Before the COVID-19 pandemic, pulmonary medicine specialists were the happiest physician specialty, with 89 percent describing themselves as either happy or very happy outside of work, according to Medscape's Feb. 24 report on physician burnout and happiness, which surveyed 9,100 practicing physicians. After the pandemic, only 59 percent of pulmonary medicine physicians reported feeling happy or very happy.
Happiest specialists before COVID-19:
Pulmonary medicine: 89 percent felt happy or very happy outside of work
Pediatrics: 87 percent
Orthopedics: 87 percent
Emergency medicine: 87 percent
Critical care: 86 percent
Radiology: 86 percent
Pathology: 85 percent
Anesthesiology: 85 percent
Ophthalmology: 85 percent
Family medicine: 85 percent
Dermatology: 85 percent
Plastic surgery: 85 percent
Otolaryngology: 84 percent
Obstetrics and gynecology: 84 percent
Internal medicine: 84 percent
Gastroenterology: 83 percent
Physical medicine and rehabilitation: 83 percent
Infectious diseases: 82 percent
Cardiology: 82 percent
Public health and preventive medicine: 82 percent
General surgery: 82 percent
Psychiatry: 82 percent
Diabetes and endocrinology: 81 percent
Urology: 81 percent
Oncology: 80 percent
Nephrology: 79 percent
Allergy and immunology: 79 percent
Neurology: 79 percent
Rheumatology: 76 percent
Happiest specialist after COVID-19:
Plastic surgery: 71 percent
Public health and preventive medicine: 69 percent
Orthopedics: 65 percent
Otolaryngology: 65 percent
Urology: 63 percent
Physical medicine and rehabilitation: 63 percent
Ophthalmology: 62 percent
Dermatology: 62 percent
Pathology: 62 percent
Gastroenterology: 62 percent
Radiology: 61 percent
Pediatrics: 60 percent
General surgery: 59 percent
Pulmonary medicine: 59 percent
Nephrology: 58 percent
Diabetes and endocrinology: 58 percent
Psychiatry: 58 percent
Anesthesiology: 58 percent
Obstetrics and gynecology: 57 percent
Internal medicine: 57 percent
Family medicine: 56 percent
Cardiology: 56 percent
Emergency medicine: 55 percent
Critical care: 55 percent
Allergy and immunology: 55 percent
Neurology: 54 percent
Oncology: 51 percent
Rheumatology: 51 percent
Infectious diseases: 47 percent