I know it varies by specialty. Physicians in private practice also set their own hours right? Also, I'm not sure, but do some Physicians have a private practice and work in a hospital at the same time?
How many hours per week do attendings work? How about private practice?
- Thread starter JakeSill
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Really difficult to generalize. Yes, it depends on specialty (among many other factors). But it also can differ significantly within the same specialty. For example, a busy oncologist in PP might work on average 60+ hrs per week not including call which could put that number a lot higher. While another oncologist in PP might work on average 40-45 hrs per week. Again, it really depends on the specialty as well as many other variables.
Some can, some can't. Again, totally depends. For instance, what will a group think if most the attendings including partners work 60+ hrs and take in-house call, etc., but then you rock up and tell them you only want 40 hrs and no call? Not sure you'd get a lot of job offers. Maybe if they have a mommy track position available. Otherwise, it's really hard to say, and again difficult to generalize.
Some physicians are in PP and cover local hospitals. Some are hospital employees. There seem to be less and less partner-track positions available in many specialties (e.g. oncology, anesthesiology) in lieu of more employee positions like working for a hospital or working for a mega group or similar.
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In general, given everything else is the same (same specialty, same location, same employment status, etc...) the more hours you work the more money you should expect to make. Physicians who run their own practices will generally have more flexibility in changing how many patients they want to see and when they want to see them (without having to relocate) than those who are employed. If employed, you may have to relocate and switch to another job to get the hours you want (so it's important to decide how much work vs money you want ahead of time when taking your first job). In private practice, if you limit your hours you would probably want to be careful of choosing times when you'll get the most patients, and if you work too few hours your overhead costs become relatively very high so you'll likely take a hit on your profits.
Many physicians in PP will also work in hospitals because the PP has a contract with a nearby hospital to use their facilities for things that you can't exactly do an office. For example a PP ophthalmologist may see patients in his office on some days of the week for general eye exams but will obviously need to be in a hospital with the proper facilities to do eye surgery on other days of the week. Thus, the physicians are not considered employees of the hospital and don't get any benefits from them (though these PP partners will usually make more than their employed counterparts given everything else is the same since they get to keep all the profits they make without the hospital taking a huge overhead).
Many physicians in PP will also work in hospitals because the PP has a contract with a nearby hospital to use their facilities for things that you can't exactly do an office. For example a PP ophthalmologist may see patients in his office on some days of the week for general eye exams but will obviously need to be in a hospital with the proper facilities to do eye surgery on other days of the week. Thus, the physicians are not considered employees of the hospital and don't get any benefits from them (though these PP partners will usually make more than their employed counterparts given everything else is the same since they get to keep all the profits they make without the hospital taking a huge overhead).
