Which is the happiest specialty?
Plastic surgeons top list of physicians ranked by happiness. The numbers are a bright spot as physicians across all specialties are still struggling with high rates of burnout.
How happy are physicians? It varies according to specialty, with plastic surgeons apparently the most content in and out of work.
Seventy-one percent of plastic surgeons reported they were happy, with public health and preventive medicine physicians coming in a close second at 69%. They topped a list of 29 specialties that were ranked based on polling conducted between June and October 2022. Infectious disease specialists ranked the lowest – at 47% they were the only specialty in which less than half of respondents reported they were happy. This is likely due to the persistent and ongoing stressors of caring for Covid-19 patients through the pandemic and beyond. In between those two extremes were orthopedics and otolaryngology, both ranking at 65%, and urology and physical medicine and rehabilitation, both at 63%.
Ophthalmology, dermatology, pathology and gastroenterology all logged happiness rates of 62%. Radiology and pediatrics ranked at 61% and 60%, respectively. General surgery (59%); pulmonary medicine (59%); nephrology (58%); diabetes and endocrinology (58%); psychiatry (58%); anesthesiology (58%); obstetrics/gynecology (57%); internal medicine (57%); family medicine (56%); cardiology (56%); emergency medicine (55%); critical care (55%); allergy and immunology (55%); neurology (54%); oncology (51%); and rheumatology (51%).
The numbers are a bright spot as physicians across all specialties are still struggling with high rates of burnout...Read more
Do these results make sense to you?
