A recent Twitter phenomenon of posting dialogue of people’s responses to what you do for a living inspired this cartoon. I drew this cartoon using my Microsoft Surface with a program called Clip Studio Paint Pro. I had been using Adobe Illustrator on my Mac, but I wanted to give this program a shot.

The cartoon is fairly primitive as I am still learning how to use the software. I anticipate that as I get more familiar with the program, the quality of future cartoons will improve. That’s assuming that I get over my laziness and find time to make some more cartoons in the future.

In the past I used data from the “Overall career satisfaction” page but that was not included in this year’s report so this year’s Physician Pain Scale uses data from the “I would choose the same specialty” page found in the report. From the physicians that responded, orthopedists, plastic surgeons, and radiologists led all physicians in “re-choosing” their specialty. At the bottom of the pack for “re-choosing” the same specialty are rheumatology, public health/preventative medicine, and nephrology.

Check out my past Physician Specialty Pain Scales here: 2011, 2012, and 2015. Also check out my work featured on KevinMD

I know, I’m a geek.

I created this cartoon to pay homage to all those superheroes and monsters out there who credit their powers to radiation.

So is this a real phenomenon?

Real or not, one thing I do know is it is super stressful that first month starting off as a brand new medical student on clinical rotations, or as a new resident in the hospital, or as a new attending overseeing residents. If you are a new medical student or resident, check out my post on gear that can improve your stressful life.

In a study published by the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine entitled, The “July Effect”: A Look at July Medical Admissions in Teaching Hospitals, the authors “examined the effect of admission for myocardial infarction, heart failure, or pneumonia during the first academic quarter compared with all other quarters in teaching versus non-teaching hospitals on length of stay, cost, and mortality.

The study suggests small increases in mortality among patients admitted with myocardial infarction in the first academic quarter compared with all other quarters in teaching versus nonteaching hospitals. Increased cost and longer stay were seen for those admitted with heart failure.”

At least my wife likes them and says they have given her some positive results:

From all my studies in history, I have learned that while history does not repeat itself, human nature does and how humans and civilizations respond to situations will repeat.

There is the saying, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

More appropriately, I think the saying should go, “Those who learn from history are doomed to watch others repeat it.”