Doctor, How Healthy Are YOU?
Doctor, let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you. How much exercise do you get? How well do you manage your stress? Do you eat well?
The recent Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2014 gives some interesting insights into how well physicians do (or do not) take care of themselves. Here are the highlights:
-The most overweight doctors are general surgeons. The least overweight doctors are dermatologists.
-Forty-eight percent of physicians 45 and under take supplements. Sixty-two percent of physicians over 46 years old take them.
-Female doctors are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine than their male colleagues (48% to 32%).
-Anesthesiologists and radiologists are far more likely to take 4 or more weeks of vacation per year than their colleagues (approximately 50% do). At 11%, endocrinologists are the least likely to take significant vacation time.
-Most physicians, 62%, report being “very” or “extremely” happy at home, but only 40% are “very” or “extremely” happy at work. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the genders and happiness levels.
-Regarding financial health, orthopedists and ophthalmologists had the highest response rate when asked if they have “adequate” or “more than adequate” savings. Perhaps not surprisingly, due to their lower salaries, family medicine doctors and internal medicine doctors had the lowest response to this question.
See the full report for more detailed breakdowns by specialty and additional responses to questions about spirituality, politics and exercise, to name a few. So,how healthy are you and how do you compare to your peers?
