Hi everyone .. I'm new here and very grateful to have found this site.

I am curious to know if there are any part-time options for the general surgeon or surgical specialist. I'm a PGY3 in general surgery and struggling with the choice of continuing residency vs switching into another field that has more options and flexibility. I have researched as much as I could on the internet but haven't come up with enough information to help me come to a decision. I unfortunately do not have a female surgeon mentor. I have worked with 4 women, all whose lives I do not want to emulate. One was a fellow who just had a baby and was completely miserable. When I asked her for advice, she told me that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't work at all. However she had no choice because she was also supporting her husband through school. Any input, advice, or shared experiences would be great!

(I apologize if I'm posting in the wrong forum. I'm still finding my way around here!)

This is the right forum...you are a woman physician! Surgery is not known for being flexible, but it seems to me that people have posted here about practicing surgery part-time. Keep in mind that part-time for physicians might mean 40 hours a week! Are you trying to plan ahead for having a family, or do you already have children? I would think that sub-specialties that have more predictable hours, such as plastics or breast surgery, might be more family-friendly than things like trauma or straight general surgery. Maybe some of the surgeons here will chime in.

The true part time option for a general surgeon is working for an HMO or large surgical group. Another option is trauma critical care or acute care surgery which is an evolving field-- like a hospitalist. I am a full time breast surgeon but also did another fellowship which I did not love. but have friends from residency who work per diem for kaiser hospitals. They chose to do so because they have young kids and their husbands are primary bread winners. They don't get any benefits but get a reasonable salary and get to maintain their skills which is important in surgery. I don't think as a surgeon you can take a hiatus of years away from the field because most hospitals require proof that you do cases to maintain privileges. Also, As a surgeon, you rely on referrals and have to see a certain number of patients in order to generate cases which is where the bulk of your compensation comes from. Many women choose breast surgery because it affords a more controlled lifestyle. Pure breast surgery and kaiser jobs are not in abundance at least in the more "desirable" places to live. Plastics is tough these days I think because Many folks are delaying elective surgery. Another option would be sharing a job with a like minded surgeon. I was offered this but elected not to because part time when you are employed by a large organization is never really part time. Not sure if this answered your question. If you don't have good mentors in your training program, you can seek them outside. For example, there are meetings and groups that discuss these issues: association of women surgeons, women in surgery conference being held in Baltimore in a few months, etc. Feel free to contact me. I don't log on too frequently though.

Not a surgeon so just from what I see, our general surgery hospitalists work 7 am to 6 pm for seven days on and seven days off. They do not work nights. We are located in western WA and at least for me what I would consider a desirable place to live.

I am part of the new wave of acute care surgeons. I am in a larger group with 7 partners at a large academic institution. We have a rotating schedule with weekly coverage of critical care, trauma, emergency surgery, administrative/research. Our call schedule is 4 per month.
There is definitely more flexibility being part of a larger group but the academic requirements continue to be rigorous. We work 8-5 daily and when we are not on call, we do not have any responsibility to the hospital. However, there is no option for working part-time.