specialties but still has an average in the realm of $200k (again, for ~35 hours/week).

Some specialties are less amenable to this arrangement - I'm thinking of the hardcore surgical fields (e.g., general surgery, neurosurgery), but even then I imagine there are positions where something close to 40 hours/week might be amenable. The difficulty, though, is that even if you're seeing patients only 40 hours/week, there will likely be additional responsibilities (i.e., documentation) that you may have to take care of outside of that time.

You seem to have some good insight into what is important to you. Hold onto that once you get into medical school and begin choosing your specialty. Again, you will be fine as long as you're honest with yourself with respect to what is important to you. Wanting a decent lifestyle but then going into CT surgery because you "love" it is a recipe for disaster.

Thank you, that was a great reply and exactly what I was looking for. I have always been interested in psych and I did not realize that they generally work fewer hours than other specialties. That is honestly great to know. It is comforting to hear that as long as I am smart about what specialty I choose (and obviously willing to give up a chunk of money) I can end up spending my life working as an MD without having to have nothing but work to look forward to.

Especially since I am lucky enough that I will have very limited debt (if any) when I finish medical school, I think I can live very comfortably making closer to 100k a year...

 

[vantheman]

Does he work part time?

Nope. Full time. EM seems like a good place to go if you want to have a life

 

[DubVille]

Nope. Full time. EM seems like a good place to go if you want to have a life

Well it is always at the top of the list for physician burnout. Enjoy working nights, evenings, holidays, and weekends the rest of your life. ED is not a lifestyle field unless you work part time, or don't have a family.

 

[DubVille]

As NickNaylor said, any specialty "can" be lifestyle friendly, but the nature of many specialties doesn't allow for this. Anything office based "can" be lifestyle and is even better if you don't cover hospital call for the group.
If you sacrifice pay/location it "could" happen in most specialties.

Psych, derm, ophtho, pm&r, rad onc, pain med, palliative care, pathology, rheum, endocrine, allergy inherently have few or no true emergencies.

Depending on the call system in place outpatient IM, peds, FP likely will only have phone calls to talk to EDs after hours (assuming group doesn't admit patients to hospital). There are some "mommy track" anesthesia and radiology jobs out there, but they aren't the norm.

 

[Halfdolphy]

If you truly do not enjoy tackling new challenges and pushing yourself, perhaps you may consider a career field that is less ambitious?

Maybe. I used to be SUPER ambitious when I first started as a undergrad. then i get burned out, unhappy and unsure of my career choice anymore. I'm taking 2 gap years. so I will be doing med school from 24-28. and 28-32 for residency. I'm also a girl and I would like to date and eventually find a partner, which will be super hard when I'm in med school and doing residency. (And I don't think I will like the guys in medicine. but i guess it will be really hard to find guys outside this field).Being constantly worried about school (ex: not getting A's and not getting into med school) does interfere with how happy I am. And sometimes I feel like I just can't enjoy life like my non-premed friends. Pre-med sorta make me a little bit depressed from time to time. My boyfriend also dumped me for that (cuz I wasn't happy). he broke up with me one day before my biochem exam; it literally crushed me. I cried for 6+ hours over 2 days. That kinda made me realize that maybe I can't handle stress that well?

I kept telling myself that things will be better when I get into med school because there is no more worrying of not getting in! But then I read so much about people being depressed during med school + residency… and it makes me worried.

I don't want to be unhappy/ super stressed for the next decade =[

but then what if I can be a happy med student and resident? I mean, people say that the hardest part is getting in, right? Or will med school and residency be even more emotionally damaging than the stress over not getting in?

T__T

 

[Halfdolphy]

Guys, it is not that I don't like learning. I do like learning and I genuinely enjoy helping people. BUT…I do have test anxiety. Being tested constantly as a med student/ resident does sound scary. I don't want to be like a pre-med who always worry about getting those A's, for the next decades or so. =[

 

[Lyoness]

Well OP, looks like you're already negative about med school and life after med school. And on top of that you want to do psychiatry because it's "easier memorization, etc.", and to me that just looks like you only want to earn the title "Doctor". If you aren't optimistic about the future, and is only focusing on the bad aspects (sure it's stressful, you have less free time, a lot of material thrown at you" of it then maybe medicine isn't right for you.

 

[ski89]

Have you not enjoyed being a student? I imagine it's a lot easier to be happy on the path to medicine if you actually enjoy the process of learning and forever pushing yourself

Great point. I think this sentiment is vastly understated. If you view the formal education period of medical training (namely undergrad and medical school) as a sacrifice, then I think you will have a much more difficult time. I for one would much rather spend for years learning about the practice, science, and art of medicine than work a 9-5 job making 60k a year (if that).

get out while u can

Nice gunning, keep it up.

 

[efle]

Great point. I think this sentiment is vastly understated. If you view the formal education period of medical training (namely undergrad and medical school) as a sacrifice, then I think you will have a much more difficult time. I for one would much rather spend for years learning about the practice, science, and art of medicine than work a 9-5 job making 60k a year (if that).


Nice gunning, keep it up.

Yep, if I won the lottery I would probably get several degrees out of interest before actually starting into a career. Learning as a full time job is pretty rad.