Other Can a cardiothoracic surgeon have a good work life balance?

[alpha2716]

As a cardiac surgeon will I be able to spend time with my family working in a hospital. I would like to have weekends off or most of them. I would also like to be able to take a 1 or 2 week vacation. I want to be able to go to my children's honors program or baseball game. I want to be a doctor so don't tell me I should get into something else. Should I go private. I've heard that private practice doctors can basically make there schedules or they can take what cases they want. Or can I maintain all these wants in a hospital work environment. I know if I have a private practice I won't just have to do anything or I might not have every weekend off and it's gonna be a little rough at the beginning. Give it to me straight.

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[rokshana]

not the right forum….this one is for positions, either wanted or available.

you may want to consider something other than surgery…more shift work to be able to have that much free time.

of course you can make the time a priority but then you will generally make less money as a trade off.

 

[smq123]

Wrong forum. Same question was already posted in the surgery forum. Closing.

 

[atomi]

I want to be a doctor so don't tell me I should get into something else.

Give it to me straight.

You should go into something else (not medicine) where you can work normal scheduled hours (40 hours a week with weekends off) if your family is a priority.

If you want it straight, you can't eat your cake and have it too, sorry. You can't be a CV surgeon who works whenever he feels like it and makes tons of money and spends time with his kids every day, helps them with their homework, work on your house, take your family out to dinner, pretty much all the normal family things most people who went to college do.

A private CV surgeon takes what cases he feels like? You need a reality check. You can't just say, "sorry it's my kids birthday, how bout you go up to university medical center 60 miles away" when you get called up because some dummy crashed his car and has an aortic dissection.