Which specialties would allow more easily for part time work?

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WastedPotential

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Which specialties would it not be difficult to work 20-30 hours a week in rather than 40-60 that most docs seem to work?

Would the pay for part time be exactly half that of full time?

Would this be feasible for a doctor just coming out of residency or is some seniority needed to be able to have the option to work part time?

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Anything with shift work.

Off the top of my head ER, urgent care, hospitalist are all fields were you could probably work as much as you like with the understanding that working less=less pay.

I would imagine most surgical fields or obstetrics would be difficult to work part time.

If you work at it id imagine you could swing a part time position in most fields. You could go to the specialty specific forums in whatever fields interest you and poll there to see if anyone in those forums does part time work.
 
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Which specialties would it not be difficult to work 20-30 hours a week in rather than 40-60 that most docs seem to work?

First of all, this works better if you're employed. If you have your own practice, you will be paying rent full time, so you will need to work full time to pay your expenses. Also, patients want to be seen all the time, and for most clinical specialties, you need to be available full time.

These specialties work best because they either don't have direct patient contact or don't have direct follow-up:

ER.
Radiology, probably.
Pathology

All the above assumes that the group or employer needs someone part time, rather than full time.
Maybe hospitalist, depending on the situation.

Large groups might have part-time positions in any specialty, typically 3 days a week, with full benefits, but practically speaking, you will work extra hours (although everyone does) . However, if it's a specialty in which you take call, schedules and follow-ups can be a bit more complex and difficult. This is a bigger problem in surgical specialties.

Would the pay for part time be exactly half that of full time?

Probably, but it will depend on the employer. If you want benefits ( pension, health insurance, etc) you will have to work the minimum that the employer requires, often more than 50%. ( so maybe 3 or more days a week. )

Would this be feasible for a doctor just coming out of residency or is some seniority needed to be able to have the option to work part time?

It depends on the group. You might find an employer that's looking for a part time position, but when you're fresh out of residency, you will want to be flexible. So you'll compromise. Someone might take a part time job even though they want full time, because they like the job, case mix, benefits and salary, and they'll hope that they can get more hours later when someone retires. Or, you might take that full time job because it's otherwise a great job, in the hope that you can cut back hours later. If you're flexible, you will have more options.

However, , it's best to work full time early on for financial reasons. You will want to pay off any loans ASAP otherwise the loan gets bigger due to interest, and you want to start saving and investing as early as possible because your money will have more time to grow and multiply. That way you will be able to work part time later and let the money grow for you, and you'll be able to work less while the money does the work for you. Then you can work less or not at all.
 
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