Interesting Psychiatry Locum Tenens Survey (2006)

[Anasazi23]

Lots of points of discussion here.

Most notable is the salary: over 60% of psychiatrists surveyed made over 150k.

http://www.locumtenens.com/psychiatry-careers/2006-LT-Psychiatrist-Salary-Survey.aspx

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[newyg]

Thats a way to see the full half of the glass... The way I see it; over 60% of those who take the survey have over 10years of practice and their mean income is still 178.000 which is way too low compared to those other branches of the medicine. I guess I'm the pessimist type.

 

[juddson]

Great survey. Anybody notice that only 23% of psychiatrists would not have chosen medicine again had they had it to do over again. It was the lowest of all the specialists listed.

Judd

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

How can the #3 frustration about the practice of medicine for psychiatry be 'lifestyle issues - too much time at work, not enough time to enjoy life.' -- I don't get it.

 

[newyg]

Yeah me neither.. in fact life style is an important factor in my decision for psychiatry

 

[Chimed]

How can the #3 frustration about the practice of medicine for psychiatry be 'lifestyle issues - too much time at work, not enough time to enjoy life.' -- I don't get it.

Yeah, that is odd. The fact remains that if you choose to have a good life style in psychiatry, you can do it. The pressure to work more hours may be more influenced by their desired salary and ultimately a choice rather then what is intrinsic to the profession.

 

[PsychMD2100]

Awesome thread. I'm glad someone brought up that Psychiatry has the highest percentage of respondents who would choose the specialty again. I had heard this before from others but it was nice to see it in a survey.

Among doctors who I've gotten to know, it seems like the Ortho and OB specialists (as seen in survey) are less pleased with their decisions compared to the ROAD specialties. Psychiatry seems like a lifestyle field that doesn't get the credit it deserves.

 

[Chimed]

Unfortuanetly, I've lost the source, but I've read that within the profession of psychiatry, Geriatrics has the highest satisfication rate. Any thoughts?

 

[billypilgrim37]

Yeah me neither.. in fact life style is an important factor in my decision for psychiatry

My child attending sat me down the other day and gave me some good advice (at a top 15ish psych program, nonetheless):

"billypilgrim37, you shouldn't worry about prestige so much. you should just walk in to your interviews and say, 'how hard are you going to make me work?' I asked that at every interview, and I found a place where I wasn't going to have to stay past 3'oclock my entire residency. Then I came to (said top 15ish psych program) for child because they said I'd never have to work past 6'oclock. And now I'm the main inpatient attending, and I'm out of here every day by 430."

The man is a walking ball of zen!

 

[newyg]

billypilgrim37, whoever that guy is I'd idolize him... thats the same way I'd like to hit.

 

[newyg]

Chimed, I recall the same graphic I guess It was on "Iserson's getting into a residency". Though I dont get the fact geriatrics being the most satisfactory, I'd think the opposite

 

[Anasazi23]

Chimed, I recall the same graphic I guess It was on "Iserson's getting into a residency". Though I dont get the fact geriatrics being the most satisfactory, I'd think the opposite

Yeah, I think it's probably just cognitive dissonance.

 

[PsychMD2100]

My child attending sat me down the other day and gave me some good advice (at a top 15ish psych program, nonetheless):

"billypilgrim37, you shouldn't worry about prestige so much. you should just walk in to your interviews and say, 'how hard are you going to make me work?' I asked that at every interview, and I found a place where I wasn't going to have to stay past 3'oclock my entire residency. Then I came to (said top 15ish psych program) for child because they said I'd never have to work past 6'oclock. And now I'm the main inpatient attending, and I'm out of here every day by 430."

The man is a walking ball of zen!

billypilgrim,

Careful with that approach. Although that might have worked for him, I wouldn't recommend using that approach with your interviews. Even laid back places are not going to want someone whose goal is to leave early every day. Since they don't know you, they may fear that you'll be unable to do the minimum.

I understand the importance of lifestyle but it probably shouldn't be your advertised pursuit during interviews.

Getting back to psychiatrist compensation, here's a link with some current practice opportunities in psychiatry.

http://www.practicelink.com/jobs/Physician/Psychiatry/AllJobs/

 

[Chimed]

My child attending sat me down the other day and gave me some good advice (at a top 15ish psych program, nonetheless):

"billypilgrim37, you shouldn't worry about prestige so much. you should just walk in to your interviews and say, 'how hard are you going to make me work?' I asked that at every interview, and I found a place where I wasn't going to have to stay past 3'oclock my entire residency. Then I came to (said top 15ish psych program) for child because they said I'd never have to work past 6'oclock. And now I'm the main inpatient attending, and I'm out of here every day by 430."

The man is a walking ball of zen!

Forgive me for the rant in advance....I'm just as into having a good life style as the next person, but you may want to think about that approach in how to pick a program, assuming you're serious in your post. IMHO, the only way you're really going to learn is by seeing as many patients as possible and being exposed to as many different scenarios in an environment where you can ask questions and get good guidance and feedback. Perhaps the line about getting out at 3 is a little tongue-in-cheek, but you have to wonder if a program that is light on hours is going to prepare you well enough. Think about it this way, residency is a relatively short period of time and you'll have your whole life to work 8 to 4:40 after training. I say work as hard as you can now to be the best psychiatrist you can and then find that "cush" job later! But to each his or her own...🙄

 

[billypilgrim37]

Forgive me for the rant in advance...

Nah, I'll forgive you for not detecting playfulness. The rant is still all your fault. 😉

I think it's pretty clear he was being extremely hyperbolic, but there's a latent message--it's okay not to work yourself into a stupor--that was nice to hear from an attending who was doing quite well for himself. I can't imagine, for example, a medicine attending saying those words, just in principle.

While I'd prefer to not be q4 my entire intern year, or be stuck q3 for a few months in the ICU, I haven't seen too many places where the workload didn't seem reasonable. Heck, at least one place pretty high at the top of my list actually is q4 the entire intern year, even on psych months, and if I can actually find some faculty with research remotely close to what I want to do, I'd deal with it.

 

[Chimed]

Nah, I'll forgive you for not detecting playfulness.

Ahhhh! That's the beauty and fault of posting on the internet to people who have no idea the tone behind what others write....which is why i put in the "assuming you're serious." 😉