Which medical specialities are for jokesters and generally laid-back people?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Cara Delevingne said:
You may have chosen the wrong career, and are completely misinformed as to how you should pick a specialty.
Click to expand...

Well you're going into GS.

OP, it'll vary by group. Like-minded people will rank similar people higher. At my hospital, the urologists and orthopedists were the biggest dinguses I've ever met in my life, literally all of them in their group, but I've frequently heard about how nice they are elsewhere.
 
Rekt said:
Well you're going into GS.

OP, it'll vary by group. Like-minded people will rank similar people higher. At my hospital, the urologists and orthopedists were the biggest dinguses I've ever met in my life, literally all of them in their group, but I've frequently heard about how nice they are elsewhere.
Click to expand...

It's funny how these little details affect our career choices.


--
Il Destriero
 
GI or urology. Poop and penis jokes all day every day.
 
Definitely EM. All of them at my hospital (except maybe 1) are cool as hell. It also helps that most EM docs are on the younger side.

Also Anesthesia. I've never met an uptight anesthesiologist.
 
The specialty I've applied to—psychiatry—seems to have a pretty laid-back culture. At least it does at my hospital. There's also plenty of joking around but I don't think the joking was as "edgy" as it was on anesthesia, for instance (though the emergency psychiatrists I've met have been pretty wild).
 
I feel like most specialties are laid back w nice people who like to joke, hang out, and have a drink, except for general surgery, and peds. Mean, mean, mean.
 
giantswing said:
I feel like most specialties are laid back w nice people who like to joke, hang out, and have a drink, except for general surgery, and peds. Mean, mean, mean.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think you can't find jokesters in every field its just the proportion of them that makes it fun. I did find 1 or 2 on my general surgery rotation but that was all and they always had to look over their shoulders or hold back because of the uptight residents and attendings.

Quite a few of the neuro attendings/residents at my institution had a really dark sense of humor and made the type of jokes you wouldn't want people to overhear. I found the neuro group to be split like GS but in favor of the jokesters. A minority of really boring/nerdy/uptight attendings and residents absolutely didn't tolerate the others' sense of humor. The neurology residents and neurosurgery resident share a workroom and neurosurgeons and I found their response to constant mortality and morbidity was one of two options 1) dark humor or 2) being a jerk and reminding everyone of how you carry the heaviest burden in the hospital.

PM&R doesn't necessarily seem funny. They are just fun to be around.

I agree that peds and OBGYN took themselves way too seriously.

So far I think the award for biggest jokesters goes to anesthesia and EM based on my interactions with them...stereotypes are sometimes true for a reason I guess.
 
giantswing said:
I feel like most specialties are laid back w nice people who like to joke, hang out, and have a drink, except for general surgery, and peds. Mean, mean, mean.
Click to expand...

Peds? You're definitely joking right?
 
NWwildcat2013 said:
Yeah peds people are nasty at my school. Its regarded as equal in misery/hours to OBGYN and second after surgery.
Click to expand...

That's so weird, I just shadowed a pediatrician for 3 weeks and he was pretty laid back. I know that's n=1 but I don't see how you could be uptight when half your day is well-child checks and telling parents their kid has the same back-to-school bug everyone else does. Why do you think they're like that?
 
kelminak said:
That's so weird, I just shadowed a pediatrician for 3 weeks and he was pretty laid back. I know that's n=1 but I don't see how you could be uptight when half your day is well-child checks and telling parents their kid has the same back-to-school bug everyone else does. Why do you think they're like that?
Click to expand...
I have no idea but I should add that the nastiness is usually found in the inpatient setting. Sometimes I think they have a chip on their shoulder about needing to know a ton of stuff but not getting the respect (from society, other doctors, med students, etc.) or appropriate compensation that they deserve. Pediatricians have to know a ton yet they get stereotyped as handing out stickers all day and then slapped in the face with the lowest compensation of all medical specialties.
 
NWwildcat2013 said:
I have no idea but I should add that the nastiness is usually found in the inpatient setting. Sometimes I think they have a chip on their shoulder about needing to know a ton of stuff but not getting the respect (from society, other doctors, med students, etc.) or appropriate compensation that they deserve. Pediatricians have to know a ton yet they get stereotyped as handing out stickers all day and then slapped in the face with the lowest compensation of all medical specialties.
Click to expand...

giantswing said:
Nope! As a woman I hate to say it, but it seems like all the shrill, high strung women B****es ended up in peds. And you can't blam general surgery for being mean. They're just so tired.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience. I haven't seen inpatient peds before, so it could be a completely different world there.
 
kelminak said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. I haven't seen inpatient peds before, so it could be a completely different world there.
Click to expand...
I've never met a pediatrician who I thought was mean. Maybe its a geographical thing. Comparing peds people to OB is just bizarre imo

Especially when you consider that pediatricians are amongst the happiest physicians despite some of the lowest compensation: *shrug*
 
Peds is the passive-aggressive schoolmarm that scolds you for using leaving paste jar opened after arts and crafts.

OB is the too-cool-for-school girl who skipped prom because her 22 year old boyfriend is taking her to a real party that's going to be, like, soooo much better.
 
Just for the sake of some fun and levity, I'll add some friendly "laid-back" humor to this thread and respond to the specialty question: "veterinary medicine."

I know ... you're really talking about "human" medicine, but I was tempted to have a wee bit of fun, and tease everyone for a few seconds today! 🙂

animals-dog-dog_owner-dog_lover-giraffe-vet-dwh110601_low.jpg
 
Last edited:
Doctor-S said:
Just for the sake of some fun and levity, I'll add some friendly "laid-back" humor to this thread and respond to the specialty question: "veterinary medicine."

I know ... you're really talking about "human" medicine, but I was tempted to have a wee bit of fun, and tease everyone for a few seconds today! 🙂

animals-dog-dog_owner-dog_lover-giraffe-vet-dwh110601_low.jpg
Click to expand...
I love vet med, just don't think I couldn't have handled the abysmally low reimbursement with tuition always rising, and the extreme competitiveness of anything I would be interested in as a specialty like exotic animals.
 
Doctor-S said:
Just for the sake of some fun and levity, I'll add some friendly "laid-back" humor to this thread and respond to the specialty question: "veterinary medicine."

I know ... you're really talking about "human" medicine, but I was tempted to have a wee bit of fun, and tease everyone for a few seconds today! 🙂

animals-dog-dog_owner-dog_lover-giraffe-vet-dwh110601_low.jpg
Click to expand...

Such a dad joke
 
Goro said:
Definitely NOT Peds Oncology. Those people have the darkest senses of humor.
Click to expand...

The peds onc guy at our school is the happiest, craziest person I've ever met. I probably just outed my school to my fellow classmates because this dude is so crazy positive.
 
Dad jokes are my favorite haha. And I vote EM. Biased, but I chose the specialty because of the people. Love it
 
Manual Disimpaction said:
Peds was the most miserable group of b*tches I have ever met in my life. Not my fault you devoted your life to runny noses, lady.
Click to expand...

Outpatient peds may be endless well child visits, colds, and ear infections but inpatient peds is very interesting and satisfying. I'm not going into peds but inpatient peds has been probably one of the best parts of rotations so far.
 
masaraksh said:
Outpatient peds may be endless well child visits, colds, and ear infections but inpatient peds is very interesting and satisfying. I'm not going into peds but inpatient peds has been probably one of the best parts of rotations so far.
Click to expand...
I really liked my peds EM/ICU.
 
Actually, as a side note, a few of the peds ER docs I've met are meaner than the actual peds people. They seem to be the exception tho.

ED actually is full of some pretty cool, laid back people, come to think of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
Which specialties that are best for people who like to stand?
Replies
30
Views
2K
Sriddymopboi
S
D
What matters for applying to competitive specialties/programs (and how much are they each weighed)
Replies
9
Views
2K
Dral
Dral
S
SDN Article: Specialty Choices for Burned Out Medical Students
Replies
7
Views
3K
Powdermonkey
Powdermonkey
D
How common are research years becoming for comp specialties
Replies
2
Views
1K
deleted1199414
D
A
General Surgery Match Chances and Strategy
Replies
1
Views
634
pazzer2
P
Top