Anesthesiology and your home life.

[bodi12]

I have a question for all of you current anesthesiologists. How much time do you get to spend with your family?

I have wanted to be an anesthesiologist for as long as I can remember. No I don't want to do it for the money, I want to do it simply for the the personal satisfaction you get from helping a patient during surgery or to have a few seconds to save someones life and not only have the knowledge to know what to do but also have the skills to do it, like the case UT gave in the "Overhead paged to ER for airway" thread.

I have always been a hard worker and the long hours that come with this job have never bothered me tell recently, me and my wife are starting are family soon and my question is how much time do you guys have to spend time with your families after the long hours, and being on call. I'm referring to during residency, but after you're licensed and been working for a few years.

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[Stank811]

I am pretty sure that varies widely....I know of people that work 60-70 hrs a week by choice and I know of people that work part time and split a full time position in a group so only work 30 hrs a week on average...so anesthesiology can be an incredibly flexible job

 

[michigangirl]

I won't comment on my situation since I'm in academics-- but all of my friends who went out into private practice who are married with kids (my best friend has four kids) made sure they found the right job with the right lifestyle/monetary differential-- and they are loving life. One's in Florida, one in Texas, one in Cali, one in Chicago-- they are outstanding anesthesiologists who value their home lives greatly and work enough to bring home bank but still control their lifestyle. Not sure where things are headed in a few years, but that's what I've observed.

 

[imfrankie]

I won't comment on my situation since I'm in academics-- but all of my friends who went out into private practice who are married with kids (my best friend has four kids) made sure they found the right job with the right lifestyle/monetary differential-- and they are loving life. One's in Florida, one in Texas, one in Cali, one in Chicago-- they are outstanding anesthesiologists who value their home lives greatly and work enough to bring home bank but still control their lifestyle. Not sure where things are headed in a few years, but that's what I've observed.

I concur. I took time off for for the birth and first year of each of my two kids also. You can create innumerable permutations. You'll do great.

 

[veetz]

I concur with the above posters. Anesthesiology is a family conducive specialty, IMHO. With surgery and medicine, you must follow your patients on a daily basis, including weekends and holidays. Unless I am on call, I do not work weekends or holidays. I work less hours as an attending than as a resident or fellow. I feel extremely blessed and am overall very happy with my career decision.

 

[bodi12]

Thank you all for the advice. This has helped reassure me that I am still going into the right field even after the addition of my wife and future kids.

All I ever hear is that most work 60+ hours a week and that would be great if I was single, but I don't know how I could work that and still squeeze in enough time a week to be a regular face with my family. I have always wanted this career but I don't want it to come in the way of my family.

 

[michigangirl]

Thank you all for the advice. This has helped reassure me that I am still going into the right field even after the addition of my wife and future kids.

All I ever hear is that most work 60+ hours a week and that would be great if I was single, but I don't know how I could work that and still squeeze in enough time a week to be a regular face with my family. I have always wanted this career but I don't want it to come in the way of my family.

I think one rarely hears "my dad was an anesthesiologist and I never got to see him growing up"-- if you decide anesthesia is the field of medicine for you purely on the clinical merits of the field-- then consider yourself lucky that you love such a family friendly and flexible field. Good luck.

 

[commiskey]

When I was an M3, I did a family medicine rotation at a hospital in my hometown. I ran into quite a few parents of my high school friends, from various fields. Of course, they all asked me what I planned to do. When I told them I was pretty sure I wanted to do anesthesia, every single one of them told me I was making a wise choice.

As a practicing anesthesiologist, I agree.