5 Doctor Specialties with the Least Burnout in 2024

We previously covered the specialties with the highest rates of burnout. But which specialties report the least burnout?

If you’re looking for a specialty with less stress, these might be for you.

 

5 | Otolaryngology

5th to the bottom of the list, with 43% of practicing physicians reporting burnout, is otolaryngology, often referred to as ENT.

ENT is a surgical subspecialty focused on diseases of the head and neck region, including the vocal cords, nose, sinuses, ears, thyroid, and parathyroid. In addition, ENT also deals with head and neck cancers and facial plastics.

The lifestyle of an ENT physician is family-friendly and flexible. They are able to focus on the clinic or divide their time between the clinic and the OR. Clinic days will have regular 9 to 5 hours, and OR days can either be half days or full 12-hour days if facing more complex cases.

On top of the flexible hours, ENT physicians make approximately $485K a year, making this specialty one of the most lucrative. The excellent salary coupled with a healthy work-life balance and flexible work days make ENT a specialty reporting the 5th-least burnout.

 

4 | Pathology

4th from the bottom is pathology, with 41% of pathologists reporting burnout.

Pathologists study bodily tissues and fluids. Similar to radiology, pathology is considered a “support specialty”, since it’s secondary to the clinical staff. Pathologists examine specimens to give tissue diagnoses, and they also manage all of the clinical labs ordered by other physicians, whether that’s microbiology, hematology, chemistry, or everything in between.

It’s a slow-paced specialty with low on-call responsibilities and an above-average work-life balance and lifestyle. The average pathologist only works about 47 hours per week while making $339K per year.

There are a number of different subspecialties, including forensic pathology, cytopathology, clinical informatics, and medical microbiology, to name a few, meaning pathologists have the ability to tailor their career to their specific interests. Pathologists also have little patient interaction, so the burden of having to inform a patient and their family of bad news is left to other physicians.

Regular 9 to 5 hours, a great annual salary, little patient interaction, and a slow-paced day-to-day work life means pathologists have the 4th lowest degree of burnout.

 

3 | Psychiatry

Coming in at the third best specialty for low burnout is psychiatry at 39%. Psychiatrists focus on understanding and treating mental health disorders as well as psychological distress. They use the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual, Fifth Edition, to assess a patient’s symptoms and determine if they exhibit a diagnosable disorder. Psychiatrists can also help patients with psychological distress from past trauma, difficult relationships, pain, or other high-stress situations.

In other words, psychiatrists spend a great deal of time with their patients to get to know them, meaning it’s a slower-paced specialty that involves a lot of conversation. While these physicians do face plenty of charting, it’s spread across far fewer patients.

This is a trend you’ll see across the specialties with higher and lower rates of burnout. The specialties with less charting and general paperwork, which equates to time spent on a computer, tend to have lower rates of burnout.

Fast paced specialties, like emergency medicine, which has the highest rates of burnout, have an incredible amount of charting to do because they see so many patients in a short amount of time back-to-back. Family medicine doctors and pediatricians also have a great deal of computer work and charting, which also directly translates to higher rates of burnout.

Psychiatrists make $309K a year, and the hours are hard to beat—even during residency. Weekend calls or overnight emergencies are rare, so it’s essentially a regular 8 to 5 or 9 to 5 job.

It’s also a very flexible career, as psychiatrists can work in multiple clinical settings, with multiple patient populations, and even hold multiple jobs at once. They can customize their career to suit their specific interests in a way other specialties simply can’t.

Regular hours, good compensation, flexible practice settings, and a number of longitudinal relationships with patients mean psychiatrists face one of the lowest rates of burnout among physicians.

 

2 | Ophthalmology

The second best specialty for low burnout is ophthalmology, tied with psychiatry at 39%.

Ophthalmologists handle ocular and orbital diseases, which is anything relating to the eyes and the immediate surrounding structures. It’s a unique specialty as it isn’t a strictly medical or surgical field, but rather a blend of both, so there’s plenty of flexibility and variety.

Plus, it’s a highly innovative field with cutting-edge technology, like Ocular Coherence Tomography, or OCT, which uses near-infrared technology to produce cross-sectional pictures of a patient’s retina.

Procedures are quick, clean, and have a huge impact on someone’s health and wellbeing. Vision is such a vital part of someone’s livelihood, so it feels good to be able to make such a significant impact on your patient’s life.

On top of the positive impact they make on the lives of their patients, ophthalmologists make approximately $388K a year, and many have very reasonable lifestyles in terms of work-life balance. Ophthalmologists don’t have to come in on weekends, and call is generally light. For the most part, it’s a regular 8 to 5 job.

Do note, however, that there are some ophthalmologists that tend to have more emergencies, depending on their specialization and practice type. For example, surgical retina ophthalmologists occasionally face emergent add-on cases, such as retinal detachments; however, even these can often wait until the next morning.

With good compensation, healthy work-life balance, and the ability to radically improve their patients’ lives, ophthalmologists have the second lowest burnout rates.

 

1 | Plastic Surgery

And finally, at number 1, with only 37% of physicians reporting burnout, is plastic surgery.

Plastic surgeons primarily focus on soft tissue, such as fat, skin, and muscle, to reconstruct or reshape a patient’s appearance or function. They are able to work on any part of the body, from face to hands to feet to genitalia, which differentiates these surgeons from other surgical subspecialists.

Depending on their interests, they can choose to specialize in reconstructive or aesthetic plastic surgery. Aesthetic plastic surgeons often run their own practice or are part of a small group, which means they don’t have to work terrible hours or compromise their lifestyle.

On the other side of plastic surgery, reconstructive plastic surgeons often have an incredibly meaningful impact on someone’s life, which makes the work feel like it has purpose.

Regardless of whether they choose reconstructive or aesthetic, plastic surgeons are continually some of the highest paid of any physicians out there at $619K a year, and they also have the highest hourly rate of any main medical specialty.

Although patients may occasionally be difficult and often perfectionistic, aesthetic plastic surgery is a cash-based practice. These surgeons don’t have to deal with insurance reimbursements or a lot of the administrative issues of other specialties.

With flexibility of practice, customizable hours, few administrative responsibilities, and some of the best compensation of any physician specialty, it’s no surprise that plastic surgeons report the least amount of burnout among physicians.

 

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