best specialty for VACATION TIME!

[elzocalo]

im talking about post-residency training when you are actually working.

most threads seem to be about overall lifestyle, but im specifically for vacation time. i cant find a list of average "weeks per year" worked by specialty.

based on what i can dig up, i think radiology gives on average 8-12 weeks vacation time, anesth seems to give 8 weeks vacation time. and im ASSUMING derm gives a good amount too. im personally interested in radiation oncology and prolly will go into that field which seems to give about 4 weeks vacation time about the same as a lotta other fields.

so anyone have a clue what the best specialties are for vacation time or thinks my estimations are dead wrong?

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[hippiedoc13]

At our hospital, the internal medicine hospitalists work 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Which means they only work 26 weeks a year. Sounds amazing. I don't know how many of them do other work during the 2 wk periods when they aren't on service.

 

[lowbudget]

Sorry dude, it's got nothing to do with what specialty you're in per se. It has all to do with how your practice is structured, whether your employed with benefits like vacation, if you're an independent contractor or owner/partner where you don't work you don't get paid.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

im talking about post-residency training when you are actually working.

most threads seem to be about overall lifestyle, but im specifically for vacation time. i cant find a list of average "weeks per year" worked by specialty.

based on what i can dig up, i think radiology gives on average 8-12 weeks vacation time, anesth seems to give 8 weeks vacation time. and im ASSUMING derm gives a good amount too. im personally interested in radiation oncology and prolly will go into that field which seems to give about 4 weeks vacation time about the same as a lotta other fields.

so anyone have a clue what the best specialties are for vacation time or thinks my estimations are dead wrong?

In raw time, hospitalist. Many of them work around 26 weeks a year: 7 days on, 7 days off (12 hour shifts). Pay is generally starting at 150-200k. I have no idea how much recuperation time is involved after each 7 day shift, but I'm guessing a day or two of good sleep is standard. That gives you at least 5 days of vacation time, twice a month.

 

[elzocalo]

thanx for the responses. im more interested in what fields are conducive to having big CHUNKS of vacation time as in 3-6 months at a time.

i'm not trying to actually vacation with this time but need it for another career (thanx to above posts for not judging. can doctors in most fields choose a practice where they are only working 6 months a year if they really seek out that type of scenario and just half their income? are there specialties that are particularly conducive to this like rad or derm?

 

[Rendar5]

You'll basically need a specialty that has patients that do not require them to see you in one month to see if what you did helped them. So I'd say most outpatient stuff is off. You might be able to find a gig like that in emergency medicine, PM&R, hospitalist, working in group setting. Alternatively, if you don't mind sharing your patients with other professionals, any outpatient gig could possibly work except for maybe family med, psych, and internist

 

[michaelrack]

You could do locum tenens work. You could easily get locum tenens assignments that fit your schedule in psychiatry or primary care specialties.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

thanx for the responses. im more interested in what fields are conducive to having big CHUNKS of vacation time as in 3-6 months at a time.

i'm not trying to actually vacation with this time but need it for another career (thanx to above posts for not judging. can doctors in most fields choose a practice where they are only working 6 months a year if they really seek out that type of scenario and just half their income? are there specialties that are particularly conducive to this like rad or derm?

I think locum tenens primary care or EM or anesthesia is your best bet. I really don't think radiology, radiation oncology, or dermatology are best. For radiology, expect to work for a practice where others expect you to pull your weight and no one would accept a novice position working half the year. I don't know if there are many locum tenens positions for radiology. For dermatology, you'd have to work with a large group that tolerates you not being there. You would have no patients of your own. Rad onc would be a terrible idea - you need to commit to seeing the same patient through.

Anyway, talk to a locum tenens agency/recruiter and see what the prospect is for locums in rads/derm. I may be wrong and there may be plenty of opportunities. It's well known that FM/IM/peds/EM/anesthesia can fit locums well, but I don't know about other specialties.

 

[Winged Scapula]

If you need blocks of time off, Radiation Oncology or any specialty which has extensive follow-up is out. Cancer patients become quite attached to their specialists and it would be inappropriate to be gone and unavailable to them 3-6 months out of the year, on a regular basis.

As others have mentioned, your best bet is locum tenens work in anesthesia, EM or perhaps hospitalist positions. You *might* be able to contract such a schedule in a group practice, but expect that most groups are not going to be willing to bring you on at the additional expense without the income generation of a full-time partner.

 

[Apollyon]

A good friend of mine is a radiologist, who gets 12 weeks of vacation per year. It's only reasonable - in any doctor position where you don't see chronic patients, you can get protracted amounts of time off. Anesthesiology, radiology, pathology, emergency medicine, and hospital internal medicine all fall in this paradigm. They all are "when you're at work, you're working" and "when you're off, you're off".

 

[gman33]

I would think that in most groups, even if you get 12 weeks of vacation, that it would be really hard to take it all at once.

EM or hospitalist would be flexible enough that you could work every other week if that would help you out.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I would think that in most groups, even if you get 12 weeks of vacation, that it would be really hard to take it all at once.

EM or hospitalist would be flexible enough that you could work every other week if that would help you out.

Locum tenens will give him the greatest flexibility in time off, but it's pretty much a career dead end - you aren't becoming partner, you aren't getting the tenure track, and you're not even fixed in one geographic location. If you're OK with that, though, it could work out great.

 

[Taurus]

A good friend of mine is a radiologist, who gets 12 weeks of vacation per year.

12 weeks seems to be the norm for most radiology positions I have seen.

 

[p53]

If you want extended vacation time go into radiology.

http://www.radworking.com/radiology-jobs/437161.html

http://www.radworking.com/radiology-jobs/439820.html

Even when salary goes down for radiology. The lifestyle will be much better for radiology. Plus, you can subspecialize in MSK outpatient imaging and get 12-16 weeks off a year with ZERO call.

Why do you think all of the Gunners in radiology residency are gunning for a Muscularskeletal fellowship?

MSK is the dermatology of radiology subspecialties! It has low malpractice, cush hours (M-F 9to5), and 3-4 months of vacation a year. Plus, you can work for professional teams as their official radiologist and read all of their studies. I know one guy that works for the Philadelphia Eagles and reads all of the MR studies for the Eagles Ortho group and travels with the team.

Even if Radiology salary hits $300-$350 (i.e. 20% drop in salary) it will always have these long vacation times.

Plus if you want to make beaucoup bucks you can pick up extra night shifts.

Also, some East Coast groups own houses in hawaii and rotate partners for 4 week blocks to Hawaii. This allows the group to have overnight reads from Hawaii for two weeks and two weeks of "free vacation" in Hawaii. This is known as inhouse nighthawk because of the time difference. Plus the partners get to stay in Hawaii!

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One more thing. There will always be a need for radiologists because the number of imaging studies are going up. Plus, you can do a fellowship in Interventional Radiology or Mammography. These two subspecialties are hospital based thus require physicians to be in the hospital to do procedures.

 

[p53]

There is an abundance (will always be an abundance) of job opportunities in Radiology and 3 to 4months of vacation. The key is to pick the right subspecialty in radiology.

http://www.radworking.com/jobs/radiology-jobs.html

 

[Taurus]

If you want extended vacation time go into radiology.

http://www.radworking.com/radiology-jobs/437161.html

http://www.radworking.com/radiology-jobs/439820.html

Even when salary goes down for radiology. The lifestyle will be much better for radiology. Plus, you can subspecialize in MSK outpatient imaging and get 12-16 weeks off a year with ZERO call.

Why do you think all of the Gunners in radiology residency are gunning for a Muscularskeletal fellowship?

MSK is the dermatology of radiology subspecialties! It has low malpractice, cush hours (M-F 9to5), and 3-4 months of vacation a year. Plus, you can work for professional teams as their official radiologist and read all of their studies. I know one guy that works for the Philadelphia Eagles and reads all of the MR studies for the Eagles Ortho group and travels with the team.

Even if Radiology salary hits $300-$350 (i.e. 20% drop in salary) it will always have these long vacation times.

Plus if you want to make beaucoup bucks you can pick up extra night shifts.

Also, some East Coast groups own houses in hawaii and rotate partners for 4 week blocks to Hawaii. This allows the group to have overnight reads from Hawaii for two weeks and two weeks of "free vacation" in Hawaii. This is known as inhouse nighthawk because of the time difference. Plus the partners get to stay in Hawaii!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
One more thing. There will always be a need for radiologists because the number of imaging studies are going up. Plus, you can do a fellowship in Interventional Radiology or Mammography. These two subspecialties are hospital based thus require physicians to be in the hospital to do procedures.

Sounds good except I heard that MSK is getting saturated. Besides, how many radiologists can go around traveling with a pro team? I heard that even if you do a non-IR fellowship you will typically spend only 20% doing it while doing general radiology the rest of the time. Nevertheless, radiology is an awesome field.

 

[michaelrack]

You could work 6-8 months per year doing prison psychiatry if you work for one of the large companies that has contracts for the prisons throughout a state.

 

[lowbudget]

I know one guy that works for the Philadelphia Eagles and reads all of the MR studies for the Eagles Ortho group and travels with the team.

Explain to me why a MSK radiologist needs to travel with the team.