Physicians' Personal Lives
Spiritual or Religious Beliefs
Medscape asked physicians about their personal belief system. Almost three quarters (73%) of physicians said they had spiritual or religious beliefs while 27% did not. Of those who held spiritual beliefs, more than three quarters (76%) said it helped them to cope with stress.
The 2018 Medscape numbers are consistent with those of a recently published survey in Journal of Religion and Health that broke down the numbers a little more. Researchers found that 52.5% of physicians were religious and 24.8% were spiritual, while 12.4% were agnostic and 11.6% were atheist.[4]
Weight, Exercise, and Alcohol Consumption
Nearly half (47%) of physicians said they wanted to lose weight, and almost one third (32%) said they were trying to maintain their weight. More women wanted to lose weight than men (52% vs 45%, respectively).
More than one third of respondents (35%) said they exercised two to three times a week, 33% said they exercised more than two to three times a week, and 21% exercised once a week or less. Eleven percent said they didn't exercise at all.
Meanwhile, almost one quarter (22%) of respondents said they didn't drink any alcoholic beverages, while more than one quarter (27%) said they had up to one drink a week, and 8% said they had seven or more drinks a week.
Vacations and Cars
The largest percentage of physicians (49%) said they took at least 3-4 weeks of vacation each year. Eighteen percent took 5 or more weeks per year, while 6% took less than 1 week per year.
Employed physicians took slightly more vacation time than self-employed physicians. While 63% of self-employed physicians said they took 3 or more weeks off each year, 69% of employed physicians said they did so.
Toyota (21%) was by far the most popular car among doctors, followed by Honda (16%), BMW (9%), Lexus (8%), and Mercedes-Benz (8%). While primary care physicians surpassed specialists in choosing Toyota and Honda, specialists surpassed primary care physicians in choosing BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Leigh Page. Burnout Might Really Be Depression; How Do Doctors Cope? - Medscape - Jan 17, 2018.
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