I remember a thread similar to this on MomMD. There was a lot of discussion of burnout and people who just thought they couldn’t carry this workload one more minute. Some people were also saying that they thought most of the burned out folks were traditional doctors who hadn’t been out in the real world, hadn’t had real jobs, and had unrealistic expectations so that the load hit them extra hard.
One woman responded that she HAD had a very busy career, 80+ hour work weeks, before going to med school and really thought she was prepared. And she was still on her last nerve and questioning her decision to become a doctor. So I’m not saying that no one here has a recognition of how hard it is, or that none of us has met doctors who love medicine, are thriving, and would choose medicine as a career again in a second if they had their lives to live over again.
But I think that contemplating the life and living it are not the same thing. When the time comes, we may find strengths we didn’t know we had. We may wonder why we ever did this. We may crumble. We may thrive.
We don’t know.
Quote:
I’ve spoken with plenty of doctors in real life too, and virtually none of them have been 1/10 as negative as the martyr contingent one finds online.
The doctors I know are like the ones with whom you’ve spoken. They never mention excessive work loads, high malpractice insurance, nor other general complaints about their chosen profession. I’m sure it’s not because those concerns don’t exist. But my friends are proof that in the face of those challenges, one can be happy.
I am good friends with a pulmonary surgeon, a psychiatrist, two General Practitioners, and an anesthesiologist. We all go to the same church. All but one is a parent. All take time for Sunday school and worship services, picnics and volunteer work. They take annual summer vacations with their immediate families, and take time to visit extended family during winter holidays. They serve on church committees during the week, and show up for church clean-up days during various weekends. They meet with the teachers of their children, and go to shool plays and ballgames. And they all seem rested, well-adjusted, financially prosperous, and thankful for the lives they live.
The worst I’ve heard from any of them is that they had a “hectic” week (maybe an understatement?) or that they had to break difficult news to a patient (they don’t give details, but they know that they have enough support from friends to be able to disclose that much).
I have no doubt that med school is hard and residency is harder. My hope is to make it into the former and through the latter. My hope is that I can learn from my friends and be as they are: able to meet unimaginable challenges with grace and gratitude.
anita
Hi there,
I do not expect that a person graduating this year will have the same income or opportunities that I have graduating in 2002 because the system is rapidly changing. While I am working hard, they will have to work harder. I will be in the work force sooner and with the decrease in hours, the residency length is probably going to increase hence more years at lower pay to get training. I finished my PGY-1 year with almost 200 cases. The PGY-1s this year will be lucky to get 50 cases. I had more than 300 cases during my PGY-2 year. The folks who are PGY-2s will be lucky to have 100 cases. As a surgical resident, my training is based on having a minimum number of cases under categories. With cutbacks, the operative time and cases are being cut.
Residency programs are allotted a certain number of residents per program based on the caseload. Programs are not allowed to increase the number of residents without permission and approval from the RRC (Residency Review Committee) so just “hiring more residents” to do the job is not possible. A program can only apply for an additional resident when they are up for RRC review. As I have stated many times, the work didn’t go away, the hours to get it done decreased and so did the operative time for most junior surgical residents.
The people who are in practice today are reimbursed less for various procedures than in past years. Incomes are decreasing not increasing. The days of $200K for most medical specialties are over. Some specialties that are higher paying have a very limited number of slots and even more limited number of opportunites at the end of residency. Many of the traditionally higher paying surgical specialties like orthopedic surgery and urology have cut back on the number of residents in many programs as the job market become saturated. There are cardiothoracic surgeons, who have spent seven to nine years in training post medical school that have taken more than a year to find a position. The number of coronary artery bypass grafts has plummeted and therefore many programs are beginning to cut back.
If I sound negative, so be it, but you need to investigate the long-term prospects of medicine more so if you have not entered medical school that ever before. You can invest thousands in tuition and and time only to find out that you are not going to reap that six-figure income you were so counting on because the industry just won’t support your salary.
Natalie 
Quote:
If I sound negative, so be it, but you need to investigate the long-term prospects of medicine more so if you have not entered medical school that ever before. You can invest thousands in tuition and and time only to find out that you are not going to reap that six-figure income you were so counting on because the industry just won’t support your salary.
Hi, Natalie.
Absolutely, I agree with your assertion that one should re-think grandiose expectations regarding future earnings. And, I agree with what you’ve said in earlier posts: pursuing a medical career should be done out of a desire for practicing medicine not strictly out of a desire for financial gain. Finally, I appreciate your willingness to take the time out of your hectic schedule to share your experience with those of us who are on the outside looking in.
The sense I get from your posts is that your experience with the SYSTEM of medicine has made you angry and frustrated; you’ve clearly identified ways that the system has gotten in the way of good practice (and in the way of earning a living – you’ve made that clear too… and I agree that every human being, physicians included, should earn enough to pay for food and shelter). I do not contest any of your observations that you’ve shared regarding the medical profession.
Ok.
Knowing that, some of us will pursue medical careers anyway. Most of us will look for ways to make the system work in whatever small ways we can, and one or two of us might actually bring about radical change (probably you and Joe
)Since I seem to be agreeing with your sentinel’s call for needed change, Natalie, what do I really want to get at here? Hmmmm…
I guess I’m saying that I need to hear your perspective. It’s useful. But I also need hope and encouragement. I shared the examples of my friends in an effort to foster optimism. Go ahead and call my optimism unrealistic, but I think that a little “unrealistic optimism” is not such a bad thing to have and share.
History/folklore is full of unrealistically optimistic people who have accomplished the impossible. If, in this millenium, the impossible is to “practice good medicine and earn a liveable wage while keeping sane,” and this impossibility will happen only under unrealistic optimistic conditions, then so be it.
anita
Hi there,
I am not angry or frustrated with medicine or surgery. I am far from that. I strongly encourage anyone from reading too much into medicine as a ticket into the country club or into a six-figure income. Most of the people in practice today, will never have to deal with the financial problems of those of you who have yet to enter medical school let alone get through residency and into practice.
I have the time of my life every time I step into the operating room and I love taking care of my surgical patients. What you perceive as frustration is my drive to change this system to something that is better for patient care and not driven by accountants. My department chairman is angry and frustrated because his income had been eroded considerably. My income which is in the high $40s has been increasing (residency does have its perks!). My operative experience is increasing exponentially with the acquisition of new skills on a daily basis.
My advice: Pursue medicine but keep your eyes wide open and do some impartial investigation beyond average GPAs and MCAT scores to get into medical school. You need to have a CLEAR strategy for how you will finance your education and practice in the future.
The whole admissions process tends to get many folks into a false sense of security that they have somehow “made it” with an acceptance to medical school. The truth is a little less than that. If you hold an acceptance, you hold options but it is up to you to maximize them and keep your expectations realistic.
Natalie