Over the last few years, the global pandemic has highlighted many of the long-standing
issues within medicine. With all of this negativity, you might think that medicine
is a dying career or that all physicians are burned out and miserable. Not so fast. There
are still many physicians who lead happy and fulfilling lives and love their jobs. Let’s
talk about physician happiness and what you can do to enjoy a fulfilling career as a future doctor.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com. Despite what the media might have you believe,
the data suggests that most physicians are actually pretty happy. Approximately 60% of
physicians report feeling happy outside of work and 73% report that they would choose
medicine again. Although this shouldn’t be used as an excuse not to address the issues within
medicine and medical education, the situation is not as grim as some people make it out to be.
According to Medscape’s 2020 Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report, the specialties with the
greatest proportion of happy physicians were rheumatology at number one followed by general
surgery, public health & preventive medicine, allergy & immunology, and orthopedics. The bottom
five were neurology, critical care, internal medicine, gastroenterology, and endocrinology.
In 2019, the top 5 happiest specialties were rheumatology first, followed by otolaryngology,
endocrinology, pediatrics, and general surgery and the bottom five were neurology, infectious
disease, cardiology, pathology, and oncology. Despite rheumatology remaining in the top
position and neurology remaining in the bottom position, there is minimal overlap between the
two years. Endocrinology, despite being a top 5 specialty in 2019, found itself in the
bottom five in that same list in 2020. Although significant year-to-year changes are possible,
it’s more likely that these are limitations of the study which uses survey data and self-reporting.
So if specialty choice is not a reliable factor, what actually influences physician happiness?
To start, many people are drawn to medicine due to the desire to help others. It should come as no
surprise then that relationships are an important factor when it comes to physician happiness.
According to research, approximately 27% of physicians report patient gratitude and
relationships as the most rewarding part of their job, and 23% report knowing that
they’re making the world a better place as the most rewarding part. Moreover, a 2022
study found that patient connection and visible impact are common traits among happy physicians.
As a doctor, you have the ability to significantly improve the quality of life of your patients. Not
only is this often tremendously satisfying, but it also provides you with something that’s
difficult to find–purpose. When you feel like you’re working for a larger purpose,
you’re more likely to enjoy your work and are more resilient to setbacks and challenging times.
In addition to relationships with patients, relationships with peers and colleagues have
also been shown to be an important factor when it comes to physician happiness. If we look
to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, connection and belonging are universal human needs–and
doctors are no exception. Having a sense of community, connection, and belonging as a
physician is key to having a happy career. Although intrinsic factors such as purpose
and meaning are incredibly important for happiness, extrinsic factors such
as money still play a role. Approximately 10% of physicians report making good money
at a job that they like as the most rewarding part of their job and 28% report insufficient
compensation as a major source of burnout. According to Medscape’s Physician Compensation
report, the top 5 highest-paid specialties in 2022 were plastic surgery, orthopedics, cardiology,
otolaryngology, and urology. The bottom five were public health and preventive
medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, endocrinology, and infectious disease.
Perhaps even more important than total compensation, however, is your perception of your
compensation. If you feel that there is a mismatch between the work that you do and the salary that
you earn, you are more likely to feel unhappy. The top five specialties with the greatest proportion
of doctors that feel fairly compensated are public health and preventive medicine, oncology,
plastic surgery, psychiatry, and dermatology. Although total compensation factors into the
perception of your pay being fair, it’s clear from the top 5 that how you earn
your salary also plays a role. Despite being in the bottom five for total compensation,
public health and preventive medicine ranks number one in terms of feeling fairly compensated. This
brings us to our next factor that influences physician happiness which is work-life balance.
According to research, approximately 55% of doctors would take a salary reduction
to have better work-life balance with the median physician willing to give up between
$20,000 and $50,000 per year to achieve it. Work-life balance is influenced by various
factors including number of hours worked and how predictable or unpredictable the work hours are,
which is largely a function of being on call. This is why specialties such as dermatology
tend to rank highly in terms of work-life balance. Dermatologists typically don’t take call and work
fewer hours per week than most other physicians. That being said, other factors such as the amount
of time spent with patients versus the time spent charting and doing other administrative work also
influence physician happiness. One interesting finding is that the use of medical scribes can
significantly improve physician satisfaction. This makes sense as they decrease the amount of
time that physicians spend charting and give them more time with patients–both of which are major
contributors to the next point which is burnout. Burnout has been a popular topic in medicine
in recent years and can negatively impact a physician’s happiness. According to the
literature, issues such as too much charting and paperwork, too many hours at work,
lack of respect, insufficient compensation, and lack of autonomy are major sources of burnout.
The top 5 specialties with the highest levels of burnout are emergency medicine, critical care,
OB/GYN, infectious disease, and family medicine, and the top 5 specialties with the
least are public health and preventive medicine, dermatology, pathology, oncology, and orthopedics.
It should be noted, however, that burnout is an issue that affects every specialty. Although these
are the specialties with the highest rates of burnout, you’re likely to find physicians
who are burned out no matter what specialty you’re looking at. Similarly, you’re bound
to find physicians who are enthusiastic and enjoy their job in every specialty as well. Regardless,
mitigating burnout is an important part of maintaining happiness as a physician.
To learn more about the topic of burnout and the various ways to minimize it in your own life,
be sure to check out Why Are Doctors Miserable - the Burnout Epidemic – link in the description.
So how should this data influence your choice of specialty? Should everyone go into dermatology
or preventive medicine? Of course not. At the end of the day, there are multiple
factors that you should consider when choosing your specialty. If you’re on the fence,
knowing what specialties tend to be the happiest on average may help sway your decision; however,
it should not be a primary consideration. Instead of looking at other people’s happiness,
it’s much more important to examine your own. Find a specialty that you enjoy and speaks to
your strengths instead of just choosing the one that you feel is the happiest.
Two factors that people often don’t consider with these lists are the sampling and self-selection
biases. This data represents only a very small sample of the larger doctor population and it may
not be entirely representative. And just because 60% of general surgeons in that sample report
being happy doesn’t mean that 60% of doctors would be happy becoming general surgeons. These are
doctors who have already chosen their specialties. It’s a subtle, but important distinction.
In addition, lifestyle factors such as compensation, hours worked,
and administrative burden are highly variable. It’s entirely possible to carve out your own
niche and create the lifestyle that you want no matter what specialty you choose. As Plastic
Surgeon Dr. Goldman said in his interview on the Kevin Jubbal, M.D. YouTube channel,
“what you do with your specialty is more important than what specialty you choose.”
That being said, don’t fall into the trap I’ve seen many succumb to. I’ve come across dozens
of residents and even attending physicians who wanted to do a different specialty,
like dermatology or plastic surgery, but ultimately had to compromise to something
less competitive because they weren’t strong enough for the specialty they truly desired.
If you think you’re not the smartest and that you’re doomed, stop right there. Your ability
to crush your MCAT, USMLE, and have dozens of research articles is less a function of
your intelligence and more a function of proper preparation, constantly improving,
and putting in the work. Having a stellar medical school or residency application and
crushing the interviews is no different. At Med School Insiders, our mission is
to empower a generation of happier, healthier, and more effective future doctors. From medical
school or residency application help to crushing your MCAT or USMLE, we’ve got your back. And our
results speak for themselves. We’ve become the fastest growing company in this space
with the highest satisfaction ratings. See for yourself and learn more at MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Thank you all so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to check out the
Best Doctor Lifestyle Specialties or this other video. Much love, and I’ll see you guys there.