Medical Education US

hello,
I am an undergrad who is currently working on my way to become a physician. In the future I really hope i can have my own private office instead of working in a hospital, since our school invited 3 doctors who work in a hospital to give us a presentation about their job, and all of them said that they work "at least" 60 hous per week.
Am I right that the job of physician is absolutely overwhelming if working in a hospital? In what fields of specialty do physicians generally practice in private settings?
A psychitrist mentioned in another posting thread that he works 4 days a week and his wife 3 days a week in private practice. (I am so sorry that I didn't remember your name!) I am wondering if your working schedule started like this after you finished your residency, or your hours of working can only be reduced to this amount quite some years after you have run your private clinic-- I am asking this because I heard setting up one's own clinic is usually difficult in the beginning.

I am a girl who also wants to have a balanced life between family and job in health care. Some people suggests me to look into other professions such as dentistry or optometry because the residency programs are shorter and that way I will have a few more years to have kids and stuff. Although I still think medicine is something I am more excited about than other other health professions, I am debating if I should go for those alternative choices since it seems ultra tough to maintain the balance in life with a career in medicine.

My mom says dentistry is a good alternative way to go for, since that's treating patients anyway. Can any M.D. kindly tell me what they think about this?

Also, I am wondering how often do med schools kick out their students... I am a 3rd year in college and have a GPA of 3.55--not bad yet it's pretty well below many med schools' average admission standards. I am scared of not being able to get in, or always feel dumber than my classmates if i luckily get in.
Last last question is, do students from those med schools that require a less higher GPA for admission find it harder to get into a residency program that they desire?

ok that was a lot of questions-- but they just keep popping out of my mind because I think about this so hard all the time-- thanks for your help! I really appreciate it

Hey, there.

I am a medical student, not a practicing physician, so I can only speak to part of your post...

It is my experience that medical schools are NOT in the business of kicking out medical students. I mean, if someone commits a felony, or flunks out, or commits ethical violations, then sure. But my experience in medical school has been in stark contrast to my sister's experience in law school, for example.

The first year of law school seems to be part of a weeding out process, and (at least at my sister's school in California, and others where my friends have attended) they aren't going to work too terribly hard with students who have difficulties, just to keep them around. I don't know why that is the case, but whatever, I am not in law school. Thank the Good Lord for that. Maybe it's because there is a perceived glut of lawyers out there, who knows?

Inny-hoo, at my institution they have an impressive array of support systems in place to help students who have personal, family, or academic challenges with medical school. They want their student physicians to graduate (and, of course, to keep paying tuition!), and to become compassionate and competent doctors who will reflect well on the institution in the future.

My wife just had a baby two weeks ago following a rather challenging pregnancy, and my school has allowed me to take a leave from classes and return in July. That kind of thing happens at a good school, in my opinion.

If you are diligent and have the ability, that will usually come out in the application and interview process, and the Powers That Be will probably be able to tell.

Oh, and one other thing... my wife's physician (a graduate of my medical school, and completed her family practice residency at Dartmouth) is just 2 years out of her residency. She works 3 days per week in a clinic (NOT a hospital). She has three kids, and her husband is a prosecutor who also works 3 days per week. They are able to make it work for their family, and they seem pretty daggum happy, so it IS possible! (In fact, there is another doc at that same clinic who works 3 days per week and is a mommy, as well, now that I think about it.)

Good luck... don't let the naysayers get you down!

Hi -- I posted about my private practice arrangements elsewhere, but to let you know, I think it's in many ways easier to go to a 4-day-a-week schedule right away rather than later. Early in my career I didn't have huge monthly expenses like mortgage payments, high property taxes, college savings needs for the kids, more pressure to save for retirement, etc. I felt I had the luxury to get things off the ground slowly, build up my practice, and then in a couple of years to have an established thriving practice. The way i did it was to work full time at a hospital for 3 years after residency while I started a small private practice in psychiatry. Then the fourth year, I switched to a half-time job at a hospital, while further developing my private practice. Finally the next year, I stopped working in the hospital altogether and went straight into a 4-day-a-week private practice where it has stayed for the last 11 years. My wife got pregnant just at the end of her Child Psychiatry residency, and went immediately into a 3-day-a-week private practice. She also consults in some local school systems. Hope that helps!

Addendum: I don't work in a hospital now, but my impression is that the pressure of time, expectations and resources is greater there, in general. Perhaps there are exceptions.

I'm not convinced that dentistry would provide a more efficient life with fewer work hours. Dentists seem to need alot of staff and equipment, all of which must be paid for through hours spent working. Psychiatrists need a telephone and two chairs.