I was checking the news tonight before heading to bed, and saw the Yahoo teaser: America’s most stressful jobs. Of course, I was curious what were the top ones. Police? Firefighter? Crab fisherman (it looks really stressful, and wet and cold on those shows)? Mother? (Oh yes. Being a mom is not a real job…ha ha)
Number 4?
Surgeon.
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Stress Rank: 197
Stress Score: 99.463
Unemployment: 0%-4%
Hours Per Day: 11
Time Pressure: Moderate
Competition: High
“Surgeons can be required to work at odd hours, and many operations take hours to complete. Operating calls for extreme precision and attention to detail, and can require quick decision making with life or death consequences. (According to Yahoo posting of Careercast.com)
It wasn’t totally surprising to me. Surgery is a unique field. My typical “day at the office” is not typical at all. Surgery residency, when I did it, was grueling. We measured how many hours we worked in a week by subtracting out the ones we didn’t- it was easier that way. I am curious how the new surgeons in training with restricted hours will be when they get out in practice. But that is another blog.
Surgery can be stressful, but for the majority of the cases it’s not. I am well trained. I lost a decade of my life to living in a hospital, but it gave me good tools and techniques. I saw everything during training. Stress is when the chest or belly fills with blood. But just like when you scuba dive, you learn panic is never the answer. If something happens, you collect yourself, breathe, and fix it.
So I understand this poll. But for me, my job is not so stressful. The operating room is my zen place. Hours fly by in minutes. I love what I do. Maybe I was born to do it. My father was a plastic surgeon, and I saw my first surgery when I was 10, “Dad move your shoulder, I can’t see!” And my patients are the best. I don’t know how it happens, but my practice attracts some of the most amazing, interesting women I’ve met.
So chances are in my residency, I saw something like it. This is why I rant about non surgeons doing surgery. It took me years of training to get to a comfortable place. Whatever happens in the OR, I will deal with it. I do all my steps purposefully, safely, to avoid issues.
Surgeon one of the most stressful jobs? I have rare days which are stressful. As I love to say, it is good to be interesting at a cocktail party, not at a doctor’s office, and definitely not in the OR.