Last week, Medscape released their yearly report on physician happiness and stress. This year, Medscape surveyed 15,069 physicians across over 29 specialties (including ophthalmology) to determine lifestyle trends within the industry.
What were their main takeaways?
Most physicians are happy outside of work
A majority of physicians (52%) reported that they were very happy or extremely happy outside of work. Physician burnout is still a problem for many physicians, however, with 17% of respondents reporting that they were somewhat, very, or extremely unhappy outside of work.
Ophthalmologists tend to be happier than other physicians
Last year, ophthalmologists were the fourth happiest among all physicians, with 58% of respondents reporting they were happy outside of work. This year, ophthalmologists are still high on the list at 56%. They were beaten out by physicians who work in rheumatology (65%), otolaryngology (60%), diabetes and endocrinology (59%), pediatrics (58%), general surgery (57%), critical care (57%), and emergency medicine (57%).
The physicians with the lowest rates of happiness were those who worked in cardiology (47%), infectious diseases (46%), and neurology (45%). Cardiologists and infectious diseases specialists were among the least happy last year as well.
Ophthalmologists tend to have high self-esteem
When it comes to self-esteem, ophthalmologists take third place out of twenty-nine, with more than two-thirds of ophthalmologists (67%) reporting high self-esteem. The physicians with the greatest rates of high self-esteem are plastic surgeons (74%) and urologists (68%).
Physicians with the lowest rates of high self-esteem include those who work in internal medicine (50%), oncology (48%), and infectious diseases (47%).
Most physicians are happily married
A majority of survey respondents (81%) reported that they were married, with 84% of those physicians describing their marriage as good or very good. A small but significant portion of physicians described their marriages as fair (12%), poor (2%), or very poor (1%).
In addition, roughly half of all respondents (45%) are married to someone who also works in healthcare, with 18% of those respondents choosing to marry a fellow physician.
Physicians take charge of their work life
Medscape asked the respondents ways in which they’ve improved their work life. Answers included deciding not to practice under others’ expectations or demands, starting a direct primary care portion of their practice, adding ancillary services with more revenue-to-time return, and staying away from administrative duties.
If you’re dealing with stress, unhappiness, or an excess of administrative duties, Sightpath Medical can help. Our comprehensive, turn-key solutions make it easier for you to focus on what matters most: treating your patients.