eh, it’s actually quite a balanced article. i found it to be a nice discussion of how shift work and flexibility can make life outside of medicine easier. this has certainly been my experience as an EM attending.
the bottom line is that it’s hard to have everything you want out of life and be a highly paid physician. this is not all that dependent on sex.
Basically it talks about how great it is to be a female doc these days. I’m not so sure my family would agree
I found it sort of ridiculous because it ignores the length of residency/fellowship training. I know many female physicians who’ve had to undergo IVF or could not have children, likely at least partly due to waiting until training was over. I think our residents get two weeks off after delivery.
Better alternatives: CRNA, probably dental, many fields of business, law, engineering…
Alternatives in terms of making the system more family friendly? Shorten undergrad-medschool so that training is typically completed several years earlier like it is in other countries.
Well for one thing it said that the pay gap between male and female physicians is around 67 cents per $1 but a bunch of that is explained by women working part time. Except it says that once you account for that the gap is 82 cents for every $1 as if that’s okay.
It also starts with the assumption that it’s the woman physician who should cut back to take care of the children. That’s the wrong starting point
I found it sort of ridiculous because it ignores the length of residency/fellowship training. I know many female physicians who’ve had to undergo IVF or could not have children, likely at least partly due to waiting until training was over. I think our residents get two weeks off after delivery.
Better alternatives: CRNA, probably dental, many fields of business, law, engineering…
Alternatives in terms of making the system more family friendly? Shorten undergrad-medschool so that training is typically completed several years earlier like it is in other countries.
As far as business and law, the article gave specific reasons why those would be less attractive. I know lots of female engineers, but they’re in all in the same general field, and they would strongly disagree. But engineering is very broad and I guess there could be niches which are great.
CRNA gets thrown around alot, but I’ve yet to meet a doc of any kind who says, “I wish I had been a CRNA instead” and is completely serious. But I suppose it’s possible. So, I’ll give that one a maybe.
I’ll buy dental. Shorter training, income and flexibility are probably comparable. If dentistry appeals to you, it’s probably a great choice.
I found it sort of ridiculous because it ignores the length of residency/fellowship training. I know many female physicians who’ve had to undergo IVF or could not have children, likely at least partly due to waiting until training was over. I think our residents get two weeks off after delivery.
Better alternatives: CRNA, probably dental, many fields of business, law, engineering…
Alternatives in terms of making the system more family friendly? Shorten undergrad-medschool so that training is typically completed several years earlier like it is in other countries.
As far as business and law, the article gave specific reasons why those would be less attractive. I know lots of female engineers, but they’re in all in the same general field, and they would strongly disagree. But engineering is very broad and I guess there could be niches which are great.
CRNA gets thrown around alot, but I’ve yet to meet a doc of any kind who says, “I wish I had been a CRNA instead” and is completely serious. But I suppose it’s possible. So, I’ll give that one a maybe.
I’ll buy dental. Shorter training, income and flexibility are probably comparable. If dentistry appeals to you, it’s probably a great choice.
Dental would be the WORST for a mom. I am a woman physician married to male dentist who owns his own practice. Dentists come out with $250,000 – $400,000 in student loans similar to physicians. Options coming out of dental school are to join an associateship (working with a small private practice), working for a FQHC, or working for a dental chain. The only option to allow you to take FMLA might be a FQHC, but then you are working at a FQHC which has its own problems. Most young dentists are either going to be an associate making peanuts and at the mercy of the owner or a practice owner which is not mom friendly. Many towns have a surplus of dentists unlike primary care physicians where they are many different options to negotiate part time hours.
I found it sort of ridiculous because it ignores the length of residency/fellowship training. I know many female physicians who’ve had to undergo IVF or could not have children, likely at least partly due to waiting until training was over. I think our residents get two weeks off after delivery.
Better alternatives: CRNA, probably dental, many fields of business, law, engineering…
Alternatives in terms of making the system more family friendly? Shorten undergrad-medschool so that training is typically completed several years earlier like it is in other countries.
As far as business and law, the article gave specific reasons why those would be less attractive. I know lots of female engineers, but they’re in all in the same general field, and they would strongly disagree. But engineering is very broad and I guess there could be niches which are great.
CRNA gets thrown around alot, but I’ve yet to meet a doc of any kind who says, “I wish I had been a CRNA instead” and is completely serious. But I suppose it’s possible. So, I’ll give that one a maybe.
I’ll buy dental. Shorter training, income and flexibility are probably comparable. If dentistry appeals to you, it’s probably a great choice.
Dental would be the WORST for a mom. I am a woman physician married to male dentist who owns his own practice. Dentists come out with $250,000 – $400,000 in student loans similar to physicians. Options coming out of dental school are to join an associateship (working with a small private practice), working for a FQHC, or working for a dental chain. The only option to allow you to take FMLA might be a FQHC, but then you are working at a FQHC which has its own problems. Most young dentists are either going to be an associate making peanuts and at the mercy of the owner or a practice owner which is not mom friendly. Many towns have a surplus of dentists unlike primary care physicians where they are many different options to negotiate part time hours.
My own dentist who I’ve gone to for 10+ yrs, works 2-3 days a week, has a couple of kids and seems pretty happy. I definitely don’t know the whole story, though. Also live in a pretty HCOL area, and I’m sure I drive past approx 20 dentists to get to her.
Also when you say peanuts, what exactly are we talking about here? Based on posts I’ve read around here dentists seem to do OK. Is salary really that much lower than a PCP?
Well for one thing it said that the pay gap between male and female physicians is around 67 cents per $1 but a bunch of that is explained by women working part time. Except it says that once you account for that the gap is 82 cents for every $1 as if that’s okay.
It also starts with the assumption that it’s the woman physician who should cut back to take care of the children. That’s the wrong starting point
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