At the end of March, in an anniversary no one but I noticed, I passed 4 years since I’d last rounded at the hospital.
It’s hard to comprehend that. I was at the hospital regularly for the first 22 years of my career, though admittedly it had dwindled from daily (1998-2011) to 1-2 weekends a month at the end.
Looking back, I still don’t miss it, and have no desire to go back. That’s not to say I don’t keep up on inpatient neurology, in case circumstances change, but at this point, honestly, I don’t want to. I’ve become accustomed to my non-hospital world, no late-night consults, no weekends spent rounding, no taking separate cars to restaurants or family events in case I get called in.
Dr. Allan M. Block
There are certainly things I miss about it. As odd as it may seem (and as much as I’d complain about it) I liked the wee hours of the really late night and early morning. It was quieter. Less chasing patients to tests or therapy. Pleasant idle chatter with staff and the few others docs around. Sitting at the computer and trying to think out a case on the fly. There was always junk food lying around.
But at this point in my life I’ll take the quiet of being home and my routine office hours. I know when my office day starts and ends. Aside from the occasional stop at Costco, I won’t be going anywhere else on my way home. I still get the occasional after-hours call, but none that require me to run to the ER.
On Fridays I’m glad the week is over, and don’t dread the 5:00 answering service switchover, or my call partner giving me the patient list.
There’s some revenue lost in the deal, but I’ll still take the trade-off.
It’s not like I ever had some grand plan to leave the hospital — I actually had thought I’d be there, at least occasionally, until retirement. But here I am.
Not to say there aren’t docs my age (and older) who still do it. Certainly our experience makes us good at it. But younger docs are closer to residency, which is primarily inpatient, so it’s an easier transition for many.
They probably have more energy, too.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Arizona.