Although physicians in some specialties tend to work more hours than others, the average physician clocks significantly more than the standard five eight-hour days. Physicians in anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, and urology report averages above 60 hours per week. Dermatology, emergency medicine, and pathology doctors clock in on the low end, but still hover around 46 hours per week. Once a physician makes the decision to scale back to part-time, the question becomes how to do it.