Doctors Burned Out, Overworked

“What’s that like? (And how do you legally discharge them from your practice without getting hit with patient abandonment or retaliation?) submitted by /u/MzJay453 [link] [comments]”

“Honestly, I don't understand why doctors are agreeing to this. Never train your replacement!!”

“How do ya'll feel everyday? submitted by /u/Ill-Strawberry4999 [link] [comments]”

“I worked IT for a state hospital system for a while. They would take on new junior doctors at the same time every year (after graduation). It was as predictable as the sunrise. IT usually got told the details of the new doctors after they'd already been hanging around for days or weeks, and due to some jizzmonkey's finance policy, there were no spare PCs held in stock, so they had to each be individually ordered from the supplier, who would take six weeks or so to supply them, at which p”

“You are probably right. I just have some asshole docs and thought it may be correlated. I didnt even think about the COVID years - ugh . . .”

“Routinely have this problem especially with unexpected cancer findings. I see in the notes/hear in report they aborted/changed the procedure because cancer was unresectable or significantly metastasized and the pts won't hear about it for days. Sometimes they turf them to oncology for them to tell them. It's really difficult to talk lightly with patients about what they think is still a 2-3 day discharge timeline from a wedge resection, segmentectomy etc and not be able to say anything.”

“We routinely pronounce our inpatient hospice/comfort care patients. We just have to get signed off first. The only time we can't pronounce them is if they are a potential coroner case. Any other death is a doctor pronouncing though.”

“That’s how I think of it. I make a mistake in something I taught, I can go back and fix it. A doctor makes a mistake and someone becomes permanently injured or dies.”

Should also be based on performance.

“Exactly. Do you think my dentist takes work home? Does my lawyer worry about my social emotional skills? Fuck no, because those are (mostly, minus the lawyer jokes sometimes lol) respected and revered professions. At the very least the admin and districts we work for could respect what educators do, but nope, they are just as guilty as the population at large oftentimes.”

“Grass is greener on the other side. Doctors have absolutely horrible hours, I mean brutal hours that most people can't sustain, and high suicide rates. Can easily get sued because people go after doctors. You basically can never make a mistake. There aren't many cushy hospitals.”

“I think that’s a personal choice. I’ve wanted to be very present available since my kids were born. That doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for everybody. This came with unintentional career consequences (by which I mean I didn’t think about the ramifications when they were born) That being said - my FINANCIAL attitude and the framing I shared above only materialized recently (oldest is elementary school aged). Edit: admittedly, part of what facilitated this change is that my spouse moved into a”

“Grass seems greener but no. I like being a doctor. It’s pretty fulfilling from a 30,000ft POV, even though it’s a grind daily. I think I would’ve been disillusioned doing tech or finance, I enjoy them more as a hobby.”

“I mean if you want to get to retirement health wise it probably is. No point stacking millions if you ain’t gonna be around to enjoy any of it.”

“I was never fan of punching that clock and dealing with BS from admin in the late 60’s. I hear it’s insanely worse. You should consider opening an urgent care. Would fit well with ED. Peds urgent care and ortho urgent care also works well. Or jump into the latest thing if you want all cash. Longevity practice. My adult kids who took over my clinics, they’re doing that. Very lucrative.”

“I don't come from a healthcare background, but my own profile is very similar to yours (family set up, finance career). We're probably more like peers vs. me handing out advice, but I've found a few things to be true: - You say you hate your job (I do as well some times), but there's probably a good reason we both chose our professions (probably the subject matter is genuinely interesting, but intensity/stress/drama sucks). This is probably an opportunity to get creative and find”

“Start with health by eating out less and certainly skipping places like Chipotle/Olive Garden - metabolic poison on a plate. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) almost all the MDs I know from young to retired are in weak shape with >=1 chronic illness despite regular exercise and refuse to consider that establishment nutritional guidelines from the last 50-80 years are misleading. One of them researched and believes it but caves to his MD wife who insists he and their kids eat like everyone else.”

Amazing how relevant that one line from GregFire has become. Great advice. Thank you.

submitted by /u/CopiousCool [link] [comments]

“It varies. It's 2026, peoples identities are what they say they are. One Dr says "Please call me Leslie" the next doctor says "My grandchildren call me Dr Moore" dude wants to be called Batman I'll call him Batman”

“I see way too many 90+ year olds for evaluation of vague symptoms or consideration of aggressive and risky care for heart issues. What is the culture like in your countries? I’ve assumed Europeans have a bit more common sense than us but would be very interested in perspectives. submitted by /u/justaphaze04 [link] [comments]”

“Late 30s. Health scare plus toxic work environment. Life is too short and I don’t want to spend it working for other people. Got a job offer shortly after, also as a doctor, but I declined. I have kids and I realized that it’s a real privilege being able to volunteer at their school or help out during field trips. It’s also a real privilege to be able to pursue all the things I loved doing before medicine. Now I have lots of hobbies. I have brunch with friends during weekdays. I hike on the week”

“I genuinely don’t understand how we got to this point. Doctors spend 4 years in medical school, then 3–7+ years in residency/fellowship, working insane hours and managing thousands of patients under supervision before being allowed to practice independently. Then somehow we have NPs with a fraction of that training being hired to diagnose, prescribe, manage complicated patients, and in some places practice independently. I’m not saying NPs are useless. They absolutely have a role and I’ve worked”

Ikon?

“I don’t want the headache of fighting them, even if I could eventually win.”

“Every retired doctor I’ve come across in my field says “don’t work so hard” and they regretted not taking more time to spend with friends and loved ones. Time to act on it. I have definitely been looking at going hard into my hobbies and health (doing alright at both currently, but would love to improve on both).”

“I’m not in medicine, but in law, which has some similar dynamics. Hit my number at 40 and started paring down hours. I like the substantive work of my specialty and found that going part time allowed me to ditch many of the parts I don’t like. 8 years in, I now work 5-10 hours a week on projects I enjoy, and spend the rest of my time on hobbies. Partner is a physician, and she’s still working 4 days per week, though that may change soon. For docs and lawyers, a gradual transition can be especial”

“Any docs actually planning to work until 65 or whatever traditional retirement age is? In my group we don't have any docs that are above the age of 60. In my years with the group we had pretty much everyone retire before the age of 60 with most retiring in their late 50s. This job is just too hard to do as you get older. I realize it is a luxury that we have an opportunity to retire early but it would be nice to have a plan to keep busy as we age. What are your plans for near retirement/reti”

“recent thread where it seems consensus is most dont mind sticking it to corporations by writing for their adult patients to be ‘reasonably accommodated’ to continue working from home. is there a peds equivalent where people are writing or being ask to write accommodations so kids dont have to carry and use chromebooks/other tech assigned by schools? saw a post on a parenting thread about a lady’s kid having lots of eye irritation and such from completing assignments online and curious subm”

“More and I think group therapy too, it would help you feel less isolated. Is there an organization or group for doctors who feel like you do? Call the AMA or get on their website.”

submitted by /u/Odd-School-5052 [link] [comments]

“The more i think about the duration of medical education in the US the more i appreciate it. Can you imagine if we were attending physicians at the age of 26? Good lord. submitted by /u/Ok-Intention950 [link] [comments]”

“Currently in a small private practice with two older male physicians. I’m thinking about having children within the next two years and brought up their current maternity leave policy and potentially changing it, it has never been used for anyone in the practice since they opened. The policy right now is 6 weeks unpaid after being at the practice for 2 years. Might be just me but this policy is awful and sadly was created by a female manager of the practice. Hindsight I should have looked into th”

“I saw it in the med school forums. Psychiatry also has a huge power imbalance between providers and patients that is unique, so I think a lot of providers can be terrifying. The younger ones tend to be more empathetic and compassionate, but a lot of old school ones are Nurse Ratched clones.”

“Half of my clinic patients are exactly like you said, lonely old people with absolutely nobody to talk to and with things to say. I feel for them but I do not have the time to be their friend. I just interrupt them and accept that I probably am a little rude when I do it.”

“If you have to work past 45, you've not been saving enough or you have very expensive tastes. The old docs I know all either love the job and don't need the money or have three ex-wives and put six kids through college. I will probably keep practicing medicine after I meet my retirement goals, but it might not be in the emergency department. I like the idea of just giving out free medical care for a few hours a day, 3-4 days a week.”

“I used to do a lot of these, and charge $500 an hour. The gig is sporadic. I’m thinking about quitting them for the said reasons above”

“And don’t get me started on these docs who have been with them forever who get wined and dined and take on trips. They post on their socials or them going on trips and their ce. Like dude you gave them literal years of your life. To get to that point you had to make at least 8-10 million dollars for them. Gtfo”

““If doctors ask open ended questions and don’t interrupt, patients will talk for an average of 92 seconds.” No freaking way. I have heaps of lonely, elderly patients who love to gab. I usually have about 30 minute appointments, but often go over or don’t have time to document. If I know somebody likes to talk, I try not to ask open ended questions. What are some good ways to break in and get the visit back on track when patients aren’t answering the stuff you as”

“I got a lot of pushback from admin when I asked repeatedly to close to new patients. My follow up time was up to 18 months and like Rhett Butler, they didn't give a damn. Then a patient died of complications that 95% could have been avoided if I'd been able to see her in a timely fashion. My next email to admin, I cited this and cc'ed Risk Management. Next thing I know, I'm closed to new patients. They don't care if you drop dead from mental or phy”

“Is this even a controversial opinion? Obviously the hardest part of being a doctor is making decisions, and living with the consequences of them. I've heard MD stands for Make Decision to highlight our role. (DO people: Decisions Ongoing?) This is also why admins are so disappointing. I face more decisions and consequences in my job than they do, but they claim to be "managers" who rule the world. Doctors have amazing skills outside the medical context. V”

“Friday afternoon last patient is always one who needs an interpreter, been absent from care for x plus years and then door knobs you with chest pain. Every. Single, Friday.”

“This one, I presume? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hope-hesitation-next-generation-healthcare-graham-walker-md-wlw1c?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via Sort of surprising it's that high as students, but there's no way the system will absorb t”

“I read a study recently that 60% of current med students plan to work in a non-patient facing role.”

“I have a specialist that is only seeing patients two half days per month. The rest is research and admin. I do use the portal for questions but they are always answered by a nurse who has discussed the question with a doctor . There have been a few times that my doctor has set up telehealth visits to discuss how a trial of therapy went or something. I get the sense these telehealth visits are add ons outside of her scheduled clinic days . You could pick a few of”

“In terms of finances doctors have a big "shovel". You can do a lot with it a shovel that big. Big enough where if you really buckle down and avoid lifestyle inflation you can retire really early. Avoid the big houses, bmws, and boats. Pay off your student loans with vigor. Keep your cost of living low. 10-15 years and you should be able to FIRE or at least have the stability to cut back on hours significantly and have a lot more freedom <”

“I'm out as soon as it is financially feasible and reasonable to do so. However, with a kid on the way , med school debt, and aims for a future house in a high COL region, I have to keep going for the money. That said, I'm part time for my own sanity and for a better work-life balance, given all of the BS that comes with prior auths, angry patients with insane and misinformed TikTok pseudoscience, etc. Already left the ICU for full outpatient, but the craziness f”

“I'm 40, practice owner. Feel the same way. I'll have to work until I can't. Just now I get a notification that a (now dismissed) patient is disputing their bill with collections after they refused to pay their bill after their insurance denied their prophy...F this profession, F this 'profession' so hard”

“Eh I’ve thought about this a lot too and to be honest, grass isn’t always greener. Majority of my physician counterparts rarely leave when their shift ends, most stay 1-2 hours after to finish dispoing their patients and log in on their off days to finish their charts from the prior shifts. My schedule is at least fixed with the ability to leave early when needed or for admin work whereas they’re constantly switching back and forth from days/nights. Not to menti”

“Well in my case it's developmental Pediatrics. So honestly after I build rapport with kid and family, take a thorough developmental and medical history, do some standardized testing with the kid, and try to share lifelong developmental diagnoses with the family and do some counseling for the family, the time can go by pretty quickly! So my bet would be OP being in something mental health related... But yeah, it's nice to not feel rushed. It makes”

“47… very little fucks given. I care about my patients, but burnout is real. Admin is breathing down our necks and micromanaging everything. It’s exhausting. Going to 0.5 fte to achieve some sort of life/work balance. Having 3 kids doesn’t help…”

“1.8 million is not enough to retire on in your late 40's imo. I mean you could survive on it, but will need to be living pretty lean for the remainder of your life. Whitecoatinvestor recommends 3 million usually.”

“I told my wife about my day today and mentioned that it was chill (on a low census inpatient service in a smaller rural hospital) and she got mildly upset because I had previously said that I couldn't do errands this week since I'm inpatient. When I explained that just because I didn't have many patients it didn't mean I was allowed to leave the hospital she said "so if there was an emergency you wouldn't come to me?" And then I said "of course I would, I would”

“I'm an employed subspecialty physician at an academic center <5 years out from training. I see around 20 clinic patients per week so nowhere near what primary care physicians are seeing. Because my clinic time per week is limited, I usually have patients who need follow up return in 3-6 months. My follow up visits are typically booked out at minimum 2 months but often 3+ months in advance. Because of this I've often had patients check in with me virtually via me”

“Has anyone themselves or know of anyone who has had a successful lawsuit against a residency program for targeted harassment/ abuse of a resident? Can you tell me what the grounds of the suit was? Which law firm was used? Otherwise, can you post any news articles on the topic or websites which may be helpful?”

“Saw this recent publication on the Permanente Journal describing "early clinical departures" (described as physicians practicing 20h or less) which had some interesting findings. The most salient point is that for individuals who met the criteria for early departures, the average age of leaving medicine is down to 48. This is compared to a”

“Secure chat can be a double edged sword. While it does prove to be a pain in the ass when I get loaded with messages, the fact that I can add 10 different specialists into one chat so they can battle it out over a complicated case instead of using me as a messenger is a godsend. *Add specialists *Mute conversation”