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> “I love my job,” says Hart, but “it doesn’t turn off. That is one of the hard things about it.” I'm lucky that in my industry I can make a good living as an

> “I love my job,” says Hart, but “it doesn’t turn off. That is one of the hard things about it.” I'm lucky that in my industry I can make a good living as an individual contributor, because having to actually think about my job when I'm not at my job sounds like a living nightmare.

applied_heat 3y ago
There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off. Other jobs won’t call you off shift but if you just had to deal with something traumatic like a car wreck it’s hard to leave that at work as well.
- throwaway2037 3y ago
  > There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off. This comment is oddly specific. It reads like you are writing from personal experience. Besides emergency medicine, what else qualifies?
  - riahi 3y ago
    It describes almost every role in the field of medicine.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - throwaway2037 3y ago
      I don't hear these complaints from nurses during HN discussions. Only doctors.
BeetleB 3y ago
If you're in SW, you probably will need to think about your job off work: They usually don't work in shifts, and will have deliverables in a timeline of months. They need to plan the work, and always adjust to hit the deadlines. If you're a doctor, then you probably don't have to think about your job off work.
- TimPC 3y ago
  True but the number of hours I work in SW + the number of hours I think about my job outside of work is still probably less than a typical doctor's working hours so I feel like we come out ahead anyways.
  - BeetleB 3y ago
    Here's actual data for doctors: https://www.amnhealthcare.com/blog/physician/locums/average-physician-workweek-how-doctors-hours-are-changing/ https://www.amnhealthcare.com/blog/physician/locums/average-... It's more than I work, but I know many SW professionals who work longer hours than the typical physician.
- _dark_matter_ 3y ago
  That is not true about doctors at _all_, especially inpatient. They have so many hours in a day to spend on patients. They are checking on them after hours, fielding calls, looking at lab results, responding to messages, preparing for the next day, filling out notes, reading new notes. So not only do they think about the job off work, there is lots of job to do off work as well.
  - BeetleB 3y ago
    > That is not true about doctors at _all_, especially inpatient. Varies depending on the type of work you do. People I know who are hospitalists, urgent care and ER doctors actually do just check out at the end. If something happens to a patient, it's the headache of the doctor who's rotation it is - not theirs. And I also know PCPs who check out at the end and are done with it. If something happens off hours, they get taken care of by an on-call doctor, not the PCP. If it's serious, they're referred to urgent care and ER. But as I said - all a function of who they work for. Same with SW.

applied_heat 3y ago

There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off. Other jobs won’t call you off shift but if you just had to deal with something traumatic like a car wreck it’s hard to leave that at work as well.

throwaway2037 3y ago
> There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off. This comment is oddly specific. It reads like you are writing from personal experience. Besides emergency medicine, what else qualifies?
- riahi 3y ago
  It describes almost every role in the field of medicine.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - throwaway2037 3y ago
    I don't hear these complaints from nurses during HN discussions. Only doctors.

BeetleB 3y ago

If you're in SW, you probably will need to think about your job off work: They usually don't work in shifts, and will have deliverables in a timeline of months. They need to plan the work, and always adjust to hit the deadlines. If you're a doctor, then you probably don't have to think about your job off work.

TimPC 3y ago
True but the number of hours I work in SW + the number of hours I think about my job outside of work is still probably less than a typical doctor's working hours so I feel like we come out ahead anyways.
- BeetleB 3y ago
  Here's actual data for doctors: https://www.amnhealthcare.com/blog/physician/locums/average-physician-workweek-how-doctors-hours-are-changing/ https://www.amnhealthcare.com/blog/physician/locums/average-... It's more than I work, but I know many SW professionals who work longer hours than the typical physician.
_dark_matter_ 3y ago
That is not true about doctors at _all_, especially inpatient. They have so many hours in a day to spend on patients. They are checking on them after hours, fielding calls, looking at lab results, responding to messages, preparing for the next day, filling out notes, reading new notes. So not only do they think about the job off work, there is lots of job to do off work as well.
- BeetleB 3y ago
  > That is not true about doctors at _all_, especially inpatient. Varies depending on the type of work you do. People I know who are hospitalists, urgent care and ER doctors actually do just check out at the end. If something happens to a patient, it's the headache of the doctor who's rotation it is - not theirs. And I also know PCPs who check out at the end and are done with it. If something happens off hours, they get taken care of by an on-call doctor, not the PCP. If it's serious, they're referred to urgent care and ER. But as I said - all a function of who they work for. Same with SW.