Best Husband and Wife Specialties

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Ambogeo

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In your opinion, what specialties would be the best for a MD couple?

Taking into mind, family income, time to spend with kids, etc.
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Whatever fields you'll both be happy in. If one of you isn't satisfied in his or her job, it will follow you home every day of the week. That's more detrimental to a marriage than 100 hours a week in hospital.
 
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Ideally you won't both be in time intensive specialties. However, be careful about settling. If one of you is miserable at work, it won't be good for spouse or children.
 
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FlameBroiledDoc said:
Whatever fields you'll both be happy in. If one of you isn't satisfied in his or her job, it will follow you home every day of the week. That's more detrimental to a marriage than 100 hours a week in hospital.
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Well, you should also take into account the needs of the relationship- if one spouse cannot deal with the other working 100 hour weeks, that'll be pretty fatal to the relationship as well...
 
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Ambogeo said:
In your opinion, what specialties would be the best for a MD couple?

Taking into mind, family income, time to spend with kids, etc.
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The obvious choice seems to be one in specialty/surgery and another primary care. Both are still gonna have to bust their asses to make it work and be super-organized if they want kids/time together/friends/etc.

On the other hand that may lead to a bad dynamic because the specialist may be perceived as the 'breadwinner' which will lead to the other member resenting him/her because both went through grueling training.


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You need to balance what you enjoy, what pays well, what fits your ideal schedule, and what you're good at. Only you can answer these things, because one person's dream field is another's nightmare (I would rather scrub toilets then be a surgeon, for instance).
 
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The happiest couple I know have been married for 35 years. He is a radiologist, works mostly 6am-2pm M-F, she was a pathologist working 9-5 M-F. She would take the kids to school, he would pick them up. Both had crazy vacation time to enjoy with their family. Both viewed their careers as "jobs", not their "calling". Before medical school I asked him if he would do anything differently. He said he would consider going into a field where he could help others in a more hands-on approach, specifically citing ortho. She said she wouldn't do anything differently.
 
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specialities where you can self referal. Jk
 
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From a purely logistics standpoint, avoid fields with variable schedules and lots of overnight calls. The two of you can quickly become passing ships in the night exerting tons of energy into coordinating day care, meals, taking kids to soccer practice, etc. Also, from the financial standpoint, recognize that if both are in high-paying fields--especially as employees--there is a diminishing return on the second salary due to the steep increase in tax rates.

But as others have stated, you will both be miserable if you choose fields primarily for "practical" reasons. Most people can make anything work in the end, even if it involves pursuing part-time options, job-sharing, etc.
 
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Ob/gyn and urology = power couple. Think of all those sweet ureter transection referrals.
 
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For me it maybe IR and vascular surgery. Might be able to provide all aspect of vascular care.
 
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Just marry a nurse and if at any point the difference becomes too apparent - have them do the online NP certification.


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Neurosurgery and oncology - I'll let you know how that turns out.
 
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SouthernSurgeon said:
Surgery and medicine. It feels like west side story.
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latest
 
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akwho said:
Ob/gyn and urology = power couple. Think of all those sweet ureter transection referrals.
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I actually have close family friends who are a Uro/OBGYN couple. Reproductive power couple!
 
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Ortho and derm: they would have the most beautiful children
 
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PatsyStone said:
Ortho and derm: they would have the most beautiful children
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There was a couple at my school who couples matched this combo when I was an M1. She looked like the captain of the cheerleading squad. He looked like the captain of the football team. It was unreal.
 
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sazerac said:
There was a couple at my school who couples matched this combo when I was an M1. She looked like the captain of the cheerleading squad. He looked like the captain of the football team. It was unreal.
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That sounds like a fairy tail story , a bit of respite in our overcompetitive and toxic environment :D
 
sazerac said:
There was a couple at my school who couples matched this combo when I was an M1. She looked like the captain of the cheerleading squad. He looked like the captain of the football team. It was unreal.
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It's like they were born to be the parents of 90s teen movie villains
 
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Really though, my advice is that husbands and wives do not share a practice. It opens up a lot of areas for tension and liability, just don't do it. Find two separate specialties or practices that work well for you and the life you want.
 
Depends on how happy the marriage is, and if they want to see more or less of each other :whistle:
 
tskiihii said:
Depends on how happy the marriage is, and if they want to see more or less of each other :whistle:
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Doesn't matter how good your marriage is, when you're working together, there is far more opportunity for friction in medicine than I'd recommend, and if they're your partner at work, you have no one to point fingers at but each other when a lawsuit inevitably pops up, leading to stress emotionally and financially.
 
Mad Jack said:
Doesn't matter how good your marriage is, when you're working together, there is far more opportunity for friction in medicine than I'd recommend, and if they're your partner at work, you have no one to point fingers at but each other when a lawsuit inevitably pops up, leading to stress emotionally and financially.
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This I agree with; my post was in response to OP's question.
 
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Mad Jack said:
Really though, my advice is that husbands and wives do not share a practice. It opens up a lot of areas for tension and liability, just don't do it. Find two separate specialties or practices that work well for you and the life you want.
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Some golden advice there that should always be heeded even in Med School. Work and love should always be kept separate. You can easily get overprotective and smash some poor shmucks head in a fit of protective rage leading to both your careers being ruined. Working in the same hospital can work but only if you work in specialties that don't bump heads with each other.

Also when you think you are just "helping the love of your life" you risk putting some very dangerous training wheels on their career and personality. You never want to stifle your wife/husband's growth as both a human and a doctor.
 
OMM specialist and Witch Doctor.
 
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libertyyne said:
I was being facetious. I was also implying that sex could have possibly been categorized as quid pro quo for said referrals.
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I actually know if a couple where one is an orthopedic surgeon in his own practice and she is an acute pain partner in a different practice (PM&R trained). They refer to each other frequently, making sure every patient knew their relationship. Patients actually absolutely love it.
 
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NeuroSpeed said:
I actually know if a couple where one is an orthopedic surgeon in his own practice and she is an acute pain partner in a different practice (PM&R trained). They refer to each other frequently, making sure every patient knew their relationship. Patients actually absolutely love it.
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Agreed. My father-in-law is an OB and we do the same (I'm FM). As long as you're up front about it with patients, they do tend to like it.
 
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