A Physicians Guide to Working Part Time

Physician guide to working part time

Several months ago I stumbled upon a personal finance blog geared towards physicians and financial independence, two topics that are very relevant to my life. A series of posts there detail the financial lives of four fictional doctors and how their various financial decisions result in radical differences in retirement savings and age at which financial freedom is achieved.

 

More recently a fifth doc was added to the mix, a physician who decided to go half-time relatively early in his career.  This guy sounded a lot like me, although my path was motivated by major burnout and I was not financially independent when I made the decision to cut back on work.

 

After reading the post I felt compelled to share my story and experiences, not to indulge my ego but to help physicians and  others who may be considering part time work. Hopefully I will add value to this discussion and give some insight into the impact of going part-time. I have been doing this for about three years now. Here are my semi-coherent ramblings on the matter.

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. NON-PHYSICIANS MAY BECOME DROWSY WHILE READING. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

 

 

The Myth of the Ideal

There is a narrative written for each of us by society. It is the script we are expected to follow more or less. As a physician we go to college, then medical school and residency, sacrificing the best years* of our lives and going deep into debt to learn to be a healer. When we get out of training around age 30 or so we get ready for a long and fulfilling career as a physician. We dedicate ourselves to saving lives and healing others, and as a side effect make pretty great money in the process. With this money we live comfortably and buy stuff like a big doctor house, European ski vacations and poorly designed financial products in our limited free time. Work-life balance is a myth, but we don’t care because the joy of working is enough for us. Life is beautiful. We ride off into the sunset with the credits playing and the audience in tears. The end.

 

That is unless you are in the greater than 50% of doctors that burn out, spiral into cynicism, or one of the unfortunate ones to die by suicide (at twice the national average). Oops. They don’t tell you that part. Maybe we need informed consent for medical school and residency.

 

I’m not trying to be a major buzzkill here, but we don’t all follow the idealized optimal path. I love the fact that many physicians absolutely love their work and couldn’t imagine not working full time until the day they die. I’ve worked alongside these people as colleagues and have seen them as a patient. Many are my closest friends. I am in awe of them. Our society probably needs people like this to function so efficiently and effectively, but let’s be honest here and acknowledge the people that do not fit this ideal scenario. After all, there is a reason these financial independence and early retirement blogs are so popular.

 

Burnout

Let me briefly tell my story (long boring version here). I went through major burnout about 5 years into my career working in private practice radiology. It was an insidious process, but after a while I noticed I just could not recharge during my days off. I was beginning to resent work. I was becoming less efficient and less engaged. There was a low level anxiety and fatigue that hung like a cloud over me. I knew that if I continued down this path I would become completely disengaged from my job altogether and become a zombie; just a walking dead FTE showing up and doing the work, but not really mentally available for much else.

 

Hating zombies as much as the next guy, I decided this was not going to be my fate…

 

As I sought solutions to my dilemma I learned a lot about the process and emotions of burnout. I thought through  many possible options. At first, my solution was to put my head down and grind through for a few more years. I would quit altogether after I hit financial independence. Most burnt out physicians do this, and, to be honest, when I was in the trenches this seemed like the only option. Nothing else made sense financially or otherwise. Most of us just hope things get better, and often times they do slightly improve.

 

After reflecting on this for a while, I realized there may be a better way than just muddling through and hoping for the best.  In this post I will discuss my path to part-time work and observations.

 

Defining Part-time Work

 

Part-time as a physician can take many forms including, but not limited to:

 

  1. Job share: Typically two employees share one FTE (full time equivalent) in the schedule and divide the work between them. This is what I did. It is one of the more flexible options, but it requires cooperation between you and your job share partner. This can fall apart if one party quits. Also, it can result in temporary full-time work if one partner goes on leave for some reason (such as maternity leave). It leads to great flexibility in scheduling, though, as the ways to divide up the work are nearly endless; one week on one week off, splitting weeks, half-days, long sabbaticals, etc.
  2. Fractional FTE: Excellent if it can be arranged, but most groups think in terms of full time equivalents and this may be a more difficult sell. In the right situation this can benefit the group tremendously if a round number of FTEs are not optimal with respect to staffing needs. This may work better with shift work specialties.
  3. Locums or other contracted work: This is extremely flexible, but also the most volatile, as many of these positions are not permanent. There is likely none of the nonclinical work or politics involved in usual medical practices, which can be a huge plus. Having never done locums I am quite ignorant on the subject.
  4. Internal locums: With this I refer to the buying and selling of days/weeks/call responsibilities within your group. This can be a big win-win scenario as there are often people that want more work/call for extra money. This is my favorite solution as it uses free market supply and demand to allocate work, but needs the right kind of people and group to make it work. In an environment where the specialty is short staffed and overworked already it is unlikely there will be many wanting to take on more work.

 

Each of these solutions will have different trade-offs in terms of job stability, financial impact and quality of life issues. There will be vast differences in your ability to implement these in your current job based on your subspecialty, employment model and the demand for your specialty in the geographical location you are working.

 

Everyone’s a Winner

In general, the more flexible you are, the greater number of options will be available. You may need to create the position you are looking for and ‘sell’ it to your employer. It is very important that you look at your job situation in terms of win-win scenarios. If your part-time position does not create a win for both you and your employer it is unlikely it will be a successful endeavor.

 

Some examples of win-win for the group:

  • There are more bodies covering the same number of FTEs so in the situation of illness or leave it is easier to cover shifts.
  • There is another person in the schedule available for committees, meetings etc.
  • Happy physicians are more productive and make fewer mistakes.
  • Keeping a half-time physician longer into her career provides more stability and institutional knowledge to the group.
  • If the part-time position results in a more optimal staffing level it may be easier to retain/recruit other physicians, especially in high demand specialties.
  • There may now be enough work available to hire a physician with specialization the group desires.

 

I’m sure you can think of other win-win situations that would be specific to your group or specialty, and it you are thinking of part-time work this is a necessary exercise.

 

*****

 

Before going down this path, there are financial, psychological and practical implications of this decision to consider. I will cover these topics in no particular order of importance. Everyone will have different opinions of what is most critical in their decision making.

 

Financial Impact of Working Part Time

The financial impact of going half time is huge. As a physician you have great earning power over your lifetime and going half time effectively cuts your income in half or more. It roughly doubles the length of your career, but each scenario will be unique.  There are multiple factors that come into play that will probably make the math not quite 50%.

 

Your effective tax rate will be lower. As you shave off the top half of your income you are eliminating the half which is taxed at a much higher rate. You will likely escape the dreaded AMT (alternative minimum tax) and the ACA (Affordable Care Act) Medicare surcharge on investment income. And, unless you are in a very lucrative specialty, you will probably fall out of the top federal income tax bracket or two.

 

If your state tax is progressive, you will likely find significant savings here as well. To see the impact in your situation you can use a tax estimator like TurboTax TaxCaster to estimate your federal tax burden under different scenarios.

 

Taking a very simplistic scenario of a family of 4 with few deductions I got the following effective federal tax rates:

 

EFFECTIVE TAX RATES AT DIFFERENT INCOMES

IncomeEffective Tax Rate
$500,00028.2%
$375,00026.2%
$250,00019.7%
$200,00017.5%
$165,00015.6%
$125,00011.5%
These are estimates and will change depending on multiple variables.

 

This is amazing when you think about it. Simply put, it is incredibly tax inefficient to work at high income levels. Additionally this math becomes even more impressive when you start sheltering money in tax advantaged accounts (401k, cash balance plans, HSA, etc.) because your taxable income will actually be less than 50% of what it was when you were full time.  To maximize the tax advantage of this lower income frugality becomes an important component.

 

Pro tip: If you have a large after tax account when you pull the trigger and go part time, use the dividends generated to live off of and shelter more earned income in tax advantaged accounts.

 

Example: You are now making 125k/yr, living off of 80k/yr and generating 20k/yr dividends and interest. It is now wise to only generate 60k/yr of taxable income from your salary and shelter the other 65k if you can. Your 20k of qualified dividends will not be taxed because you are now in a tax bracket where dividends at this level are not taxed. As a rule, if you can get your income into the 15% marginal tax bracket some pretty magical things start happening.

 

In addition to the tax savings realized you free up time and energy when working part time. You will simply have more available bandwidth to become more efficient with your spending. One reason physicians waste so much money is that they don’t have the time to think through financial decisions. All of our mental energy is focused on the practice of medicine.

 

I spent some of my new time further optimizing my financial life, although I was pretty dialed in before I cut back so the savings were negligible. There is also danger in drifting in the other direction. Now that there are more days off in my schedule I find more ways to spend money. This was not a big change for me as most of my hobbies cost very little, but my travel expenses definitely did go up now that I had more days to do it.

 

There are embedded costs to being a physician that do not go away when you are half time, and these will affect you to varying degrees depending on the type of employment arrangement you have with the hospital/group that you are working for. If you are self-employed these costs will be 100% your responsibility. These include licenses, CME expenses, credentialing, DEA certification, insurance, etc. Medical malpractice should be less, so be sure to check with your medical malpractice provider to get discounted rates.

 

Time to Financial Independence

The amount of time to financial independence is dependent both on initial invested assets AND market returns, assuming your investments are primarily typical paper assets (stocks, bonds, cash). The larger your portfolio the greater impact investment returns will have, as these returns will be a greater percentage of your net worth growth. The smaller your initial portfolio, the greater the impact of the timing of your decision to go part time and the cycle the capital markets are in.

 

Since your income is falling, you will be able to contribute less to savings once you make the transition. Assuming no assets, if you cut back right before a period of lower market returns this makes the math favorable for part time. If you cut back into a period of high market returns this makes full time more favorable.

 

I know this is confusing. I got confused just writing it.

 

Think of it this way: If you can contribute 50k/yr to savings working part time and 100k/yr working full time, you get your money into the market much faster working full time. You are rewarded disproportionately by the higher early returns. If you already have a huge investment portfolio like Dr. Findley in the fancy looking table below, your time to financial independence is much more dependent on market returns (those numbers in the pretty shades of blue).

financial effects of working part time

Table: www.physicianonfire.com

In other words, if you are going half time without an investment portfolio your career will be more than doubled in length, assuming no change in spending. This is because your savings rate has to go down. It’s just math that cannot be changed.

 

The math will get worse the lower your initial full time salary because fixed costs will become a greater percentage of your income, and the savings rates will start to diverge more. Early retirement math is shockingly simple. In the example of Dr. F, note the 70.6% vs. 45.8% net savings rate even after tax benefits are factored in. Here are some more detailed tables and a link to the article to put them in more context.

Asset growth half time

Table: www.physicianonfire.com

asset growth full time

Table: www.physicanonfire.com

TL:DR: Shoveling money into retirement savings early provides the most options barring a zombie apocalypse. Going part time with no savings makes you much more dependent on market returns.**

 

Lifestyle Impact of Working Part Time

Although going half time doubles your effective working career (more or less) it is a massive improvement in lifestyle, especially if you are burned out. As I detailed here your ability to work is your greatest financial asset. Full time is obviously much more lucrative than half time, but for some, part time work will be the only thing that is sustainable in the long run. Had I not gone half time I have no doubt I would have quit medicine by now. Now I feel I could work half time indefinitely. I cannot understate the lifestyle benefits of this decision for me.

 

Going half-time is a compromise. It is like retiring and working at the same time. It is hard to describe the change in lifestyle going from 5 days working 2 days off to 2 days working 5 days off (some weeks). It was profound to say the least. It felt like the first time in decades that I could fully relax and just breathe. I had time to do nearly anything, and not in that rushed-hurry-through-it way I normally did when full time. It took a full six months to adjust to it, and when I did, it was simply amazing.

 

People with furrowed brows and sincere looks of concern and bewilderment ask me what I do with all of this time, which I find quite sad and depressing, actually. I don’t know if they are just trying to make conversation or if they really can’t imagine a life without 50+ hours of stressful work.

 

Here are a few things you will be able to do when you cut back to part time: Go on more walks, read books, go on your kids’ school field trips, start a blog, sleep, ride your bike, go on vacations, attempt to get half as good as your son at first person shooter video games (not going to happen), visit friends and family, go on a retreat, drink a beer on your front porch, play guitar, spend quality time with your spouse, have squirt gun fights with your kids, do yoga, breathe deeply.

 

I pose the following question: Are we designed to work full time or is this just convenient for society? I know we all adapt, but is it really an optimal way to live?

 

Half Time is Not Really Half Time

I should note that half time is not exactly half time. Even if you are only working half the number of clinical and call days, you will probably be expected to contribute just as much to the nonclinical work that comes with a career in medicine. This will include committees, meetings, practice building, continuing medical education, recertification, etc. I have spent many of my ‘days off’ in the hospital at a meeting, giving a conference, etc. This is the cost of working part time and there is little you can do about it without making people around you very angry.

 

Certain specialties lend themselves to part time work better than others. Generally shift work is more amenable to these arrangements such as radiology, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, and hospitalist. The clinic based and surgical specialties are more challenging, because often patients expect to see only you. There are follow-up responsibilities that become inefficient to pass along to another provider. I know people who make this work, but it is more challenging.  Mrs. Happy Philosopher did this for a while and her 0.5 time was really more like 0.75 time (but for 0.5 pay)!

 

Psychological Impact of Working Part Time

When I was working full time and going through burnout it felt like I could never recharge. It didn’t matter if I had a week off or a long weekend, it just wasn’t enough. This is a horrible feeling, and what made it worse was that I knew it was self-inflicted. Residency is of course much more time consuming and psychologically demanding in many ways, but there is a certain acceptance of it. It feels like you just have to do it. There is no choice so you just move forward, and I think this makes it easier to accept.

 

I knew my career was not sustainable in its current form for the long term, and psychologically this was devastating. I felt like a failure and that I had been lying to myself for all these years. I questioned my decision to go into medicine. Ultimately I decided I was going to work a few more years and quit, maybe doing something different entirely, maybe just living relatively frugally and not trying another career.

 

I was largely at peace with the decision to quit entirely, but deep down there was something a little unsatisfying about doing 10 years of medical school and residency and quitting after only another 10 years. I still felt like I had something to contribute, although I was not willing to sacrifice my happiness to make that contribution.

 

These decisions are deeply personal and although it is useful and helpful to listen to other people’s opinions, they are not you. They do not have to live in your shoes. Their opinions will be colored by their experiences, and their recommendations may not be what are best for you. It is necessary to take full responsibility for this decision because it is your life. This is a scenario where a coach or other consultant may be very helpful to bounce ideas off.

 

How Personality Affects Going Part Time

After spending much of my time on early retirement blogs I’m convinced there are distinct personality types that are not meant to work full time careers to traditional retirement age. I am one of those types. I’m not sure I would be happy working any job full time to full retirement age of 65 or so. Accepting this fact was liberating.

 

If you are someone who does not understand the desire for early retirement it is likely you are heavily influenced by established personality traits (such as a high degree of extroversion). Spend some time understanding your personality and what your inclinations are. It is important not to become trapped by your personality and make excuses, but knowledge is power. Know thyself.

 

Gender and Part Time Work

Another variable I will address here briefly is gender. While it is quite common for a woman physician to go part-time early in her career, this is much less common for a man. You may be judged for this decision, by others but especially by yourself. Our (male) egos are usually tied to our career more strongly than women (not always, but again this is the standard societal narrative and anecdotally I have found it to be true) and thus we have a harder time letting go. For some this will be the most challenging part of cutting back, especially if you are a guy. I would highly recommend one thinks very deeply about this before going part-time as it can be quite disconcerting. More on this topic in a future article as this post is way too long as it is.

 

One More Year Syndrome

It is terrifying to ponder giving up such a huge income stream so early in your life, especially after the massive sunk costs of becoming a physician. For those of you not familiar with one more year syndrome (OMYS), it is the insidious compulsion to work just one more year instead of retiring even though you have enough to comfortably retire on. The psychology is complex, but probably mostly based in fear: fear of change, fear of running out of money due to disaster, fear of having to go back to work at a much lower income level. It usually manifests itself by the following self-dialogue:

 

“If I work just one more year then I can do (…)”

 

And it doesn’t matter because there is always another (…) when the year is up. Our desires and striving can be endless, and it is not always about more money or more stuff. It could be about security, ego, meaning or purpose.

 

“If I  work one more year I can get my SWR (sustainable withdraw rate) down to 3.2% and increase my portfolios chance of survival from 99.7% to 99.75%!!!!”***

 

Going part-time is a hedge and a compromise. It forces you to work more years which psychologically I think can be a good thing for some. It delays the one-more-year-syndrome dialogue which we all have at one point or another if we become financially free.

 

Transition to Part Time

Part-time is a great transition to full ‘retirement’ from medicine. Maybe some people would be bored retiring early.  We have all seen examples of people who retired and were unhappy for one reason or another. Going half-time allows you to test drive this new reality. It is quite common for older physicians to go part-time near the end of their career, and I think this is a great idea rather than just quitting cold turkey.

 

Being a physician requires so much time and energy there will be a void when it goes away. It’s a big change going from 50-60 hours a week plus overnight and weekend call to 100% free time. Regardless, I feel a full 6 month trial is required before any judgement is passed. For some it may be even longer. It simply takes a while to adjust to a new normal and half a year is pretty reasonable.

 

Conclusion

Half-time work early in my career was one of the biggest financial decisions I made in my life. The short term financial consequences were severely negative, but probably saved my career. In the long run it will probably be the best financial decision for me. If you aggressively save, pay down debt and live a life of relative frugality you can be in this position less than 10 years from the start of your career. My advice is to do this so you have options. You can live a ridiculously lavish life on much less than what a typical doctor earns.  If you end up loving your job, open up the purse strings and co crazy if this is what makes you happy. Alternatively, if you are burned out or realizing medicine is not for you then you have options. For the right person, half-time is the best of both worlds. It provides adequate income, an incredible lifestyle and the ability to lessen the chance of burnout. It creates the space you may be craving in your life.


*Is this really true? I know it is conventional wisdom, but you all probably know by now how I feel about blanket statements that everyone accepts as truth.

**Explaining complicated details of personal finance is not my strength. This is why I blog about philosophy instead.

***I totally made up these numbers.

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  1. I was expecting a nap, but you were too darn interesting, HP. What drew me in was that I have several doctors as clients. By the halfway point I realized what you were saying applies to all of us, not just doctors. A modest amount of tweaking to modify the program for other occupations and you have a template anyone can use.

    I want to elaborate on personality types. You and I are opposites in this regard, HP. My grandfather worked on the farm every day until a ripe old age and then worked for the county helping older people with day-to-day activities that were twenty years younger than him. I agree, I could not work at any age for someone else; I am a natural born businessman. But I can never see myself hanging up my cleats and kicking up the feet. You say it best when you say, “Spend some time understanding your personality and what your inclinations are.” If happiness is the true goal, this is the way to get there.

    A well thought out article that deserves a bookmark and a few shares.

    1. Hahaha, thanks Keith. Many of these issues are not specific to the medical field so you are right, I was writing to a wider audience than just physicians. I have a ton sloshing around in my brain about personality types, just trying to figure out how to put it all on paper.

      It is a long article that I hope a few people find helpful enough to bookmark. And feel free to share with anyone you think may benefit 🙂

  2. Once again, you keep it real. You lay out what people should consider when looking to make such a switch, but for many, short-term “loss” will become an incredible long-term gain.

    I work early hours (not a Dr.), which has afforded me much flexibility to be present for my kids various early afternoon activities. I also work for a small company and live in the same town which has afforded me great flexibility to even make some activities during the day.

    cd :O)

    1. Thanks. Keeping long term goals in our sight usually leads to better decisions overall I would say. Sometimes the flexibility is more important to us than the time.

    • steve on September 27, 2016 at 12:31 pm
    • Reply

    Great insightful post that hits on all the crucial variables of the subject!

    Also,your sense of humor is an added bonus.

    I definitely relate to your first person shooter video game experience with your son.Good luck,right?

    Take care,

    Steve

    1. Ha! Thank you. When I play video games against my son I feel a little like a T-rex trying to play ping-pong. Still trying to figure out when my reflexes become so pathetic. Oh well, at least I can still beat him in chess (for now).

  3. Hold up… you expect me to believe that some rich fancy doctor makin’ four hundred grand a year is gonna spend only $80,000 a year?!? What kinda horse manure you trying to feed us?

    😉

    Thank you for detailing the factors that go into the decision, and for laying out the implications of implementing a part time schedule. Happy to hear it’s worked out for the Happy Philosopher. I’ve decided to keep the pedal to the metal for now, and am trying to figure out how many OMYs I want to work before setting aside the laryngoscope myself.

    Cheers!
    -PoF

    1. I know right!?! I got those silly tables from another site run by some crazy anesthesiologist dude. I was too lazy to make them myself. Obviously no self respecting physician could live off less than 6 figures.

      😉

    • DocT1 on September 27, 2016 at 6:27 pm
    • Reply

    I have tried working part time as an anesthesiologist. I found that the less I worked (especially at night doing emergency cases) the more stressful I found my job. I was hoping to hear a comment on part time work and competence/confidence. Perhaps also, the less you do something you find unpleasant the more unpleasant it is the few times you do it…

    1. What a great comment! You would think in a post of over 4000 words I would have addressed this point.

      This is a real thing and it is nothing to be brushed off. There is a certain amount of work you have to do to feel comfortable and confident. To be honest I don’t think it would have been a good idea for me to cut back any earlier than I did. I needed full time to get to a place where I had seen the volume and diversity of cases that I had. It is a fine line that will be different for each individual, and maybe each specialty. I do believe it is better to be happy and do less than to be burned out and do more though.

      Working part time can take you out of your rhythm and routine for sure. I have noticed that call is a little more unpleasant the less frequent I do it (maybe because I have more time between calls to forget how intense and stressful it is), but I am better equipped to face it because I am healthier. I have a different attitude.

      • gasdoc on November 17, 2016 at 4:52 pm
      • Reply

      Another anesthesiologist here who went to part-time. What helped me in the transition was having experience doing very hairy cases for several years (cardiac, complex thoracic, major vascular) at a nationally renowned academic medical center. Lots of transplants, lots of unusual and challenging cases that wouldn’t be done at private hospitals. As a result, I felt that a lot of knowledge had been “baked in”. Obviously, I need to continue to do challenging cases (and I do) and keep up with the literature, but having that solid foundation has helped me manage working fewer hours while maintaining confidence.

    • S.G. on September 27, 2016 at 7:10 pm
    • Reply

    As a working mom and veteran of the mommy wars I would add that “part-time” can mean a lot of things. I am not a doctor so I don’t know the common options, but I know there is still a lot of room between zero and 100%. In the last decade I have only worked full time for about 6 months when I was trying to get a major promotion. Other than that I’ve been 50% to 80% time. As far as doctors I’ve visited plenty of them that simply only work M-Th, or MWF, or don’t do appointments after 2/before 10 and I’ve never really thought about it. But I know it can be an amazing difference in your life even if you reduce your commitment by an hour per day.

    Another option my employer offers is “vacation buy”. You have an option to purchase an extra week of vacation, another possible change if you’re not so much burnt out as marginally frazzled.

    1. Great points, there is an infinite spectrum of part-time work that can be arranged and I think the most important thing is that it becomes a win-win for both you can the employer. I feel we are transitioning to an economy where jobs become more fluid and less traditional, and thus learning to negotiate different work arrangements will become a valuable skill.

      Many of the docs that have a day off or reduced hours are actually working full time (maybe doing procedures or protecting time to finish charting, etc.). In some specialties it is a battle just to get back to a reasonable 40-50 hours.

      The “vacation buy” idea is great, but I think it can be a psychological challenge. In my opinion it is much tougher to “pay back” money you have already earned in your mind. Kind of a strange cognitive bias that gets in the way.

        • S.G. on September 29, 2016 at 1:00 pm
        • Reply

        I agree on all points. But I have chatted with a couple docs to ask about the blocked off time. Some do paperwork or have a hospital rotation, one actually splits his time between specialties, but a couple are seriously PT. When they have a non-emergency specialty it appears to be more about managing caseload so their availability isn’t booked too far out than about being available for long stretches. After all most patients will be seen weeks, perhaps months, apart. They won’t even notice if they are never offered times within a given block. It seems that the issue is more a) fixed costs, and b) management mentality. The first can be negotiated as someone who really wants the flexibility will understand a lower marginal rate, and the second…challenging “how we’ve always done it” is a problem in all fields. When a specialty is in demand it can be hard to manage their hours, but if you usually phrase it in terms of “the alternative to part time is not full time, it’s no time” management comes around. Many people don’t realize that in such a case they have an enormous amount of negotiating power.

          • S.G. on September 29, 2016 at 4:22 pm
          • Reply

          Hm, reading it a couple hours later my tone takes on an unintentional know it all quality. I just started thinking of my own field and in-demand specialties and how they feel trapped by increasing loads rather than empowered, and wind up burnt out and quitting which leads to bigger loads for those remaining.

    • RadFIRE on September 29, 2016 at 11:28 am
    • Reply

    Great post. First time commenting.

    I am just into my 8th year of practicing radiology and have also experience mild burnout symptoms in the past year. I was contemplating going to part-time work (job-share), but many of the issues that you mentioned in your post stopped me from pulling the trigger.

    For me, the main issue was the thought of “wasting” my prime earning years and skills, which probably ties into ego/pride issues.

    I’ve made a compromise with myself….starting next year I will be selling internal locums to my part-time partners in order to free up time (up to 4 -5 weeks). I’m hoping that this extra time off will relieve my burnout symptoms.

    Like the other poster mentioned, I also figure that this transition will lessen my worry of losing my skills and knowledge, if I had gone straight to 50% part-time.

    Keep up the great posts!

    1. Thank you for the comment RadFIRE.When I look around, the 8-10 year point is common for burnout in our field. I really love the idea of internal locums, and it can work exceptionally well in a radiology practice. If 4-5 weeks is what it takes that is great, totally worth it in the long run if it saves you from burnout.

    • Headmaster on October 1, 2016 at 6:17 pm
    • Reply

    Great blog post!

    I have the impression that many employer health care insurance and retirement plans require “full time employment” in order to participate. I assume this was not an issue for you?

    1. Thank you.

      Each employer will have their own rules and regulations, but remember, everything is negotiable. Being a true employee will be more restrictive, but this makes sense because these are fixed employer costs. Most flexibility will be in a private group where you are a partner (most likely). Making things revenue neutral in the long run is probably going to be more palatable, which may mean paying for more of the health insurance and retirement funding costs. In the higher paying specialties these costs are less of a problem to manage because they are a smaller percentage of income. Best case scenario is where everyone in the group funds their own retirement and health insurance, then it truly has no impact on anyone else.

    • Dr. FISRE on October 2, 2016 at 11:35 am
    • Reply

    Telerad is a very good option to keep working and going into Part Time. No committees to join, no meetings, no real boss or peers looking over you or just making sure that you are pulling your weight (depending on the set up). Still have to do your CMEs and other things.
    My plan is to work/earn as much as I can in the next few years and then cut back to 4 hour shifts for maintenance.
    Even as a “full time” telerad I only do 8 hours shifts so I get all of the afternoons off to be with my family and/or just do whatever I want. I also work 7on/7off so I have 26 weeks off but for now I’m taking plenty of extra shifts to save like crazy. For the extra shifts I usually do only 4 hours to avoid burnout.
    I am very happy I went this way. I have no desire to go back to work at a Hospital .
    I’m with you in that I feel bad for the people who wonder what to do with all the time. It’s sad that they think that a job is the only way to spend 50-60 hours per week, even some people with family/kids.

    1. Yep, telerad is definitely an option and certainly has advantages. Some rads I know have done it and hate it though. You don’t know the techs, don’t know the docs (much of the time), don’t have any procedures or patient interaction (some love this part). It is pure though. Read studies and get paid. Very clean. That’s great if you like it and can have a flexible schedule. I especially love the fact you can do four hour shifts. I also love that people are willing to do it in the middle of the night so I can sleep 🙂

      I was under the impression that economically it was not that great compared to traditional radiology, but I must admit I am ignorant on the topic.

        • Dr. FISRE on October 3, 2016 at 9:36 am
        • Reply

        Indeed. Most of what you say is true.
        It all depends on the company. They have to make sure that the techs are consistently producing diagnostic quality studies and that you have the necessary history to make a diagnosis. My company is very good about this.
        I know of companies that send you the studies and give you very little support in that sense.
        It is also very important that the company uses a very efficient system so that you are not bogged down with nonclinical details such as spending 10 mins trying to find the doc for a critical finding and that you are not just reading mostly xrays which pays very little.
        In my set up I read mostly the higher RVU studies and so far (i’m in my second year doing this) I’ve been able to make as much as what private practice partners make without having to wait the 3 years as an employee hoping to make partner to then start making money.
        This way I’m able to pay down debt and invest larger amounts earlier and faster so the compounding does its trick to then cut back to my ideal 4 hours shifts.

        Also, very important is the fact that I have a daytime position. I don’t really want to be doing nights for the rest of my life so that helps a lot in my positive view of telerad.

        Telerad is definitively not for everyone but it works perfect for me.

    • gasdoc on November 17, 2016 at 4:47 pm
    • Reply

    I couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve described in this article. I’m an anesthesiologist who felt the exact same way as you, only in my case I held on for 6 years after fellowship. I switched to a 40% position and can clearly say it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Thanks for the write up.

    1. Thanks for the comment. Part-time is not for everyone, but for some of us it is a career saver.

    • Christy Bayes on December 27, 2016 at 7:21 pm
    • Reply

    Thank you so much for your insightful article. I am not a doc but a nurse practitioner who is also dealing with burnout. I have contemplated part time work but because I am clinic based it is difficult to do with all the follow up labs/test results/phone calls which have to be dealt with in a timely manner. I have a few colleagues who work part time but put in more than part time hours following up on those types of tasks. Maybe a true job share would be better? I did work part time as a nurse in the past and it was absolutely perfect because I had more time for my family and other activities I enjoy like running, reading, and other hobbies. It was hospital based work, and this made it easy to truly work part time because I handed off responsibilities with report at the end of my shift. Anyway I have not been able to make the transition to part time but would love to do so. i have even considered going back to hospital work just because the schedule was much more flexible for part time positions.

    1. Thank you for the comment Christy. You touch on many important issues. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, etc. all can burnout, maybe even at a higher rate than physicians. My wife ran into the same dilemma as you observed in your colleagues when she was working half time. It was more like 3/4 time with all the follow-up phone calls, labs, etc. but for 1/2 time pay! Hospital based shift work is much more flexible with true fractional work in my observations and is a great option.

      Whatever direction you choose, address the burnout issue before it gets worse. Check out https://www.thehappymd.com/ for a ton of free resources and reading about burnout. His stuff is quite useful. His book is great also.

    • DrSug on January 30, 2017 at 7:56 pm
    • Reply

    Thanks for this article. I was having a rough week last week and finally decided to ask to cut back my FTE even more and put a few difficult patients on “notice”. This article was just want I needed to verify that I am doing the right thing. 🙂

    1. Awesome. Glad you found it helpful!

    • EnjoyIt on March 17, 2017 at 12:22 pm
    • Reply

    I know this is months out, but I wanted to commend you on a very well put together article. I have been struggling to give up my admin work and drop to simple full time or even part time for the last year. I struggle with losing control of my department and my shift schedule. I also struggle with losing the extra income that will let me get closer to the financial goal at a faster pace. One problem I am noticing is that the closer I get to my number the harder it is becoming to put up with my job. I am about to take a nice vacation with no email access. I hope it will rejuvenate me. My ideal goal is 2 more years but I struggling to even finish this year.

    I realize that I can drop to part time right now and let compound interest take me to my goal by 62 or even sooner if real returns are higher than 5%, but I am a little scared to rely on compound interest and not really interested in being forced to work till 62. I would rather make it optional because I like practicing some medicine as opposed to requiring the income.

    The other realization I have is that I can downgrade my lifestyle right now and never work another day which also makes it harder to put up with some of the BS. Tough choices. I am glad others are writing about it and helping me think through my decisions. After tax season I will rebalance and run a few excel simulations and see where I stand. Who knows, I might go part time in May 🙂

    1. Thanks for your comments. There are no easy answers unfortunately. If you come back from your vacation and are not rejuvenated it is probably time for a change of some sort. There are two articles that I wrote that your comments made me think of.

      https://thehappyphilosopher.com/how-understanding-the-marginal-utility-of-money-will-make-you-happier/

      https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-no/

      🙂

    • EnjoyIt on March 19, 2017 at 11:30 am
    • Reply

    I read the utility of money post already and loved the picture with your fork on it. I will be reading the power of no after I click submit. Thanks.

    I agree. I will also look at my schedule and see if I can group meetings back to back so that I have more free days away from the hospital. I think that will help as well. My rule is that any big decision I make or big purchase I make requires 3 months of sleeping and contemplation. I started seriously considering quitting admin work in early March. My deadline is June 15th. Lets see if I can make my life happier by June 15th. Otherwise quitting is the only option.

    1. Waiting before purchases is a good method. I do this regularly and it’s amazing how many things I thought I ‘needed’ in the moment, but were completely unnecessary to my life.

      Administrative work can be soul destroying, especially when it serves no purpose (most of it doesn’t). Good luck learning to say no more often 🙂

    • Nyberry on March 19, 2017 at 1:12 pm
    • Reply

    Thoughtful article. I’d like to add that the decision to work part time can be reversed. It is possible to move back to full time work, if it seems right later.

    Working, earning, raising a family, playing, exploring, learning, helping- these things can call for different allocations of our time and energy at different stages of life.

    A book which expands on this theme is “The 100 Year Life” by Gratton and Scott. They argue that the three stage life – education, work, retirement – worked well in the 20th Century but is probably not fit for purpose in the 21st Century.

    1. There is so much about modern life that does not serve us. I haven’t read that book, but it sounds interesting. I will put in on my endless reading list!

      I will say it is tough to go back to a full time schedule when you are used to part time, especially if the reason you went part time is because of burnout.

    • tomG on March 22, 2018 at 9:09 am
    • Reply

    Thanks for a great article. I enjoyed listening to you on the WCI podcast.

    I am also a radiologist in private practice 10 years out from training, FI and contemplating transitioning to part time.

    I am curious about how you approached the idea of a job share with your job share colleague and how discussion/negotiations went with the group once you decided to proceed. Did you and your job share colleague remain partners in the practice and did your relationship/contract terms change significantly?

    In my practice, I have gathered from past comments and conversations with colleagues (particularly older partners) a general negativity about anything other than full time work…probably stemming from a general sentiment that all partners should contribute equally to the function of the organism in order to receive it’s attendant benefits. I suspect that I would be asked to relinquish my position as a partner if I went to anything less than 1 FTE.

    Your list of win-wins in the article is very useful/insightful, both for myself and as negotiating points.

    1. Awesome! Thanks for listening.

      If your group does not have a mechanism for part-time work or job sharing you will be fighting an uphill battle. It will basically be your job to sell the arrangement to the group and convince them it will be better in the long run.

      Each part-time arrangement in our group has been a little different with regards to compensation, employee status, etc. The important thing is that each party (you and the group) feel happy with the arrangement. There is a benefit to having good people with institutional knowledge of the systems and processes that govern the group you are in, regardless of full-time or part-time status. And as I mentioned, there are many ways to cut back (job-share, becoming a fractional FTE, selling shifts and call, etc.).

      When I decided to go part-time I had face-to-face conversations with all of my partners and told them what I wanted to do. It was uncomfortable, but I felt like this was the best way for me. You have to know the culture and personalities in your group to choose the best way to broach the topic. Basically you are at the mercy of the group and have very little negotiating power unless you have skills or political power that is hard to replace.

      I wish you luck if you go down this path.

    • dan on July 10, 2018 at 2:16 pm
    • Reply

    Excellent discussion – I am curious in your own experience if you were forced to deal with the bitter realities of student loans, and how that affected your ability to put money into investments. As a more recent grad from a state school I am finding that my debt burden places significant limitations on my profession choices (let alone ability save any significant money).

    1. Not really. We aggressively eliminated student loan debt within about 5 years. Our income was high enough that we eliminated debt and killed our student loans. Mrs. Happy Philosopher hates debt even more than I do so it was pretty easy. Live like a resident until the debt is gone. Student loans are modern day slavery. There is no way to get rid of them short of death.

    • Nathan Kemalyan on October 22, 2018 at 1:17 am
    • Reply

    I see a dribble of comments beyond the initial response to the post, so maybe someone is still reading/paying attention. I burned out like an orbiting satellite decaying into the atmosphere. It happened 22 years into practice. I fully intended to finish my career in the place I started, but over-dedication, far too many balls in the air and emotional fatigue shortened my tenure there. Now I’m 10 months since leaving. I’d love to be able to continue practicing surgery, but all the triggers are still there. Resiliency is a tricky thing and a periodic short leave of absence doesn’t innoculate you against relapse if you re enter the same atmosphere where the burnout occurred. the best research now acknowledges that burnout is not a personal problem. It is the personal consequence of system/process problems and chronic fatigue. I loved the work to the last minute, but the environment of care became increasingly toxic to me. It wasn’t compassion fatigue due to patients; it was a relentless erosion of my ability to excercise my experience and judgement in the care of patients, reacting to the unsolicited opinions of multiple additional parties, one-size-fits-all algorithms and protocols, the ascendency of other parties with far less training and experience than I in “signing off” on my decisions, the ever-tightening constraints from the administocracy, an impotent but increasingly smothering medical staff process and the infernal electronic record that pushed me over the edge into impairment. I don’t have an option to move down the road a bit and practice in a new place. My skills are in an area that would require relocating to another state, a huge dislocation for my family. I never wanted to retire early, simply morph towards activities that were compatible with advancing age, eventual declining physical skills and an escape from the rat-race of small business administration. I was not allowed to make that change and thus the burnout had collateral consequences that acted to force me to leave my practice, the hospital and the program to which I had devoted 2 decades
    Depression stacked itself on top of burnout. Reinventing oneself at the advanced age of 58 is it’s own form of stress. The woundedness stays with you for a while.

    1. I’m not sure how many people are still reading the comments, but I read them all and appreciate them. You capture a lot of the issues physicians face in your comment. Recovering from and avoiding future burnout is complex, and the deck is not stacked in our favor. It’s not so simple to go part time or change career path for physicians. Opportunities diminish as the job becomes more clinically oriented and sub-specialized. I wish you the best of luck on your new chapter.

    • JSA on October 25, 2018 at 5:46 am
    • Reply

    Read this post awhile back but came across it again in rather timely fashion. I’m early career doc, life thru me a curveball that has me re-evaluating my career and life. Not burnout related. However, previously I enjoyed work and my field, I was pretty gung-ho about it and figured I’d work hard in it, make hay and at least reach FI asap, then re-evaluate. Now I’m less enthusiastic about it all, I see it more as a job, I don’t mind working but I’d rather spend time with family. I’ve thinking about the ideas of FI, early retirement, etc. I’m starting to prescribe less to the adage of working fulltime, reach FI, then re-evaluate or retire. I’m thinking that a longer, balanced, part-time career may be better. I consider the risks of early retirement: unexpected expenses, healthcare, less compounding, more brute force savings (in taxable no less). I’m not so sure I’d retire even if I could financially, I’d be too nervous. In that vain, maybe it’ll be wiser to work less, more free time, more tax-advantaged savings, more compounding effect, maintain a steady income for unexpected costs, keep “busy” and so on. FI would be delayed many years, as will the peace of mind of being FI, and maybe I’ll lose out by not making hay while I could (if medicine changes or something). I’m not sure what path I’ll take, but the idea of going part-time and delaying FI sure is appealing.

    1. Thanks for the comment JSA. You touch on important considerations. There is no right or wrong way to do it and there are trade offs. The balanced “go part-time before FI” approach worked for me, but looking back on it there were huge monetary opportunity costs. It’s tough to know where I would be right now had I not had the opportunity for part-time work. I would be much richer financially, but my physical and mental health may have suffered greatly. The risks of early retirement are very real. We see the medical disasters every day in our jobs. Working later into life is a pretty good hedge and I recommend it if one can find happiness and peace with the work.

    • Arlie Esau on November 11, 2018 at 6:58 pm
    • Reply

    Thanks for putting all this out for the benefit of all. At 56, I’ve reduced my work to 3 days a year after EMR was forced upon us. EMR in primary care is a nightmare. Physician autonomy is a thing of the past. We are now puppets clicking our lives away, distracted ever more from attending well to patient care. I’ve never been so angry and frustrated.

    Four days away has allowed me to experience enough of life away from it to make me wish I’d done it sooner. Its somewhat ironic that I never had time to read something like your blog. I’ll never go back to full time, and am strategizing for retirement in 5 years or so, perhaps longer if I cut the work days further. I love the patients, but the system kills the joy of seeing them. I don’t see it getting better soon. It helps to read others experiences.

    1. Thanks Arlie, I’m glad you found value in this.

    • Arlie Esau on November 12, 2018 at 10:08 am
    • Reply

    Clarification: 3 days per week, a year after EMR…

      • Nathan Kemalyan on November 16, 2018 at 12:35 pm
      • Reply

      What a shame that the only reasonable response is to do less of what you trained to do and love. A psychologist once described levels of happiness as 1) having fun, 20 being able to “get into the zone” where time stands still and you are totally absorbed in your task, and 3) knowing that your work/activity is making a difference in the world, meeting the needs of others. At it’s best, medicine (surgery in particular) has all of those characteristics. It often has one or two going on, even if all three aren’t happening concurrently. A constant, chronic irritant that directly interferes with satisfaction in one’s work eventually robs the work of ALL of those elements.
      In my view, the best approach, although the most difficult and uncertain, is to find a way and place to change the rules of the game. Carve out the the things that dissatisfy and retain the essence of what is good. It takes courage, creativity, tenacity and stubburnness, sometimes a loud voice and sometimes a quiet personal revolution. Most people work to live. Physicians are a prime example of people who live to work, but only if the work feeds our souls in addition to our pocketbooks. The EHR and the implications of what it is saying to us as a profession strangles our souls. I’m 6 years into the EHR, have worked with 4-5 of them, have not found a single one that makes work easier than writing a hand written note, picking up a dictaphone or scribbling hand-written scripts and orders. Merely the log-in functions are varied, generally not automatic or intuitive. You break into Fort Knox 50 times per day in order to do basic work.

      How can you change the game? In primary practice keep it simple and cash-only. In specialty practice, figure out a way to ditch the hospital and even the large multispecialty groups. Large organizations bring large organization practice, hierarchy, regulations, more often equally unfair to everyone rather than flexible, point of service solutions. Become a cog in the wheel, a robot maintenance technician or a solo artist in your own studio, becuase there are fewer and fewer viable pathways in between…
      NAK

    • anon on November 24, 2018 at 3:37 pm
    • Reply

    as an intern, learning about these kinds of positions was like being splashed in the face with a bucket of hope. Part time work sounds amazing. These schedules i’ve heard of, 2 on 5 off, 3 on 4 off, or like 7 on 7 off… LOL. I will ABSOLUTELY apply to these kinds of positions starting out on my own.

    1. Part time work is great, but in my latest post I give the counter argument on why a physician should consider giving full-time a try.

      https://thehappyphilosopher.com/why-physician-full-time-work/

    • Ebenezer on May 5, 2019 at 5:08 am
    • Reply

    I’m a teacher considering part time work (80%) to avoid burnout. This article really helped me think through the implications. For teachers the math is a bit different (smaller numbers for one), given the pension tables that are used to calculate retirement income. But I think a lot of the issues around lifestyle and psychology overlap. Thanks for this detailed post. All the activities you mentioned in the Lifestyle section are things that I wish I had more time to do. Even though I could probably go full FIRE if I gut it out for a couple more years, I might end up gutted out in the bad way. Zombie style. I appreciate your evangelism in encouraging people to take back ownership of their time. It’s too precious to let it be mindlessly frittered away.

    1. Thanks for the comment Ebenezer. The choice to cut back on work is such a complicated and personal decision. The math for someone like a teacher with a pension is a lot more complicated, but ultimately finding the optimal balance between remuneration, contentment and longevity is ideal. good luck!

    • Ashish Goel on July 11, 2021 at 2:44 pm
    • Reply

    Great article. I just finished residency in IM a month ago and i came to the same conclusions.

    I’m taking on a part time job – 2 days a week.

    The rest of the timr i will get to focus on family, friends , consciousness / meditation, traveling and working on my business as a medical herbalist. 🙂

    • Paul on November 26, 2021 at 4:24 pm
    • Reply

    I’d like to express my own newfound appreciation of the impact of core personality differences in rending some people better or worse suited to certain careers. It’s a perspective that also seems to help understand some of the psyche behind the protests and frustrations some folks have during these covid lockdowns, including those who are vaccine refusers.

    I’m now happily out of the workforce (having followed the FIRE lifestyle for decades), and upon self reflection in these 3 years of freedom I’ve come to recognise that I sit very deep on the introvert side of the scale, and as such that made me ill suited to a job where I was constantly face to face with an endless line of clients.
    To an extrovert such a job might seem energizing and fun. To an introvert it was draining. I’d finish the week only to be left with 2 days to ‘recharge’. Even the weekend felt like a race to prepare for the coming week of work. My workdays were a blur, and with the exception of achieving FIRE savings, my life really didn’t seem to be one I was living for myself, only for my future self who was timing his escape.

    Lockdown has been a time of welcome calmness and rest for an introvert. I suspect the opposite is the case for extroverts, who need the stimulation of a more varied and social environment, and I suspect that goes some way to explain the various ‘disrupters’ in the lockdown. The vaccine deniers, the mask refusers, those who decline to stay at home and in so doing become vectors for virus spread… they likely are extroverts who find the confines of a lockdown to be uncomfortable.
    Yes, these are coarse generalizations, but I’m confident there’s a degree of truth to be found among them.

  1. […] life over the last 5 years (as long as I have been accurately tracking my spending). Now that I am working part-time I have more flexibility and time to travel. We bought a car and did some house renovations which I […]

  2. […] few years later I went part time and got rid of another big one. This time though, we went full-on alligator hunting. Once we […]

  3. […] two or three hours a day for the privilege. It would be difficult for me to find a new job with the flexibility I have created . Things that are not in my control could turn a great job into a nightmare […]

  4. […] that explores the many facets of part time work, be sure to check out The Happy Philosopher’s Physician’s Guide to Working Part Time. He has walked the part time walk for a number of years and can relate better than I can at this […]

  5. […] Working half-time has worked wonders for some, including this radiologist who wrote a physician’s guide to part-time work. Today’s post, though, is supposed to be about early retirement, so before I get too far off […]

  6. […] been doing a part-time job share for almost 4 years now and have quite a few observations about work. If you are new to […]

  7. […] a burned out doctor is crummier than one who has defeated burnout by working part-time (like The Happy Philosopher), or taken an extended sabbatical (like EJ from DadsDollarsDebts). Most physicians who pursue […]

  8. […] To remain an active participant in the physician workforce, there are numerous, substantial fixed costs in terms of money and time. Dr. Roberson covered some of them nicely in this recent guest post, and The Happy Philosopher explored them in detail in his guide to working part-time. […]

  9. […] If you fall into the latter categories, I wouldn’t throw in the towel. Creative solutions may allow you to work less if that’s what you really want to do. Locum tenens physicians can help fill in the gaps. They won’t replace you (no one can replace you!) but many locums docs are quite capable. 50 / 50 job sharing may be an option — it works for The Happy Philosopher. […]

  10. […] I write about work often. It is a big part of most of our lives. It is the intersection of our livelihood, our identity, and for many, even the center of our social lives. It defines where we live, what we do, who we hang out with and what we can consume as we trade our hard earned dollars back for cars, colonoscopies and Netflix subscriptions. Our ability and willingness to work is our biggest asset, especially for high earning individuals early in their career. But at the same time, the federal government will take a larger piece of your money as you climb the income ladder, effectively making you work much harder on the last dollars you earn when compared to the first. This article is a nice example of how $1,000,000 is taxed differently depending on the timing of when it is earned. […]

  11. […] an evangelist of part-time work for physicians, I occasionally get an e-mail from a physician reader asking if cutting back on work is the right […]

  12. […] The Happy Philosopher continues to create outstanding material with all that free time he’s chosen to have. The radiologist is well equipped to share with us A Physicians Guide to Working Part Time. […]

  13. […] that explores the many facets of part-time work, be sure to check out The Happy Philosopher’s Physician’s Guide to Working Part Time. He has walked the part-time walk for a number of years and can relate better than I can at this […]

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