The Lifestyle of a Dermatologist

[KJBS8806]

I am a pre-med student and I'm looking into dermatology. I've read lots of forums about the salary of a dermatologist and the paths to becoming a dermatologist, but I want to know specifically about the LIFESTYLE of a dermatologist.

-What is a typical work week?
-Are you ever on call?
-Do you take your work home with you or do you get to go home and relax?
-What type of a lifestyle does the salary allow?
-Any information involving the lifestyle of a dermatologist.

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[derm83]

What makes you so sure about derm while you're still pre-med? You still have plenty to discover in the future about medicine...Otherwise, the experts will tell you how comfortable it is.

 

[NPR]

I am a pre-med student and I'm looking into dermatology. I've read lots of forums about the salary of a dermatologist and the paths to becoming a dermatologist, but I want to know specifically about the LIFESTYLE of a dermatologist.

-What is a typical work week?
-Are you ever on call?
-Do you take your work home with you or do you get to go home and relax?
-What type of a lifestyle does the salary allow?
-Any information involving the lifestyle of a dermatologist.

Such a bad idea.

You are looking at 4 years of excelling at the pre-med level to get into the best medical school you can get into. (I've since blocked out those horrible memories, you'll need to ask someone else for tips here)

Then you are looking at 4 years of excelling at the medical school level to even land interviews in dermatology. (At least, a great deal of derm residents need to take time off for research if not a full PhD)

-Honor as many pre-clinical courses as possible
-Do meaningful and productive research
-Ace Step 1
-Honor as many clinical courses as possible
-Get into AOA
-Do a ton of away rotations (kissing youknowwhat the whole time)
-And pray for interviews

All this so you can skimp out on work when you finally get what you want?

That's Stupid with a capital S.

 

[abcabc1]

I agree w/ NPR. While it's common for people to go into Derm for the combination of high pay and relatively reasonable lifestyle and work hours, you should have a solid reason for wanting to enter the field. First, make sure you want to be a Physician and have tangible reasons for that.

It's WAY too soon for you to be thinking about specialties. At the very least, please do not based the type of Doctor you'd like to be based on what you read on Internet forums.

You know there's a lot of hype about a given specialty when pre-meds (who probably aren't even certain they want to be Doctors to begin with) are already interested in becoming that type of Doc.

 

[KJBS8806]

So I guess I should just wait until I actually get into a med school before I decide what kind of doctor I want to be. I always thought you should know beforehand.

 

[Wacaggie]

What you should do right now is determine if you really want to become a doctor. You need to determine if you would be happy in any of the less competative specialties. You will have a hard time truely answering this question because you have never experienced what "call" truely is until 3rd year.

If you are still willing to become a doctor, any specialty of doctor, you will need to then apply and and get into medical school. Once you are in you can work on research in the competative fields that you are interested in but mostly just work hard and try to get the grades in first and second year so that you are competative in any field.

You then need to take Step 1 and get a great score. Your preclinical grades and step 1 score should make you competative in any specialty. Third year is the first time you should really be determining what specialty you will like.

If you did everything right the first two years you should be able to pick the competative locations in less competative specialties or some of the competative specialties.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

So I guess I should just wait until I actually get into a med school before I decide what kind of doctor I want to be. I always thought you should know beforehand.

I'd say about half the people "think" they know what they want to do but only 1/10 actually are correct.

 

[abcabc1]

So I guess I should just wait until I actually get into a med school before I decide what kind of doctor I want to be. I always thought you should know beforehand.

First, people should do as much as they can to verify that Medicine is the right career choice for them. This is much harder said than done, since Medical School itself gives a lot of insight as to whether or not Medicine is a good choice. Of course, it's best to know before starting Med School. Once someone is confident they'd like to be a Doctor they should focus on getting into a school and, preferably, one that fits in well with their desires (cost, location, research opportunities, etc.)

At this stage, you'll start to have an idea of which specialties are most appealing, while the M3 year provides a lot more information in this area. My best advice is do as well as you can now, try to get into the school that gives you the most opportunities, do well in Med School and then decide. If you decide later that you want a competitive field like Derm, you can take a year off for research.

 

[abcabc1]

much easier said than done, I mean.

 

[ILikeFood]

I can tell you the lifestyle of the dermatologist I used to visit.

9-5, four days a week, doing five-30 minute laser procedures @ $250-750/pop.

The other three days were spent on his controlling wife's leash, barking like a dog.

But the office made money while he wasn't there because he had three cosmetologists pumping out facials and microdermabrasians.

It's a good life, as far as I can tell.

 

[abcxyz0123]

Such a bad idea.

You are looking at 4 years of excelling at the pre-med level to get into the best medical school you can get into. (I've since blocked out those horrible memories, you'll need to ask someone else for tips here)

Then you are looking at 4 years of excelling at the medical school level to even land interviews in dermatology. (At least, a great deal of derm residents need to take time off for research if not a full PhD)

-Honor as many pre-clinical courses as possible
-Do meaningful and productive research
-Ace Step 1
-Honor as many clinical courses as possible
-Get into AOA
-Do a ton of away rotations (kissing youknowwhat the whole time)
-And pray for interviews

All this so you can skimp out on work when you finally get what you want?

That's Stupid with a capital S.

This is post was OK until I read the last line, which turned it into one of the most ******ed posts i've seen on this site. "Stupid with a capital S" is working your *** off during college and medical school to be rewarded with a specialty that requires more work and more stress. Working your *** off for derm is just plain common sense.

 

[bananamed]

This is post was OK until I read the last line, which turned it into one of the most ******ed posts i've seen on this site. "Stupid with a capital S" is working your *** off during college and medical school to be rewarded with a specialty that requires more work and more stress. Working your *** off for derm is just plain common sense.

You work your *** off in college and medical school to be rewarded with a career you actually enjoy.

It makes no sense to go through all that just to pick an "easy" specialty that you don't like and be able to work 3 days a week.

 

[abcxyz0123]

You work your *** off in college and medical school to be rewarded with a career you actually enjoy.

It makes no sense to go through all that just to pick an "easy" specialty that you don't like and be able to work 3 days a week.

Nobody said anything about not liking the specialty. Why does everyone assume that if you are initially lead to a specialty for the money and hours, that there's no way in hell you would enjoy it too?

 

[bananamed]

Nobody said anything about not liking the specialty. Why does everyone assume that if you are initially lead to a specialty for the money and hours, that there's no way in hell you would enjoy it too?

You don't actually enjoy it. You learn to enjoy it because it's tolerable and the money's good and the hours are good too.

Sort of like prostitution.

 

[chitowndermie]

Seriously, guys, come on. I see a lot of haters here. I happen to be a dermatology resident who busted my hump in college and in medical school just so that I can be in a specialty I absolutely love. I love my job and would have never settled for anything else that was just okay. I look at all my classmates who are killing themselves and for what? Grueling hours, ****ty pay, and dissatisfaction in their job. Say whatever you want to make yourselves feel better, but I would say most dermatologists love their job (and didn't just pick it for the lifestyle and money).

 

[deltamed]

"Sort of like prostitution."

Wow, a little over the top, huh? I agree you are very, very jealous. It's ok. The dermatology residents were smarter than you to start with, so its only fair that they get to work better hours, enjoy their job and make more than you. Oh, and their family doesn't hate them either, like yours does for never being home.

No matter what you do, working 24-7 is degrading, demoralizing and just plain stupid. Too bad you realized that too late and didn't weigh ALL the factors before picking a specialty. Have fun bending over. Sort of like prostitution but from the rear, huh?

 

[bananamed]

"Sort of like prostitution."

Wow, a little over the top, huh? I agree you are very, very jealous. It's ok. The dermatology residents were smarter than you to start with, so its only fair that they get to work better hours, enjoy their job and make more than you. Oh, and their family doesn't hate them either, like yours does for never being home.

No matter what you do, working 24-7 is degrading, demoralizing and just plain stupid. Too bad you realized that too late and didn't weigh ALL the factors before picking a specialty. Have fun bending over. Sort of like prostitution but from the rear, huh?

Hi teapot. It's me, kettle. You're black.

Overreact much?

I am referring to those who select the field for lifestyle/compensation reasons and then suddenly find a deep "passion" for skin.

You don't actually like it. You just learned to like it.

I particularly enjoyed another post in this forum where the author mentioned that if umbilicology became a field with even better lifestyle/compensation, you would witness medical students across the nation professing a newfound love and admiration for the wonder that is the belly button.

Nothing to be ashamed of, lots of us do it. I'm just pointing it out.

Now if you applied to medical school with the desire to become a dermatologist in your personal statement, then yes, I apologize.

 

[deltamed]

Perhaps I overreacted but equating one's profession to prostitution in the first place is unprofessional, ludicrious and probably deserves those comments. Honestly, why would another doctor do that other than jealosy? I can't think of any reason.

My point is, not many people have a "passion" for medicine or surgery when they start school either. Some, but not most. Can you really develop a passion in a few months while filling out paperwork, cutting sutures and retracting skin?

At the same time, most people say dermatology is "boring" without having more than a couple weeks (if that). If you like doing lots of short procedures, helping people with visible results and learning pathology/skin surgery/skin medicine then it's fun and enjoyable. If you like dealing with life and death all the time it's not for you. Each to his own. Also, there is nothing wrong with considering your work/life balance when choosing one specialty over another. Remember that as you spend 30 hours on call every 3 days. Most people decide they want to be a doctor first when attending med school and then what type of doctor second. Most people would be happy in multiple specialties but lifestyle is the dealbreaker between them. That's why you see so many surgery/medicine residents bailing after XX years going to --> anes/rads/derm/optho and practially ZERO the other direction. Think about it.

 

[Dermguy]

So I guess I should just wait until I actually get into a med school before I decide what kind of doctor I want to be. I always thought you should know beforehand.

I wanted to be a dermatologist before I started medical school. I didn't tell anybody because of the misconceptions of many doctors toward dermatologists, but I personally don't think there's anything wrong with leaning toward something early.

Some of the best advice I got before medical school was this: Shoot for whatever the most competitive specialty is that you even think you may be interested in. If, for example, you're leaning towards either Medicine or Derm, you should try to get all your ducks in a row for Derm because if you decide later that you really love Medicine, a good Derm applicant will make a GREAT Medicine applicant.