All physicians understand that the gradual disintegration of private medical practice in our nation is already happening and that our government continues to take complete control of health care and the medical profession by any means possible. Physicians in medical practice (both employed and independent) are reaching a level of intolerable strain imposed by fee restrictions and medical practice mandates, among other challenges.

All of these issues result from one core cause: the lack of business education, which was never taught or discussed with medical students. This education would have inspired the need to understand the value and benefits of managing a medical practice throughout their careers.

We can do almost nothing without money or income. The income must be more than adequate for physicians—elite professionals who spend their lives paying for that medical education. The cost to physicians continues as they remain on the cutting edge of medical knowledge and new skills. If physicians become unaffordable, they become less valuable to their patients and careers. Business education can prevent that issue and more.

Remember why money is critical to your survival and success in medical practice; business education is essential to your success. As the Hippocratic Oath (some medical schools have a different version) becomes less meaningful in the future, and the consequences of the lack of business education increase dramatically, most physicians have no backup or way to mitigate these consequences.

There are no cures (yet) for burnout, dissatisfaction, disappearing expectations, government restrictions, and mandates, disappearing retirements, loss of medical practices, and financial problems in medical practice (inadequate income), except to quit.

If you read many articles offering solutions for inadequate incomes for physicians, over 95 percent of them advise physicians to get outside jobs in some external medical fields. This means you now have two businesses to manage and learn more about. (We love an enormous workload, right?)

Many articles advising medical doctors are written by physicians and non-physicians with an MBA. Unfortunately, their knowledge is often too superficial to be of much help. The education can cost you $40,000 or more, and you must stop your medical practice to obtain it. Don’t think that the cheaper MBAs are better—they are not.

Suppose you believe the myth that physicians do not need a business education to practice medicine. In that case, you are misunderstanding why business is the primary foundation for every physician’s success—whether in independent practice or contracted medical jobs earning money for someone else. Be reminded that business has only one purpose: to make money (for you only).

Judging by the surge of physician attrition in our nation, the widespread pain from inadequate income, overwork, government mandates, and fee restrictions, no one has yet come up with a reasonable solution to these increasing financial problems that physicians are forced to tolerate. They are growing in number rapidly.

Over 75 percent of practicing physicians admit to some degree of burnout, adding to the increasing numbers of physicians who have lost their medical practices due to inadequate income. With the factors causing this and the lack of backup knowledge to ease the persistent pain, what is left for them?

Think more deeply about the essential backup no one talks about, which has become the international standard for every successful small business owner. If you are in private medical practice, you are a small business owner.

What does a business education do for every physician?

Do you know how to manage a medical practice efficiently? Aren’t you sick and tired of office chaos, staff duties, and not knowing how to fire a staff member without getting sued? If you know early enough that your practice is starting to fail, would you know how to properly understand what your monthly profit and loss reports have been telling you? Less than one in a thousand physicians know this. Beware: your corporate attorney and CPA will not tell you.

When you see your practice failing, it is usually too late to get help—most business experts stay away from physicians. With business knowledge, you can see the signs early and have the tools to reverse the process yourself.

Are you aware of a business system? It is the answer to an efficient office that requires less management. It will relieve over 30 percent of your office workload as an administrator.

Are you aware that the average physician in practice today unknowingly loses over a million dollars during their career? Business education alerts you to how you can make extra money in your medical practice. You might try offering patients consults on special medical topics; family medicine physicians can biopsy and remove dermal lesions or perform more office surgeries themselves.

Are you aware that over 60 percent of your new patients are referred by another medical doctor? Might it be a good reason to learn how to treat referral doctors? Most doctors do nothing—bad.

How do you increase your patient load (earn more money)? Most smart physicians ask for referrals. Marketing your medical practice is the preferred way. Know how? Business education not only shows you what to do and not to do and how to pick the right strategy for what you want to accomplish but also explains how to implement it into your practice, plus all the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.

Business tools provide all the financial strategies for earning as much income as you choose or want whenever you need it. No more loss of medical practices for intelligent physicians.

Curtis G. Graham is a physician.