Best Medical Specialty For Family Life

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Most Stressful Medical Specialties

Not all specialities are made equal.

Some are known to have a better family life while others make people run in the other directions.

The causes of this are plenty, but some of the key points could be that some specialities have:

More outpatient-based – Outpatients are patients who are only “visiting” the hospital – they aren’t staying overnight. If a speciality has more outpatients, there are fewer people they need to see in the hospital which means the doctors tend to have more flexibility.
No night shifts – A&E doctors (called EM doctors in the US), will always have night shifts whether they are 30 or 60. Specialities like these require consultants to sacrifice home life for work even into senior years.
Reduced stress – Some surgical specialities are known to be at the height of stress like cardiothoracic surgery. Being so stressed that you dream about work in your sleep is not a nice feeling.
Fewer emergency cases – A large number of emergency cases means more night shifts, higher levels of stress and more training which all impact on family life.

woman inject a woman on left shoulder — Seeing lots of outpatients (patients who come in for a consultation) is considered a sign of a more relaxed speciality

However, having a good work-life balance is not always to do with the speciality.

Other factors are not to do with the speciality but can still influence how good the work-life balance are:

Living in rural vs urban areas – Living in a big city might be exciting, but it can also be more tiring. Rural areas tend to have few patients and a better quality of life. Be careful though; if being in a rural area means you end up poorly staffed, then you could end up worse off than if you had stuck to a big city.
Well-staffed hospitals – Lots of nurses and doctors can relieve the stress placed on you and stop you spending hours after your shift, working on paperwork and documentation.
Country – A lot of the statistics that are talked about in this article are based on US figures. However, the best speciality for your country might be completely different. It can depend on the training, staff, reputation, pay and so many other things. Make sure you talk to a lot of doctors in the field before going into it.

For these reasons, it is important to choose a speciality that you will enjoy and want to be a part of. Many doctors have quit their speciality to become a GP (Family Medicine doctor) just because they want to spend more time with their family.

Now that you know what the different factors that affect work-life balance as a doctor are, let’s discuss the question all new doctors seem to ask. What are the most relaxed specialities in the whole of medicine?

The Best Medical Specialties for a Work-Life Balance

Here is a list of the specialities with a good work-life balance with a brief explanation as to what makes the life of that speciality so good. Note that the specialities are not listed in any particular order.

Dermatology

Dermatology is famous for its flexible work-life balance and fantastic pay. While other specialities might have to sacrifice their Mercedes to spend more time at home, that certainly isn’t the case for dermatologists.

Dermatologists can work as little or as much as they want and can demand high paying private customers that pay big bucks for high-quality skincare.

It is also the 9th happiest speciality outside of work.

56% of dermatologist would agree that they are happy outside of work according to the Medscape 2020 report (see below for a graph).

girl in blue and white long sleeve shirt lying on bed — Dermatology can be incredibly lucrative due to the large potential for seeing private patients

Unfortunately, it is incredibly competitive, with a large number of people applying for the job every year.

In fact, dermatology is the most competitive speciality in the whole of the US (if you look at which speciality requires the highest USMLE Step 1 scores).

Another thing to consider is that is can also take a lot of training.

In the UK, you need to complete three years of Internal Medicine Training (formally Core Medical Training) and then apply for your dermatology training. It could take even longer depending on the country you live in.

Therefore, think carefully about if it is worth all that stress and effort before deciding on dermatology as a career path.

Dermatology Summary

Flexible
Good private pay
Little/no emergencies

Extremely competitive

General Practice (Family Medicine)

General practice has a great reputation for being flexible with the ability to easily work part-time. The training is often much less than other specialities and can allow you to become a consultant/attending much quicker than your colleagues.

In terms of statistics though, it a mixed bag. The Medscape 2020 report put Family Medicine at one of the lowest specialities for happiness outside of work.

Only 50% agreed that they were happy outside of work, putting it 7 places above bottom-of-the-pile Neurology.

Taken from the Medscape 2020 Report, this shows that Rheumatologists are the happiest outside of work

Here are some articles you can check out if you want to learn more about becoming a GP:

GP (Family Medicine) Summary

Flexible – can work part-time
Quick/relatively easy training
Not competitive to get into

Low on ‘happiness outside of work’

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is a fantastic speciality for those unsure whether to do medicine or surgery; ophthalmology has both.

Because of this, it is a 7-year training program in the UK. However, once your 7 years is up, the journey isn’t over.

That’s because not only is ophthalmology extremely competitive to get into, but it is difficult to find consultant/attending posts within it as well (depending on where you live).

If you are trying to go for Moorfields, a world-renowned eye hospital in London, then you might even have to do a PhD before it’s all up.

Being an eye doctor has its upsides though.

Eye emergencies are rare and it is unlikely you will ever have to work many night shifts.

Surgeries can be over within an hour, so you can get that hands-on experience you love while sitting comfortably on a chair.

It is also the third-highest in terms of self-esteem according to the 2019 Medscape Report, only being beaten by plastic surgery and urology.

This graph, taken from the Medscape 2019 Report, shows that Plastic Surgeons have the highest self-esteem.

So it might be a long and bumpy ride to get to the top, but once you are there, the views are pretty good.

Ophthalmology Summary

A mix of medicine and surgery
Few emergencies
No/few night shifts

Very competitive, sometimes even after getting into speciality training

Radiology

Radiology is great for one big reason: you don’t even need to be in the hospital to work. You could be in your PJs at home while earning the same as colleagues who have to go into hospital.

This is probably going to get even more common considering how good an excuse Coronavirus is to for people to stay at home.

In the UK, they even provide high tech monitors and super-fast internet for consultant radiologists that wish to work from home, all paid for by the NHS. A pretty good deal if you ask me!

citiscan result hand ok — You could be a radiologist and work from the other side of the world if you wish

Not only this but you can perform minor surgeries if you want to.

Radiology has as broad enough range of sub-specialities that you could easily find things that you enjoy.

However, it radiologists don’t feel they get the respect they deserve by patients, especially as they are never directly involved in their bedside care. Although, they do get a lot of respect by doctors considering the number of X-rays/MRIs/CT scans that take place in the hospital every day.

It can also be draining on the eyes, as you will have to be looking at a screen for 7+ hours a day while always giving an accurate diagnosis.

Radiology Summary

Work from home
The option of doing minor surgeries
Respected by doctors

Straining on the eye
Little patient contact
Lack of appreciation/respect by patients

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is another speciality that is known for being chill. You are given plenty of time to talk with each patient, something that is unique to psychiatry.

Although the patients can be mentally challenged and be emotionally draining to deal with, the hours are good and there is a large amount of flexibility in the way you want to work.

This graph shows which specialities have the happiest marriages. Unfortunately, Psychiatry falls near the bottom of the list.

Psychiatry Summary

Not very stressful
Plenty of time to talk with patients

Emotionally draining
Doesn’t lead to happy marriages
Low pay and self-esteem

Ears, Nose and Throat (Otolaryngology)

If you would rather be in a surgical speciality but want to stay away from the classic nightmares like cardiothoracic surgery, then ENT is the way to go (although orthopaedics is a fantastic choice that has good hours and excellent pay – see the graph below).

There are very few emergency cases with a large number of outpatient consultations. This results in good flexibility and hardly any night shifts.

However, it is a competitive speciality to get into, so you should start thinking about it early to stand a chance of getting in.

This graph shows the annual pay of physicians in the US. If the main thing you want is money, then go for orthopaedics or plastic surgery.

ENT Summary

One of the only chill surgical specialities
Excellent pay
Few emergencies

Competitive

Plastic Surgery

One of the most competitive and highly sought after specialities in the world, plastic surgery is known to be a brilliant balance of pay and work.

Although the training can be rigorous and the application process draining, once you get through the doors and can practice on your own two feet it is truly a wonderful feeling.

If you want to know more from a plastic surgeon who truly loves their job, I suggest checking out this article written by Dr Foad Nahai.

Plastic Surgery Summary

Great pay and potential for private work
High self-esteem

Extremely competitive

The Worst Medical Specialties for a Work-Life Balance

So now you have an idea of which specialities you should be looking out for, let’s discuss some specialities that you need to avoid (unless you just love the speciality, then go for it!).

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Famously one of the work specialities for a work-life balance, cardiothoracic surgeons may have a great public reputation as being incredible human beings, but it comes at great cost.

There are a large number in the field who say that they regret choosing the speciality, and a significant number would quit if it weren’t the only way to put food on the table.

Cardiothoracic Surgery Summary

Respected across the world
Good pay

Highly competitive
Very stressful
Lots of emergencies

Internal Medicine

Internal medicine is one of the least happy specialities outside of work and has some of of the lowest rates of self-esteem.

Not only this, but they spend upwards of 18 hours a week on paperwork and administration!

Think carefully before choosing internal medicine.

This shows the number of hours that each speciality spends on paperwork and administration.

Internal Medicine Summary

Get to see a broad range of patients

Lots of paperwork
Not very happy outside of work

General Surgery

Although it is classically seen as a challenging speciality, the Medscape 2020 report showed that General Surgery is one of the happiest outsides of work. 60% of them report being happy, only beaten by Rheumatology.

However, you might be in you 50s and still doing night shifts, although it does depend significantly on what sub-speciality you choose.

For example, a breast surgeon may not require as many late nights as a general trauma surgeon. There is a large number of sub-specialities to choose from so try and pick ones that don’t have as many emergencies if you want a good work-life balance.

General Surgery Summary

Happy outside of work
A large amount of choice (in terms of sub-speciality)

Emergencies are relatively common (especially compared to specialities like dermatology and radiology)
High possibility of night shifts

Neurology

Reported as being the unhappiest speciality outside of work, neurology is one of the specialities you should avoid.

Although neurology has a good enough name, it might not be the speciality that you want to do if you like a good work-life balance.

It would also require you to do a large amount of paperwork and administration, taking up 16.9 hours a week according to the Medscape Report.

Neurology Summary

Good reputation/respect

Unhappy outside of work
Lots of paperwork and administration
Least happy marriages

Having a Good Work-Life Balance Regardless of Speciality

If a speciality you want to do wasn’t on the “good” list (or worse, if it was on the “bad” list), then don’t worry! There is a way of having a good work-life balance in almost any speciality.

There are ways of having a good work-life balance regardless of the speciality you go into. Here’s how:

Part-time work

You might earn less, but most specialisms do have an option to work part-time. This will free up time for you to do other projects and hobbies and also spend time with the family.

The Specialty of Family Medicine

Family Medicine: The Center of Primary Care

Unlike other specialties that are limited to a particular organ or disease, family physicians are the only specialists qualified to treat most ailments and provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages — from newborns to seniors. This looks like:

Caring for patients regardless of age or health condition, sustaining an enduring and trusting relationship
Understanding community-level factors and social determinants of health
Serving as a patient’s first contact for health concerns
Navigating the health care system with patients, including specialist and hospital care coordination and follow-up
Using data and technology to coordinate services and enhance care
Considering the impact of health on a patient’s family

Is a Career in Medicine Right for You?

Most physicians chose to pursue medicine as a career because they wanted to make a difference by helping people and positively impacting lives through health care. You, too, can invest your intellect, skills, and passion to serve others in the demanding and rewarding medical profession.

It’s the combination of passion for the patients and a depth of knowledge of the human body that makes primary care such a unique, effective specialty. Access to a regular primary care physician has been linked to:

Lower infant mortality
Higher birth weights
Immunization rates above national standards
Lower overall health care costs
Longer, healthier lives

The AAFP represents 133,500 physicians and student members nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

What Family Physicians Do

Schooling
Family physicians complete extensive training beyond medical school in order to be able to provide the best possible patient care, including a three-year residency; in-depth training across a human lifespan from birth to death; and potential additional fellowships and qualifications in concentrations like adolescent medicine, emergency medicine, faculty development, and more.

Family medicine residents participate in integrated inpatient and outpatient learning and receive training in six major medical areas — pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry and neurology, surgery, and community medicine.

Practice
Family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved rural and urban populations. In addition to diagnosing and treating illness, they also provide preventive care, including routine checkups, health-risk assessments, immunization and screening tests, and personalized counseling on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Family physicians also manage chronic illness, often coordinating care provided by other subspecialists. From heart disease, stroke and hypertension, to diabetes, cancer, and asthma, family physicians provide ongoing, personal care for the nation’s most serious health problems.

Services

82% routinely perform procedures
48% treat patients in a hospital setting
31% deliver emergency care
74% care for infants and children
83% have hospital privileges
18% provide OB care

Procedures

Colposcopy/LEEP
Colonoscopy
Endoscopy
Family planning and early pregnancy evaluation and management
Musculoskeletal injections
Spirometry
Skin procedures
Suturing lacerations
Ultrasound imaging
Vasectomy

Medical Specialties with Best Quality of Life and Success

Do Medical Specialties with Best Quality of Life Exist? Yes.

This write up would talk about medical specialties with best quality of life. In this post we will lay out what is best lifestyle medical specialties and best medical specialty for work life balance. Those include radiology, ophthalmology and few other balanced medical specialties.

You become a doctor only after you put in years of relentless studying and hard work. It’s not easy to become a doctor and earn a major degree like MD.

One thing every aspiring doctor have in common is the desire of making their profession rewarding and fulfilling financially and otherwise.

However, in the quest of having a great career they fail to choose medical specialties with best hours.

As a result, you must read through this article both if you are a junior doctor wondering about what would be the right subject of specialization for you as well as a young school student who has plans of becoming a doctor. Parents of aspiring physicians should also spare a few minutes to read this write-up.

Here, we would like to mention that every individual looking to take up medicine as their career should not only make sure that their profession allows them to spend enough time with family.

But it must also ensure that the stream of medicine they take up allows them to earn enough to have a good lifestyle. In short, they should choose the best medical specialty for work life balance. Read on to know more.

On the other hand – it also depends on a place where they work. Hospitals with ER have very demanding hours. While private practice may allow for time flexibility.

About Best Lifestyle Medical Specialties

To choose the best lifestyle medical specialties you must consider a series of factors. The most crucial one among them is your current lifestyle i.e. the lifestyle you follow before becoming a practicing doctor.

We will have to admit that you cannot live a life full of freedom (as far as time is concerned) as a medical professional. Doesn’t this stand true for most rewarding professions?

So, instead of looking for a stream of medicine that will provide you with lots of free time, look for a stream that involves less hectic work hours, causes minimum stress, offers good remuneration, and allows you to spend quality time with your family.

Considering these factors is crucial as there are many healthcare providers who succumb to the extreme physical and emotional pressure, they need to undergo at their workplace day in day out.

The first thing you must do to shortlist medical specialties with best hours is find the list of all medical specialties and subspecialties the college of your choice is offering. This should be easy as most top colleges make such lists available on their official website.

Talk to doctors you know; they can be the best people to guide you when it comes to choosing the best medical specialty for family life.

That’s because physicians know how the needs of a particular medical field stop doctors from being with their dear ones even on their special days like birthdays, anniversaries, and even on the occasion of a close relative’s death.

Other than that, you can also do some research online to gather knowledge about the kind of jobs doctors with various specializations need to perform. This will help you to create your own list of medical specialties with best quality of life.

Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Medical Specialty for Work Life Balance

If the path leading to the medical college is arduous, things seem to become even more complicated when the junior doctors are asked to choose a subject for specialization. It’s a task that often leave medical students, residents, and interns extremely stressed.

We have tried to make the task a little simpler for you by introducing four factors you must consider when choosing a medical specialty that will provide you with perfect work life balance. Read on to know about Medical Specialties with Best Quality of Life.

Personality Alignment: Your efficiency at performing any jobs is the very important factor contributing to your job satisfaction. Your skills and personality traits should dictate your choice when you are required to select a medical specialty.

Do you like to deal with people (patients)? Then you will feel fine in practice as attending physician in a hospital, or physician in a private medical group.

Are you super introvert and do not want to deal with people? Then radiology may be fine, where you deal with films, not with people.

When you are skilled at something and you have the right personality of performing the job on a large scale, you will be able to showcase maximum efficiency. This will automatically transform into job satisfaction.

Search online and you will come across a number of quizzes that will allow you to analyze your skills and personality traits and tell you which stream of medicine would be suitable for you.

Here, we would like to mention that all such quizzes are not reliable. However, they do make god starting points when you have no idea about your requirements.

Other relying on quizzes for determining your personality type, you can also analyze your skills and interests yourself. For that, you will have to sit and jot down every subject, chapter, or class that you used to find most interesting during your school days.

Also, ask yourself what kind of people you like to talk to. For instance, if you love spending time with kids, there cannot be a better specialization for you that pediatrics and hours could be good.

If you are good tech junkie – surgery or neurosurgery may be a good choice. But surgeons’ early career is usually too demanding and does not leave room for work-life balance.

Do you like sports and know a few things about sports injuries? Sports medicine is a big deal. Podiatrist deals with injuries quit often and may choose good working hours once establishes itself as a pro.

Financial Aspects: You cannot ignore the financial aspects of various medical specialties if you want to take up the best medical specialty for raising a family.

Having such information is also crucial if you are looking for a profession that will improve your quality of life and allow you to have a good lifestyle.

Here, you must remember that specialties that offer good money are not always the ones that will allow you to enjoy great physical and emotional wellbeing.

For example, cardiologists and plastic surgeons are usually paid a bigger remuneration than pediatricians and family physicians. However, the stress levels involved in the cases handled by cardiologists and plastic surgeons are significantly more than the levels of stress encountered by pediatricians and family physicians.

So, if you want good work life balance, you should opt for the latter as those streams also pay well. You will be earning enough to become financially secured but still get time to spend with friends and family and that’s what should matter to you.

Art of Balancing: If you are not busy, you are not a doctor. In other words, your worth as a doctor is proved only if you need to attend lots of patients every day. So, you cannot complain about being busy when you are a doctor.

As a result, instead of looking for a specialty that would keep you less busy look for a specialty that will allow you to implement your skills of balancing more effectively.

Some examples of such medical specialties include family medicine, dermatology, and pathology. Each of these fields can be the best medical specialty for raising a family if you are a good doctor.

However, they will never make you work unless you want to. This means you will not miss your parents’ anniversary or your daughter’s birthday every year just because you are a doctor.

Long-Term Plans: Before you pick a medical specialty, you should have clear idea about your future goals. You must know what your long-term plans are and for what you are looking to earn money.

It’s important for you to understand that once you pick a medical specialty you will have to be dedicated and committed to meet the needs of that profession.

So, you must consider both your personal and professional goals before making the final selection. For instance, you can become a cardiac surgeon without much brainstorming if you don’t have plans to marry or have a family.

Similarly, if you have dreams of settling down in a remote village, it would be a good idea for you to take up family medicine.

List of Best Medical Specialty for Family Life

Irrespective of the specialization you pick, you must always be ready to put the interests of your patients first. This makes choosing the right specialty even more crucial.

Are you wondering what doctors have the best family life? The list below should answer your question aptly. It features the streams of medicine that will allow you to earn good money but without losing the opportunity of spending time with the people you love.

So, let’s see more specific Medical Specialties with Best Quality of Life.

Family Medicine

The primary duty of a family physician is caring for the community he or she lives in. This specialization should be the way to go for you if you like to interact with people.

If you can serve your patients well as their family physician, they will keep coming back to you, which in turn will guarantee good earnings for you.

However, despite being a pretty rewarding profession, family medicine will allow you to work just during regular office hours. You will be able to enjoy your social life and spend enough time with your near and dear ones.

As a family physician you will have the option of joining other medical practitioners at already established clinics and offices. If you want to enjoy greater flexibility, you can also practice in your own clinic.

Diagnostic Radiology

This field is the favorite of many young doctors as its less stressful compared to most other fields of medicine. As a diagnostic radiologist your primary job would be using various imaging techniques for diagnosing a disease.

Once you know what has actually happened to the patient, you will have to play the role of a consultant to the family doctor of the patient.

Go for this specialization if you are not interested in meeting new people every day and like to work alone in your own space.