Get a job

I haven't really talked about it much, but I have a job for July. I've taken a position in general internal medicine, and that's all I have to say, but it was a very trying experience, finding a job in general medicine. There are only so many kinds of jobs in gen med:

(1) The fantastic hospitalist job in the middle of nowhere: $300k, full benefits, an expense account at the local strip club, and free cheese 24 hours a day, but the position is in Nome, Alaska.

(2) The pitiful, pitiful, pitiful position: $100k, traditional, replacing a solo practice doctor in middle of nowhere, Maine, with call every day, in a community of 500, supported by a 10 bed hospital. Part of reimbursement in the form of soy beans.

(3) The position far, far too good for you: $500k, all outpatient, in Laguna Beach, catering specifically to swimsuit models in need of paps/pelvics and breast exams, with pace of 5 patients a day, cappuccino machines in every exam room, secretary to take notes while you see patients, and complimentary trophy wife if you are single (mistress if married). Shorts and t-shirt dress code. Nip/Tuck policy on sex with patients.

(4) The academic position: You don't want to know the money. Publish or perish. Office in ivory tower only available after 15+ years. Clinical acumen not required. Must be able to survive in relative poverty.

(5) The reasonable spot: $150k, good benefits, 1 in 5 call, medium sized town, good schools, great if you have a wife and kids, but you have managed to finish med school and residency and you're still not married, so the idea of white picket fences and little league games makes you a little sick inside.