Eyeworld

July 2016 • Ophthalmology Business 17 "It's a conscious effort. It's not something that's going to come to us naturally," said Linda Christmann, MD, Bradenton, Florida. "Women and men have done a much better job [lately] thinking consciously about how they want to live their lives." Inherent balance within the specialty Some might see ophthalmology as of- fering more opportunity for work-life balance compared to other medical specialties. Ophthalmologists still encounter being on call and need to attend to emergencies when they arise, but as Dr. Ristvedt put it, "I can do surgery but still be home by 5:30 at night." This is partly the nature of ophthalmology but also due to the boundaries she and the practice she works for have set. But did Dr. Ristvedt choose oph- thalmology because of its potential to afford more of a home life? Not really. "Going through medical school, I was most into what do I want to do? OB, that was my backup, and I had talked to an OBGYN, saying, 'I know ophthalmology is very difficult to get into. How do you manage call and life [as an OB]?' He gave me the best advice. He said you find a prac- Striking a good balance was and still is a learning experience for Dr. Ristvedt, who joined the private prac- tice started by her grandfather and operated by her father shortly after residency and having her first child. The continual process of finding this sweet spot, Dr. Ristvedt said, starts with self-examination and identify- ing personal priorities. "Whatever those priorities are for you—whether it's health, sleep, fam- ily, work—and trying to put those all into order, knowing that everything is not going to get accomplished all at once," she said. Dr. Ristvedt said working 4 days a week, having Friday at home with her kids, gives her more family time. She and her husband make other choices to aid in work-life balance as well, such as hiring professionals for some household cleaning and yard work. "I realized that cleaning took up a lot of my time. I would rather be at the park with the kids than scrubbing my bathroom floors," she said. "This is just right now to get us through this busy stage of life … for us that's opened up a lot of free time." The challenges and choices Dr. Ristvedt faces are not uncommon. Physicians at all stages of life and ca- reer can make the decision to main- tain a good work and home life. I f Deborah Ristvedt, DO, Alexandria, Minnesota, want- ed to work 7 days a week, she could. "There are always patients to see," she said, not to mention charts to complete and emergencies to address. But Dr. Ristvedt doesn't work 7 days a week, she works 4. With 3 children—the third only a few months old—the comprehen- sive ophthalmologist 5 years out of residency has managed to set bound- aries to establish a work-life balance with which she is comfortable as a wife, mother, and surgeon. "This topic comes up so much," Dr. Ristvedt said. "I'm part of this physician-mom group on Facebook. There are more than 50,000 women members. It's a fantastic group and we have every specialty across the board, and this subject comes up at least once a day. How do I bal- ance this? I feel like a failure as a mom, or I feel like a failure as a doctor because I can't keep up." Dr. Ristvedt's big- gest piece of advice: Don't try to do it all, risking burnout on either end. And that goes for males and females, parents and nonpar- ents. balance in ophthalmology continued on page 18 Practices and individuals have to play their part " It's a conscious effort. It's not something that's going to come to us naturally. " Linda Christmann, MD

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