I'm in my second year and I'm coming around to the idea that anesthesiology may be the best fit amongst a few different specialties. I spent last summer doing research with an anesthesiology group and I liked a lot of what I saw:
Great variety of cases
No clinic
No follow-up/chronic care
Cool skill set and knowledge base
Immediacy of managing a case
Not too much diagnosis
As much as I liked the field, the hours that the residents and attendings worked were intimidating. Many would arrive at the hospital at 5:30/6 in the morning and not leave until 6 in the evening or later. Most people I encountered worked weekends regularly and took frequent call. I was working at a large academic hospital in a mid-size city in the Midwest and I'm not sure how reflective this type of schedule is for other anesthesiologists both during residency and after.
I'm wondering how much my aversion to long hours should factor into my decision about specialties. I understand that later in one's career it may be possible to choose jobs that are more flexible in terms of hours, but for now I will have a significant debt load and my flexibility immediately after residency in terms of finding a job may be more limited. From my experience, the anesthesiologists I encountered were working hours similar to surgeons, and I'm not sure I'm willing to commit to that type of lifestyle for the next decade.
Can anyone comment on how the hours/lifestyle in anesthesiology impacted their decision to enter the field? There are several other areas in medicine that I like slightly less, but seem to offer a much better work-life balance. I've tried reading through other threads on this topic, but I had a hard time finding much discussion on this particular issue. Any input would be great. Thanks
Great variety of cases
No clinic
No follow-up/chronic care
Cool skill set and knowledge base
Immediacy of managing a case
Not too much diagnosis
As much as I liked the field, the hours that the residents and attendings worked were intimidating. Many would arrive at the hospital at 5:30/6 in the morning and not leave until 6 in the evening or later. Most people I encountered worked weekends regularly and took frequent call. I was working at a large academic hospital in a mid-size city in the Midwest and I'm not sure how reflective this type of schedule is for other anesthesiologists both during residency and after.
I'm wondering how much my aversion to long hours should factor into my decision about specialties. I understand that later in one's career it may be possible to choose jobs that are more flexible in terms of hours, but for now I will have a significant debt load and my flexibility immediately after residency in terms of finding a job may be more limited. From my experience, the anesthesiologists I encountered were working hours similar to surgeons, and I'm not sure I'm willing to commit to that type of lifestyle for the next decade.
Can anyone comment on how the hours/lifestyle in anesthesiology impacted their decision to enter the field? There are several other areas in medicine that I like slightly less, but seem to offer a much better work-life balance. I've tried reading through other threads on this topic, but I had a hard time finding much discussion on this particular issue. Any input would be great. Thanks