How to choose medical specialty that ensures work-life balance?

Are you looking for a medical specialty that ensures work-life balance? Read this article to get a lowdown on how to choose medical specialties that allow you to have time for your personal life, too. 

 

Having a great lifestyle is dependent on a number of factors such as work burden, management and remuneration. Working in the field of healthcare can at times be demanding, taking a toll on one's work-life balance.  When armed with accurate information regarding medical specialties with the best quality of life, students can make the right decisions for the desired career path. After all, many years of dedicated study goes into becoming a medical practitioner.

 

Also read: Which medical specialty is the easiest and why?

 

How to ensure work-life balance

As if the medical profession was not challenging by itself, choosing the best medical specialty for work-life balance presents as a daunting question that miffs medical students, residents and interns. Medical professionals often work under pressure and their burn out rates often wreak havoc on their physical and mental wellbeing. There are several factors that one should consider before choosing a medical specialty.

One for the personality: Efficiency is directly proportional to work satisfaction. Personality traits have a lot to say when it comes to the medical job. Some traits pair up perfectly with specific specialties. Medical specialty quiz online offers great help in analysing the perfect match for one’s taste, although not all of them are reliable. This step directly translates to the quality of service as well as happiness quotient of the doctor and Credible and elaborate studies carried out by researchers give a good insight to which medical specialty offers the best lifestyle and how the selection should be carried out.

Best compensation in town: Financial gains are a major part of job satisfaction. Medical specialties that pay well also have a say in lifestyle determination. But compensatory benefits may not always correspond to emotional and physical well-being. According to the Medscape Physician Compensation report for 2018, plastic surgery, orthopedics and cardiology are some of the highest-paid medical specialties. On the flipside, rheumatologists earn half as much as gastroenterologists, but they are happier at work due to a slower burnout rate. While high paying job ensures swifter financial independence, it provides no guarantee for happiness quotient at work.

The balancing act: While medical specialties are bound to be busy jobs, some of them allow a good work-life balance. The best medical specialty for work-life balance would be the one that has normal working hours and allow doctors to enjoy social life along with good compensation. Dermatology, Plastic Surgery and Pathology are considered to be less stressful than other specialties. Professionals in these fields have been found to have a better focus on self-well-being and maintenance of personal relationships.

 Long-term goals: Before committing to a certain medical specialty, it is advisable to have a deep introspection. Trying to keep with the medical specialty lifestyle, in the long run, requires commitment and dedication. The alignment of one’s long term goal with the chosen specialty requires reflective observation with utmost clarity.

Among each factor, happiness and job satisfaction retain the highest value for a balanced and happy lifestyle.