Working Mother

Surgeons these days are worried about the decreasing numbers of medical school graduates that choose surgery as a specialty. At the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, outgoing president Dr. Gregory Jurkovich blamed lifestyle decisions. Today’s medical students, he told the meeting, would rather go into specialties with controllable hours, such as dermatology, in order to avoid emergencies and on-call duty.

Several surveys back up his observation, such as a 2003 study that found that “controllable lifestyle” decisions explained 55% of the shift in medical students’ specialty choices from 1996 to 2002. During that time, the percentage of students who chose dermatology rose from 0.2% to 2.3%, while those who selected general surgery fell from 10.4% to 7.6%.

The medical blog EMGN: Notes From The Road had an interesting reaction to the speech:

This idea of “controllable lifestyle”… got me wondering how much of a role lifestyle plays in anyone’s decision about a career. I had always assumed that people ended up in their career path in one of four ways.
(a) “I always wanted to be a ——.”
(b) “I followed my interests and hoped it would work out.”
(c)”I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I picked business.”
(d) “I just sort of ended up doing this.”

When I came of age, longer ago than I will admit here, I don’t know of anyone who sought a “controllable lifestyle,” except for those who wanted to lead a lifestyle where they suffered under as little control as possible (ski bum, beach bum, waiter writing a great novel on the side, etc). The rest of us fell into EMGN’s four categories. I was definitely an A. I decided to become a reporter at age 11, after reading a biography of Nellie Bly, gal reporter, in sixth grade. I grew up in a small, farming community where the women who worked were teachers, nurses, shop clerks or factory workers. Bly, who lived from 1864 to 1922, lead a life of adventure that sounded far more exciting, and that was it for me–I too would travel the globe and write daring stories that would change the world. For the most part, I haven’t regretted that choice, even though it certainly hasn’t given me a controllable lifestyle.

Now my 11-year-old daughter wants to be a dancer, a ballet dancer to be precise, a choice that I admit I’m not keen on (I see a lot of waitressing in her future if she sticks to it). I assume she will likely change her mind in a few years, even though I never changed my 11-year-old goal. I suppose we hope that our children do end up with controllable lifestyles or at least lifestyles where they can support themselves in a fashion that won’t make us shudder when we walk into their first apartment.

So readers, Let me ask you: What made you choose your career? Any regrets? And what reasons would you like your children to use when choosing theirs? Should they follow their dreams, no matter how impractical? Put lifestyle first? Think about the long haul–family responsibilities, retirement, financial security? Play it as it comes?
Looking forward to hearing your responses.

If you want to read about one recent college grad’s choice, read my earlier post Off the Treadmill, Into Telluride. Another controversy simmering in the medical world is whether or not the rising number of women doctors is contributing to a medical shortage because they want to work shorter hours; read Women Doctors: Waste of Money? for more on that issue.

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