by Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Joined practice July 2006 of
John K Throckmorton, DPM
Lansing, Michigan
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Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope your holiday was full of family, food, and frolic, with few hospital admissions. After Thanksgiving my wife and son flew out to Phoenix, Arizona to visit family. Their absence has me thinking about family. Specifically, my question to the podiatric community is: can you truly balance career and family?
Here's my answer: no way!
I can read your collective minds. "Shapiro has gone all negative on us. He's feeling sorry for himself because his family is away. Boo hoo." Ok, maybe so, maybe not, but hear me out, and then write in with your responses. We all want to hear your opinions. |
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When I first started medical school I was warned by wiser folks than me that you couldn't possibly give enough to medicine. The more you give, the more it takes. You can't learn it all, you can't see enough patients, and you surely can't study enough. I don't even want to know how many hours I devoted to medicine over the past 8 1/2 years, how many hours I spent away from my family.
Now that I'm in practice it is easier to balance career and family. For example, I study much less now than I did as a student and resident, my hours are slightly more scheduled than they were in residency, and I have more direct control over my professional life. This gives me more time to spend with family.
However, if you think the battle between work and family disappears when you graduate residency, think again. I do a lot of hospital consultation work beside the regular office hours, with surgery scheduled late in the evenings. I'm often interrupted at home by hospital calls and office patients. Additionally, work is always in the back of my mind. I worry about that patient with osteo or the bunion patient I operated on the other day. On the other hand, I also could never give enough time and energy to my 2 1/2 year-old son who, given his choice, would have me at his beck and call. Children, just like medicine, can never be satisfied. So, the internal conflict rages on.
So, no, you can't balance career and family. That doesn't mean, though, you give in to it and ignore your family or let your career go down the tubes. Here are some ways I try to keep things balanced. I try not to feel too guilty. I provide a comfortable life for my family with stability and security.
- I make very specific time for my family where nothing interrupts it. For example, I try to be home as often as possible in the evenings to spend quality time with my son. Whenever possible, I spend time with my wife to reconnect.
- I plan my schedule ahead of time. On Friday I review the next week to prevent surprises. I do my hospital consultation work in the mornings before office hours. It’s tiring getting up that early, but it leaves me free in the evenings.
- I try to be flexible enough to handle those surprises that inevitably come up.
- I have a VERY supportive spouse. If you’re married or dating this one’s a must. They have to clearly understand the lifelong tradeoffs of marrying a physician.
- I give as much to my work as I reasonably can. Know your priorities. If medicine is everything to you then don’t have a family. For me it’s family first then career. If I’m not a world famous foot and ankle surgeon that’s OK with me. Have you ever heard someone on their deathbed saying, “I wish I’d spent more time at work?” Me neither.
No, you can't balance career and family. It's just not possible. But if you stay organized and give it your best effort, you'll see things will work themselves out reasonably well. Best wishes with attaining balance in your lives. Let me know your thoughts.
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT New Docs Editor
[email protected]
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
***Podiatry Unions***
There is [or was, it's actually been awhile since I've heard anything about it] already a physician / podiatrist oriented union. It was chatted about a lot on PMNews [Podiatry Management's e-newsletter] many years ago.
--Dave Gottlieb, DPM
Chief Podiatry
Resident
Baltimore VA Medical Center
[email protected]
***Podiatry Guild***
Interesing idea. I must ask the question, why reinvent the wheel? Is it not the job of the APMA to rally us together to take political actions such as this when necessary?
--Kenneth Lopez, DPM
Attending - North Bay Kaiser Consortium
Santa Rosa, CA
Editor’s Response
I think the APMA through PPAC does a good job with helping to protect our livelihoods as physicians. However, podiatry is not a large enough profession to apply enough pressure to change the system the way it needs to be. I think that would require sizeable numbers of MDs and DOs as well. Outside of closed systems like Kaiser and the VA physicians are just not reimbursed legitimately. For the time we spent learning our profession, the risks of practicing in a litigious society, and the responsibility of dealing with another human's life we should be more reasonably reimbursed. I think this is just too big of an issue for the APMA to tackle alone.
- Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
--Jarrod Shapiro, DPM |
