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  • 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 medicineallergy & 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 beingtop 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 factorwhat 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  

  • theyre 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 satisfyingbut it also provides you with something that’s  

  • difficult to findpurpose. When you feel  like youre working for a larger purpose,  

  • youre more likely to enjoy your work and are  more resilient to setbacks and challenging times

  • In addition to relationships with patientsrelationships 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 needsand  

  • 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 medicineendocrinology, 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 callThis is why specialties such as dermatology  

  • tend to rank highly in terms of work-life balanceDermatologists 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 satisfactionThis makes sense as they decrease the amount of  

  • time that physicians spend charting and give them  more time with patientsboth 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 medicinedermatology, 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, youre likely to find physicians  

  • who are burned out no matter what specialty  youre looking at. Similarly, youre 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 Miserablethe Burnout Epidemiclink 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 youre 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 ownFind 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 specialtiesIt’s a subtle, but important distinction

  • In addition, lifestyle factors  such as compensation, hours worked,  

  • and administrative burden are highly variableIt’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 youre not the smartest and that  youre 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, healthierand more effective future doctors. From medical  

  • school or residency application help to crushing  your MCAT or USMLE, weve got your back. And our  

  • results speak for themselves. Weve 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.

Over the last few years, the global pandemic  has highlighted many of the long-standing  

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