Do doctors make friends outside of medicine?

Do doctors make friends outside of medicine? What kind of jobs do these friends do?

Sure they do, of course, it's likely that their social circle will revolve around their work because of their hours but you can still make friends outside.

Charity work and sports/health clubs are great places to socialise

Reply 2

boulderingislife

20

Original post by Brain need help

Do doctors make friends outside of medicine? What kind of jobs do these friends do?

I got a few doctor friends. They hang out with all kinds of people. I’m a data analyst and my doctor friend’s bf is some kind of graphic designer/arty thing.

Some docs only hang around other docs but they do that cos they have egos and think they are superior to everyone else. Not all doctors are like that.

Reply 3

boulderingislife

20

I’ve met docs who only hang around with other docs and they act like they are superior to everyone else. Talk like posh spoilt brats. Not a fan of people who don’t expand their horizons. I’ve got friends from all walks of life from doctors to actuaries to teachers and lawyers to people in marketing, those who work at climbing gym, those that teach yoga, those that work in supermarkets and make climbing holds, those that are students, and some who are retired!

I think it’s important to get to know people from all walks of life so you have a better understanding of the real world. Credit to you for wanting to expand your network. Though chatting to people here isn’t the best way. Go meet people in real life.

Reply 4

Isinglass

16

But once they have built up enough of a reputation within the NHS, they can move into the private sector, at which point, they will be free to make friends with the wider community, or at least accountants...

((Mainly) joking here, folks🙂).

Reply 5

Brain need help

OP

3

If this is true, do medical students and doctors really get time to make such friends? I always thought that medicine was so restrictive in the friends you have, and your lifestyle?

Reply 6

Brain need help

OP

3

Sorry about all these questions but the average working hours for medical professionals/ specialists etc is 9am - 5pm. But then why do people claim that don't have a work-life balance? Is it because of the intensity or??

Reply 7

Mesopotamian…

21

They’ll almost definitely have at least one dentist friend, I can vouch for that, especially if they go to a medical school which has a dental school sibling :lol:

Reply 8

boulderingislife

20

stop trolling me :colonhash:

Reply 9

Brain need help

OP

3

I'm not really fond of the time constraints that pursuing medicine endows (this hectic life where life outside medicine is almost impossible). But I love the satisfaction of helping others, and working hard to play hard. But why does being a doctor have to be so intense! surely there's something I can do to still work as a physician and have more time on my hands?

Reply 10

chopingirl

14

tbh I doubt they make many new friends outside of medicine unless it's through a regular hobby they do like weekly mountain cllimbing or something...which is unlikely as they wouldn't have the time. So I reckon, although I am very unqualified to say, that they have their old friends from school/uni who have professional jobs like lawyers and teachers because they were all clever geeks together at school and uni (they probly weren't friends with the popular bimbo/chads), but they don't make many new friends outside their work now.

Reply 11

nexttime

22

Honestly, I think a lot of doctors do end up friends with mostly/almost exclusively other doctors. It kind of sucks when your friends are organising a weekend away and you can't because you're working the weekend/Friday evening, then they organise an evening out and you can't because you're on nights. And it doesn't take long of that before you find yourself losing contact.

Having to move cities all the time as a junior is also a pretty effective torpedo to having a regular groups of non-medic friends you see multiple times a week.

Hours and movement gets better as you get senior but that's when people start having children, which introduces its own set of problems! Opportunities too though - quite a few medic friends seem to have friends through mums' social networks!

Its obviously entirely possible, but I'd say its far harder than almost every other career, and that can lead to doctors becoming quite insular. I don't think that's about arrogance at all - that'd be pretty ridiculous.

Reply 12

Angury

18

I agree with nexttime, I have found it quite hard to expand my friendship group outside of medics or healthcare. I do feel I have to go out of my way to meet non-medics and particularly as a junior doctor, your colleagues are changing all the time and it can be difficult to form a stable friendship group (but maybe that's just part of being an adult anyway).

Most of my non-medic friends are those from primary/secondary school; as I've gotten older, my social sphere has slowly reduced to healthcare professionals only.. :frown:

Reply 13

BlueIndigoViolet

19

Its almost as if they were humans....

Reply 14

Helenia

20

Original post by chopingirl

tbh I doubt they make many new friends outside of medicine unless it's through a regular hobby they do like weekly mountain cllimbing or something...which is unlikely as they wouldn't have the time. So I reckon, although I am very unqualified to say, that they have their old friends from school/uni who have professional jobs like lawyers and teachers because they were all clever geeks together at school and uni (they probly weren't friends with the popular bimbo/chads), but they don't make many new friends outside their work now.

Agree with this. For the first 7ish years of working I made very few close new friends outside medicine because I was just too busy trying to juggle my work, relationship and existing friends. I went to Cambridge, so it's unsurprising that my closest friends are in relatively high-flying roles - lawyer, accountant, pharma researcher, NICE reviewer - plus lots of doctors. I don't really have any non-medical hobbies through which I'd make many friends either. I am not in touch with any friends from school beyond the odd FB comment.

It changed a bit when I had kids because I was off work and going to lots of "mum groups" that non-parents probably don't even know exist, which has widened my circle somewhat, but then we've been unable to meet or go to any groups for the last 6 months so some of those friendships have faded away too. I also have lots of interweb weirdy friends ...

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 15

GANFYD

18

Original post by chopingirl

tbh I doubt they make many new friends outside of medicine unless it's through a regular hobby they do like weekly mountain cllimbing or something...which is unlikely as they wouldn't have the time. So I reckon, although I am very unqualified to say, that they have their old friends from school/uni who have professional jobs like lawyers and teachers because they were all clever geeks together at school and uni (they probly weren't friends with the popular bimbo/chads), but they don't make many new friends outside their work now.

My closest friends are 2 medics, 2 nurses, a policeman, 2 teachers, a cyber security expert, a Practice manager, an accountant, a housewife, someone who manages holiday properties, a land agent, 2 dentists, someone who does something with energy (he does try and explain but it is rather boring....), a hairdresser and a nail technician. Pretty varied, I'd have thought? Like many people, medics make friends at work, so that includes a lot of medics and related professions, but we have whole lives outside of medicine, if we want them!

Do doctors make friends outside of medicine?

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