4 ms·

I guess it depends on the person and your situation. Before we had kids, my wife's shift schedule wasn't too bad. I owned my own business and could take time o

I guess it depends on the person and your situation. Before we had kids, my wife's shift schedule wasn't too bad. I owned my own business and could take time off when she was free during weekdays. Now that we have kids, the shift schedule is tougher on her. Kids don't work on a shift schedule, and when they make demands of her time and I'm unable to help, she ends up sacrificing her sleep. That happens often enough that it makes any jokes about startup founders being sleep deprived, well, a joke. Somehow, she's able to rally herself and get enough energy to work through a string of night shifts, even after having to take the toddler to the pediatrician during the day if I wasn't able to. My wife also moonlights at another hospital (something she did back when I was getting my startup going and we needed the extra income). She continues to do this because she enjoys the work there (it's higher acuity). That's just our personal experience. Colleagues of hers have solved this by hiring help (au pairs, nannies, etc), which we intend to do soon. She's told me stories about some of her colleagues that don't have kids and have their own share of difficulties. One of them recently dealt with a particular tough case where a 3yo died. There's a culture in the ED where you don't take time off unless you're truly dying. Got the sniffles? Suck it up and come to work. Dealing with a traumatic experience and can't sleep because you've been crying all night? Suck it up and come to work. Hopefully that colleague finds a way to cope, because it's kind of frightening to me, as an outsider, to think of my ED doctor being that person. I can only speak to the ED specialty. I'm clueless about other medical specialities and any potential health issues around them.

sxg 9y ago
Thanks for the response. I'll definitely keep that in mind as I pick a specialty. I'm only a med student right now, but I have spent a year rotating through all of the most common specialties. I have to say that the culture you describe isn't unique to the ED. I've seen it throughout the hospital. Taking time off isn't easy in any specialty. I've found this to be especially true in the niche subspecialties (especially surgical subspecialties). I work with a colorectal surgeon who is the only colorectal surgeon at her particular hospital. She's responsible for all of the patients she's ever treated and any emergencies that may need a colorectal surgeon. It's nearly impossible for her to ever take time off or even leave the city for more than a few days. An advantage that I see for ED physicians is that they're not directly tied to patients. Any ED physician can fill in for another when the need arises. I can't speak to whether that actually happens, but theoretically it's possible in the ED.
- mikeleeorg 9y ago
  From what little I know, I would guess any kind of surgical subspecialty experiences what ED physicians experience, times two. I heard the story of a good neurosurgeon who, one day, made a serious mistake during a surgery and paralyzed his patient. It haunted him so much that he eventually took his own life, after he dealt with the malpractice lawsuit.

sxg 9y ago

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely keep that in mind as I pick a specialty. I'm only a med student right now, but I have spent a year rotating through all of the most common specialties. I have to say that the culture you describe isn't unique to the ED. I've seen it throughout the hospital. Taking time off isn't easy in any specialty. I've found this to be especially true in the niche subspecialties (especially surgical subspecialties). I work with a colorectal surgeon who is the only colorectal surgeon at her particular hospital. She's responsible for all of the patients she's ever treated and any emergencies that may need a colorectal surgeon. It's nearly impossible for her to ever take time off or even leave the city for more than a few days. An advantage that I see for ED physicians is that they're not directly tied to patients. Any ED physician can fill in for another when the need arises. I can't speak to whether that actually happens, but theoretically it's possible in the ED.

mikeleeorg 9y ago
From what little I know, I would guess any kind of surgical subspecialty experiences what ED physicians experience, times two. I heard the story of a good neurosurgeon who, one day, made a serious mistake during a surgery and paralyzed his patient. It haunted him so much that he eventually took his own life, after he dealt with the malpractice lawsuit.