Satisfaction/enjoyment practicing medicine

[Complete_newbie]

On a scale of 1-10, what grade would you give? why?

I'll start - 8.5 for me. Finishing radiology residency. Feel great about work and what I do. Not burnt out (infact moonlighted alot and enjoyed it). Looking forward to new job in July. May be I am just young and don't know real grind yet...

[GXA]

8

My satisfaction has increased since going to a lower volume site for less pay.  I actually have time to speak with patients, families and nurses.  There are many lower volume options in emergency medicine including rural facilities and the new free-standings that are becoming ubiquitous.

[conniebird]

8.5 for me I think. Pretty happy overall. It would be a 10 if my commute wasn't so bad and if I had better support staff. Why? I love my field (derm), work with great residents and so far I'm still excited by the interesting stuff (I run the inpatient consult service). That may get old at some point.

[Antares]

5, but not because I don't enjoy my work. Only because there are many things I can't do because I need to work.

[VagabondMD]

Complete_newbie wrote:

On a scale of 1-10, what grade would you give? why?

I’ll start – 8.5 for me. Finishing radiology residency. Feel great about work and what I do. Not burnt out (infact moonlighted alot and enjoyed it). Looking forward to new job in July. May be I am just young and don’t know real grind yet…

Click to expand...

When I was a radiology resident (and then IR fellow), my satisfaction was 11 out of 10. I loved it! My fellow resident and fellows were my best friends, the work was interesting, there were outstanding mentors, and I learned lots, everyday. I used to say that I could not believe that they paid me. I would have worked for free.

20+ years in, well, let's just say that it is no longer an 11 out of 10; the number is a bit lower. There are some things I still enjoy about the work but quite a bit not to like, too. I would no longer work for free.

[homanga]

9, only downside currently is I travel for work but enjoy the work. Hope this number never drops too significantly but only 6 months into attendingship things will always change.

[Complete_newbie]

Thanks Vagabond. Will be interesting where my career goes, but great to hear from a veteran rad!

[Kamban]

Due to decreasinf Medicare reimbursements and increasing onerous requirements, I would say it is 6/10 now.

[Zaphod]

6.

Not because its not enjoyable on aggregate, but there are tons of things I'd rather be doing otherwise.

[jhwkr542]

9 for me, I'd say.  Pathology lifestyle (7:30-4 M-F), half-day per week, 5 weekend calls a year (where you rarely get called).  Mostly, I enjoy being around my colleagues on a daily basis and working on cases in a group-type atmosphere.  Pretty good pay too.

[Drsan1]

7

As a hospitalist the work is the same. We are still able to admit, discharge and order what tests we want with very little interference from administration. I love the "doctoring" part of the job...except a few drug seekers or unreasonable patients here and there.  It a 7 more so because of the other pressures/changes from administration regarding staffing, pay, covenants etc.,  inefficiency or dishonesty within the group and frustrations about interactions with some consultants. I've learned to take the good with the bad. As long as the good outweigh the bad, I can go on. If they become equal or if bad is higher...it's time for me to do something else.

[DarrVao777]

Complete_newbie wrote:

On a scale of 1-10, what grade would you give? why?

I’ll start – 8.5 for me. Finishing radiology residency. Feel great about work and what I do. Not burnt out (infact moonlighted alot and enjoyed it). Looking forward to new job in July. May be I am just young and don’t know real grind yet…

Click to expand...

10 for me (but I'm young, I still have time yet to become jaded), there are days with administrative headaches where it can dip to a 9 but all in all, I am very happy with my career choice and try to remind myself of how lucky I am even on the crummy days

Love my field

I don't have many hobbies or things I would prefer to be otherwise doing

Great lifestyle helps significantly (I work 4 days/week. Home/phone call only. No nights. No weekends. No holidays. 8 weeks vacation/year)

And of course, it pays very well

 

[DoubleMDs]

5. I like my field and make a good living but medicine gets more and more trying every day. I have many hobbies and there are so many things I'd rather be doing every day. Most of them just don't pay nearly as well.

[Complete_newbie]

@Darrvao77 - which medical specialty do you practice if you dont mind me asking

[EJ at Dads Dollars and Debts]

It varies between 5 to 10 depending on the day. Some days are fantastic. Great patient interactions, meet a lot of new people, enjoy figuring out a problem and helping others. My colleagues are always great (I think this is a must to ensure a happy practice). Those days are a 10. Other days I may run across frustrations with patient interactions, difficulty with metric requirements that do not necessarily improve patient care, and just would rather be hanging with my son. Those days are a 5.

 

At the end of the day, I think it is a balance. So likely on average an 8. You must remember though that we are all very fortunate. Remember how hard we all worked and desired to get into med school...and remember that there are not many professions that provide such a guaranteed salary/pay once out of training.

Good luck to you! I hope you have found a good job.

-EJ