a doctor's lifestyle?? hmm.

[T-shirt]

Hey, what is a doctor's lifestyle like. I'm thinking of family doctor's in general in say, a suburban area. When I look at my own doc, he seems so laid back, but all I hear is how stressful things are. Do they really work 60+ hours a week? anyway, i'm curious to hear some feedback on this.thanks.

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[Dylan911]

Hey T-shirt! Having a bunch of family and friends that are in the medical field, I would have to say that it varies drastically. My uncle is an anesthesiologist in Phoenix and is extremely busy. Let's just say my aunt is raising my three cousins by herself. He is also chief of staff though, so, he has committed more of his time than say other MD's in his field. Then on the other extreme one of our close family friends has been a dermatologist for over twenty years. She also adopted six children and raised them with her husband who is also an MD, she teaches at Northwestern in Evanston, IL, and she homeschools her children and also taught me and my four little brothers and sisters after my mom had to return to work. We are talking about an amazing doctor, mother, teacher, and friend. She is also always taking people into her home who are struggling with their situations at home, especially troubled teens. Then somewhere in the middle, my internist has a moderately busy life, but still has time to spend with his family and to help raise his three children. I think the craziness of an MD's life completely depends upon how many things he/she is committed to and on which field they are in because obviously some are more time consuming or more stressful. My former teacher doesn't stress out over "emergency acne" if you know what I mean. Hope this helps, I think that if a person knows how much stress they can handle, the better MD they will make, because they might want to steer clear of over committing if they are in an esspecially demanding field. Best of Luck!!

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"Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."

 

[youngjock]

check out the video called

<<MD: making of a doctor>>. it is very hectic during the first few years and resident time. that is all i can say after watching that video.

 

[Toran]

A doctor is only very slightly different than any other person. If you become a doctor and then choose to practice 20 hours per week, than you will be relatively relaxed in your schedule.

Toran

 

[Billie]

Toran's post is very true. I did my surgery rotation with a woman who practices part-time. Many ask her "How can you be a part-time surgeon?" But she decided her life and her child was more important to her. She does surgery only about 3 days a week. She takes Thursdays and Sat/Sun off. After surgery we would go to the office, yet we were still done every day at about 3pm. I purposely picked her for a rotation as I am not interested in surgery and did not want a hectic, intense rotation with a surgeon who was going to berate me and yell. She was great.

But the point is that much of your medical career will depend on what you make of it. And how busy you will want to be.

Billie



[This message has been edited by Billie (edited 03-18-2001).]

 

[Aloha Kid]

Youngjock,

The video you commented on, "The making of a doctor," where can you get it from? Is it a video you run down to Blockbuster to borrow?

 

[AP]

PBS will actually be running the documentary sometime next week (though I am not sure it will be on the west coast for those of you from there). check you local listings regardless.