Practice Management

Don’t pay off your student loans early

Finance

September 23, 2021

In 2010, a landmark study from Princeton was published “proving” that money just doesn’t buy happiness. Study participants were asked to compare their emotional well-being from yesterday to today, and it appeared that making more than $75,000 a year didn’t lead to concurrent increases in well-being. Since then, Americans have been flooded with the psychological opium of mindfulness, yoga, and leaning out, urging contentment instead with the …

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Don’t pay off your student loans early

Is passive income a lie?

Smart Money, MD

Finance

September 22, 2021

As a child, I remember watching superstar athletes like Wayne Gretzky glide so effortlessly on the ice and dreaming about how easy life would be to be blessed with innate talent. “Talent would make my life so easy,” so I thought. I had no clue how much work had to be invested to make talent look seamless. A little later in life, I remember hearing the quip coined by Thomas …

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Is passive income a lie?

There is nothing soft about “soft skills”

Sherine Salib, MD

Physician

September 17, 2021

“Soft skills get little respect, but they will make or break your career.”
– Peggy Klaus

In the late 1960s, the U.S. Army created the term “soft skills” to refer to any skill that does not employ the use of machinery. “The military realized that many important activities were included within this category, and in fact, the social skills necessary to lead groups, motivate soldiers, and win wars were encompassed by skills …

Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education launches innovative Physician Leadership Certificate Program

Stanford Medicine Physician Leadership Certificate Program

Should you stay or leave medicine?

Cindy Tsai, MD

Physician

September 11, 2021

I left my primary care practice earlier this year to focus on life coaching. Why did I leave? Because I wanted to do more and make a bigger impact. I remember how eager I was to complete medical training as I approached the light at the end of the tunnel. I thought I could finally relax and enjoy life as an attending after all the delayed gratification from becoming a …

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Should you stay or leave medicine?

All physicians are leaders [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 2, 2021

“In times of uncertainty, human behavior often makes people resort to less-than-stellar behaviors; unhealthy personal environments can become manifest as well. Often, these coincide with health care being used more frequently and the safe haven of health care delivery being sought. With all physicians being leaders, it is incumbent …

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All physicians are leaders [PODCAST]

SLAT: An important estate planning strategy for physicians to lower President Biden’s estate tax

Syed Nishat, BFA

Finance

August 30, 2021

For married physicians looking into estate planning strategies, one thing to keep in mind is how to make best use of spousal benefits in reducing taxes or providing for a surviving spouse or other beneficiaries. For wealthy physicians, a spousal lifetime access trust, or SLAT, may provide a viable vehicle for avoiding estate taxes for both spouses and protecting assets from creditors while at the same time providing distributions that …

Alternative cryptocurrencies: 5 tips for physicians

John Stillson

Finance

August 28, 2021

You were finally starting to understand Bitcoin when talk about alternative cryptocurrencies or “altcoins” started springing up everywhere. Elon Musk is tweeting about Dogecoin. Mark Cuban is talking about Ethereum. The Motley Fool is posting about Chainlink.

What are altcoins, and should you be investing in them?

I cannot speak to whether investing in altcoins is appropriate for you. Altcoins are a highly volatile and risky asset class that offers the potential …

How medical training teaches doctors to be financially unhealthy

Elizabeth Hughes, MD

Finance

August 28, 2021

I recently unearthed all my pay stubs from residency, including the first one — all $89.14 of it.

When I received that check, I had just moved across the country after a grueling internship in Philadelphia, which left me physically and emotionally exhausted.

I was staying in a motel, which I paid for with a credit card because I used my last paycheck from internship to pay for moving across the country. …

Should physicians invest in cryptocurrency?

Christopher H. Loo, MD, PhD

Finance

August 23, 2021

In 2009, I came across the white paper written by Satoshi Nakamoto describing a digital currency based on a peer-to-peer network, completely independent of central banks, autonomous, decentralized, digital, and would give access to finance and banking to the masses.

This “magical internet money,” as it was described at the time, would come to be known as Bitcoin.

The reason that this paper was so revolutionary was that it was prescient of …

4 reasons you need a credit card in medical school

Tod Stillson, MD

Finance

August 18, 2021

My son is a fourth-year medical student, and we have had some great discussions about credit cards recently, including their benefits. I believe this information would be helpful for all medical students to consider.

As a student my son once preferred to use a debit card or cash to keep his expenses controlled. This financially conservative approach is what he was taught during his young adult days in our home. Avoidance …

The mindset hack that will change your life

Letizia Alto, MD

The business school mindset doesn’t mind physician burnout

Patty Fahy, MD

Physician

August 10, 2021

Even those of us with a meditation cushion and a gong app are likely to recoil when mindfulness practices are suggested as solutions for physician burnout. Sure, these practices are important. No, they do not address the causes of physician burnout.

Certainly, a more genuine effort by organizational leaders would be to respond to the data. There’s lots of it. The burnout — now “wellness” — data is collected endlessly and …

What do you really want in life?

Diana Londoño, MD

Physician

August 7, 2021

What do you want in life?

I mean, really want in life. Not just a nice car, a house or kids — although those are important and genuinely gratifying things to have. But I am talking about what is the purpose of your life? Have you ever thought of that? It seems that many times we associate this question with having a midlife crisis. People then begin doing things differently because, …

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What do you really want in life?

Why becoming a “doctorpreneur” made me a better physician

Geeta Arora, MD

Physician

July 31, 2021

I have been a “doctorpreneur” for the past decade. I’ve done everything from locums work to real estate to coaching women physicians and residents to advising companies and venture capital firms, and the list goes on. If it’s inspiring to me, I dive in. What I’ve found out from all of my business ventures is that once I decided to make medicine something I did because I loved it, and not my primary …

President Biden’s tax proposal and its effects on estate and income tax planning for physicians

Syed Nishat, BFA and Aadil Zaman, MBA & The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 28, 2021

This article is sponsored by Wall Street Alliance Group.

While physicians provide a vital service to the U.S., they often have blind spots when it comes to maintaining their own financial health. Many in the …

The 5 secrets to setting boundaries at work

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Physician

July 24, 2021

Karen is a 35-year-old physician recently recruited to lead a newly formed department at a large academic health system. She was new to leadership and initially let the prevailing culture dictate the ways meetings were held. There were many tangential conversations and virtually no relationship building. She left each one feeling depleted and angry. “We got almost nothing done, and engagement in …

How physicians can be better medical leaders [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 23, 2021

“A sad truth is this: Most everywhere, health care is a low-margin industry that lacks resources to invest in leadership development. Although our business’s central, sacred function is caring for our fellow human beings, many who move up in the health care hierarchy do so without possessing the so-called ‘soft …

A message to medical doctors who are unhappy with their careers [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 15, 2021

“This is a message to any medical doctor who is unhappy with their career. The individual reasons for this dissatisfaction will vary. Whatever the issue, it is important to ask, ‘Is the problem correctable?’ If yes, then you must act and secure your happiness. If no, you must consider other options. One …

Hello, health care organization leader, are you listening?

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Physician

July 9, 2021

I’m not an organizational leader, a member of the C-suite, a department chair, or a VP of anything. I’m a coach who guides physicians as they try to provide exceptional care and actually have a life. But I know a lot about setting goals, executing on priorities, and inspiring through vision statements.

Here’s the thing. This is not a successful long-term strategy: