Does being a doctor really kill your social life?

[panvard92]

I know it's a demanding job....and sacrifices are needed.......but is it up to the point where you never see your family? And how different are the hours during and after residency?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tennisball80]

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/vol290/issue9/images/medium/joc30309t1.gif

I gave up on getting a hot chick when I am a physician. It's gonna be so busy man.

 

[Depakote]

There are a few ugly years in there, but you can definitely make a family life work.

You might not go out every Friday night, but there are plenty of happily married med students and docs out there who have made it work through school, residency and their careers.

 

[tennisball80]

You might not go out every Friday night, but there are plenty of happily married med students and docs out there who have made it work through school, residency and their careers.

 

[Vicviper]

Yeah, my dad was in Internal Medicine, and other than being on call all the time, he was still able to spend plenty of time with the family.... though the desire to have as much of that family time as I can is one of my big draws to dentistry, hehe.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

It depends on your residency. Nominally there is an 80 hour limit, one day off per week and no more than 32 hours straight, with a few hours rest between. Of course those are only nominal and it is not unheard of 100+ hour weeks especially in IM, Gen Surg and Neuro Surg. Of course if you're able to get into derm it's 9-5, 5 days a week. It also depends if your program has night floats.

 

[penguin24]

There's still time to do the impt stuff in your life, just not as much free time as your friends who aren't in medicine. But that's the price to pay to be an MD. But if you cut out all the unimpt stuff (TV, getting drunk every possible weekend) then you still have loads of time.

If you're an MD, then it's about quality, not quantity. That's the lifestyle.

 

[FuturaDocta]

It all depends on your definition of "social life." It could be from partying every night to just being able to spend time with your family for a few hours a day. The amount of free time you are allotted really depends on the specialty as well. I know some family docs that work from 9-5. Then there are surgeons that sometimes spend 38 hours on the job because they aren't finished with a patient. If you end up owning a private practice with a few physicians, then you can manipulate your hours so that you have a "social" life. It really just depends on what you are looking for.

As some of the previous posters have said, there are a few rough years (aka. residency) that you just have to devote or suck it up for a few years. But, once you settle down, it may be easier to get out.

*In your situation, I think it would be best to shadow a few doctors just to get the feel of what life would be like if you were a doctor (schedule wise).
GL

 

[FutureCTDoc]

I elected to post my father's schedule he's an MD in a solo practice in CT, ophthalmology:
Monday: 8-12 Patients in office 12-4:30 Surgery
Tuesday: 8-6 Patients in office
Wednesday 8-6 patients in office (some Wednesdays 12-4:30 surgery in lieu of patients in the afternoon)
Thursday 8-6 Patients in office
Friday: Patients in office
Second and last saturday of the month: 8-6 Patients in office or charts 8-6
Sunday: Off with charts
In addition emergency walk-ins/referrals can add to this as well as consults in the ICU/ER/NICU, Average week 70 hours including charts
44 Hours of Patients in office
plus 5-10 hours of surgery a week
Charts add 20+ hours a week
In by 7:45
Home usually by 6:30
A long day but relatively light call even in solo and Sundays are usually free

 

[Bacchus]

My mentor physician is a family practitioner who works in a small practice overseen by a local area health network. She works Monday through Friday, coming in around 7:30 or 7:45 in the morning and leaving by 5:30 or 6:00 at night. She gets ample vacation and flexible scheduling due to the presence of another doctor and NP in the practice. She's never complained about the hours and gets to attend most of her two sons sporting events. Her family and social life is still intact after 20 years of practice.

 

[deleted74029]

Its alot but seriously who even works 40 hours/wk anymore? Especially males, my dad works a good 57 per week and he's a foreman at the local paper mill.

 

[kleyad]

Its alot but seriously who even works 40 hours/wk anymore? Especially males, my dad works a good 57 per week and he's a foreman at the local paper mill.

I completely agree. I never realized till my dad went on disability a few years ago just how much he worked. He worked in a chemical plant 12 hour shifts, almost every day of the week. He would easily work 80 hour weeks with overtime...the thing is I felt like I saw my dad all the time, you know every night, occasional weekend, vacation time. That doesn't change the fact he worked that much time though, my philosophy, and it may be naive, is that you will make anything work if you really want, and honestly if you want to do medicine screw thinking about a social life and have one. Or at least thats what I tell myself when I think about it, which turns out to be a lot ha.

 

[EntityMed92]

I don't think your social life is non-existent if you're a physician. It probably also depends on what kind of medicine you practice.

 

[peppy]

I'm currently an intern. You should plan to work hard during internship no matter what specialty you go into.
Another thing you have to prepare for about internship is that it's not always as if you can punch in and punch out right at your scheduled time like you can in many other jobs.

If there is a code a few minutes before you are scheduled to be done with call, it's not like you can just walk away saying you're off the clock. In clinic you may have to stay several hours after you're done seeing patients to document the visits.

Or the residency program may have to change the call schedule for one reason or another if your other residents get sick/pregnant/etc., as I just experienced. I am an outpatient IM month, which is relatively relaxed (9 to 5 most days), but thanks to a last minute schedule change I wound up having to take a lot of call this past week.
I was on call at the hospital Thursday night through Friday morning (14 hours), Sunday morning to Monday morning (24 hours straight), and then Wednesday night through Thursday morning (14 hours again). After taking call, you are often expected to stick around another six hours (either in educational conference or on your regular rotation) and that is actually the hardest part. I fell asleep in the educational conference I had today at 8 after being on call last night.

Even though I had Saturday off, I was still kind of tired from Thursday's call and wanted to rest up for Sunday's call so there is no way I could have had much of a life this past weekend.

Being a doctor is hard work, and it's a different sort of hard work than most other jobs (not many other jobs where you're kept sleep deprived and you have to make decisions that could potentially kill someone). You are going to work hard and be under a lot of pressure for a long time during medical school and residency. You have to try to get as much exposure to medicine beforehand to be sure it's really worth it to you.

 

[In2JG]

hey..
dont be so down about it. even if med school takes the best outta us, we're in it for the better right? the better of society, the better of salary, the better quality of life for us and for others..so think of it that way buddy..
we'll have time for ourselves when we retire and family life is a plus when you make enough money to shower ur kids with presents they want and what not..lol..idk lol
but im writing a novel write now..and im pretty psyched about it lol..