Are you happy with your current job?

[tradkeke]

Taking into account your work satisfaction, lifestyle, pay, etc. Are you currently happy with your job? Are you currently looking for a different job?

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[ambiturner]

On paper my job is great. Low hours, decent pay, good benefits, not a ton of call, friendly surgeons. But the politics, the administrators, and supervising make me consider quitting at least once a day. So I picked multiple aspects but the other choices you have are actually ok for me.

No guarantees a different place would be better though.

 

[dabears505]

Wish almost every call I did some field of medicine that did not require call.

 

[MirrorTodd]

I could always get paid more and have more vacation, but that's Army for ya. Otherwise, I love my job.

 

[ISoNitrous]

Surgeons reasonable.
Colleagues apt.
CRNAs solid and trustable (overwhelming majority of them at least).
Pay - feels like a lot for not having an oppressive amount of work. That said I’m only 18 months out of fellowship so it still feels like a ton of money.

Qualms - staffing shortages leading to more long hours, contract uncertainty.

The days are enjoyable and I’m surrounded by people whose company I truly enjoy. Staying the course.

 

[Mman]

Happy with job intensity, hours, pay, people, etc.

Growing less happy with the grind of dealing with administration, looming threats of payers acting up under the no surprise bills act (those lovely letters going around dropping contracts), etc. Although I cannot tell if anything has really changed or that it just becomes more annoying year after year after year.

 

[caligas]

I could always get paid more and have more vacation, but that's Army for ya. Otherwise, I love my job.

How much vacation does army give for anesthesiologists?

 

[tradkeke]

Wish almost every call I did some field of medicine that did not require call.

What is your current call schedule like?

 

[tradkeke]

Surgeons reasonable.
Colleagues apt.
CRNAs solid and trustable (overwhelming majority of them at least).
Pay - feels like a lot for not having an oppressive amount of work. That said I’m only 18 months out of fellowship so it still feels like a ton of money.

Qualms - staffing shortages leading to more long hours, contract uncertainty.

The days are enjoyable and I’m surrounded by people whose company I truly enjoy. Staying the course.

Overall, sounds like a solid gig! Congrats.

Do you mind if I ask about what fellowship and what kind of hours you're working currently? Do you expect the staffing shortage to change in the future?

 

[GassYous]

I like most of my surgeons. I like the hours, low call burden, friendly staff. I like the good food in the lounge. I like flexibility with vacation and schedule. What I don't like is the expense of the area.

 

[ISoNitrous]

Overall, sounds like a solid gig! Congrats.

Do you mind if I ask about what fellowship and what kind of hours you're working currently? Do you expect the staffing shortage to change in the future?

I did cardiac fellowship.
Hours were once an average out time of 16:00 departure but with shortages now is closer to 17:15 I’d venture.

2x12h Calls (7p-7a) for main OR per month. That Usually includes a main OR case, a section, and 4-6 epidurals.
Precall is first out (12p-1:30p or so) and post call is off.

Cover 5 Saturday’s and 5 Sunday’s per year which are in house 24’s.

 

[tradkeke]

I did cardiac fellowship.
Hours were once an average out time of 16:00 departure but with shortages now is closer to 17:15 I’d venture.

2x12h Calls (7p-7a) for main OR per month. That Usually includes a main OR case, a section, and 4-6 epidurals.
Precall is first out (12p-1:30p or so) and post call is off.

Cover 5 Saturday’s and 5 Sunday’s per year which are in house 24’s.

Thanks for sharing. There is a lot of doom and gloom on these boards some times with regards to lifestyle, but honestly if I could have it in a rural-ish area I'd love to have a job like this in the future. While definitely a good amount of work, it seems mangeable with hopes of getting better (if the shortage changes for the better) which is honestly more than I was hoping for latelt from reading these boards.

Thanks again!

 

[MirrorTodd]

How much vacation does army give for anesthesiologists?

Only 4 weeks.

 

[nimbus]

I have partners who would answer the poll differently even though we have almost the exact same job.

 

[studentofsdn]

I did cardiac fellowship.
Hours were once an average out time of 16:00 departure but with shortages now is closer to 17:15 I’d venture.

2x12h Calls (7p-7a) for main OR per month. That Usually includes a main OR case, a section, and 4-6 epidurals.
Precall is first out (12p-1:30p or so) and post call is off.

Cover 5 Saturday’s and 5 Sunday’s per year which are in house 24’s.

How much cardiac do you do? Sounds like theres no cardiac call?

 

[caligas]

Only 4 weeks.

Hopefully you are stationed somewhere nice!

 

[MirrorTodd]

Hopefully you are stationed somewhere nice!

It's a big state and it's not cold. That's all the hints I can give.

 

[ISoNitrous]

How much cardiac do you do? Sounds like theres no cardiac call?

I forgot to mention it because the burden is light. Cardiac was once 50% of my time but probably down to 30% now that volume is down.
There’s 6 of us that split the call, so about 1 weekday per week and 8 weekends a year. Cardiac call from home and don’t get called in often.

 

[sethco]

Despite working for an AMC, I feel I have the best possible job (for my wants/needs) in the area. I do ~90% CT, do all my own cases, take only home call, have a very manageable call schedule, and make probably >50% more income than I thought I would make post-fellowship. Is there some aspects of my job that I wish I could change? Of course, but these are minor and don't really affect my overall happiness. No practice, nor field of medicine for that matter, is perfect

 

[anbuitachi]

I put multiple aspects. Pay is average for the location but hourly pay for extra work is way lower than I'd like.

Work life balance not very good with in house calls, late calls and leave time. Non call days probably out around 5 to 530 average.


In hospital politics got way worse over last year with budget issues and covid. It seems like the hospitals answer is always get more admins and pass down more rules

I do really like the patient population here though. Generally friendly and not demanding

 

[GravelRider]

I hate my job when I’m on call or doing OB. I love my job when I have a day at the surgery center doing my own cases and am expected to be home before 3pm.

 

[GassYous]

I hate my job when I’m on call or doing OB. I love my job when I have a day at the surgery center doing my own cases and am expected to be home before 3pm.

No ob. Minimal call.

 

[Mman]

I hate my job. I love when I am expected to be home before 3pm.

FIFY

 

[Twiggidy]

I hate my job when I’m on call or doing OB. I love my job when I have a day at the surgery center doing my own cases and am expected to be home before 3pm.

This for the most part my answer, although I'm not bothered by OR call (any OR case) responsibilities. OB has me ready to quit prior to and at the end of every shift.....and let me tell you, my finger is on the trigger lately.

 

[Lecithin5]

This for the most part my answer, although I'm not bothered by OR call (any OR case) responsibilities. OB has me ready to quit prior to and at the end of every shift.....and let me tell you, my finger is on the trigger lately.

Wow, I must be in the minority- seems like everyone on this forum hates OB lol. Don’t get me wrong- there always seems to be unnecessary drama on OB (be it from nurses, patients, or the docs), but I find the work to be easy and fairly rewarding.

 

[dabears505]

This for the most part my answer, although I'm not bothered by OR call (any OR case) responsibilities. OB has me ready to quit prior to and at the end of every shift.....and let me tell you, my finger is on the trigger lately.

Is your OB 24 hrs?

 

[Gaseous Clay]

I went from a job where I was trying to calculate how soon I could conceivably retire to one I really enjoy going to work each day. I’ve always wanted to say, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this,” with a smile on my face and I’m finally there.

 

[deleted697127]

Taking into account your work satisfaction, lifestyle, pay, etc. Are you currently happy with your job? Are you currently looking for a different job?

5 negative answer choices to 1 positive…whether or not it was your intention, this whole thread was constructed in a way that generates toxicity.

 

[OptionOffense]

I went from a job where I was trying to calculate how soon I could conceivably retire to one I really enjoy going to work each day. I’ve always wanted to say, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this,” with a smile on my face and I’m finally there.

What is the difference between the 2 jobs?

 

[OptionOffense]

OB has me ready to quit prior to and at the end of every shift.....and let me tell you, my finger is on the trigger lately.

What bothers you about OB?

 

[anbuitachi]

its funny i used to hang out/talk to my software engineering friends pretty often and then covid hit and i kind of stopped. today i read an blog piece by a software engineer and it reminded of them again and how much they get paid. and then i remembered again how behind i am to people who started working after college.

My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

One of the watershed moments of my life was as a 20 year old intern attending a workplace presentation about personal finance. Over the course of one hour, I learnt about the power of buy-and-hold …

software.rajivprab.com

~34-35 year old with 625k salary and 2.4m net worth. with probably reasonable working hours, great benefits/perks. truly not bad. curious what it'd be when these kids are in their 40s. 7 figures?

 

[Status Sciaticus]

its funny i used to hang out/talk to my software engineering friends pretty often and then covid hit and i kind of stopped. today i read an blog piece by a software engineer and it reminded of them again and how much they get paid. and then i remembered again how behind i am to people who started working after college.

My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

One of the watershed moments of my life was as a 20 year old intern attending a workplace presentation about personal finance. Over the course of one hour, I learnt about the power of buy-and-hold …

software.rajivprab.com

View attachment 347308

~34-35 year old with 625k salary and 2.4m net worth. with probably reasonable working hours, great benefits/perks. truly not bad. curious what it'd be when these kids are in their 40s. 7 figures?

I doubt that the majority of Amazon employees/engineers are getting paid 625k. However, the majority of anesthesiologists should be between 400-600k.

 

[Twiggidy]

What bothers you about OB?

People who know me on this board are well aware of my stance on OB. The truth is, it can be a very rewarding aspect of anesthesiology. The patient comes in with pain. You walk in and relieve that pain. Everyone is happy. If only it were that simple. "It's working too much." "It's not working enough." (Despite perfect placement). Birth plans. Crazy OBs. Crazy spouses. Crazy parents. Probably the WORST nursing staff in any hospital. And oh by the way this happens 24/7 because it's not like babies are born during bank hours. It's not for people who like a bit of control even if you're not totally in control (ie, CV anesthesia for the most part). I did anesthesiology to put people to sleep. Sorry, not sorry. I don't need to deal with someone with an open laparotomy, freaking out despite it working, and then everyone getting irritated because you put them to sleep to shut them up, because sorry, I didn't do this be your OR therapist. My solution to your anxiety is propofol.

In a nutshell......

Again, to be honest, 85% of the time OB is ok. People get their blocks. They may or may not say thank you and everyone just gets on with life. It's that 15% that's enough to take years off my life. Give me a Type A dissection any day. I say all this knowing full well that OB is mostly young healthy patients with good insurance which means great reimbursement, but the money isn't worth it to me.

 

[Twiggidy]

Is your OB 24 hrs?

It depends, but for the most part isn't and that tells you how much I'd rather be elsewhere. Give me ALL the OR call.

 

[Twiggidy]

I went from a job where I was trying to calculate how soon I could conceivably retire to one I really enjoy going to work each day. I’ve always wanted to say, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this,” with a smile on my face and I’m finally there.

This is the goal

 

[bigdan]

Love my job. I do both OR anesthesia (mainly cardiac/thoracic/vascular and liver) + ICU.

Absolutely there are some things that make me shake my head, but I’d sign a 20y contract if I knew things wouldn’t change.

For better or worse, SDN has (d)evolved to becoming therapy for me: on a bad day at work, a quick check of this site reminds me how good I have it.

 

[Gaseous Clay]

What is the difference between the 2 jobs?

I am glad I took my last job out of residency because even though it was a medical direction model, it was still a very hands on job. Cardiac, level 2 trauma, approx 2000 deliveries/year in OB, sick, sick patients. I move fast and am very efficient but it wears on you when you have to go up 3 flights of stairs to OB on the other side of the hospital multiple times and being woken up throughout the night for OB, OR cases, ED calls, and even ICU help. After a while the body can only take a beating for so long and you just dread going to work especially the in house call shifts.

Now I am at a small community hospital where we do no trauma, cardiac, vascular, or neuro. OB is light and CRNAs do the call. I get paid way too much money and have 12 weeks off that I don't feel I need. It is not a dream location but I am within 20-30 mins of a large city and it is much closer to my family and in laws so that was why we ultimately moved.

 

[anbuitachi]

I doubt that the majority of Amazon employees/engineers are getting paid 625k. However, the majority of anesthesiologists should be between 400-600k.

agree. but this guy/person has been working 13 years. not talking about entry level. his/her entry level is pretty standard. most of my classmates in SE are now in their ~10-11th year out, and good # of them are making 400-500s. so kind of on track with the blog post, so that's why it reminded me.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

agree. but this guy/person has been working 13 years. not talking about entry level. his/her entry level is pretty standard. most of my classmates in SE are now in their ~10-11th year out, and good # of them are making 400-500s. so kind of on track with the blog post, so that's why it reminded me.

ugh, if thats the case, then UGHHHHH. I could be working from home right about now.

 

[pgg]

Before you get too jealous of that tech job, just mentally wind back the clock to the dotcom crash and what happened to all those high rollin' tech jobs. Or the housing crash.

It can be a violently cyclic industry. Nobody really dwells on job security or lack thereof until the layoffs hit. Income via stock options is the gift the market giveth and can taketh away. And for all the remote working in that industry, most of those people still live in or near a tech hub like the Bay Area where it's stupid-expensive to live.

Meanwhile despite the ongoing mid-level scare, no one really doubts that any of us have the ability to stroll into virtually any city and any state and earn $300-400K or even better on day 1.

I quit that world to go to medical school in 1997 and don't regret it at all. As a med student a lot of my tech friends had jobs that just ... blew up.

 

[Guillemot]

Even if that guy’s income had leveled off at a third of what it is, with the power of compound interest, he’d still be doing quite well…

You dont need to make as much/year if you make it for more years and pay less tax on it.

 

[GravelRider]

Before you get too jealous of that tech job, just mentally wind back the clock to the dotcom crash and what happened to all those high rollin' tech jobs. Or the housing crash.

It can be a violently cyclic industry. Nobody really dwells on job security or lack thereof until the layoffs hit. Income via stock options is the gift the market giveth and can taketh away. And for all the remote working in that industry, most of those people still live in or near a tech hub like the Bay Area where it's stupid-expensive to live.

Meanwhile despite the ongoing mid-level scare, no one really doubts that any of us have the ability to stroll into virtually any city and any state and earn $300-400K or even better on day 1.

I quit that world to go to medical school in 1997 and don't regret it at all. As a med student a lot of my tech friends had jobs that just ... blew up.

To be fair, it’s not 1999 anymore and those companies listed with those compensation figures are not the same rinky dink operations that went bust back then. These are some of the biggest and most valuable corporations in the history of the world. Things may be cyclical, but I think working for Apple is a pretty stable gig. Short of some unified bipartisan political willpower to regulate these behemoths, they are not going anywhere.

 

[GravelRider]

People who know me on this board are well aware of my stance on OB. The truth is, it can be a very rewarding aspect of anesthesiology. The patient comes in with pain. You walk in and relieve that pain. Everyone is happy. If only it were that simple. "It's working too much." "It's not working enough." (Despite perfect placement). Birth plans. Crazy OBs. Crazy spouses. Crazy parents. Probably the WORST nursing staff in any hospital. And oh by the way this happens 24/7 because it's not like babies are born during bank hours. It's not for people who like a bit of control even if you're not totally in control (ie, CV anesthesia for the most part). I did anesthesiology to put people to sleep. Sorry, not sorry. I don't need to deal with someone with an open laparotomy, freaking out despite it working, and then everyone getting irritated because you put them to sleep to shut them up, because sorry, I didn't do this be your OR therapist. My solution to your anxiety is propofol.

In a nutshell......

Again, to be honest, 85% of the time OB is ok. People get their blocks. They may or may not say thank you and everyone just gets on with life. It's that 15% that's enough to take years off my life. Give me a Type A dissection any day. I say all this knowing full well that OB is mostly young healthy patients with good insurance which means great reimbursement, but the money isn't worth it to me.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything said here.

 

[pgg]

To be fair, it’s not 1999 anymore and those companies listed with those compensation figures are not the same rinky dink operations that went bust back then. These are some of the biggest and most valuable corporations in the history of the world. Things may be cyclical, but I think working for Apple is a pretty stable gig. Short of some unified bipartisan political willpower to regulate these behemoths, they are not going anywhere.

Sure, I don't necessarily disagree with any of that.

Of course people once said the same thing about Nokia. Cisco is still around but they had some really rough years. Sun? SGI? It used to be a universally accepted truism that "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". Apple was an also-ran that made expensive pretty computers until the ipod hit and then the iPhone came along. Where's AOL? Compuserve?

The very nature of all tech companies is that they're fast changing, disruptive, and volatile. Everything is fine as a worker in that industry until it isn't. Recency bias is a thing.

 

[ambiturner]

At the risk of detailing this thread, I have tech worker family members about this same age (mid 30s). These salaries are accurate and they make about what I do, with better benefits and much better hours. There is no doubt that someone with the drive and talent to get into med school could easily get one of these jobs - maybe not google or Facebook, but definitely family practice money a couple years out of college. However,

1) there is an understanding among tech workers that this could blow up at any time. Much of the money and demand is driven by VC which could tighten with rising interest rates and recession. This and age bias is why most of them don’t live large and try to save, knowing their best earning years could be over by 45.

2) while the problem solving can be fun, many of these jobs are corporate and lame and offer little meaning. I have never had this problem working as a doctor.

 

[anbuitachi]

At the risk of detailing this thread, I have tech worker family members about this same age (mid 30s). These salaries are accurate and they make about what I do, with better benefits and much better hours. There is no doubt that someone with the drive and talent to get into med school could easily get one of these jobs - maybe not google or Facebook, but definitely family practice money a couple years out of college. However,

1) there is an understanding among tech workers that this could blow up at any time. Much of the money and demand is driven by VC which could tighten with rising interest rates and recession. This and age bias is why most of them don’t live large and try to save, knowing their best earning years could be over by 45.

2) while the problem solving can be fun, many of these jobs are corporate and lame and offer little meaning. I have never had this problem working as a doctor.

most of them are flexible jobs. a lot of them switch jobs often for the big sign on bonus and the raise that comes with it as well. not uncommon among my tech friends to work at a place, quit, take a break traveling the world or whatever and move on to the next project. seems pretty interesting actually. also if you get bored, just quit and find the next job, could be startup or whatever, or even start your own company (not easy but not boring!).

 

[kidthor]

Arbitrage at its best...

I think physicians can't do this as effectively due to the switching barriers and the weird/low way we're paid by the hour. If we truly got paid what we're worth we could do this too! Some of my friends doing locums jobs can halfway enjoy such a lifestyle, but I think there's a lot of stigma and downside with this approach (vs in the tech world where this mindset is celebrated).

Physicians have too much of a sad cog in the administrator-led wheel mindset rather than a we fly the entire damn plane and without me all of this can't happen mindset. The nurses have this all figured better than us by the way. They're respectably mercenary now due to COVID related job flux and shortages.

I just had a CT scan for something and my insurance paid the hospital $4K for the scan and the radiologist $150 to read it. Shameful. Without that radiologist none of that is worth anything and they give him 3.75% compared to what they charged. We're the same. Facilities fees are absolutely nuts and they pay us comparatively pennies on the dollar to fly the plane.

 

[secretasianman]

Our peers in the tech industry are much more willing to dictate their terms and vote with their feet. They clearly know their worth in the system and how their value contributes to profit.

Our system is antiquated by comparison.

 

[nimbus]

Our peers in the tech industry are much more willing to dictate their terms and vote with their feet. They clearly know their worth in the system and how their value contributes to profit.

Our system is antiquated by comparison.

I think this includes the custodians and lunch ladies.

 

[OptionOffense]

Our peers in the tech industry are much more willing to dictate their terms and vote with their feet. They clearly know their worth in the system and how their value contributes to profit.

Our system is antiquated by comparison.

There are more places for them to walk away to. I can only walk away to a place that has an O.R. But I agree with you we are too passive