By Josh Katzowitz, WCI Content Director

If you had to guess which physician specialties would have the happiest marriages, you might choose those specialties that are the least stressful—psychiatry because of its good work-life balance, dermatology because of its 8am-5pm work hours and because of the income potential, or plastic surgery because many docs can set their own schedules and still make tons of money.

But according to the 2024 Medscape Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report survey, none of them are in the top eight of those specialties with the happiest marriages.

When asked to rate their marriage, 91% of those in pulmonary medicine responded that it was “very good” or “good.” That only barely topped the 90% affirmation for otolaryngology and endocrinology.

Here’s the graphic produced by Medscape that shows a number of other specialties (note that not all specialties are shown).

As Medscape points out, there’s plenty of variance in these results year to year. In the 2023 survey, five specialties exceeded the 85% mark for “very good” or “good” marriages, but none of them reached 90%. This year, three are 90% or better.

“My experience in this area has often been counterintuitive,” said Wayne M. Sotile, a clinical psychologist and founder of the Center for Physician Resiliance. “You would think the specialties that are known to be extremely time-consuming—like neurosurgery —would have lower rates of marriage satisfaction. But that has not proved to be the case.”

Perhaps that’s because of managed expectations.

“If the couple agrees from the start that it’s going to be a very demanding residency or a demanding lifestyle in (clinical) practice, then they won’t freak out over bumps in the road,” Sotile said.

 

According to the survey, 85% of physician men are married (5% are divorced), while 73% of women have said “I do” (7% are divorced). A little less than half of respondents said they’re married to someone else who works in healthcare (20% to another doctor). Meanwhile, 82% of all physicians describe their marriage as “very good/good,” 14% say it’s “fair,” and 4% label it as “poor/very poor.”

Before we celebrate love and marriage from the rooftops, though, Sotile makes the point that there might be cognitive dissonance where physicians, especially male physicians, overrate their satisfaction. The real question, Sotile said, is whether a doctor feels fulfilled in their marriage (I suppose it depends on what your definition of “good” or “very good” is).

Said Sotile, “Data show many physician marriages may be stable but they are not fulfilling.”

Not everyone was buying the 2024 results, though. On the WCI Instagram page, here are some of the responses from the skeptics.

  • “I bet if you ask the spouse you get different results (EM spouse 🙋🏻‍♀️)”
  • “Looks like Radiologist can see through their patients but can’t see through their partner.”
  • “The ones who are never at home have the happiest marriages.”

Comparing the 2024 results to the 2023 results, allergy and immunology was No. 1 last year with 89% followed by dermatology (86%), nephrology (85%), otolaryngology (85%), and oncology (85%). The change in dermatology and oncology numbers from 2023 to 2024 is certainly interesting (in 2022, dermatology was 90% and oncology was 82%).

What do all of these numbers tell us? They change from year to year and, ahem, they probably don’t mean much of anything. Unless, of course, you’re an otolaryngologist. In 2022, that specialty was No. 1 at 91%. Apparently taking care of the ear, nose, and throat is the direct way to your spouse’s heart.

Or there could be other reasons. I texted a buddy of mine who's an ENT doc to ask him if he had a theory for why otolaryngologists are so lucky in love.

He wrote back: “Healthy patients, nice work hours, and typically higher pay. All of that leads to a little bit of work satisfaction. Easy Nights and Tennis = ENT.”

More information here:

Financial Conversations to Set Your Marriage Up for Success

The Gender Role Reversal: Being the High Earner of My Family as a Woman

I Got Divorced to Save Money

 

Money Song of the Week

Forty-five years ago, the most influential hip-hop song of all time was recorded by The Sugarhill Gang. Rapper’s Delight is a tune that has reverberated from boom boxes and stereos to speakers and woofers and back again for the past half-century, and I imagine that as long as listening to music is a thing that people do, it will continue to inspire future artists.

I’ve heard this song a million times ever since I can remember, but apparently, I’ve never listened to it all the way through because I had no idea it was 15 minutes long. And as WCI reader Matt pointed out to me (and yes, readers, I’m all about taking your suggestions for Money Song of the Week), there’s some solid financial advice inside the song.

As Big Bank Hank raps:

“You see I'm 6-foot-1, and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a T/You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali and I dress so viciously.

“I got bodyguards, I got two big cars, that definitely ain't the wack/I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac.

“So after school, I take a dip in the pool, which is really on the wall/I got a color TV so I can see the Knicks play basketball.

“Hear me talking 'bout checkbooks, credit cards, more money than a sucker could ever spend/But I wouldn't give a sucker or a bum from the Rucker, not a dime 'til I made it again.”

Big Bank Hank makes a good point here. The Rucker reference is a park in Harlem that became well known for street basketball, and he’s saying that he shouldn’t foolishly give away his money to people in need until he knows for sure that his income stream will continue uninterrupted. After all, you can't give to others if you don't know for sure when your next paycheck is coming.

Rapper’s Delight, at its peak, was selling 50,000 copies a day (and more than 14 million overall). But as is often the case in the record industry, the Sugarhill Gang didn’t see all the money it probably should have (and some of it eventually went to others, like famed guitarist Nile Rodgers, who should have been credited with helping create the music in the first place).

According to CBS:

“Master Gee, along with Wonder Mike, say they were cut out of their record's financial success. Sugar Hill Records producer Sylvia Robinson, who put the group together, is said to have not included any of the group in profits or royalties. Within about five years, Master Gee and Wonder Mike left Sugar Hill Records, and fell onto hard times. Mike said he painted houses to make ends meet. Gee said he was penniless.”

Still, the pioneering rappers are grateful to be part of musical history and still living their dreams by performing nearly a half-century after they created the song.

“Like Bruce Springsteen, I watched him on 60 Minutes one evening. They were interviewing [him], talking about all his success and all that,” Hen Dogg told The Source in January 2024. “Finally the question was put to him. They said, ‘Bruce, you’re a millionaire 10 times over. Why do you still go out and perform?’ Bruce said, ‘Because there’s no better high in the world than to be on stage performing in front of thousands of people. And all that energy is focused on you.’ It hits you, there’s no better feeling in the world than that. None. There’s no drug you can give me, no drink. Nothing, there’s no better feeling in the world.”

More information here:

Every Money Song of the Week Ever Published

 

Tweet of the Week

I guess the point here is to do a little digging.

Are you buying the happy marriages chart? What other specialties would you imagine have good marriages? Which specialties don't?

[EDITOR'S NOTE: For comments, complaints, suggestions, or plaudits, email Josh Katzowitz at [email protected].]