Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Which specialism best for balancing work and family?

Which specialisms are best for balancing both work and family life, i.e. one which doesn't require you to work 16 hours a day where you never get to see your family?

Reply 1

Democracy

Original post by gradbio

Which specialisms are best for balancing both work and family life, i.e. one which doesn't require you to work 16 hours a day where you never get to see your family?

Fairly certain no specialty requires you to work 16 hours a day, (especially as you progress).

Anyway, GP has traditionally been considered family friendly.

Reply 2

Cities

I feel that in the future I'm going to really value free time so I actually want to know this too :colondollar:

Reply 3

gradbio

Original post by Democracy

Fairly certain no specialty requires you to work 16 hours a day, (especially as you progress).

Anyway, GP has traditionally been considered family friendly.

16 hours was a random example lol. Basically I meant one that doesn't require you to work so many hours where you don't get to ''play'' or see your family.

Reply 4

digitalis

Original post by gradbio

16 hours was a random example lol. Basically I meant one that doesn't require you to work so many hours where you don't get to ''play'' or see your family.

GP innit.

Associate specialist/SAS in hospital

Reply 5

Harbour Seal

Anything but surgery or A&E?

Reply 6

Helenia

All specialties, if done full-time, can take up a significant portion of your life if you let them. Even full-time GP can easily include 10 hour+ days, and if you do OOH work it's pretty antisocial.

The key is that some specialties are more open to flexible/PT working than others, and some specialties hours are more predictable (even if not shorter). GP is, yes, traditionally what women went and did when they wanted to have babies, but as the proportion of women in medicine increases, others have had to catch up or end up with nobody to fill their rotas. Paeds and O&G are also considered more "family friendly" though as a junior in both you'd still have to do antisocial hours, but doing these PT is possible. The other surgical specialties still lag a way behind as there is the (not entirely incorrect) culture that you should be wedded to your job and available at short notice/to do overtime whenever needed. But then I'm not sure inpatient general medicine is any more forgiving at a junior level.

"Sessional" jobs like anaesthetics are increasingly feasible to do PT, and even A&E is possible - it's true your shifts are all over the place but it's possible to work PT by doing fewer shifts. In my ED there were two part-time female consultants with young kids.

So in summary, although some are "traditionally" more family friendly, it's possible in any specialty, you'd just have to work harder for it in some than others.