Why do Doctors work so many hours

[Perrotfish]

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What specialty are you in?

Pediatrics. We have a particularly strong contrast between attending and resident workloads.

 

[masaraksh]

Pediatrics. We have a particularly strong contrast between attending and resident workloads.

Wow. Peds attending hits 80hrs of pure clinical work a week... (inpatient?), still seems crazy!

 

[Perrotfish]

Wow. Peds attending hits 80hrs of pure clinical work a week... (inpatient?), still seems crazy!

Resident. Peds residents hit 80 hours/week. Attendings do not.

 

[Strider_91]

Can definitely see this, however the post I originally responded to was all about what's PAs can just on two years of training and "if a PA can do it then we should too" mentality. I do agree wth everything you have just said, there are some definite ways that certain training pathways could be streamlined.

No, that's not how I meant it. There is tons of wasted time even before medical school. I could have been in medical school with literally two years of undergrad, and in other countries it is a much quicker path to becoming a physician.

For example, is it really necessary for a pain management physician to do an intern year and then 3 years of anesthesia or pm&r and then a year of pain fellowship?

Most physicians on the pain board would say that people would be better off with 3 years of trainging specifically in pain.

A similar phenomenon is happening in surgical subspecialties where they are becoming integrated. For example, the path to plastics can be achieved in 6 years instead of doing a full 5 yr gen surg residency instead of a plastics fellowship. It is not less training in the day to day activities the physician will be performing, just less wasted time.

Sometimes it's better to be efficient than to just work a lot of hours is all people, myself included, are tying to say.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I could have been in medical school with literally two years of undergrad, and in other countries it is a much quicker path to becoming a physician.

Agree with this 100%. A lot of undergrad is completely worthless.

Sometimes it's better to be efficient than to just work a lot of hours is all people, myself included, are tying to say.

Also agree with this. My apologies then, your first post had a bunch of examples using PAs and so it appeared you were trying to use them as an example for shorter training.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Agree with this 100%. A lot of undergrad is completely worthless.



Also agree with this. My apologies then, your first post had a bunch of examples using PAs and so it appeared you were trying to use them as an example for shorter training.

The total length of time in training is similar between us and most European countries. We take 8 years to get the degree with 3-5 years of residency. They get 6 years for the degree but 5-8 years of graduate medical education (sometimes more).