My office hours are possibly the most laid back in medicine. In a field like medicine, I try not to worry about such things.
I’ve intentionally never put regular hours on my office door or phone message, because in my small office they’re subject to change. If my secretary is tied up in traffic, the phone may not get rolled on time. But, as a general rule, we open between 8:45 and 9:00.
Once the starting gun goes off, I work straight through. No lunch break (sorry, drug reps). I’ve never been a lunch person, and would rather use the time for seeing people who need me. I see patients nonstop, squeezing in phone calls, refills, and test results in the cracks, and I try very hard to stay on time.
The day ends as quickly as it starts. As soon as the last patient is done, we’re done. Whether it’s at 4:00 (the usual time), 3:15, or (rarely) 2:00, we close. The phones are rolled, the lights out, and my secretary and I walk down to our cars.
I’m sure some feel we should be answering our phones until a specific time, but I don’t. I want to go pick up my kids. My secretary has a long drive home, and the sooner she hits the freeway, the better. If there are emergencies, patients will still be able to reach me. If they’re not having emergencies, they can call back when we reopen the next day. I’ll finish up the dictations when I come in early the next morning.
A medical practice is pretty stressful. There’s nothing wrong with calling it a day as soon as you can. And I do.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.