Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Academic career versus private medical practice: a guide to the right decision for you

Samir Kahwash, MD
Physician
December 25, 2023
Share
Tweet
Share

You are so close to completing your medical training: Congratulations! You worked and studied hard through grade school, college, and medical school. You completed—or are about to complete—residency training or perhaps a subspecialty fellowship. You gained valuable skills and knowledge, but—more importantly—you also grew to realize that your MD (or DO) stands more for “making decisions” than medical doctorate! In brief, you are now close to another finish line, and more significantly, closer to another decision point: Should you choose an academic career or join a private medical practice?

You are likely disciplined, methodical, and scientific, so you decide to look for articles and search the literature on this decision. You conduct your search only to find that most published guidance deals with financial aspects, side benefits, lifestyle, and expectations. You cannot help but feel unsatisfied, considering that you chose the medical field because you were driven by higher values than finances, and by aspirations beyond benefits and perks.

Through years of training, you became increasingly aware of the negative impact of stress, work-life imbalance, and burnout. Perhaps you also realized that remedies for these silent killers start with choosing wisely, including finding a career path that matches your values and a role that fulfills the best of your talents. You also note that the wider context of this issue is much bigger than material benefits or financial rewards. What you are really searching for is a guide that helps you reflect on and decide the best fit for the “specific” you—whether academic medicine or private practice aligns with talents and aspirations!

The following framework represents an attempt at sharing the general expectations and skills needed at both academic and private, non-academic practices, followed by recommendations on how to find the best fit for your own talents, skills, and values.

Academic medicine

Key skills and talents needed to succeed, flourish, and rise through the ranks in academic medicine settings include:

1. Inclinations towards perfectionism. Academic medicine is more about depth than breadth. Detail-oriented perfectionists and “hair splitters” will feel more satisfaction than less meticulous “lumpers.” Complex cases, rare conditions, and challenging diagnoses are likely to end up at academic medical centers, and these require extensive work, resources, patience, and dedication. The common impression that the most complex 10 percent of cases often consumes 90 percent of an academic physician’s day is not an exaggeration.

2. Teaching skills. Academic physicians require an ability to communicate complex concepts and situate them among simpler issues and their broader context. It is even better to find enjoyment in teaching, perfecting, and repeating the pedagogical process.

3. Public speaking and broad communication skills. These are needed for teaching, lecturing, sharing knowledge, and presenting research results. A combination of natural talent, practice, and preparation are all needed to create a good public speaker.

4. Inquisitive curiosity and collaborative skills. Important for research endeavors.

5. Writing skills. Together, a solid linguistic foundation, talent, and practice can make an exceptional writer stand out among the rest. Reading—including critical reading—is also important. Excellent writers are usually voracious readers!

6. Networking skills. Medical practice decisions, medical policies, teaching, clinical trials, and research endeavors are all organized and offered through hierarchical medical institutions and organizations. Networking skills are important to navigating these institutions, and a professional demeanor coupled with an engaging personality can serve you well.

Private medical practice

Key skills and talents needed to succeed and flourish include:

1. Motivation and gratification in providing services focused more on the breadth than the depth of medical care.

ADVERTISEMENT

2. Patient and small-group interaction skills and the ability to accept that some days will involve repetition of the same drill. Enjoyment of simple, repetitive tasks is a virtue.

3. Social skills that project compassion, sensitivity, and advanced emotional intelligence. These social skills need to be tailored and adapted to different patients’ educational backgrounds and to their unique needs.

4. Work adaptability, mobility, and adjustment to change. Private practices are more likely to experience major changes such as mergers, transformations, and acquisitions. A successful private practice physician will need to accommodate such changes and grow with them.

5. Business skills. Minimizing expenses and maximizing profits are more important for the survival of non-academic practices compared to often better-funded and usually larger academic institutions.

6. Negotiation skills. The smaller the practice, the less uniform the practice, contract details, and benefits are. This means that a physician in a small private practice would benefit from careful contract review, an inquisitive attitude, and negotiation skills.

Recommendations

Deciding on a type of practice can be easy for some and difficult for others. Some may feel qualified and comfortable practicing either track. For many, a focused effort of soul-searching, exploration, and consultation may be needed. Review the above guidelines and decide the best fit for you based on the above list of skills and talents. If your set of skills and goals fit no obvious favorite, consider trying an academic career for 3 to 5 years before making a final decision. If issues arise, switching from academic to private practice can be a relatively easy adjustment. The reverse is not as easy.

Samir Kahwash is a pathologist.

Prev

Why patients ghost their therapists [PODCAST]

December 24, 2023 Kevin 0
…
Next

Rosalynn Carter's impact on caregivers

December 25, 2023 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Pathology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Why patients ghost their therapists [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Rosalynn Carter's impact on caregivers

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Samir Kahwash, MD

  • Dispelling misconceptions and myths about pathology and laboratory medicine

    Samir Kahwash, MD

Related Posts

  • Medical school is more than practice problems

    Kira Kopacz
  • Digital advances in the medical aid in dying movement

    Jennifer Lynn
  • I will not stop sacrificing for my medical career

    Anonymous
  • Will the pandemic derail medical students’ career paths?

    Allison Linehan
  • How the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for social media training in medical education 

    Oscar Chen, Sera Choi, and Clara Seong
  • Is it noble or selfish to never practice medicine after getting a medical degree?

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

More in Physician

  • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • The gift we keep giving: How medicine demands everything—even our holidays

    Tomi Mitchell, MD
  • From burnout to balance: a neurosurgeon’s bold career redesign

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • 5 blind spots that stall physician wealth

      Johnny Medina, MSc | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

      Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA | Education
    • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

      Vaishali Jha | Education
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • 5 blind spots that stall physician wealth

      Johnny Medina, MSc | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

      Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA | Education
    • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

      Vaishali Jha | Education
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...