Hello,
I am a senior in college and am having an angst-filled time trying to decide whether pursuing medicine is the correct path for me. I've spent hours scouring the forums to glean as much information I can about the profession(s) and to be truthful many of the naysayers and unhappy/miserable individuals in medicine have given me quite a scare. I know that I should be particularly keen on primary care since if I can't find myself to be satisfied with one of those fields I shouldn't pursue medicine because I could be sorely disappointed since these are the areas most doctors will match into.
For this reason I have a couple of questions concerning family medicine. Although I am more than gung-ho about developing a rewarding practice and career where I give 100% for my patients, lifestyle is also important to my well-being. I have already read previous threads on the lifestyle in family medicine and know that it is an extremely diverse and flexible field but how common are 4-5 day a week outpatient clinics with little call/rounding on patients/teaching duties? Are the salaries in such settings still around the FP average?
What is the stress level for an average family practice physician in comparison to other specialties? How tolerable is residency? Are malpractice rates low? Is it true that primary care physicians are less satisfied than those in specialized fields? Why do so many residents/attendings state that they would steer clear of medicine(and especially the primary care fields) if they had the chance and forgiven loans to do so?
I was also under the impression that the incidence of patient death is significantly lower than in other specialties where the patients have more serious conditions. I know this last point seems a little strange but I guess I also have a fear of patients dying and coping with this situation both for myself internally and in having to explain such depressing news to patients' families.
Thank you so much for reading my post and any and all answers will be GREATLY appreciated!
I am a senior in college and am having an angst-filled time trying to decide whether pursuing medicine is the correct path for me. I've spent hours scouring the forums to glean as much information I can about the profession(s) and to be truthful many of the naysayers and unhappy/miserable individuals in medicine have given me quite a scare. I know that I should be particularly keen on primary care since if I can't find myself to be satisfied with one of those fields I shouldn't pursue medicine because I could be sorely disappointed since these are the areas most doctors will match into.
For this reason I have a couple of questions concerning family medicine. Although I am more than gung-ho about developing a rewarding practice and career where I give 100% for my patients, lifestyle is also important to my well-being. I have already read previous threads on the lifestyle in family medicine and know that it is an extremely diverse and flexible field but how common are 4-5 day a week outpatient clinics with little call/rounding on patients/teaching duties? Are the salaries in such settings still around the FP average?
What is the stress level for an average family practice physician in comparison to other specialties? How tolerable is residency? Are malpractice rates low? Is it true that primary care physicians are less satisfied than those in specialized fields? Why do so many residents/attendings state that they would steer clear of medicine(and especially the primary care fields) if they had the chance and forgiven loans to do so?
I was also under the impression that the incidence of patient death is significantly lower than in other specialties where the patients have more serious conditions. I know this last point seems a little strange but I guess I also have a fear of patients dying and coping with this situation both for myself internally and in having to explain such depressing news to patients' families.
Thank you so much for reading my post and any and all answers will be GREATLY appreciated!