Rural Doc talks about the physical toll her body takes from being a hospitalist:

Over the last few years I have come to realize that the physical toll of doctoring will eventually limit my participation in clinical medicine. I just can’t believe I’ll be able to do long stretches of hospitalist shifts in ten years, and I’m almost certain I won’t want to be catching babies if it means the general stiffening up of my cervical spine the day after a particularly grueling second stage.

I primarily work in an office during the day, so I can’t speak to the rigor of doing 12-hour hospitalist shifts.

However, as most programs are similar to an inpatient rotation during residency, I can see how that can get old real fast. Will the hospitalist boom lead to faster physician burnout?

How are other shift-based doctors, emergency physicians for instance, faring as far as the physical toll of the job?