Best Lifestyle in Primary Care

[Sanman]

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A friend brought this question up to me and I wasn't sure so I thought I'd ask. Which primary care fields/specialties have the best lifestyle during and post residency?

 

[TinaRose]

Great question. I'd like to know too. I really want to be a doctor, but am concerned about how it will affect my plans for starting a family.

 

[Firebird]

Probably dermatology...I am really not knowledgeable enough to give much info, but derm usually has hours of 9-5 and call is very benign.

No pun intended.

Anyway, it's extremely hard to get into derm, though. Gotta be tops in the class, pretty much.

 

[Jamier2]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Firebird:
•Probably dermatology...I am really not knowledgeable enough to give much info, but derm usually has hours of 9-5 and call is very benign.•••••They were asking about Primary Care specialties, which include Family Practice, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Ob/Gyn, and I think one more but can't remember which.

I'd say FP, just because you can set your own schedule. I mean you can limit your acceptance of new patients, can't you?

 

[John90210]

Psychiatry is not considered primary care but some people, but it affords one of the best lifestyles of any profession. Usually 40 hr weeks, and about 8 weeks vacation + CME time. Of course, people can choose to work more, but most community positions require about 35-45 hrs/week.

 

[Acro Yali]

what about geriatrics?

 

[rad]

you should not associate any primary care field with a good lifestyle. They make the least amount of money and work the most hours. Most primary care physicians see their hospitalized patients after a full day of seeing patients in the office. I am a resident now and most of the attendings I see after 6pm or on weekends in the hospital are the primary care physicians.

 

[Sanman]

Rad -
I know that primary care fields don't award you the lifestyle and compensation of derm and such, but I was wondering if there were distinct lifestyle difference between these fields. For example, I would assume a pediatrician works less hours than an ob/gyn, I'm sure the ob/gyn makes more money for these hours, but I was primarily interested in the lifestyle difference of a full-time physician in these fields regardless of discrepancies in pay.

 

[Sanman]

Well if primary care fields don't have a good lifedtyle, what about their specialties?

 

[Sanman]

no answers....well I thought I'd give it a bump before I let it die.