Part time a possibility?

[sleepy21]

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Okay, I need some advice on what to do. I'm pre-med and a junior in college, and I simply do not want to have to work full-time for the rest of my life. I want the autonomy of working part-time if I need more time at home or if I want to pursue other interests. I've heard many different things about working part-time as a doctor. Some people say that it is completely possible; others complain that insurance and overhead make part-time impossible. Also, I've heard that if you work in a group, your partners get mad at you if you want to go in part-time. Does anyone know any doctors that work less than 40 hrs a week, and if so, what is their specialty? Is this semi-common or unheard of? I don't mind giving 8 years of my life to med school and residency, but don't want to be locked in a full-time commitment when I finally emerge with an M.D. 😕

 

[Disenchanted 1]

Hey sleepy,

I use to work for an anesthesiology group in Austin called Capitol Anesthesiology. Well, I can tell you that about 4-5 female anesthesiologists were working part time. With some fields it is definitely possible but let me tell you that they got a lot of smack for what they did from a lot of other physicians in the group. They probably worked about 3 days a week. However, most specialties do not afford this type of hours. But regardless if you are going to be a competetive student in med school you can always go to specialities like derm, radiology, ophtalmology or anesthesiology which all have great hours and lots of money. Additionally, I believe you can afford to work part time in some of course if you are in a group expect a lot of bitter feelings from others!!

 

[kash_711]

ER DOC 21 days on a month, 12 hours a day good pay not bad at all

 

[Blade28]

Originally posted by sleepy21
Does anyone know any doctors that work less than 40 hrs a week, and if so, what is their specialty?

BTW, for many physicians, working 40 hours/week WOULD BE part-time. 🙂

 

[ms. a]

Originally posted by kash_711
ER DOC 21 days on a month, 12 hours a day good pay not bad at all

As the wife of an ER doc, 21 12-hour shifts a month would royally suck. After 3 or 4 12-hour shifts a week, the week is wiped out. Keep in mind, about half of the 12-hour shifts are at night. Also, during those 12 hours, only once in a blue moon do you have the opportunity to sit down, eat or go to the bathroom. Not as cush as you think.

 

[velouria]

you can do locum tenens (i think that's right?) work in many fields. it's basically temp work, so you could work a few months, take a few off.
i think there are also opportunities for part-time work in many fields (OB doing gyn only, ER, peds in a busy practice) --- you could always check recruiting websites or try to talk with a recruiter about options available now.

 

[LauraMac]

this has been a concern of mine lately, too. i plan on having kids at some point and would really like to be able to actually spend a lot of time with them and not have them be rasied by total strangers. and i highly doubt i will find a guy willing to give up his career to stay home with the kids.

so i am hoping i will be able to have a 40 hr/week or less type of specialty. right now i'm thinking pediatrics or cardiology. so this new wanting to work part time thing really makes me want to do pediatrics over cardiology. i have a long time to decide, though, so i'm not too concerned about making a decision yet. and since i don't even have a boyfriend the kids thing is a long way off, too.

what sucks is that all the specialties people say have good lifestyles are things i'm not interested in. so who knows what will happen.

 

[jbish]

The cardiologist I worked with clocked about 60 hrs a week. So did the rest of the docs in her department...if not more.

The part-time gen. surg. I shadowed at MGH worked 50 hours a week. Yes, that is part time. Full time is expected to be around 80 hrs/week.

Thinking about it, I know very very few docs who work less than 50 hrs a week. Even my dad with his "cush" pathology job works 7-6...this is more based on the traffic and commuting hours than not being able to leave the office from workload but still.

I guess derm and ophthal are really the only way to go. 😉

 

[KarateGirl]

Personally I believe that if you want it badly enough, you will find a way. A friend of mine is an oral pathologist. When I met her she was working part-time at NY Hospital, and doing some consulting work, and she had a pretty cushy schedule. In fact, looking back I'm wondering when the hell she worked. She did some teaching and lecturing, and eventually got onto the admissions board for NYU Dental. But she decided what and how much she wanted to do. Granted, not everyone is so lucky, but if that's a priority for you you can make it happen.

 

[skypilot]

And don't believe everything you hear. There are plenty of opportunities for part time work as long as you go into more general fields like FP, Peds, Internal Med, Anesthesia etc. The trick is you can take the shifts that nobody else wants. For instance work Saturday and Sunday or work the graveyard shift. Believe me the partners in your practice will worship you not deride you. You won't get rich but you can definitely make a living and also have a life outside of work.

Locum Tenens is definitely an option too. My sister works only 9 months of every year in internal medicine.