I'm glad I'm not doing THAT!

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glorfindel

Have you walked your dog?
15+ Year Member
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Over the past few days many of the threads here have been all depressing, with people pointing out how ****ty everything is for us and how our personal, financial, and professional lives are all going down the toilet.

I was on the verge of getting depressed, when a light went on in my head and I said to myself,

"Well, at least I'm not a neurologist!"

Then I felt better.

I may see acute stroke in the ER, but at least I don't have to manage them on the floor for several days and see them back in clinic! And don't even get me started about incurable diseases like ALS or all the physically-well, disability-seeking malingerers that show up in neurology clinics (see the neurology forum for more if you're morbidly fascinated by this).

I'm curious about what it is you're glad you're not.

Which specialty would you least like to be? What are you most glad you didn't go into?
 
I have always said that, if it was "be a surgeon or be nothing", my response would be "would you like fries with that?"

I don't have the surgeon's zeal or skill. But this is an internal thing - it's about me. As is prone for SDN threads, I shall not be surprised when someone from another specialty comes in and demeans us, even though we're not demeaning them.

I thought I liked IM until I did it, and then I said, "what am I, nuts?" When I was a med student, I tried to be a bad student in psych, and still did well. I have a natural affinity for psych. But I would never do it.

But that is all wrapped up in my job now! Irony, thy name is EM.
 
I have always said that, if it was "be a surgeon or be nothing", my response would be "would you like fries with that?"

I don't have the surgeon's zeal or skill. But this is an internal thing - it's about me. As is prone for SDN threads, I shall not be surprised when someone from another specialty comes in and demeans us, even though we're not demeaning them.

I thought I liked IM until I did it, and then I said, "what am I, nuts?" When I was a med student, I tried to be a bad student in psych, and still did well. I have a natural affinity for psych. But I would never do it.

But that is all wrapped up in my job now! Irony, thy name is EM.

Bizzare... you took all my answers.

1. "Surgery or nothing?" - I choose nothing.
2. Thought I was going to love IM, until I did it. Then I learned that "internal medicine" is really "eternal medicine".
3. Tried to slack so hard in psych. Even took naps in my car when I could. Glowing grades and recommendations.
 
Diabetes consultant
Outpatient pediatrician
Pain specialist
 
My #1 answer = An administrator.

I also remember driving to work at 500am on my surgery rotations, feeling awfully sorry for myself, and then seeing the guy who was selling papers on the off-ramp in the 30 degree weather and realizing he'd gotten up earlier than I had...that put things in perspective.

And then there was the time from 2008-2010 when my best friend, who is a smart, hard-working guy, had to dip into his retirement so he didn't lose his house while he was out of work. He's in sales.

Sorry for not answering the question the way it was asked, but that's what I've got.
 
On my way home from every shift I thank the good Lord that I'm not one of the hospitalists at my 35+% admission rate shop.

Those poor bastards are salaried and it's essentially a given that every consult to a surgical subspecialty will be answered with a recording of "Admit to medicine and ask them to consult me tomorrow morning". In fact, the hospitalist group has to admit maybe 1 in 3 patients for the large FM residency program. It's no wonder they never return pages because each call is more work for no more money.

As much as I hate chest pain, when I see it on the board there is at least a chance it will be interesting. When the poor hospitalist gets a call he already knows it's lame.
 
Bizzare... you took all my answers.

1. "Surgery or nothing?" - I choose nothing.
2. Thought I was going to love IM, until I did it. Then I learned that "internal medicine" is really "eternal medicine".
3. Tried to slack so hard in psych. Even took naps in my car when I could. Glowing grades and recommendations.

Well-played.
 
Yeah, but my wife does that, and earns more than me! Also, she really enjoys it.

My wife made less in private outpatient peds as an attending than she did as chief resident. Now, she works 16 hours a week as a newborn hospitalist and makes more than both!! However, i make more in 2 shifts than she does in 2 weeks, so it's moot!
 
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Lol, sorry but, do you work 1 shift per month?
No, but my wife doesn't earn $24K per year either.

My wife made less in private outpatient peds as an attending than she did as chief resident. Now, she works 16 hours a week as a newborn hospitalist and makes more than both!! However, i make more in 2 shifts than she does in 2 weeks, so it's moot!
Mine only made $70K as a chief. If you wife was in private practice full time earning that, then I feel bad for her.
As core faculty, I'm limited to 112 clinical hours a month. My wife is salaried above $240K per year, with benefits, and she has a partnership, so they also profit share (which is a fair amount). So yeah, sorry to ruin everyone's cute little idea about how underpaid all primary care is, but well run businesses make money. Her group has 20 pediatricians, and they have 5 clinics. They actually want to start outsourcing their hospital rounds as it doesn't earn them as much money as the physician would in the clinic.
 
* Glad that I backed away at the last minute from choosing Neurosurgery. :scared:
* Agree about Neurology
* SIL is a hospitalist and I wouldn't want her job for anything.
 
I don't have the surgeon's zeal or skill. But this is an internal thing - it's about me. As is prone for SDN threads, I shall not be surprised when someone from another specialty comes in and demeans us, even though we're not demeaning them.

I wanted to like EM (mostly because the people who do it are the most fun to hang out with...IM folks can be kind of douchey) but just couldn't. But I'm glad there are people who do.
 
I say EM (I'm anesthesia). Anytime I go down to the ED and see a sea of stretchers, pts coughing and vomiting all over the place, yelling at the staff and other patients, I thank the almighty I don't work in the ED (although I did prior to med school).

I have a lot of respect for most specialties for a number of different reasons. For EM, I respect you guys cause you guys get ****ted on by every other specialty (at least what I see and hear) for decisions you guys make with limited info, take care of everything that walks through the door, and have to figure out what's going on and treat in a relatively short amount of time. In my opinion that takes a special individual (I'm not special enough, LOL).
 
occupational med
pain clinic
weight loss clinic
rheumatology(used to look cool before they invented fibromyalgia)
psych
surgery
GI
podiatry
dentistry
urology
 
occupational med
pain clinic
weight loss clinic
rheumatology(used to look cool before they invented fibromyalgia)
psych
surgery
GI
podiatry
dentistry
urology


Yep. Nothing like spending a whole day in the OR with d!ck in your face. All day long.

Hated my mandatory "two week subspecialty surgery" trip to the Penis Farm.
 
Tho no longer in medicine - 6 years of vet teching is plenty - I know my very clear answer.

Anything pediatric! OMG, it's not the patients, it's the parents. I have 6 kids, spent enough time around doctors with them. I know their history, I've got their paperwork, I'm not having a fit because I have to wait, I'm on time for appointments, I make my kids behave - and seriously, I consider that normal, appropriate behavior. Yet, I can't count the times I've been thanked for controlling my kids and having half a clue. When my daughter broke her foot, ok, I wasn't as ready as a typical appointment, but still, I know she's asthmatic, can be very fussy and anxious, and is allergic to the -cillian family. I had her insurance card and we did fine.

Seriously, if I had to deal with half the parents I see, I'd be quitting or smacking some people in under an hour.
 
Psych. Sure it's a pretty easy gig. But soooooo much countertransference going on and those docs are usually crazier than their patients.
 
Pain Management, Psych, Occ Med, OB, and Surgery tie for first. Rather drive a truck than do any of that.
 
As much as I hate chest pain, when I see it on the board there is at least a chance it will be interesting. When the poor hospitalist gets a call he already knows it's lame.

This gave me a good laugh. If it was "real" chest pain they are going to ICU or cath lab.
 
Opposing others: i very much enjoyed my urology rotation, but likely because the surgeons are the least like other surgeons out there (able to poke fun at themselves and maintain a good sense of humor). I have a mild visual impairment that precludes me from seeing 3D, so the da vinci was not an option, and thus kept me away from the specialty. Well, more realistically it was my step 1 score, but I'll blame my eyes.

Probably most pleased I'm not a neurosurgeon. Training is forever and they all hate themselves after 2-3 years of residency.

Hospitalists on salary seem like they hate their lives too.

Outpatient peds is too monotonous.

The life of OB attending might be somewhat rewarding, but I'd 100% commit suicide before making it through the first 2 months of residency.

Also blows my mind that orthopedic residents nowadays have to be some of the brightest (or best test takers) in medical school, only to PROMPTLY forget all non-joint related medicine. It's uncanny.

EM, maybe anesthesia, then veterinary medicine for me.
 
The life of OB attending might be somewhat rewarding, but I'd 100% commit suicide before making it through the first 2 months of residency.

Lol I thought for about 10 minutes in med school that I might want to do OBGYN and then I met the residents. I finished my intern off service month in OB in September and I almost didn't make it out, felt like an entire year. Those are some miserable folks...thank god I'm not doing THAT!
 
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