MD and still have a life

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
R

robgarcia

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
I've always wanted to be a physician. I can't imagine myself in any other career. But someday I also want to have a family. I want to be there for them. Raise my son(s) or whatever. Here's my question:

What medical specialties provide you with more "free" time?
You know like, they let you have a more flexible schedule(no calls etc.)

????

Thanks in advance.
Members don't see this ad.
 
lol
derma is supposed to be the best for life style
since they arent ever on call..
rads is probably good too

however.. i would like to add..
that those both are the MOST competitive residences..
so yah..
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
why dont you want family practice
with a ob fellowship they make pretty good cash and have a pretty good lifestyle since its mostly never on call
though.. they might have to do some calls if there are medical emergencies
 
About FP...I just don't like it.

I like peds though...
 
robgarcia said:
I've always wanted to be a physician. I can't imagine myself in any other career. But someday I also want to have a family. I want to be there for them. Raise my son(s) or whatever. Here's my question:

What medical specialties provide you with more "free" time?
You know like, they let you have a more flexible schedule(no calls etc.)

????

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Physicians can have babies?
 
OP, you might elect to specialize in something with shift work, and therefore, no call. Examples are hospitalist, intensivist, neonatologist, laborist (OB), and Emergency Med.

Also, you could join a huge single-specialty group and have rare call.

Or you could work in a Quick Care clinic, which are not open over nnight.
 
On call does not necessarily mean that you won't have time for family. Some physicians in various specialties join groups where they have call maybe 4 times a month. That's an average 1/week. If you really think about it, that isn't bad at all!! In fact, I think it would be cool to have to rush into the hospital to save a life. How many people can say that?

Just going off a tangent, I had to call the police last night because of something going on in my neighborhood. When the police officer showed up, I really thought that being a cop is pretty cool. Well the excitement factor of it. Then the thought of being a trama surgeon came into mind. That too is a high intensity & very exciting job....
 
heh...at the clinic I volunteer at, the attending physician (Internal Medicine) was late last weekend and said "sorry, its double experience weekend....".

I think if she can find time to play an online game, she has enough time to have a life outside of medicine.
 
Double experience, was she playing World of Warcraft or something?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
mfrizzo3 said:
Physicians can have babies?
Click to expand...

unique135 said:
Physicians can do deliveries with normal cases. Otherwise, they can assist in complicated ones.
Click to expand...

I think you missed the sarcasm boat on this one bud.

Also, to OP, it's suppose to be top secret but PM & R is a lifestyle specialty which is not competitive at all. 40-50 hrs even during residency. You can have as many sons as you can handle.
 
heh...at the clinic I volunteer at, the attending physician (Internal Medicine) was late last weekend and said "sorry, its double experience weekend....".
Click to expand...
Double experience, was she playing World of Warcraft or something?
Click to expand...
Lmao. Yes, that's a WoW quote.

To OP: Medical school and residency are the most demanding on leisure time; after that, many specialties provide more leisure time. In general, surgery specialties are "busier," but that is a generalization. There are doctors with successful marriages and with happy children in every single specialty in medicine.
 
OP i think youre looking for the ROAD specialties Radiology, Opthalmology, Anesthesiology, and Dermatology. and more recently some might even call it ROADE to include Emergency Medicine. These are the most competitive oens at least.
 
firefighter..
emergency medicine is a good life style specialty?
lol..
maybe its me..
but having to deal with tons of people who come half way dead to the ER and getting them back to stability and life every day of your life < your on call like all the time>
doesn't sound very stable a life to me lol..:smuggrin:
 
serenade said:
firefighter..
emergency medicine is a good life style specialty?
lol..
maybe its me..
but having to deal with tons of people who come half way dead to the ER and getting them back to stability and life every day of your life < your on call like all the time>
doesn't sound very stable a life to me lol..:smuggrin:
Click to expand...
Working 12 hours shifts, 3 or 4 days a week, is extremely stable and the norm.
 
hmm
touche i guess..
12 hour shifts are still kinda long lol..
 
serenade said:
firefighter..
emergency medicine is a good life style specialty?
lol..
maybe its me..
but having to deal with tons of people who come half way dead to the ER and getting them back to stability and life every day of your life < your on call like all the time>
doesn't sound very stable a life to me lol..:smuggrin:
Click to expand...

ER medicine is shift work (of varying degrees of difficulty). I have a friend who's a pediatric ER faculty member and he actually works A LOT, and at odd times, often overnight, weekends, etc. He definitely works more than 5 days a week, and I personally would prefer more of a day-time physician position than the strange hours he works. He's also a faculty member and teaches/does administrative stuff which also takes time out of his day (most ER docs don't do this). That being said, if you've ever worked in an ER you'd realize that most people do not come in there for life-threatening injuries or diseases. Certainly that does happen often, but many people use the ER for suspected heart attacks, uninsured looking for primary care, broken bones, etc. Most patients aren't on their deathbeds/needing life-saving care, although some will be. ER is kind of like primary care on steroids, with more frequent, really interesting, but also really important cases.
 
hmm who knows..
lol maybe i'll have a better idea of emergency med in 6 years lol
 
robgarcia said:
I've always wanted to be a physician. I can't imagine myself in any other career. But someday I also want to have a family. I want to be there for them. Raise my son(s) or whatever. Here's my question:

What medical specialties provide you with more "free" time?
You know like, they let you have a more flexible schedule(no calls etc.)

????

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

You don't want to raise your daughters? :p
 
Anecdotal: but my gf's dad is a GI doc. Works 5 days a week in a group practice with 2 other physicians. On call once a month and has plenty of time to spend the comfortable living he's making.
 
serenade said:
firefighter..
emergency medicine is a good life style specialty?
lol..
maybe its me..
but having to deal with tons of people who come half way dead to the ER and getting them back to stability and life every day of your life < your on call like all the time>
doesn't sound very stable a life to me lol..:smuggrin:
Click to expand...

You're not on call all the time. In fact, you're never "on call". Twelve hour shifts a few times a week, not bad at all. Its actually a very stable schedule, unless you're covering for someone or people show up late due to bad weather/traffic/etc (its happened before).
 
The lifestyle ROAD specialties (Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology, Dermatology).

oh someone already posted this...w/e. All of these are pretty competitive, anesthesiology probably being the easiest of them to match into, dermatology being the hardest.
 
Bacchus said:
Peds is FP unless you do a fellowship. Except, besides crying kids, you have bitching parents.
Click to expand...

As a father and someone that shadowed 4 different pediatricians for a total of around 50 hours....... I totally agree.
 
calimed214 said:
You don't want to raise your daughters? :p
Click to expand...

dru2002 said:
He's trained his sperm, not an X chromosome to be found. ;)
Click to expand...



LMAO...

my son(s) AND daughters.

I think that any physician, no matter what specialty he's into, can find some kind of "balance" to have his life under control, so he can spend time on whatever he wants to(Playing WoW or raising kids...lol) I guess it's just about doing what you like and letting the other stuff just take shape naturally.

I feel deep... I should appear on Oprah.
 
personally, i would do anesthesiology. i have looked at several job postings lately where they are only on call maybe once every 7 to 9 days. maybe i'm just uninformed, but i think anesthesiology would be the least intense choice!
 
My dad's a rheumatologist and I think he lives a great life outside of medicine. Talking with him, he definitely recommends his specialty but also dermatology and ER. I'm leaning towards ER...
 
is emergency med really that hard to get??

I honestly have not been following that very much...suppose its time?
 
EM is not one of the supercompetitive specialties. As far as 'lifestyle' specialty, it depends. You have stable 12 hour shifts 3x a week with no call, but chances are you're going to get stuck with some nights and holidays, which many probably wouldn't consider 'lifestyle.' As far as EM - shadow, or read up on the EM board. Although you'll get some interesting cases, a lot of your time will be spent working with people who shouldn't be in their because their symptoms are very minor (treating you as a PCP) or who shouldn't be in there because they're malingering for drugs, doctor's notes, etc.
 
Emergency Medicine Son... Working 3, 4 day 12 hr shifts cycling every week...Cant beat that... EM RULES!! =)

emergency-medicine.jpg
 
This are my choices so far:

EM
peds *(probably oncology fellow)
surgery (oncology fellow)
IM (oncology fellow)
Neurology
Intensive care

I have my mind set to oncology...lol


This is something near...
 
is it easier to get a ROAD specialty if you go to a less competitive medical school? I want to go into dermatology and i'm wondering if my medical school will make a difference in the likelihood of matching with derm
 
what med school you go to plays very little into what residency you get into..
that is.. as long as its a u.s school..=p
to get into a competitive residency you need high board scores
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

I
8/9 DO II with 3 A and 2 WL but still no II from MD??
Replies
5
Views
1K
DOVinciRobot
DOVinciRobot
A
Still submit DO secondaries with MD interviews?
Replies
7
Views
884
Splenda88
S
T
Do I still have a shot sGPA 3.11 and cGPA 3.27
Replies
8
Views
309
LindaAccepted
LindaAccepted
Avatararrow
Do I have a chance of auto interviewing/is auto interviewing still a thing for Tx Schools?
Replies
7
Views
762
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
hja25
Should I still apply to MD schools this late in cycle?
Replies
8
Views
879
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top