Let's not forget, more important than the sum total hours is NO CONTROL. None, zip, zilch. Your kids have a game and an "emergency" that you know is BS gets boarded, tough. You get called back after going home (thinking you were done for the day) for an add on, only to wait an hour because the surgeon is late. Oh well. Better to waste an hour of your time than 5 minutes of theirs. Absolute truth. These guys can get called to the ER for a consult but they can finish dinner, etc. We get called, it's stop, drop, and run out the door. It is a service industry and it is entirely about perception of that service. I've seen all kinds of coping: older docs that start to justify whatever BS the surgeon says to themselves, others that are just bitter, and a few shades between. I just smile and make small talk. At the end of the day, I've got a family to feed and they don't call it work for nothing.