Occupations more stressful than being an MD

I usually enjoy things posted by "The Consumerist," but its writers missed the mark on a recent post entitled "Here are 5 jobs more stressful than yours." The 5 jobs purported to be more stressful than mine are enlisted soldier, firefighter, airline pilot, police officer and event coordinator. Yes, you read it correctly, event coordinator.

The article had a link to the source of the information, a site called CareerCast. It turns out that CareerCast actually had ranked the Top 10 most stressful jobs. The other 5 are military general, public relations executive, corporate executive, photojournalist and taxi driver.

The methodology of the rankings was described but it does not say how the ratings were decided or who did the rating.

I concede that enlisted soldiers, firefighters, airline pilots and police officers are putting their own lives on the line as well as being responsible for the lives of others, although I would say that airline pilots are no more likely to be killed on the job than non-pilots. To my knowledge, they do not pay extra for life insurance.

With the exception of military general, the other 5 jobs do not involve life-and-death decisions. [OK, if you've ever ridden in a New York City taxi, you might argue that some taxi drivers do put their lives and the lives of their passengers in peril.] Does anyone seriously believe that event coordinators, public relations executives, corporate executives, photojournalists and taxi drivers really have more stressful jobs than physicians?

The "methodology" includes 11 stress factors, including hazards encountered 0-5 possble points, own life at risk 0-8 points and others lives at risk 0-10 points. This means that an event coordinator or public relations executive, who would score 0 points for the 3 stress factors noted above [except for a potential hazard like a paper cut], still has so much stress that she exceeds the stress risk of, say, a surgeon.

I'm not buying it.

Law School Goes to the Dogs

Thanks to the Washington Post for its exposé on the enormous difficulties plaguing stressed-out law students. According to the article, law students are so overwhelmed by the looming specter of exams that many CANNOT GO HOME FOR THANKSGIVING!

Schools such as George Mason University are dealing with this crisis. The school, along with others, has gone all out to help by bringing in puppies “to break the stifling pressure that blankets their campuses.”

As a mere physician, I had no idea what traumas one must endure to become a lawyer.

Can you believe what they go through? Here is an example.

“Many law schools now teach students how to balance the stress of late-night legal research, tort outlines and case summaries with healthy habits: running marathons, volunteering or hanging out with a pet.”

My God, “legal research, tort outlines and case summaries” and late at night too! How do they do it? It’s no wonder they need puppies.

University of Maryland Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Dawna Cobb meets with incoming students and tells them, “It’s okay to cry, but not for hours each day.”

How about this comparison? “For high-strung law students, dogs and other animals can also provide a soothing presence. That’s a lesson researchers have learned from others in stressful environments, including soldiers in war zones and patients in rehabilitation centers.” [emphasis added]

The article also says “Studies have found that the legal profession has higher-than-average rates of depression and problems with substance abuse.”

Is it those damn tort outlines or could it be that they begin to realize in law school that there are no jobs for lawyers?

Even the dogs know the truth. “When the puppies arrived, many seemed nervous around the mob of strangers.” The poor puppies probably were afraid to bark for fear of being subjected to a class-action lawsuit.

The Washington Post has really opened my eyes. I'm glad I took the easy way out by choosing medical school and five years of training in general surgery.