More Energy & Motivation

During medical school and your residency, you probably became familiar with working long hours and dealing with hard work. You didn't get the privilege of setting your own hours, and you probably didn't have much money. Such is the life of a someone training to be a physician.

Furthermore, you're not only tired of having little money, you're also going to be faced with large student loan payments which means you'll be willing to work more in order to earn more. Older physicians have typically become comfortable with their financial situations, so more money doesn't necessarily motivate them to take on more responsibilities.

Plus, you're going to want to prove yourself. As a new physician, you're going to be building your reputation among your peers and your patients. This is a critical time for you to establish relationships and to make a lasting positive impression on the people around you. That means you're going to be more dedicated, more committed, and more willing to go that extra mile than physicians who are already well-established in their communities.

Fewer Personal Responsibilities

In most cases, new physicians complete their residency without many personal entanglements. Because the demands of medical school and residency programs are intense, you probably didn't have the opportunity to develop long-term relationships or to start families. This is definitely an asset.

In a recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, female physicians were found to work 18% fewer hours a week than male physicians. The reason is that working less hours makes it easier for them to balance their professional and personal lives. There are plenty of male physicians who will cut back on their hours and responsibilities in order to be a good husband and father as well. And there's nothing wrong with those sacrifices.

However, if you don't have those personal responsibilities, then you will have an advantage over the physicians who do. You won't have to reschedule appointments to go on a family vacation. You won't have to cut your hours short in order to have dinner with your spouse every evening. You'll be fully committed to your career, at least for the next couple of years.

Changing Environment

Over the last ten to twenty years, the field of medicine has changed a great deal. Many older physicians are dissatisfied with these changes. According to a survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins & Associates, 60% of physicians between the ages of 50 and 65 are considering getting out of the profession because they are unhappy with these changes.

This trend benefits you in two ways. First, because you don't have experience with the environment as it was in the past and are used to working in the current medical environment, you won't face the same “growing pains” as older physicians who have found it difficult to adjust to things like managed care. Second, as more of the older physicians abandon their practices and their positions, more openings and more patients will be looking for new physicians to fill those slots.