My goal with this post is to try to answer some of the more popular questions that we get asked about multi-level marketing (MLM). Why write about it? Besides the fact that my wife and I are involved in one, and it’s made a significant impact on our income, the number of physicians getting involved these days is huge.
My goal is not for everyone to go out and …
Why are so many doctors doing multi-level marketing?
Yup, I won the lottery! $785 million dollars. Pinch me because I must be dreaming. I am a physician finance blogger; I would not recommend buying a lottery ticket. But I did. So screw all the people who said it was a waste of $2.
So here I am, the big time winner: What to do now? Well, that is what this post is about.
(In reality, I did not win the …
What would you do if you won the lottery? Here’s one physician’s plan.
In my post, “Use it Or Lose It,” I talked about the awesome benefits of the Roth IRA. You do have to pay taxes on the money now, but it grows tax-free, and you can withdraw the money after age 59.5 without owing any taxes. It’s the only way to win the tax game. It is 100% your money, forever!
In comparison, money in a traditional IRA, traditional 401k, …
How to choose between a traditional and Roth 401(k)
A common question from readers is what to do about an account that contains a bunch of high expense ratio mutual funds or individual stocks.
The reason for having such an account varies from person to person. Maybe it was the only funds available to them in their 401(k) portfolios. Perhaps they collected a bunch of individual stocks and actively-managed mutual funds over the years based on tips from magazines or …
What to do if you have high expense ratio mutual funds
Learning to budget is scary. After all, it means you have to say NO to unnecessary purchases and keep your eye on long-term goals at the expense of short-term pleasure. There are a variety of ways to budget, ranging from the restrictive and somewhat impractical “envelope system” to the more vague and potentially ineffective “wing it” system. I’d like to present a balanced approach to budgeting that …
How to create a household budget: a physician’s simple approach
The fall is over, and winter has come, which means I have just wrapped up a busy season of medical school interviews. Most interviews are conducted in a similar fashion with an hour of introduction, speeches by the dean, presentations of facts I already knew from the website, and finally the interviews.
Within the first hour, I understand the reason: “We are the best medical school at (fill in the blank).” …
The first rule of medical school interviews: Don’t talk about cost
A recent post about a physician using her maiden name professionally generated major controversy on a physicians’ group. Hundreds of comments later, it became evident that female physicians who chose to use their maiden names are subjected to negative judgment.
I am a physician married to a supportive man who understands my choice to keep my last name. I am not unique in my circle. Most of my female physician friends …
What’s in a woman physician’s last name? A lot.
Go to college, go to medical school, start and finish residency and fellowship, get married, settle down and have children …
There is a certain expectation of what a “successful life” would look like for a physician mom. Some may even choose to stop work and become a full-time stay-at-home mom.
Even when my spouse, who works part-time for most of our marriage, took a year off work to be the stay …
Here’s how to be a good mom and good doctor
Recently, a Leonardo Da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), was sold for $450 million, making it the largest fee for a painting ever sold. Was it a good investment? The painting was sold by Leonardo’s heir to King Francis I of France for 4000 gold ducats in 1519, which according to the American Numismatic Society would be equivalent to $575,000 at today’s price of gold at $1277 …
Leonardo Da Vinci and health care: a matter of perspective
When is the right time to have a baby? This question plagues professional women across industries. It takes on more significant importance for women training as physicians. Medical training is long and coincides with a woman’s late 20s, often stretching into her 30s. Waiting to have children until completing training is not always biologically feasible.
Medical schools and residency training programs still lag behind in developing formal parental leave policies. Outside …
Is there ever a right time for a doctor to have a baby?
The only time my husband outearned me was during our first three years of marriage when I was still in residency and working 80-plus hours per week earning less than minimum wage per hour. Since then, despite graduating in a professional degree, we have made relocation moves that primarily help with my career growth, to the detriment of his.
In 2015, an NPR article quoted statistics showing that 38 percent of …
Make more than your spouse? Here’s how to save money on taxes.
“Does physician leadership matter?” asks cardiologist and author Dr. Sandeep Jauhar in his New York Times opinion piece “Shouldn’t Doctors Control Hospital Care?” He opens his piece with the termination of the elected leaders of the medical staff office at the Tulare Regional Medical Center due to poor performance. He answers his rhetorical question with the obvious and simple response that doctors should control hospital …
Physicians must embrace the business side of medicine
While doing my doctoral dissertation research at a clinic for kids with diabetes, I observed the attachment that some of them had to the physician faculty member who directed the clinic. I particularly remember one teenager who complained that this doctor “did not care” about her, as he sent “fake doctors” (residents) to take care of her, not coming himself. She was refusing to cooperate. When I suggested to the …
The doctor-patient relationship is everything
“How did you know what to say to her?” asked the resident, “We have been trying to figure her out all morning and have gotten nowhere.” An expression of mixed curiosity and frustration crossed her face.
“I try not to focus on how she is acting, as much as I try to talk to the part of her Jesus would love,” I found myself answering. This catchphrase would find its way …
Want to make meaningful connections with patients? Here’s how.
After about the first week of anesthesia residency, I was told, “Don’t get pregnant, you are going to ruin the call schedule.” Initially, I took it as a joke because I was getting married that year and I wasn’t thinking of having children yet, but I did think, “what if it happened accidentally?”
After it’s told to you over and over again by your male co-residents and even some of my …
Physicians: Be nice to your pregnant colleagues
The key to staying on time in a busy clinic and to finish the day unscathed is to be in battle mode from the get go. The ten rules outlined below will help you to achieve that goal.
1. Make sure your bladder is empty, and that you are well hydrated. This goes without saying. You don’t want to finish the day with …
10 rules to keep physicians on time
So stated one of our children in their autobiography assignment for school. I kept reading, curious what would come next.
“My dad usually stays home and cleans up, and takes care of the pets.”
I thought for a moment. “That’s very good, honey, but do you think you could write something else about Dad?” I suggested. “He does other stuff too, add some more nice things.”
“OK, how about … ‘And he takes …
“My mom is a doctor; my dad is a dad.”
It’s a tale of two health systems: the VA and Kaiser Permanente.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VA) is a mission-driven health organization, serving our nation’s veterans. A patient population of 8.9 million, led by David Shulkin, MD. An early leader in health technology adoption. The VA has faced serious issues; however: long patient wait times (deadly long in some cases) and high physician turnover rates.
Kaiser Permanente …
Better paid, better utilized physicians can transform the VA
I am going to discuss something that is really important for women. It’s going to get a lot of criticism, and it’s OK. I can take it.
Your clothing.
That’s right. I am here to tell you that what you wear, and how you dress, matters.
Why? Because how you feel in your clothes affects the way you walk, talk, smile, interact, and well, lead.
Don’t mistake what I am saying. I am not going …
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
For this column, my 61st for the American College of Physicians (ACP), I thought it would be interesting to look back at the first 60 and review the trends and topics that inspired me to write 800 to 900 words every month. Rather …
Different perspectives but the same goal: providing the best possible care to patients
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