Most laid back medical specialities

Started by SoundofSilver
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
One thing people fail to realize with RadOnc (which I just learned) is that while it maybe 8-5 ish during residency, when you go home there is A LOT of material to get down. Much more so than any other field. They don't pimp on anatomy/treatment, they pimp on papers...
 
jejun said:
One thing people fail to realize with RadOnc (which I just learned) is that while it maybe 8-5 ish during residency, when you go home there is A LOT of material to get down. Much more so than any other field. They don't pimp on anatomy/treatment, they pimp on papers...
Click to expand...


I'd rather read papers in my underwear at midnight than be in the ER at 3am having just done 4 rectals and now being yelled at by a sleep deprived attending about wheter or not a patient needs emergency surgery. More reading at home simply does not compare to the misery of other residencies.
 
jejun said:
One thing people fail to realize with RadOnc (which I just learned) is that while it maybe 8-5 ish during residency, when you go home there is A LOT of material to get down. Much more so than any other field. They don't pimp on anatomy/treatment, they pimp on papers...
Click to expand...

Fields like derm, rads, and rad-onc all have a good amount of outside reading during residency.

A lot of outside reading =/= having to be up in the middle of night dealing with BS
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I really tip my hat to all you medical students. Especially you current first year medical students: you guys KNEW about ObamaCare and the coming enhanced stress/demands/lower pay for physicians. I guess somebody has to have your jobs; just like we need people to clean toilets and pick up the trash. you guys are awesome.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
I really tip my hat to all you medical students. Especially you current first year medical students: you guys KNEW about ObamaCare and the coming enhanced stress/demands/lower pay for physicians. I guess somebody has to have your jobs; just like we need people to clean toilets and pick up the trash. you guys are awesome.
Click to expand...

Medical school was easier than convincing my current girlfriend to dress up in leather and hit me with the riding crop... already lost one relationship over that one. Us masochists are just so misunderstood.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
I really tip my hat to all you medical students. Especially you current first year medical students: you guys KNEW about ObamaCare and the coming enhanced stress/demands/lower pay for physicians. I guess somebody has to have your jobs; just like we need people to clean toilets and pick up the trash. you guys are awesome.
Click to expand...

u mad brah? you sound jelly brah? Hey clean my teeth son
 
celkon said:
u mad brah? you sound jelly brah? Hey clean my teeth son
Click to expand...

jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
Click to expand...

48375d1315095651-answer-jon-fitch-black-man-brazil-oh_he_mad.jpg
 
mrwesticles said:
If that's what you are looking for in medicine, might I suggest a job in retail?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with wanting a substantial life outside medicine. I have ruled out specialties based almost entirely on the fact that they impinge on my ability to be a happy person outside of a hospital/clinic with a decent amount of free time for myself/friends/family AND sleep time -- not one or the other. I have met more than a few chilly, burned out, chronically overworked physicians in more traditionally demanding specialties, and while I feel badly for them, I refuse to become one of them myself.

ChubbyBaby said:
(troll bullsh*t post from someone lost on way to dental forum)
Click to expand...

The internet is very impressed. To each his own, etc.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
ChubbyBaby said:
jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
Click to expand...

sry u didn't make it into medical school
 
ChubbyBaby said:
jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
Click to expand...

Enjoy rolling in dough and generally being awesome.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
Click to expand...
Hahahahaha. Dude, come on. You're not fooling anyone. Who dreams about cleaning someone's teeth? You didn't accidentally stumble onto this forum--you have absolutely no reason at all to post in this thread, except for one. To make yourself feel better. You aren't bashing first year med students (a pretty specific group to target) for no reason.

I dream about doing surgery. It's exciting. And cleaning teeth isn't. But like you said, somebody's gotta do it.
 
CaptainSSO said:
Hahahahaha. Dude, come on. You're not fooling anyone. Who dreams about cleaning someone's teeth? You didn't accidentally stumble onto this forum--you have absolutely no reason at all to post in this thread, except for one. To make yourself feel better. You aren't bashing first year med students (a pretty specific group to target) for no reason.

I dream about doing surgery. It's exciting. And cleaning teeth isn't. But like you said, somebody's gotta do it.
Click to expand...

Obviously you haven't heard that dentists treat GINGIVITIS.....

http://www.youtube.com/embed/A4Lg4ldQ87g
 
ChubbyBaby said:
I really tip my hat to all you medical students. Especially you current first year medical students: you guys KNEW about ObamaCare and the coming enhanced stress/demands/lower pay for physicians. I guess somebody has to have your jobs; just like we need people to clean toilets and pick up the trash. you guys are awesome.
Click to expand...

Lol.

I don't care if I made 300k as a dentist and 100k as a physician. I'd still rather be a physician.

Being a dentist could be the most boring, routine, and uninteresting thing I could imagine doing for 30 years.

I went into medicine because I like learning about the human body and eventually doing lots of procedures. We're in a rapidly changing field, I can't say that about dentistry.

With all that said, you still get paid a lot less (with tuition much much higher at many schools I've seen).

Average dentist salary is 133k according to salary.com. lol

If you want to say, "oh, but if we specialize..." Guess what we get paid if we specialize:

2010 MGMA (means - not even 90th percentile):

Anesthesiology: 420k
Derm: 440k (40 hrs a week)
Derm (Mohs surgery): 675k
Gastroenterology: 496k
Ortho: 525k
Ortho (spine): 710k
Ophtho (retina): 620k
Neurosurg: 675k
Urology: 425k


So if any of us did only think about $, the fields are there. Fortunately for most of us, we didn't enter this field only thinking about $.
 
Last edited:
ChubbyBaby said:
jealous? 🤣

it's so sad to see threads like this. there's even an acronym for the "lifestyle" specialties. ROAD? Come on. Who's jealous?

Today I worked from 8am to 12pm, and made a little over $1300. That's not production, that's MY cut. I had fun doing it, and helped eliminate disease from somebody's body making them healthier. I can't imagine doing anything else. When I entered college I was pre-med, honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking. I feel so sorry for people whose families have irreversibly brainwashed them into thinking medicine is the only honorable or the "most respected" career.
Click to expand...

What's your annual salary since you don't mind sharing you earnings?

And if were comparing your job, which is MUCH higher than the average dentist (130k), why don't we compare your "top dentist" position to one of our physicians that are in the top.

Some dermatologists earn 3x more than you do working similar hours. They would feel poor if they made your salary. They also are much more respected by the community and they don't troll SDN at night.

You are a big fish in a small pond.
 
Financially, dentistry isn't a bad career choice. Per hour, most of them make the same amount as physicians, or even more. But you have to like it.
 
muhali3 said:
Financially, dentistry isn't a bad career choice. Per hour, most of them make the same amount as physicians, or even more. But you have to like it.
Click to expand...

This. FFS -- you guys got sucked in by a troll post and started trying to figure out whose penis is bigger. It doesn't matter whose is actually larger -- you're still sitting there staring at another dude's dick.

I'll say here the same thing I say to kids in the pre-med forums who ask about dentistry: if you could do dentistry every day and have decent business acumen, go dent. It's a much better lifestyle with the exception of a few medical specialties. That said, I didn't do dentistry for the same reason I'm not gunning for derm: I think it's boring and I'd end up in the back huffing the laughing gas if I had to do it every day.
 
sanityonleave said:
This. FFS -- you guys got sucked in by a troll post and started trying to figure out whose penis is bigger. It doesn't matter whose is actually larger -- you're still sitting there staring at another dude's dick.

I'll say here the same thing I say to kids in the pre-med forums who ask about dentistry: if you could do dentistry every day and have decent business acumen, go dent. It's a much better lifestyle with the exception of a few medical specialties. That said, I didn't do dentistry for the same reason I'm not gunning for derm: I think it's boring and I'd end up in the back huffing the laughing gas if I had to do it every day.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the last point. There are certain specialties that have awesome pay/lifestyle that I will not pursue becuase I find them completely uninteresting and couldn't imagine doing it 40 hrs a week for 30 years.

Yes, I did get sucked into a troll post. Trolls are sometimes successful.😳🙄
 
CaptainSSO said:
You didn't accidentally stumble onto this forum--you have absolutely no reason at all to post in this thread, except for one.
Click to expand...
Never been to the Allopathic forum until my good friend jdh got his account placed on hold from activity in the MD vs. PhD. thread.

CaptainSSO said:
To make yourself feel better. You aren't bashing first year med students (a pretty specific group to target) for no reason.
Click to expand...
You guys hit the "Report Post" button at the drop of a hat.
 
Jack is Back said:
With all that said, you still get paid a lot less (with tuition much much higher at many schools I've seen).

Average dentist salary is 133k according to salary.com. lol
Click to expand...

Nice investigative work there, sherlock. How many dentist's do you know that have a "salary." I bet you've never even seen a salaried dentist, unless you've been in prison or were in the military.
 
Jack is Back said:
Some dermatologists earn 3x more than you do working similar hours.
Click to expand...

I love how the fall-back is always derm. How many derm residency positions are there in the US? What is the average Step I score? What percentage of applicants get accepted? How many hours of extra time in a research lab do you have to spend while in a grueling medical school program.

Send me a PM when you're in a derm residency, okay?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
ChubbyBaby said:
I love how the fall-back is always derm. How many derm residency positions are there in the US? What is the average Step I score? What percentage of applicants get accepted? How many hours of extra time in a research lab do you have to spend while in a grueling medical school program.

Send me a PM when you're in a derm residency, okay?
Click to expand...

I sense some insecurities about being a dentist... It's ok man, no one cares if you are a dentist, physician, or a chubby garbage man.
 
K31 said:
You're more qualified to respond to this than me, but it seems like ortho (and most surgical subspecialties) could be pretty relaxed if you were willing to make less.

I rotated with a private ortho attending who seemed to have a pretty sweet setup. He was in a large group so he didn't have to take call that often, and chose to only spend a couple half-days per week in the OR and instead be in the clinic most of the time. He said he took a hit on his income having less OR time (still made a very comfortable income of course), but he preferred the more relaxed lifestyle, being home by dinner most days, etc. He was getting close to retirement though; he probably worked longer hours when younger.
Click to expand...

How can you be an ortho surgeon and cut down OR hours? The surgeons I know say OR is the only thing that gets them thru clinic days.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
I love how the fall-back is always derm. How many derm residency positions are there in the US? What is the average Step I score? What percentage of applicants get accepted? How many hours of extra time in a research lab do you have to spend while in a grueling medical school program.

Send me a PM when you're in a derm residency, okay?
Click to expand...

You dummy.

That's the whole point. I have no interest in derm even though it's 100x better than your crappy job.

Even if derm had an average Step of 190 and 100% match rate, I still wouldn't want to do derm.

99% of the people on this forum don't envy your position in anyway.
 
Jack is Back said:
2010 MGMA (means - not even 90th percentile):

Anesthesiology: 420k
Derm: 440k (40 hrs a week)
Derm (Mohs surgery): 675k
Gastroenterology: 496k
Ortho: 525k
Ortho (spine): 710k
Ophtho (retina): 620k
Neurosurg: 675k
Urology: 425k
Click to expand...

I have to say I AM impressed with some of these numbers. Especially gastroenterology, that one surprises me.

Some of these fields are just ridiculous though. Neurosurgery, that's what a 7 year residency? And good luck finding a job in the state you'd like to work in. Same with spinal ortho; how many years is that? 5 for ortho plus 2 or 3 extra? Ophthalmology is a nice field. I have a friend who's doing an ophtho residency and the city she'd like to work in has a 3-4 year waiting list for ophthalmologists seeking hospital surgery privileges. Anesthesiology and urology seem like great fields to me, as long as you don't mind looking at/feeling/and smelling dongs all day for urology. :meanie:
 
sanityonleave said:
This. FFS -- you guys got sucked in by a troll post and started trying to figure out whose penis is bigger. It doesn't matter whose is actually larger -- you're still sitting there staring at another dude's dick.

I'll say here the same thing I say to kids in the pre-med forums who ask about dentistry: if you could do dentistry every day and have decent business acumen, go dent. It's a much better lifestyle with the exception of a few medical specialties. That said, I didn't do dentistry for the same reason I'm not gunning for derm: I think it's boring and I'd end up in the back huffing the laughing gas if I had to do it every day.
Click to expand...
:laugh::laugh::laugh: love the analogy haha. ill say, dentistry does seem financially secure but the job in general sounds a bit boring to me. id rather perform a craniotomy in order to to clip an intracranial berry aneurysm or a embolization of cerebral and dural based avms or a laminectomy! id rather perform these procedures than fixing teeth and keeping my hands in someones mouth.. no offence or anything. thats how i feel. but hey man,, who am i to judge right?? i know alot of people that would choose dentistry over neurosurgery any day because of the less hassle and better lifestyle that dentistry has to offer. ill admit, the hours in neuro are terrible not to mention the 7 year residency that makes alot of med students rethink their career choice. dentistry is more lifestyle friendly from what i know but it seems boring to me doing the same thing every day.



 
NeuroChris said:
i know alot of people that would choose dentistry over neurosurgery any day because of the less hassle and better lifestyle that dentistry has to offer. ill admit, the hours in neuro are terrible not to mention the 7 year residency that makes alot of med students rethink their career choice.
Click to expand...

7 years is the residency. A lot of neurosurgeons pursue fellowship afterwards too, right? You seem to have a passion for this field, and props to you, you aren't like those wanting to be a physician but also having a "lifestyle" job. My knowledge about neurosurgery is limited, so correct me if i'm wrong. Getting a job even in the same REGION (forget about state) is a challenge. And a lot of those positions are academic, so you have to produce research on top of that. An added stressor to maintaining your position. (I have family in academic medicine, and Iknow your job is on the line if you aren't producing.) For the years of lost pay for residency, the tremendous effort you put in, and the geographic limitations you're getting yourself into i'd say the level of pay is insufficient. but if it's your passion, then props to you, serious. I myself don't want to be tied down in any way.
 
tiedyeddog said:
I'm still becoming a doctor. People actually respect those.
Click to expand...

what a joke.... people don't respect anything anymore these days. it's not like the olden days where a physician comes into a restaurant and that physician gets the best seat and doesn't have to wait. the times they are a changing. people will respect a physician if they're seriously ill, but my patient's respect me when they are in excruciating pain, and haven't slept the past 3 nights.

People respect money.

But you keep telling yourself physician is the tops. You mommy and daddy probably taught you that.
 
ChubbyBaby said:
People respect money.
Click to expand...
Exactly why I am getting an MD. Ever watch castaway? People don't even need dentists. Let me see Tom Hanks give himself a stent on that island. 😉

When the economy goes sour, which ailment gets money thrown at it, Grandmas broken arm or her abscessed tooth? If it were my grandma i'd castaway that **** in a second.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Oh God! Trolllllll!!! The dentist isn't making a consistent point at all. He's just trying to push your buttons!! Can't anyone see that..
 
Opinions are like anusholes and there are plenty on both sides of this argument. I don't see the point of talking down to someone or saying they are stupid because of their career choice, be it medicine, dentistry, welding, whatever. Doing so is pure arrogance. You may not be interested in what they do, but so what. Most jobs serve some kind of purpose to society. Mind your own damn business and stop wasting your time critiquing the choices other people make that have no impact on your life. Let's stop throwing fuel on the fire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Which shelf exam pairings make the most sense?
Replies
3
Views
670
RockClimberMed
R
L
Most unexpected classmates in med school?
Replies
21
Views
5K
ontiquicuo
O
victoriamedstudent1
Medical Shoes Study
Replies
2
Views
923
ParNoMoney
P
L
will most likely receive all Ps for my clinical grades...
Replies
8
Views
2K
AJS59
AJS59
C
Medical Students Connecting with Pathology
Replies
0
Views
467
CAP Foundation
C