How to ask about lifestyle

[FulfilledDeer]

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So how do you guys/girls figure out what the possible lifestyles of different specialties is? I feel odd asking questions of attendings about what the boundaries of their lifestyle choices are. I'm just trying to get a sense of how I can fit in (e.g., can I go part time with obvious decrease in salary, can I do fewer OR days a week, can I get time for research, can I work more time/coverage for more $) but some of those questions reflect...poorly on me (despite just trying to get a sense of the specialty). Honestly SDN isn't super helpful either, especially if you go anywhere near anything surgical.

I appreciate any thoughts.

 

[Cinclus]

I actually find the specialty-specific forums to be pretty helpful for this sort of information.

 

[HeyNumber2]

Look at jobs available on indeed, it gives you a sense of what type of work is out there.

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[FulfilledDeer]

Thanks for the ideas. I don't like SDN for this because you either get "well it depends on a lot of things" and nothing super useful, or if you go into the surgery forums it's "You're not dedicated enough to be in surgery, this is the only way to do things." And I've looked on job search sites, but I'm really more interested in....non-standard arrangements. Like...could I mainly cover call for a busy surgery group? That is, not do regular practice but just do the call cases at night. Just as an example.

I guess...one of the most important things to me is feeling like I have the freedom to choose what kind of schedule I want. In a general sense. And I know that I can for the most part do whatever as an attending, but if the expectation is so overwhelming that you're going to the normal schedule that you can't really do anything else then it's a tough sell. It's essentially having how I work dictated for me. I'm just trying to grasp how easy it is to have a different schedule from the expected for these specialties.

 

[kwel]

I don't mind asking attendings about lifestyle at all. A lot of them are so far into their careers that they realize the importance of lifestyle in choosing a specialty. They won't fault you for inquiring

 

[NickNaylor]

Thanks for the ideas. I don't like SDN for this because you either get "well it depends on a lot of things" and nothing super useful, or if you go into the surgery forums it's "You're not dedicated enough to be in surgery, this is the only way to do things." And I've looked on job search sites, but I'm really more interested in....non-standard arrangements. Like...could I mainly cover call for a busy surgery group? That is, not do regular practice but just do the call cases at night. Just as an example.

I guess...one of the most important things to me is feeling like I have the freedom to choose what kind of schedule I want. In a general sense. And I know that I can for the most part do whatever as an attending, but if the expectation is so overwhelming that you're going to the normal schedule that you can't really do anything else then it's a tough sell. It's essentially having how I work dictated for me. I'm just trying to grasp how easy it is to have a different schedule from the expected for these specialties.

I wouldn't ask direct salary questions obviously. But I think you can really get a sense of lifestyle just by how you interact with them. Failing that, I don't think it would be inappropriate to ask about a mentor's schedule, how often they work, maybe about their practice structure if they're not directly employed by the university. Just be tactful.

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[yehhhboiii]

I've found that most attendings are pretty forthcoming in their responses to medical students. They know what it's like to be looking into different specialties and they're pretty honest about the pros and cons of their field. I wouldn't go into a random hospital and ask people how much they earn though.

 

[FulfilledDeer]

Hmmm...maybe I'll just have to get over it then. I'm actually not interested at all in a salary discussion, more of a schedule one. Time to buck up then?

 

[VivaLaVida]

I've never experienced problems with attendings being offended about questions like this. If you have a specific question about scheduling...ask! If I want to get more of a general sense of "lifestyle", I ask about what kind of "work-life balance" their speciality provides.