CHOOSING THE HEALTH CARE PROFESSION: So You Want to Be a Doctor?
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What's it Like to Be a Doctor?
A doctor’s lifestyle is varied;the field divided into specialties—from family practice to neuro-ophthalmology. Each requires a different number of years of training and each has a different practice style. The environment practiced in also varies: military vs. commercial vs. public. Some doctors practice from home – such as many rural physicians - but most practice in clinics or hospitals.  Military doctors have a service obligation but no debt. Rural doctors make less money but have more job satisfaction. Large urban practices have better paychecks but less free time. 

For primary care physicians, work hours are similar to a regular office with some taking night calls on a rotating basis with their partners. Clinics also run regular hours with many offering evening and weekend hours with doctors also working on a rotating schedule. In a hospital, care has to be provided 24/7. In many hospitals doctors work an on-call rotation which varies from center to center. ALL doctors work approximately 60-80 hours a week!

For all doctors, after medical school, a period of internship is required. This a time of supervised clinical training and the number of years in this training is from 3-6 years

As many more physicians are needed in communities than are trained, doctors seldom experience the turbulence of market fluctuations as in other fields. That is to say, layoffs and unemployment are uncommon. However, there are fields that are more lucrative than others and there are fields where you may not make very much at all. If you have wisely controlled your budget your choice of specialty can be made based on your interests. If you have an enormous amount of debt the choice you make may be driven by your ability to pay back your loans!

Doctors must take medical boards. These exams are given every 10 years in every subspecialty. So part of being a doctor is keeping up with changes in the field.

Bottom line, the life of a doctor can be quite rewarding but will require an enormous outlay of time and money for training and a willingness to put in long hours. Your practice and specialty choices should be based on how you wish to organize your life as well as your particular interests and skills.