The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Recently, I have been reminded why so many lawyers are fat, drunks, or both. There are just too many days where the stress levels are atrocious, and as if dealing with clients/courts/etc. aren't bad enough, then adding in training and supervising other attorneys means there are constant small fires that need attention.
Now that makes me wonder why more doctors aren't fat and/or drunk. Everything you've said about attorneys fits our bill. Maybe we're more health conscious (and I hope we are), maybe we run around more, or maybe we just sleep better at night from a clean conscience.
The median quality of the people becoming doctors compared to lawyers is generally a fair bit higher, so one would expect them to do better. The comparison shouldn't be between the median lawyer and the median doctor, but between a fairly successful lawyer or judge and a doctor.
I have another observation though, and this of course varies by country and specialization, but my impression is that doctors work life is comparatively (in relation to other similar high status white collar professions) "relaxed" a few years after residency, which coincidentally is the same age people usually start gaining weight. If I'm comparing my friends and acquaintances, the ones in private industry seem to work more, harder and with far less stability than the doctors.
A lot of the stressors that exist in other comparable careers don't exist and things are far more stable, for good and ill. Very high salary, ironclad employment security, lifelong employment, clear delineation between work and rest, etc. To me the biggest issue among my doctor friends seems to increasingly be boredom/under stimulation rather than stress.
I also imagine that a lot of the people unsuited to the medicine specific stressors wash out before they actually become doctors due to how the education is structured. You're much more removed from the actual reality of your future career as a law student for example which can lead to nasty surprises.
While this can be true for some practice environments and specialties, I would hazard it is untrue more often than not.
Most doctors have some combination of research, teaching, administrative, and managerial duties all of which bleed outside of traditional work hours in the usual ways. Additionally many specialties (ex: family medicine) will involve significant time outside of work catching up on documentation and managing your in basket and so on.
It's not impossible - gas usually does little outside of work, same for things like radiology, inpatient psychiatry and so on. Especially in a hospital employed community setting. But as soon as you take on any additional responsibilities, go academic, or hang your own shingle...that goes away most of the time.
My suspicion is that doctors seem to cope well in comparison to lawyers because the sheer depth of abuse, abstruse requirements and zero flexibility in the medical student and residency days makes anything that comes after seem reasonable.*
Although by the numbers substance abuse, divorce rates, suicide are all high for doctors (but maybe not as bad as lawyers).
*"My 24s aren't that bad" is a common attending refrain. It is also insane.
I have a few doctor friends, most in family med, 1 in ophthalmology, 1 in podiatry (debatable) , and my wife's family are mostly doctors, including radiology, physiatry, and neurology.
Ive never heard of any of them doing any "research, teaching, administrative, or managerial work" past residency. They all seem to work 30-40h a week doing pretty much "doctor stuff" only.
Nobody does any teaching? Nobody has any Medical Students or Residents?
That doesn't seem right.
Could be regional though - Philadelphia (which is super dense) has nearly as many medical schools as the entire state of Florida, if you live in a place without trainees you aren't going to be teaching.
That said if you work for a hospital you should be doing something outside of your clinical duties (teaching, research, committee seats, extra jobs in the department like holding a medical director title). If you own your own practice you need to deal with the management side of this.
It'd be possible to work for someone to take on the least amount of responsibility (and the specialties you name are some of the ones it would be easier to do*) but you'd be leaving money on the table, not necessarily working any less (since teaching, research and administrative can eat up some FTE) and it is by no means typical.
*Family medicine in most practice environments is checking their in basket and finishing charts outside of business hours at least somewhat.
All of this is stay nothing of call responsibilities - someone is managing a phone line, going into the hospital PRN if needed, for most specialties. Ophthalmology is small and has rare but serious call responsibilities (going into the hospital) and has frequent enough need to phone triage. I'd be shocked if that person doesn't have some call. Radiology and Physiatry can dodge that. Neurology can be one of the busiest call specialties depending on practice environment, same with Family Medicine.
I would wager your friends do more than you think they just don't mention it or it doesn't come up.
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