Specialties most suitable for part time work?

[Fireboy]

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Hi guys!

What specialties are most suitable for part time work? Which specialists would have the easiest times finding such positions? I know that some specialties, such as radiology and pathology, may theoretically be good for part-time work but that it can quite difficult in practice to find such positions...

Thanks for the input!

 

[skypilot]

I think the best specialties for part time work are FP, EM, IM hospitalist, Anesthesia, and maybe Psych. High demand for the specialties makes part time more likely.

 

[LADoc00]

no1 would prob be EM.

 

[mlw03]

i would think FP, IM, or peds, in a decent sized group doing outpatient only. work 3 10 hour days a week, and you're still making decent money. i actually expect a lot of people to do this sort of thing in the next 20 years.

 

[Poety2]

Psych definitely, theres plenty of docs in my program that do part time. BUT, you have to LOVE it.

 

[f_w]

Yes, there are part time radadiologists but:
- you won't make partner in a regular rads group as part-timer
- income will not scale linearly with hours worked
- best bet is work for a telerad provider. not everyones thing

There are three groups of part-timers:
- mammography queens
- geezers (sorry, mature radiologists who cut back)
- baby makin machines 😉

 

[Fireboy]

Psych definitely, theres plenty of docs in my program that do part time. BUT, you have to LOVE it.

The reasons behind some of the other answers are very apparent, but why would psych be so great for part-time?

 

[mlw03]

The reasons behind some of the other answers are very apparent, but why would psych be so great for part-time?

didn't you watch Growing Pains? Dr. Seaver had the sweeeeeet setup in his house. Counsel some crazies a few days a week and the rest of the time he's the perfect stay at home dad... and then hilarity ensues with wacky adventures! Until Mike became uber-religious and made them fire the hot nanny who'd been in Playboy (see what kind of cool stuff you learn on E! True Hollywood Story?) no, seriously - psych can be like an other outpatient specialty where you just work as many hours per week as you want, right? i certainly don't see why not.

 

[maxpower75]

From my experience with various colleagues, it seems many people attempt to work part time, but end up putting in extended hours (working after clinic, following up on things while at home etc), your best bet for working part time is doing shift work, that way your hours are defined, you don't have anything to follow up on etc. EM and hospitalist work definately fufill that criteria.

Good luck

 

[TRAMD]

Definitely EM.

 

[dr1day]

Also, if you're just concerned about time spent away from home, I know a dermapathologist who works from home 4 days/week and goes in once/week.

 

[elwademd]

fireboy, what is your definition of full time? what's your definition of part time?

from there, you may be better able to understand the answers.

some things to think about:
in some "full time" hospitalist positions, you'll work 7 days on, 7 days off... which ends up being half the month... and half of the year.

 

[CouchPotato]

Surprisingly, I knew an OB who worked part-time. She worked 2 twelve-hour shifts a week covering the residents' service during crap shifts (usually tuesday and friday nights). She never carried a pager and never worked more than 24 hours a week and got paid as an outside consultant, which meant she ended up making about 80% of the what the faculty OB's made in about 70 hours a week. (She didn't get benefits though)

I think every specialty has opportunities for part-time in some form, if you don't care what you do within the specialty.

 

[deleted50478]

The reasons behind some of the other answers are very apparent, but why would psych be so great for part-time?

I think psych is good for part time because the problems are mostly chronic so patients can wait until monday to see you if you work Mon-Thurs or whatever. A lot of what you do is routine follow-up. It's not like peds where the mother is desperate to see you asap with a sick kid. Yes, there are urgent cases in psych, but they are probably less frequent than in other clinic-based specialties.

Other clinic specialties, family, peds etc, would do well for part time if you have a partner and each work half-time, but even then some patients will want you as their doctor rather than your partner and may not be satisfied with your part-time availability.

Anesthesia and EM are probably the best for part time because no one sees us as 'their doctor'. Neither has a group of patients that will need to see you at a certain time and miss you when you are gone. As long as someone is manning to ER or OR, there's no problem. The only question is whether a group will want to hire you if you won't work as much as others. I think there are plenty of opportunities for part time work in Anesthesia and EM though.

 

[RockfordWF]

Hi guys!

What specialties are most suitable for part time work? Which specialists would have the easiest times finding such positions? I know that some specialties, such as radiology and pathology, may theoretically be good for part-time work but that it can quite difficult in practice to find such positions...

Thanks for the input!

The winner will always be EM. A friend of mine just got a job where he works a2 days on, 4 days off rotation starting just out of residency.

Other specialties listed above (i.e. Psych, Gas) take CALL.

 

[Diamox]

I think you first have to ask yourself what you enjoy doing to make the residency decision. The decision of a speciality - FP, IM, EM, PMR, etc, should be based on a little more than hours of work.

Decide after residency if/why/how to work part time. In medicine you can make pretty much anything work if you look for it.

cheers

 

[RockfordWF]

I think you first have to ask yourself what you enjoy doing to make the residency decision. The decision of a speciality - FP, IM, EM, PMR, etc, should be based on a little more than hours of work.

Decide after residency if/why/how to work part time. In medicine you can make pretty much anything work if you look for it.

cheers

Less likely if you are a surgeon, than anything else, pretty much.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Definitely EM.

EM is great for part-time gigs. The all time winner might be anesthesiology though.

Part-time gigs are great for employers too, since they usually don't have to provide any benefits. Not such a big deal if your spouse has Blue Cross or Aetna.

We as medical students often fail to understand the importance of such things. Making $90k a year is alot of money for part time EM work (easily doable) but shrinks pretty quickly if you're going to be buying good private medical/dental for a family of 5.

 

[RockfordWF]

EM is great for part-time gigs. The all time winner might be anesthesiology though.

Part-time gigs are great for employers too, since they usually don't have to provide any benefits. Not such a big deal if your spouse has Blue Cross or Aetna.

We as medical students often fail to understand the importance of such things. Making $90k a year is alot of money for part time EM work (easily doable) but shrinks pretty quickly if you're going to be buying good private medical/dental for a family of 5.

Anesthesia has on call, EM does not. Not sure how that wins...

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Anesthesia has on call, EM does not. Not sure how that wins...

Because anesthesiologists make more money and most of their work is during "regular hours."

 

[RockfordWF]

Because anesthesiologists make more money and most of their work is during "regular hours."

Tell that the the anesthesiologist on L&D.

I can see how the money is relevant. Not.

If you make $200,000 to $400,000 full time as an EM doc, that doesn't make you so much more poor that you can't afford to work part time.

 

[docB]

There are people working part time in every specialty but in some specialties those jobs are few and far between. A few points:
-Anytime you work part time rather than full time there is usually a disadvantage. Those disadvantages usually extend byond just the amount of money you don't make by working less. In some groups you will be denied benefits, profit sharing, partnership, choice of assignments, gaurenteed hours and so on.
-Primary care docs can work part time by working less, 3 days per week for example, and using hospitalists for their admits. Some patients will not accept this because they want their doctor available every day if not 24/7. Consequently part timers may find it harder to fill their panels.
-Referral based docs like surgeons, surgical subspecialists, cards, GI, etc. can run into problems when they are off when a referring doc wants them. If you're not available for referrals and consults, particularly urgernt referrals and consults, you will see those referring docs quit using you. This can be helped if you are in a big group and the referrals are being made to the group but then you are at the mercy of the group for all the issues mentioned above.
-Gas depends on calls from surgeons. If you're off the surgeon will quit using you. Again this can be mitigated by being in a group.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Tell that the the anesthesiologist on L&D.

I can see how the money is relevant. Not.

If you make $200,000 to $400,000 full time as an EM doc, that doesn't make you so much more poor that you can't afford to work part time.

After the first sentence this post makes no sense whatsoever.

How is money not relevant if you are trying to work part time? If you really want a career good for part time work and money is not relevant than become an FP and work part time in a free clinic. I guarantee you you'd get to make your own hours so it would be the perfect part-time gig.

Yeah, you make around 200-300k as a full time emergency doc, but the whole discussion is about part time work...

 

[RockfordWF]

After the first sentence this post makes no sense whatsoever.

How is money not relevant if you are trying to work part time? If you really want a career good for part time work and money is not relevant than become an FP and work part time in a free clinic. I guarantee you you'd get to make your own hours so it would be the perfect part-time gig.

Yeah, you make around 200-300k as a full time emergency doc, but the whole discussion is about part time work...

If you cant live on 150k a year, then you are clearly blowing money on things you don't need.

 

[doctorhouse]

i would think FP, IM, or peds, in a decent sized group doing outpatient only. work 3 10 hour days a week, and you're still making decent money. i actually expect a lot of people to do this sort of thing in the next 20 years.

I agree. A girl I went to med. school with completed her residency and is now working in IM only twice a week (10 hour days) for now. She's also got a baby so it works out for her and her huband really well.

 

[danielmd06]

A Neurology gal completing a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at my institution just signed on for a 3-day per week job.

 

[howelljolly]

Anyone in any specialty has the ability to work as much or as little as they want.
Obviously EM, IM, Peds, etc. can go part time

In fields like Gas, Ortho, or others that require call, You just have to select a job that has the lifestyle/call schedule you want. If you cant find one that suits you, make your own job, as an independent contractor.

If you are dont want call as an anesthesiologist, dont work in a hospital. Work in a center that does same day surgery, cosmetics in the office, dental surgery, birthing center, or any place that can close at night.

I know of an ortho that worked his butt off for a couple of years, and then went part time. (surgery 1day/wk, and office 1day/wk)

There really is a lot of flexibility in this field, but it will be a trade-off between time, money, location....

 

[gwen]

I plan to cut down my hospitalist job to 2-3 (12-hour) shifts a week after I have a baby. I currently do 14-15 (12-hour) shifts a month and am making a full time IM hospitalist salary. The good thing is that I already get medical/dental coverage through my husband who is a cards fellow and he will be for at least 2 more years. The coverage part is a toughie when it comes to working part-time.

 

[drvechman]

If you cant live on 150k a year, then you are clearly blowing money on things you don't need.

I'm going into a field in which I expect to make at least 700,000 within 5-7 yrs of practice. I need at least that much to make me and my family happy and i'm just glad some fields in medicine still provide me that opportunity. I'm going to laugh all the way to the bank while some self-righteous people in medicine constantly lecture me about how little I should make. I wouldn't wipe my dirty car off with 150K

 

[latinfridley]

I'm going into a field in which I expect to make at least 700,000 within 5-7 yrs of practice. I need at least that much to make me and my family happy and i'm just glad some fields in medicine still provide me that opportunity. I'm going to laugh all the way to the bank while some self-righteous people in medicine constantly lecture me about how little I should make. I wouldn't wipe my dirty car off with 150K

What field are you referring to? There is only one that I can think of where one can 'expect' to make that much = ortho spine (and it definitely isn't a sure thing).

 

[TRAMD]

How did I forget occupational medicine? My dad works 3 days a week, 6-7 hours per day.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

If you cant live on 150k a year, then you are clearly blowing money on things you don't need.

Hey man, I'm not the one with an overpriced, over-roasted triple caramel mochiatto in my avatar...

 

[usnavdoc]

The winner will always be EM. A friend of mine just got a job where he works a2 days on, 4 days off rotation starting just out of residency.

Other specialties listed above (i.e. Psych, Gas) take CALL.

There are plenty of anesthesia day jobs in surgery centers or as a locums making 1400 a day(7-3). You usually work as much as you contract for and if you go past 3, work on weekends/holidays, or take call you get paid more.

 

[Doowai]

I am good friends with several chiropractors. None work over 30 hours a week and take home maybe $200K, live in half mill homes, take many weeks of vacation a year, pay around one thousand a year total on malpractice, don't do residency, are called doctor, but it is kind of hard on the joints (elbows and low back especially)

That said I think there are many ways to work part time with FP and make some decent money - if you have a good entrepenuerial sense. Some of the entrepeneurial ideas I have mimick the Chiros - provide service and not products (products cost money to start with). So many MD's office are product heavy, and therefore have high overhead.

One idea, which most MD's would not do due to ego, is have 3 or 4 chiropractors whose office I work in one or two half days a week each - I would get rent there for free (they already have x-ray, and I can refer out to blood labs in any major city) - so I could see some general medicine patients in several locations. Plus in exchange for the rent I would do exams on personal injury patients to help establish extent of injury medically (will stand up to cross examination much better in a court of law with jury) - that helps them get paid, plus I would get paid for the exam on each patient. Its a plus for them, as they are likely to have better settlements, and I get X dollars for an exam on each personal injury patient they have (which may be 20 per month in not a few offices) and free rent. if any of their patients need something medical I can be there for them - make that fee, and have a steady fee of patients from the chiropractor - which means I would need no advertising, I would have a steady supply of patients needing allergie meds or something. However this would need good legal advice to avoid Stark law violations. I doubt I will go this direction but its a way to have an office , staff and supply of patients available to me - free...in fact get paid to do it. Its just an idea of how someone with an MD can be an entrepeneur and make decent money working 5 or 6 half days per week.

oddly enough I really want to work in IHS - long hours and low pay...weird. I have already enjoyed almost 2 decades of being a high paid slacker - I actually am more concerned with doing good for people now that how to be an highly paid slacker, but its my two cents on an MD working part time. Personally, with the power of the MD - if someone has a MD license and can't make good money working part time they are an overeducated loser. It should be one of the easiest fields to make good money in little time with ANY specialty.