Is being a Doctor that terrible?

Question

Is it true that you never have any time for family, or anything else besides your job? I ask because I plan on applying to medical school next year, and I'm a divorced parent of a three-year-old. I always hear conflicting accounts. I would like to go into surgery and eventually become a plastic surgeon.

Answer 1

Med School + Plastic Surgery Residency is minimum 10 years working at least 80 hours/week (there will be some months closer to 40-60 hours/week, but for the most part 80 is fairly accurate).

Once you start a practice you can set your own hours. But a lot of doctors feel pressured to keep up the long hours for several reasons. 10 years of earning very little money, lots of student loan debt and the fact that you are usually slef employed so not only to you have to pay for your vacations, but you don't get paid time off for vacation.

Ultimately, its up to you, but that's a lot of time away.

Answer 2

To be completely honest, I can't imagine having a dependent right now. I'm 25 and spend 98% of my time on my own life. If your ex is still in your child's life, try to arrange a schedule for your nights.

By the time you finish four years of medical school and up to five years post-grad (plus any fellowship after that), your child will almost be a teenager.

Plastic surgery is great because your hours are exactly what you define and there's no night call. But getting to that point is a lot of work and requires stamina. As the mother of a young child, you are probably not going to be blind-sided by the need to always be somewhere or doing something. This is essential to medical school success.

Answer 3

I guess it depends on what type of doctor you want to become. I know that good plastic surgeons typically have long lines of people waiting to see them, so you might be pretty busy. I would like to think that you could still have time for family, but it would probably have to be scheduled well in advance, which sucks, but you will be making lots of money.

Answer 4

You will have to put up with odd timings and hard work during your study ,while doing internship and residency IE a total of 10 yrs. Not impossible if you have the will. Plastic surgeon`s life is rather comfortable.