Specialties with highest/lowest job satisfaction rate?

[AaqDasaq721]

This is purely out of curiosity. I've recently been reading up on what kind of specialties/residency programs there are, how many hours some doctors work, etc., and I'm wondering, is there any data that shows the job satisfaction rate for different physicians? If not, what do you think are the specialties with the highest/lowest satisfaction rates? Would there be a trivial difference? (say, like 70% for lowest, and 80% for highest)

Apparently 80+ hour work weeks aren't unusual at all for highly specialized surgeons like neurosurgeons, and I can imagine that can have a toll on family/personal life. Meanwhile I read FM works about 40 hours a week, which leaves a lot more time for other things.

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[getdown]

There are polls out there that you can look but rely on physician self reported surveys. However, job satisfaction is highly variable and dependent on the individual. It's not easy to characterize that "oh you work over 80 hours you must be miserable." If you enjoy what you do, working long hours isn't a burden. Even working short hours can be miserable if you hate what you do. Take a surgeon and put them in a derm clinic looking at moles all day and I bet you they'd hate their life. Also, a persons motivation and priorities change as one grows older and that changes your job satisfaction. If you're young and single and want to be the best surgeon around working long hours aren't bad. If you're 50 and have kids and wife, working those same hours isn't really worth it compared to spending time with your family. So, the best thing to do is to know what you want and what your goals are and to tailor a specialty that fits most of them. At least you'll be happier that way.

Medscape: Medscape Access

 

[Blanky]

As @getdown said its extremely subjective to personal preference.
Would you prefer a 35 hour a week job that consists of pushing pins under your finger nails all day?
Would you prefer a job thats 75 hours per week that consists of xbox and Mt Dew or whatever?

 

[Vladimir7]

What I’ve commonly heard is the ROAD to a good pay (great in fact) and good work life balance. Keep in mind these tend to be quite competitive to get into..

R - Radiology
O - Ophthalmology
A - Anesthesiology
D - Dermatology

 

[Catalystik]

From: Medscape: Medscape Access

Medscape: Medscape Access

"Young Physician" is defined as under age 40.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

There is a Forbes most rewarding career list. I know Ortho topped it in 2014


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[Vladimir7]

Lol. Orthopedics are dissatisfied with the $400-500k average salaries? Color me surprised...

 

[907914]

Go PM&R all the way.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Lol. Orthopedics are dissatisfied with the $400-500k average salaries? Color me surprised...

No. We are dissatisfied with the amount of useless paperwork, terrible call (depending on practice, you can be first call which means you’re the one in the ER at night, without a post-call day), predatory hospital/admin systems, and noncompliant patients. Basically, the same things that bother most physicians.

As someone who hasn’t been to medical school yet, your sarcastic assessment of any specialty without intimate knowledge of how much people work and sacrifice for those salaries is rather uncalled for.

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[Angus Avagadro]

What I’ve commonly heard is the ROAD to a good pay (great in fact) and good work life balance. Keep in mind these tend to be quite competitive to get into..

R - Radiology
O - Ophthalmology
A - Anesthesiology
D - Dermatology

Rads and Gas maybe not so much. Gas in later post had +11 % satisfaction and Rads had -15% satisfaction. Salaries at major hospital system in my area just slashed again for Rads.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

It is always important to have a long range view of where a given specialty may be headed, though it is often hard to predict how technology may change a specialty. Anesthesiology took a hit with the explosion of nurse anesthetists, which drove down the pay in many places. Radiology took a hit with telemedicine/night hawk - where radiologists half way around the world started to read films, especially overnight, in many community hospitals. And IR is now doing a lot of work that other specialists used to do, so we may see decreases in salaries (and maybe happiness) in some of the fields like GI, surgery, CT surgery, cards, etc, where IR is taking over. I have found that the people who work in IR are overall pretty happy, as are Therapeutic Radiology/Rad ONC.

The other thing to consider is academic vs community practice. Some specialties are very different in academic medicine - much fewer clinical hours typically than community practice. Community practice docs can have more burnout, especially if there are requirements to work inhumanly fast, especially given mountains of paperwork and time needed to complete EMRs. IM docs with a good sized research lab may work very little clinically - on inpatient wards, maybe only 1-3 months per year in some specialties, with a few half-day clinic sessions a week, (or less). Academic EM docs often work only about 20-24 hours clinically per week, but as many as 36 or more in community. Some community IM and EM docs understandably feel quite burned out, though they make a good bit more money usually than their academic counterparts.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

No. We are dissatisfied with the amount of useless paperwork,

Wait, you are telling me orthopedic surgeons know how to write?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Yup, and they are no longer jocks who are strong as a bull and twice as smart. They are all top 10% in their class and AOA. Several of the amazing doc/human beings I know are ortho.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Wait, you are telling me orthopedic surgeons know how to write?

Shockingly.


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[deleted938090]

Is there any reason why "young" docs are less satisfied than old ones in these specialties?

Medscape: Medscape Access
View attachment 247795

"Young Physician" is defined as under age 40.

 

[Catalystik]

Is there any reason why "young" docs are less satisfied than old ones in these specialties?

Perhaps due to lower compensation early on in practice, need to jump through hoops for promotion or to gain partnership, adjusting to all the rules and regulations, larger share of call duties, and having educational debt not yet paid off.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Yea call is brutal. I’ve been operating from 730am... just got done and leaving at 11pm. I’ve sat down maybe a total of 20 minutes today. Start all over tomorrow. And if something comes in tonight... it’s still me. Worth it, but some people would not do it even for my salary.


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[RTC19]

Yea call is brutal. I’ve been operating from 730am... just got done and leaving at 11pm. I’ve sat down maybe a total of 20 minutes today. Start all over tomorrow. And if something comes in tonight... it’s still me. Worth it, but some people would not do it even for my salary.


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Oh my goodness gracious. Thank you for doing what you do!

I hope you were able to get some sleep last night.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Oh my goodness gracious. Thank you for doing what you do!

I hope you were able to get some sleep last night.

A little. I woke up at 4am not sure where I was or what was going on. Then I realized I had passed out on the couch.


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[The Knife & Gun Club]

Yea call is brutal. I’ve been operating from 730am... just got done and leaving at 11pm. I’ve sat down maybe a total of 20 minutes today. Start all over tomorrow. And if something comes in tonight... it’s still me. Worth it, but some people would not do it even for my salary.


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Yea not to mention that ortho is PHYSICAL labor. The hammering, drilling, and manipulation is hard work that isn’t really seen in the rest of the surgical world.

All goes back to doing what you love first then figuring out the money second.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Yea not to mention that ortho is PHYSICAL labor. The hammering, drilling, and manipulation is hard work that isn’t really seen in the rest of the surgical world.

All goes back to doing what you love first then figuring out the money second.

Agree. Most things we do, thankfully, can be done by pretty much anyone, with good technique and training. You don’t have to be in peak physical shape (many of my attendings were overweight former athletes), but it does help. For me, exercise helps with endurance - I am a small woman and don’t have much reserve, particularly if I’m in the OR for 14 hours straight, as I was yesterday. I work out to be able to get through it with little food and wearing a 10-13 lb lead apron the entire time... it would be much harder otherwise.


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[puahate]

Agree. Most things we do, thankfully, can be done by pretty much anyone, with good technique and training. You don’t have to be in peak physical shape (many of my attendings were overweight former athletes), but it does help. For me, exercise helps with endurance - I am a small woman and don’t have much reserve, particularly if I’m in the OR for 14 hours straight, as I was yesterday. I work out to be able to get through it with little food and wearing a 10-13 lb lead apron the entire time... it would be much harder otherwise.


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I feel like this is even more reason for you to get into powerlifting. Imagine if you could squat 200, bench 150, and deadlift 300. You would be an ortho machine. Stamina and endurance through the roof. You would power through cases like a machine

 

[Select All That Apply]

I feel like this is even more reason for you to get into powerlifting. Imagine if you could squat 200, bench 150, and deadlift 300. You would be an ortho machine. Stamina and endurance through the roof. You would power through cases like a machine

Da. She will become ultimate killing machine.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I feel like this is even more reason for you to get into powerlifting. Imagine if you could squat 200, bench 150, and deadlift 300. You would be an ortho machine. Stamina and endurance through the roof. You would power through cases like a machine

Yeah... no thanks. Not my style. I like looking slim and feminine; my body type is more Margot Robbie, I would look weird with lots of muscles. And I like being smaller than the man I’m with. My OCD and anxiety gets me through cases anyway. Also powerlifting is horrifically bad for your spine and joints down the line, and I don’t need back surgery, like, ever.


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[Dr. Stalker]

Long answer: It's what you make of it. Current MS1 and doing research in ortho. The ortho surgeons I've worked with love their lives. They live to operate and handle emergencies/trauma. That is their calling, so they don't see it as "working like a dog" but instead living their lives to the fullest. Many of them are married to both physicians and non-physicians and have decent-enough family lives. They see their kids, hell, some of them even bring them to work and dress them up in scrubs and a white coat. It's what you make of it.

Short answer: Derm, DR, rad-onc. Though the patient population in rad-onc is quite depressing, but its a good lifestyle with meaningful work.