This year's lifestyle survey, as in previous ones, asked whether physicians were happy at home or at work. Of physicians who said they were either very or extremely happy at work, dermatologists and ophthalmologists were the most content-though it is notable that only one third of even these physicians (39% and 38%, respectively) reported happiness at work. Dermatologists and ophthalmologists were also the happiest at work in the 2014 Medscape survey, but the percentages were much higher (53% and 46%, respectively). The least happy at work this year were internists (24%) and intensivists (25%), percentages that reflect the combined group of physicians reporting they were very or extremely happy at work. The least happy at work in 2014 were family and emergency medicine physicians (36%), followed by internists (37%), which are still higher percentages than those reported by nearly all physicians this year, including those toward the top of the scale. At 68% nephrologists were the happiest at home, followed by dermatologists (66%) and pulmonologists (65%). Dermatologists, were the happiest at home of all specialties in the 2014 survey (70%) and this 2016 report documents a small though notable decrease which was mirrored in results for almost all physician specialties. Of note, a major recent survey of US physicians reported a decrease in satisfaction with work/life balance between 2011 and 2014 from 48.5% to 40.9%. Male and female physicians report the same happiness levels at home (60% and 59%, respectively), but at work, only 26% of all women are happy compared with one third of men. As reported in slide 4, more women than men also report burnout (55% vs 46%), which could certainly contribute to the happiness disparity. Source
