Practice Management

How physicians become medical narcissists

Physician

July 30, 2019

It is no secret that health care providers shoulder a lot of responsibility. As a whole, they take this on with both competence and kindness. Sacrificially, they go above and beyond in order to provide patients with the highest of quality care. They juggle a multitude of professional and personal responsibilities in creative and admirable ways. Meanwhile, each health care provider learns to adopt a unique combination of coping mechanisms …

What to do when physicians get subpoenaed as witnesses

Judy Melinek, MD

Physician

July 29, 2019

You’re a clinician. You had a patient die under your care, and now your hospital is being sued. You are not named in the lawsuit, but you are being asked to give a deposition. How much of your time is this going to take? If some lawyer sends you thousands of pages to review before scheduling multiple phone calls …

Physicians are overwhelmed by alarms and alerts

Fred N. Pelzman, MD

Physician

July 29, 2019

Yesterday, I got just about the strangest version of “MD aware” I have ever had.

We all know what this is, the person who is relaying some critical clinical information (positive blood cultures, Mr. Smith in Room 402 is having chest pain, etc.), and then they ask for your name so they can write it down somewhere in the chart.

In this case, …

The experiences in medicine shape your future

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

July 26, 2019

Hitting a roadblock in your life and career? Don’t get frustrated. Use the resources that are readily available to you.

Not sure what they are? Think about it. You have had access to them all the time.

The moment you decided to become a doctor, you became unstoppable. You may have followed the traditional path and went from college into medical school and then residency. Maybe your path took a few turns before medical …

Understanding professional liability insurance in physician employment contracts

Elizabeth Shubov, JD

Policy

July 23, 2019

An excerpt from Physician Employment Contracts, The Missing Module: A comprehensive introduction to physician agreements written for doctors.

Professional liability or “malpractice” insurance protects a physician and the employer from claims related to the negligent practice of medicine. Two common types of professional liability coverage carried by major insurance companies are “claims-made” …

Define what true resilience means for you

Sarah E. Jorgensen, RN

Policy

July 22, 2019

Can you let things roll off your shoulders? Are you the tough, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is, stand-your-ground type? Do you show up to work no matter what? Has no one ever seen you cry at work?

Are these things resilience?

We nurses openly divulge the issues that make us leave the bedside, even amid a vast shortage of nurses. Professional organizations report these issues, and academic, and research institutes aggregate data for a convenient …

The secret to ending cynicism in medicine

Roger Harrie, MD

Physician

July 19, 2019

To fill an assignment in an undergraduate medical sociology class, my friend and I made an appointment with the assistant administrator in a local hospital. After the interview, we proceeded towards the exit by cutting through the obstetrical wards. We passed an exhausted young doctor with a stethoscope draped over his neck and hunched over a stack of charts. He glanced up as we passed, and we introduced ourselves as …

Medicine is my passion. I love my job, but I am human.

Kacey Gibson, DO

Physician

July 19, 2019

I am a small-town family physician, and I am blessed enough to be living my dream.

You see, I have always wanted to be a doctor. I cannot think of one other occupation choice that has ever entered my brain. I have wanted this since I was four-years-old, and I can remember in vivid detail telling the world this was what I was destined to be.

So what happens when your dream …

Considering locum tenens? Think about these factors first.

Cory Fawcett, MD

Finance

July 16, 2019

Locum tenens is a great way to make a living or earn some extra income. But frankly, there are some groups of physicians who should not even consider doing locums work. When you pair the right person with the right job, you can get employment bliss. But when the wrong person takes a job, both the employer and the employee are often unhappy.

I believe everyone should enjoy the work they …

The pros and cons of being a part-time physician

Passive Income, MD

Finance

July 12, 2019

“Burnout” has been a buzzword circulating in the medical community quite a bit lately. The World Health Organization has just recognized the term as an official medical diagnosis as part of ICD-11.

One moment you’re graduating medical school, full of hope and excitement for residency. The next moment, you’re overly stressed and working insane hours every week. Honestly, it isn’t a huge surprise that nearly half of all physicians …

The conundrum of dual physician households

Smart Money, MD

Finance

July 10, 2019

Two incomes are better than one, right? As we all know, the answer isn’t clear cut. If we have to actively “work” to generate income, we have to balance exchanging time for money. Nothing comes for free. When you throw in a tax system to convolute matters, certain households are actually punished for going into the workforce. There is a delicate balance between each income-earning member and what each profession …

Before starting your own practice, do these 3 things first

Frederick Gandolfo, MD

Physician

July 10, 2019

If you’re a young doctor reading this, chances are you are employed by someone else. Your paycheck may come from a hospital system or a group of other doctors, but you’re not your own boss. This may be working out just fine for you: I hope you are happy and have a well-balanced work and personal life, and are getting a fair paycheck. I hope you have a sense of …

Thinking about changing jobs? Here’s what physicians should consider.

Smart Money, MD

Finance

July 5, 2019

A large percentage of doctors end up switching jobs within the first five years of practice. This really isn’t surprising given that the medical training experience doesn’t necessarily correlate with the medical practice experience. Many doctors work hard throughout their entire training only to realize that their expectations do not necessarily align with reality. Is it our fault that we don’t really know what we got ourselves into?

Perhaps taking q3 …

8 incredible side effects of being debt free

Cory Fawcett, MD

Finance

July 5, 2019

Most Americans live their lives on borrowed money, constantly spending a little more than they make, leaving them with a growing debt. These debt payments, and the added interest they must pay on their debt, decreases the amount of money that they have available to spend on future needs. Paradoxically, borrowing to buy depreciating items, decreases one’s net worth.

Stop the madness this year. No more spending more than you make. …

Practicing medicine full-time in America is very difficult. It’s time to think outside the box.

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

July 4, 2019

Talk about physician burnout and job dissatisfaction is everywhere right now. If you are a doctor, you cannot escape the news. Within the last couple of weeks, organizations in Massachusetts (a mecca of healthcare and hospitals) declared physician burnout a “major public health crisis.” This all sounds rather dramatic. On the surface, physicians are reasonably well paid, still enjoy a good degree of autonomy (certainly compared with many other …

Why is it so difficult for Americans to make doctors’ appointments?

Peter Ubel, MD

Policy

July 3, 2019

Jill Ladkin was already having a terrible autumn. It began with a seizure that put her in the hospital with what seemed like scores of unfamiliar physicians attending to her state of health. The brain scan revealed a mass in the lining of her brain, a location usually signifying a benign tumor; but, given her seizure, the tumor was hardly what you would call a harmless growth. The surgeon had a theory of what …

10 tips for success after you finish residency

Michael Javid, DO

Physician

June 28, 2019

If you’re done with your residency or fellowship, you’ve paid your dues. And I am excited for you. Life is about to get better. A lot better.

If you read my prior article about going unmatched, you know that things have not always gone smoothly for me. But now, after a reasonably good first year out of training, I feel compelled to reflect on why things are going well, and also—to offer any …

How becoming a doctor can help and hurt the ability to build wealth

Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH

Finance

June 26, 2019

I recently graduated from medical school and will soon start residency. Yay! Although I’m happy with my decision to become a doctor, I can’t help but notice that there are several ways that going to medical school and becoming a physician helped — and hurt — my ability to build wealth.

Ways it helped me build wealth:

1. I will have a high income. Most of us doctors will make at least …

Travel during residency: perspective of a resident’s spouse

Bethany Vana

Physician

June 26, 2019

My husband and I are nearing the completion of a fifth and final year of residency. I say “we” because, as all residents know, the training years involve the entire family. As I reflect on the struggles and successes over the past five years, there are a few things that I know have helped us cope with the challenges, and one of those things has been travel.

We made significant life …

Our doctors are suffering from human rights violations in medicine

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

June 24, 2019

An excerpt from Human Rights Violations in Medicine: A-to-Z Action Guide.

From sex trafficking to censorship, the range of human rights violations is immense, some more heinous than others. Abuse may be perpetrated by dictators in war-torn countries and administrators in first-world hospitals. Inside this action guide are the top …

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