"Physician assistant" made it to number 5. "Physician/Surgeon" is at number 30 on the list of top jobs.
Using the standard 4-grade system, the stress of a physician's job is rated as D, flexibility D, creativity B, and difficulty D. It looks pretty bad, doesn't it?
As a small consolation for your malpractice worries, "Lawyer" lags behind at number 37.
Job Stress is Rated as "D"
Shrinkette is a blogging psychiatrist who writes about a "very important doctor" who called about a patient with multiple complications after a fall. He prescribed the sleeping pill that probably made the patient dizzy before the fall:
Okay...what's the question?"
There's tension in his voice. He knows this woman, knows her family. He's treated her for years. She's so sick now. She might not make it. He gave her that med... this all started when he gave her that med. Everything went downhill after that... and now she's in a coma...
And finally, I get it. This call isn't for the patient. It's for the doctor.
I lay my pencil down. I shut my mouth. I listen."
References:
Top 10 best jobs. CNN Money.
"Hi, Shrinkette. Got a minute? I have this case."
It seems artificial to lump all physicians into a single category. In terms of hours, compensation, stress levels, work activities, and any other measure, the differences among various fields of medicine can be striking. Imagine what the list would look like if radiology, emergency medicine, family practice, orthopedic surgery, dermatology, etc. were listed separately. They'd be all over the map.
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