How much do you work?

gladhands · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by deadly7

Are you a fellow or something right now? I haven't heard many people identify themselves solely as internists.

That was my thought. That kind of workload is unheard of for an attending or private practice physician. Even for a fellow, one would have to be heavily involved in bench research or moonlighting to work 11 days straight.

imatlas · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by norcaltransplant

Internist. I guess the question is, how much can you work before it begins to affect other parts of your life? I have no desire to work 14+ hour days. I can, however, work 8-10 days somewhat indefinitely, though this leaves little free time to do anything other than work and household maintenance.
That's your mistake right there. Historically ID has the worst pay to work ratio of the major medical specializations. My dad was an ID, and watching his experience convinced me not to go into medicine. Life balance is very difficult to find when you're on call every other weekend and working 10- 12 hour days every day. I probably average about 50 hours a week. When the short term average gets above that, my personal life starts to suffer.

deadly7 · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by gladhands

That was my thought. That kind of workload is unheard of for an attending or private practice physician. Even for a fellow, one would have to be heavily involved in bench research or moonlighting to work 11 days straight.
Yeah, maybe not a fellow but a resident. At which point, it makes even more sense why he has the hours he mentioned.

Originally Posted by imatlas

That's your mistake right there. Historically ID has the worst pay to work ratio of the major medical specializations. My dad was an ID, and watching his experience convinced me not to go into medicine. Life balance is very difficult to find when you're on call every other weekend and working 10- 12 hour days every day.

I probably average about 50 hours a week. When the short term average gets above that, my personal life starts to suffer.
But for many programs, I've always read that you need to have done an internal medicine rotation. Eg, neurology, nephrology, etc etc. And I don't think that all of those work as brutal hours as the internal med folks. I could very well be wrong though.

imatlas · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by deadly7

Yeah, maybe not a fellow but a resident. At which point, it makes even more sense why he has the hours he mentioned.

But for many programs, I've always read that you need to have done an internal medicine rotation. Eg, neurology, nephrology, etc etc. And I don't think that all of those work as brutal hours as the internal med folks. I could very well be wrong though.

That's what my dad always said (actually, he always said, "those damn mechanics work half as much and make several times what I do").

deadly7 · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by imatlas

That's what my dad always said (actually, he always said, "those damn mechanics work half as much and make several times what I do").

Assuming he's not talking about literal mechanics and was instead calling specialists mechanics (because they only fix certain parts) this reminds me of that old story about the company that calls the engineer to fix something and gets an outrageous bill.

imatlas · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by deadly7

Assuming he's not talking about literal mechanics and was instead calling specialists mechanics (because they only fix certain parts) this reminds me of that old story about the company that calls the engineer to fix something and gets an outrageous bill.

Surgeon=mechanic to my dad, because it requires mechanical skill over intellectual capability and knowledge, and is all about "procedures". This is in opposition to infectious disease, his specialty, which is entirely about curing disease through knowledge and intellect, but pays a fraction of what the top surgery specialties pay.

As I have learned to my everlasting regret from personal experience, the tag fits - surgeons tend to see medical issues more in terms of "What can I cut?" than "How can I best cure this?"

deadly7 · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by imatlas

Surgeon=mechanic to my dad, because it requires mechanical skill over intellectual capability and knowledge, and is all about "procedures". This is in opposition to infectious disease, his specialty, which is entirely about curing disease through knowledge and intellect, but pays a fraction of what the top surgery specialties pay.

As I have learned to my everlasting regret from personal experience, the tag fits - surgeons tend to see medical issues more in terms of "What can I cut?" than "How can I best cure this?"

The top paragraph reminds me of Scrubs. Turk: "My girlfriend isn't the only one with straight C's, if you know what I'm saying"

The surgeons I've talked to don't necessarily think in the terms you pointed out, but maybe it's because I didn't see them while a patient.

gnatty8 · Mar 21, 2011

I "live" in another city 3 days a week, and when there, usually work 12 hour days. The other 2 days, minimum of 10 hours, and then usually 4 to 6 hours over the weekend. What's that, 60+ hours or so a week. Been like that for at least 3 years, it's the norm.

xpress · Mar 21, 2011

9-9:30 two days a week.
9-5 three days a week.
12-5 one day a week.
One day off (sometimes)

bawlin · Mar 21, 2011

October - January I'm up at 8am and I'm usually working until past 9pm (not straight through of course). January - September I'm up at 10am and I'm usually done my day by noon.

poorsod · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by norcaltransplant

I just finished my 11th straight day of work. I've also been working a lot weekends. I personally don't mind my hours, averaging between 10-14 on the weekdays, and 6-8 on the weekends, though I'm tired as hell once I get home. This is apparently detrimental to my relationship. My girlfriend was pretty pissed when I gave the "sleepy face" about going out to karaoke.

So, is this really a problem? How much does everyone work on average? Money causes a lot of anxiety for me, so I'd rather work and try to save or pay down debt as much as possible. FWIW, this is the perspective of a thirty year-old and not some recent college grad.
Is this part of your regular gig or are you moonlighting a lot? You are attending now right? I had a friend who did research work during the day but moonlighted at night and weekends to pay the bills. He was always working.

GQgeek · Mar 21, 2011

I don't even know. 8:45-6 on weekdays, but I often end up doing work from home at night and on weekends. haven't been keeping track, really.

Piobaire · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by imatlas

As I have learned to my everlasting regret from personal experience, the tag fits - surgeons tend to see medical issues more in terms of "What can I cut?" than "How can I best cure this?"
There was a classic study done where a case study of a cancer patient was presented to multiple doctors divided into three groups: chemo oncs, rad oncs, surgical oncs. Want to guess how each group overwhelmingly felt the course of treatment should go? Classic example of when all you have is a hammer, all you see is nails. Also raises some subtle questions about "informed consent," IMO. I am working much less than I did 10 years ago. In fact, not even as much as I did five years ago. I am enjoying the fruits of seven years of work at my current organization in terms of having developed a great team under me and learning the ropes of running the show. I'll still do the occasional 60 hour week or run 2-3 six day weeks together, but I'm much more M-F, 45-50 hours a week now than I have been in 20 years.

imatlas · Mar 21, 2011

Originally Posted by Piobaire

There was a classic study done where a case study of a cancer patient was presented to multiple doctors divided into three groups: chemo oncs, rad oncs, surgical oncs. Want to guess how each group overwhelmingly felt the course of treatment should go? Classic example of when all you have is a hammer, all you see is nails. Also raises some subtle questions about "informed consent," IMO.

That's exactly right, including (if not especially), the last remark.

munchausen · Mar 22, 2011

Most weeks, 40-50 hrs. But then I will have a month with three or four trials and find myself working 60-70 hours weeks. Still a decent schedule for a lawyer. I don't see how the people who work 60 hours every week do it.

How much do you work?

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