Does it get boring?

[Fundamentals]

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I know everyone says you need to like the bread and butter of the specialty if you are going to do it, but I have a lot of trouble staying anywhere near as engaged when I start seeing so much repetition. With that said, I do realize that every case has its differences in the details. But largely, I find myself getting bored very easily and this is while just being a med student. Maybe it'll be way different when actually being in the driver seat as a resident/attending.

What I wanted to know was, does it get boring to you physicians after doing it for years? Does the repetition get to you or is that not really a part of it at the resident/attending level?

 

[smq123]

I know everyone says you need to like the bread and butter of the specialty if you are going to do it, but I have a lot of trouble staying anywhere near as engaged when I start seeing so much repetition. With that said, I do realize that every case has its differences in the details. But largely, I find myself getting bored very easily and this is while just being a med student. Maybe it'll be way different when actually being in the driver seat as a resident/attending.

What I wanted to know was, does it get boring to you physicians after doing it for years? Does the repetition get to you or is that not really a part of it at the resident/attending level?

Sometimes it gets boring. And thank God that it does.

If every case was unusual, different, ambiguous, it would require a tremendous amount of concentration for each and every patient. And, in my specialty, where you frequently see over 20 patients a day, that would be horrible. It would be like driving home through an ever-changing obstacle course every day.

But it's far more boring as a medical student than as a resident or attending. Watching someone practice medicine is frequently boring; practicing medicine yourself is less boring or mind-numbing. You have a lot more at stake when it is your signature on the chart.

 

[doc05]

yes it gets very very boring.

 

[QofQuimica]

Anything you do over and over again gets "boring" after a while. As smq pointed out, this is a good thing since there is only so much stress and excitement you want to deal with on a day to day basis. And it is also possible to change your practice type (academic vs community), do a fellowship, etc.

 

[Law2Doc]

Agree with the others but want to emphasize what smq is saying-- that you might more often than not have a zebra or undesired complications muddy up your day and find yourself longing for the case that goes exactly as it's supposed to. The routine part is the part you can comfortably handle in your sleep while the non-routine is what heartburn and sometimes lawsuits are made of.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

At least in the case of general internal medicine, I'm almost at the end of residency and I'm not bored at all. Pick a specialty with a broad scope and it's unlikely that you'll ever find yourself truly 'bored'. In a general IM clinic, you have to be able to field questions about practically anything in the wide world of medicine and have at least an idea of what to do about whatever you see going on with your patients.

As some others have pointed out, however, you want a degree of 'routineness' with the job eventually or else it just ends up being overwhelming. If you have a taste for the unusual, complex, challenging cases, however, working at a tertiary referral center will definitely satiate that.

 

[ProfMD]

Absolutely it gets boring. And, as mentioned, the boring days are sometimes welcome.

When you are deciding on a specialty, make sure you take a close look at whatever the most common/boring/routine/mundane issue is that they deal with. Make sure you can handle that. Radiology - another chest chest x-ray for cough. Dermatology - acne. Pediatrics - well care checks. Internal medicine - hypertension, diabetes. General surgery - hernias. The list goes on and on.

Also, as others pointed out, you can mitigate the routine-ness. If you thrive on personal relationships, following patients their entire lives, seeing babies and there parents, then perhaps FM in a small community is for you. If you still enjoy general medicine but would rather see the more complex cases, maybe do some teaching and publishing, then look at academics. Pick a specialty that suits your goals and interests. Most importantly, though, be honest with yourself. The biggest mistake I have seen people make is choosing a specialty for prestige, money, or to make their parents happy.

And finally, as other said, watching others work while a medical student is not representative of what life will be like as a resident or attending. There was a time when medical students were allowed to actually do stuff, but times being what they are, this is dwindling.

 

[WeeBay]

As pointed out, the pointed out answer has already been pointed out.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

I love boring days and boring clinics, but my ability to sort through a not so boring patient has been with more ease.
2 months til board certification baby!! Feels good 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

I love boring days ...
2 months til board certification baby!! ...

I think you mean "bored" certification.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

I think you mean "bored" certification.

Zing! Touché my friend.

 

[Neuronix]

I never get bored with patient care. In my cancer specialty world, I feel like nothing is routine. Memorization of obscure facts for boards and such is boring. Notes and administrative stuff are boring.

 

[deleted245139]

Just a about any job is 10% amazing and reminds you why you chose it in the first place, 10% terrible making you question ever doing it, and 80% day in day out mundane.

Choose a career or field where that 80% resonates with you and you find at least enjoyable.

 

[Crayola227]

It happened to me when I found myself in front of my computer at the hospital 12-14 hours a day, every day for like 10 days in a row, toward the end of the rotation. I could go home and watch Netflix, or stay and work at it another hour, and I would stay.

Plus, I asked everyone what they hated the most about the field, and I found I didn't mind any of it that much.

That seemed as good a measure as anything.

Anyway, it's a job, of course it will get boring. That's why it's a job.

Make up of things I admit:
-50 % are chronic conditions with a known diagnosis (COPD, CHF, CAD, DM, etc.). Mostly caused by smoking, diet, and medication non-compliance. The healthcare system would likely have improved outcomes and decreased costs if instead of involving an internist we just got these patients a life coach, personal trainer and nutritionist.
-20% are dumps from other services with admission to medicine because the specialists hate dealing with all the social bull**** and/or don't want to come to the ER after 5pm and say "just admit to medicine."
-15% are social admits because our healthcare system sucks and instead of providing resources to EM docs to facilitate placement of patients, we instead have the 3 day inpatient rule for SNF placement.
-10% have actual acute medical problems through no fault of their own. The diagnosis of this is generally pretty straight forward.
-5% have something interesting/confusing that I truly need the broad differential of an internist to help me with before a specialist gets involved as once they get involved they will only be focused on their specialty.

In the ideal medical system most patients would fall under the last category and we would actually use our medicine colleagues for their diagnostic acumen. Instead, the medicine service is the dumping ground of the hospital system. The trash comes in through the ER front door and leaves through the back door which is the Medicine service. It is one continuous assembly line of processed ****, fueled by unrealistic consumer expectation and malpractice attorney cupidity. It's why i'm forced to admit that 85 year old with chest pain because god forbid that one 85 year old dies comfortably in her bed while sleeping from a massive STEMI. Instead we must send her to the assembly line for the million dollar workup only to die 6 months later from metastatic cancer after suffering 4 horrible months on chemo.