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What would you say is the least stressful specialty?
Horticulture said:What would you say is the least stressful specialty?
prominence said:if you know what you're doing and enjoy it, i think psychiatry is one of the lesser stressful specialties (generally speaking). but without a moment's notice, you can have emergencies (as with most, if not all other specialties).
OldPsychDoc said:I must not know what I'm doing then...because I'm finding plenty of stress here!
dWiz said:is there such a thing as emergency in psych? just curious
dWiz said:is there such a thing as emergency in psych? just curious
Daniel575 said:I suppose reumatology, revalidation medicine, clinical genetics, occupational medicine make a chance... Also ophtalmology and ENT, but that's just my personal opinion.
OldPsychDoc said:neuroleptic malignant syndrome
agitated, belligerent patients who are about to hurt someone
frantic patients of all stripes, with or without suicidality
other services who just want our patients off their service...(just kidding)
Philo Beddo said:Other than neuroleptic-malignant syndrome, which a psychiatrist is not going to admit to the hospital by themselves anyway, there is no psych "emergency" that can't be solved with haldol or ativan.
Philo
hippocritis.com <---medical satire for residents and medical students
it's a "joke", lolWilcoWorld said:"Solved" huh? That's a rather short-sighted use of the word IMO.
IlianaSedai said:The one you enjoy the most.
I am not in the least stressed out by acuity or procedures. I am, however, stressed out by my complete inability to keep track of a constant barrage of consults, nursing home phone calls, case management, social work, and so on. Some people are the other way around. So we choose what suits us.
The other thing that makes work stressful is the personalities of your co-workers. Some of that is specialty dependent, but much of it is really institution-dependent. IMO, any specialty can be a good one if you have good people to work with.
Skip Intro said:I'd have to say, on the whole, anesthesiology offers the best stress/reimbursement ratio (but, I'm a little biased). You focus on one patient (i.e., problem) at a time. There are moments of terror, but there are hours of boredom too. Probably the biggest stress is the difficult surgeon who wanted to start the GB 20 minutes ago and you've got a 450lb patient trying to do an awake intubation on the table (and I was involved in such a case during med school). That's stress. Otherwise, low key. And, at least right now, it pays pretty damn well. Or, maybe you'll have to check with me again in 4 years.
Just my $0.02.
-Skip
you know what they say about anesthesia..."hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror!"Laryngospasm said:Ill respectfully disagree with you on anesthesiology being low stress. I dont think putting a healthy OB patient to sleep for a crash C-section, watching her O2 sat drop to 70 in about 15 seconds while you struggle to get an airway (all the while thinking in the back of your mind that the most common cause of mortality from anesthesia during pregnancy is failure to get an airway..) is low stress. Nor is trying to replace the eight liters of blood that were lost during a 3 minute period from a ruptured aneurysm, while the surgeon tries to put humpty back together again low stress. An awake intubation on 405 lb patient, while the impatient surgeon looks on, pales in comparison. IMHO the only people that think anesthesia is low stress are either not anesthesiologists, or have not done it long enough to realize it yet.
I wouldn't put ENT on the list of least stressful specialties. The otolaryngologist is often called upon to assist with difficult airways, and many of our own patients have airway issues as well. These can result in some pretty stressful situations.
neuroleptic malignant syndrome
agitated, belligerent patients who are about to hurt someone
frantic patients of all stripes, with or without suicidality
other services who just want our patients off their service...(just kidding)
Yeah but those are not "stressful" emergencies.
There is one simple treatment for NMS.
The suicidal patient needs to be restrained, and then after that, you have all the time in the world to intervene on the underlying problem. And the MD need not even be there for that.
IMHO the only people that think anesthesia is low stress are either not anesthesiologists, or have not done it long enough to realize it yet.
Probably the biggest stress is the difficult surgeon who wanted to start the GB 20 minutes ago and you've got a 450lb patient trying to do an awake intubation on the table (and I was involved in such a case during med school). That's stress.
I think the least stressful specialty is ones that have the most future job security. With the mid-level professionals propping up everywhere, it's stressful to just think how they may, in the near future, replace you. Consider:
ophthalmologist vs optometrist
anesthesiologist vs CRNA
psychiatrist vs psychologist
PM &R vs Doctor of Physical Therapy
Primary care physician vs NP/PA
- a trend of medical students not entering specialties because of threats of mid-level professionals taking over a certain field?
If not, then stop with all "the sky is falling!" bull$hit.
I think the least stressful specialty is ones that have the most future job security. With the mid-level professionals propping up everywhere, it's stressful to just think how they may, in the near future, replace you. Consider:
ophthalmologist vs optometrist
anesthesiologist vs CRNA
psychiatrist vs psychologist
PM &R vs Doctor of Physical Therapy
Primary care physician vs NP/PA
. . . right up until you have a 23 y.o with an oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma that should be curable recur at the margin of your treatment field and there's not a thing you can do about it now that you've given full dose to the oral cavity.radiation oncology
I suppose reumatology, revalidation medicine, clinical genetics, occupational medicine make a chance... Also ophtalmology and ENT, but that's just my personal opinion.
Stress is relative for everyone. What I might find stressful, you might don't give a crap. I can be stressed out when my car is breaking down, someone else might not give a crap.
You need to find something that you enjoy doing.
Also, 0 stress isn't the best option. Boredom can quickly eat you out if you don't have any stress/challenge from your work. Being depressed because of your job isn't better than having some moments of stress here and there.
What in the fourth and fifth levels of ice-cold hell is "revalidation medicine?"
What in the fourth and fifth levels of ice-cold hell is "revalidation medicine?"
Whatever speciality you don't do. The grass is always greener.
Stress is relative for everyone. What I might find stressful, you might don't give a crap. I can be stressed out when my car is breaking down, someone else might not give a crap.
You need to find something that you enjoy doing.
Also, 0 stress isn't the best option. Boredom can quickly eat you out if you don't have any stress/challenge from your work. Being depressed because of your job isn't better than having some moments of stress here and there.
. . . right up until you have a 23 y.o with an oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma that should be curable recur at the margin of your treatment field and there's not a thing you can do about it now that you've given full dose to the oral cavity.
. . . or the radiation induced soft tissue sarcoma in the now 30 year old you radiated for a Hodgkin's as a child.
. . .or the destruction of the optic chiasm after the stereotactic radiosurgery procedure that got just a little too close.
. . . or having to tell your patient that they have a recurrence of their cancer with little hope of further treatments able to help their conditions.
and to whomever thinks psych is not without stress, you have not had a diagnosed schizophrenic talk crazytalk to you for 20 minutes then stand up and slam the door shut with you still in the room.