Which specialties are more family oriented?

[Blackhawkdown24]

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I am aware that Derm and maybe Radiology have a great work/life family balance, but is that necessarily true? Are those the only ones? I'm interested in OB-GYN, how much do they typically work? The reason why I'm asking is because I very much want to be a doctor but I also want to have a family and enjoy the fruits of my labor! Should I just do pharmacy???? Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[muhali3]

allergy, reproductive endocrinology, ophthalmology, primary care if working with a good group. most specialties are amenable to those that want family time, if that is their priority. however, that is often at the sacrifice of pay and/or making partner.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Neurosurgery

 

[Blackhawkdown24]

What about neo-natology

 

[muhali3]

talk to oldbearprofessor about that. all of his posts seem to indicate that it is extremely conducive to family life.

 

[Blackhawkdown24]

talk to oldbearprofessor about that. all of his posts seem to indicate that it is extremely conducive to family life.

Thanks! Pediatrics or OB-GYN is what I'm particularly interested in. I don't care if they get paid on the low end, anything 100k< is okay with me as long as I LOVE what I'm doing. I was interested in pediatric oncology but I have researched the field and it seems as though it would be emotionally exhausting and most people in that field suffer from burn out. However, it would be a very rewarding field. Decisions....Decisions

 

[Bangersandmash]

Almost anything besides surgery can give you a comfortable life if you so choose. It all depends on the setting of your practice (academic, private, salaried) and how much you want to work. Surgery has less of a choice though (in regards to lengths of surgery) and residencies are often longer and more intensive.

 

[Blackhawkdown24]

Almost anything besides surgery can give you a comfortable life if you so choose. It all depends on the setting of your practice (academic, private, salaried) and how much you want to work. Surgery has less of a choice though (in regards to lengths of surgery) and residencies are often longer and more intensive.

Yes, I am about to start shadowing a General Pediatrician, Neo-Natologist ( hopefully) and an OB-GYN to get some insight regarding their job duties and work/family life

 

[Wile]

Thanks! Pediatrics or OB-GYN is what I'm particularly interested in. I don't care if they get paid on the low end, anything 100k< is okay with me as long as I LOVE what I'm doing. I was interested in pediatric oncology but I have researched the field and it seems as though it would be emotionally exhausting and most people in that field suffer from burn out. However, it would be a very rewarding field. Decisions....Decisions

I wouldn't worry about making those decisions for a while..

 

[Blackhawkdown24]

Yes I do need to worry, because EVENTUALLY I want to have a family and I don't want to go into a field if there are no options. As far as pharmacy, that is VERY likely to have a work/life balance. I know this because I was a pharmacy tech and the Pharmacists shared their experiences with me.

 

[rubisco88]

I agree that most specialities can be family conducive if you are willing to take a pay cut. You could also go into academics, which is probably family friendly. Just don't go into surgery. I heard OB/GYN has one of the worst hours as well, unless you specialize.

I am also concerned about having time for a family. From experience, most of the female docs I've shadowed are able to balance family and work. They all have children.The ones I shadowed worked in academics at a med school, but also practiced in a hospital.

Anyone know how family conducive PM&R is? How difficult/stressful is the residency and after-residency life?

 

[theseeker4]

Yes I do need to worry, because EVENTUALLY I want to have a family and I don't want to go into a field if there are no options. As far as pharmacy, that is VERY likely to have a work/life balance. I know this because I was a pharmacy tech and the Pharmacists shared their experiences with me.

I don't know of any specialty that consists entirely of single doctors. That said, there are obviously some specialties that make it much easier to have a fulfilling home life than others. If you enjoy pharmacy and believe the nearly guaranteed better work life balance is worth the negatives of the career, do that. If you want to be a doctor even if it means some sacrifices on the personal life level, go to med school and worry about which specialty exactly combines your interest with desired lifestyle once you get on the wards.

 

[ComradeDoktor]

Rheumatology is supposed to be a great specialty in terms of lifestyle. Neurology can be ok too if you practice mostly outpatient. I can't imagine neonatology being predictable enough to be considered a "lifestyle specialty". Kids are born at all hours of the night. After they've been born, they are often very sick and require a lot of management. My research mentor is a neonatologist. He does have a family, but I doubt he thinks he's got a great lifestyle when one of his babies is decompensating at 3am.

 

[FarMD2012]

Yes I do need to worry, because EVENTUALLY I want to have a family and I don't want to go into a field if there are no options. As far as pharmacy, that is VERY likely to have a work/life balance. I know this because I was a pharmacy tech and the Pharmacists shared their experiences with me.

You are considering different professions here. From the sounds of it you are only leaning towards pharmacy for your future family life. Trust me, you want to do a career you will love. Have those pharmacists also told you whether they are satisfied or not with their jobs? In general, alot of retail pharmacists don't seem to have the highest job satisfactions. Medicine also have alot more opportunities than pharmacy. So don't go for pharmacy just because you think you will have more time in the future. In fact, the shortage in pharmacy is going away. Supply>demand now. Unless you go into a small town, you will probably have to be a floater or do graveyard shifts in the big cities. (You might not like floater's hours) So do pharmacy if you truly have a passion for it and can imagine yourself doing this for 40 years, same with medicine.

Plus, there are a lot more things about either profession that could worry you more than a family/life balance.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

Maybe I'm the odd man out here but I'm honestly putting family life on the back burner and focusing on my career, which could be explained by me not having that "family structure" growing up. I just think the white picket fence thing is not for me.

 

[Geebeejay]

You don't need a white picket fence to have a family. You might not make all your kid's baseball games, but plenty of doctors in many specialties have families.

 

[SisterDisco08]

Yes I do need to worry, because EVENTUALLY I want to have a family and I don't want to go into a field if there are no options.

If you get into medical school, there is a lot of debriefing on this before you even get close to having to choose a residency, beyond your rotations. My school even has a course on it. Most of the people in my class have no idea what specialties they want to go into, and most of the ones with families (I'm talking 4+ kids) aren't letting their families dictate what specialties they're looking at. Those who do "know" what they want to do will probably change their minds or at least question it at some point. You make time for what is important.

That being said, you should really just focus on getting into medical school first, don't get ahead of yourself, it will just stress you out.

 

[Praefectus]

Maybe I'm the odd man out here but I'm honestly putting family life on the back burner and focusing on my career, which could be explained by me not having that "family structure" growing up. I just think the white picket fence thing is not for me.

You don't necessarily have to put your family on the back burner as an attending. Even if you get home at 6 or 7, you'll still have some time to help your kids with their homework or read to them at bedtime.

 

[peppy]

I'm in Psychiatry and Psych is extremely family friendly. You can even find part time work in Psych pretty easily, which could be very nice for someone with young kids.

Even in Surgery, having a family certainly is not out of the question - but the culture of surgery does tend to be much less understanding about this kind of stuff and it probably would be harder.

 

[Blackhawkdown24]

Thank you everyone for the advice!