Non Clinical Doctors
  • Non-clinical jobs for doctors
    • How to Find a Non-Clinical Job
    • Medical career strategies
    • Transition Toolkit
    • Physician Success Stories
    • Wound Care Physician
  • Where to find non clinical jobs
    • Job Openings
    • Medical Writing and Strategy Agencies
    • Medical Review Companies
    • Medical Writing Job
    • Clinical Research Training
  • Useful Links
  • Careers for Physicians Without Residency
    • Licensing and Programs for International Physicians
  • Resources For Physicians With Disability
  • Re-Entry Into Medicine
  • Tips from your doctor
  • How to Become a Licensed Physician in the USA

Transition Toolkit

The instruction Manual For Doctors Considering Career Change

Quiz-do you want to leave medicine?

2/12/2023

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Frequently reported survey results suggest that an increasing proportion of  doctors express wishes of leaving medicine. Yet the vast majority of physicians don't leave clinical practice. Even if the thought of leaving clinical medicine seems appealing once in a while, many physicians are happier and more productive in jobs that involve direct patient care.
 
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you consider whether you really should put some energy into finding a non-clinical job or whether you are more likely to find career satisfaction by remaining in patient care for the long-term.
 
1. What do you think when a young person mentions that she wants to become a doctor?
A. What a smart, ambitious kid! Good for her.
B. Poor kid doesn't know what she is in for.
 
2. If you were handed an offer to participate in committee meetings one day a week instead of seeing patients, with no overall change in your reimbursement, what would you do?
A. I would not want to sit through a committee meeting. I would keep my schedule as it is.
B. I would grab that opportunity. One day a week of working without demanding patients and medical malpractice risk sounds like a relief.
 
3. If you ran into a patient of yours on an airplane and he enthusiastically greeted you, how would you feel?
A. I would be happy to see that he is enjoying a vacation.
B. I would want to run away- my patients are a pain.

4. If you received a notice that one of your most common patient care encounters required a new change in documentation, how would you feel?
A. Slightly annoyed, but I would learn how to implement the new change as soon as I could.
B. Beaten down, insulted and disempowered. My work is tough enough without additional changes every time I turn around.
 
5. You have been taking care of a patient for 3 years and he is taking a turn for the worse, but his current condition requires a specialist in a different department. How do you feel?
A. I might call the specialist to touch base and I hope the patient and his family are at peace with the outcome.
B. Terrified. I review my charts to make sure there is nothing in his care that I can be blamed for.
 
6. You hear that one of your medical school classmates has retired after making good real estate investments. How do you feel?
A. Happy for him.
B. Jealous. I'm not sure when my lucky break will finally come.
 
7. You find out that one of your former colleagues was hospitalized for mental health issues after a malpractice lawsuit. How do you feel?
A. Sad, but hoping he will pull through.
B. Angry at the world for putting him through that.
 
You see the trend here. If you answered mostly A, then clinical medicine is most likely right for you. But if you answered mostly B, now is the time to start exploring your options. Learn more about non-clinical opportunities here and explore nonclinicaldoctors.com to see how you can plan your transition to make your career more satisfying.

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Right vs. Wrong Approach to Finding a Non-Clinical Job

1/10/2023

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"I can do anything"

I have received this question hundreds of times from doctors in the US and abroad:
"I am a doctor looking for a career switch. I can provide medical advice for any company. I can speak, write, share my opinions, and consult. I can do just about anything you need. Can you recommend something for me? I need to continue to make at least my current income."


Ironically, expressing too much flexibility in your job search can backfire.

It is true that most doctors have many different skills and talents. Yet, many doctors cannot easily find non clinical positions. At the same time, I also hear regularly from recruiters who tell me that they can't easily fill their well-paying positions. Why are there so many doctors who want non-clinical jobs while there are unfilled jobs? The reason is that doctors and recruiters often don't speak the same language. I have learned that there is a wrong approach to looking for a non-clinical job and there is a right approach. Sticking to the right approach saves time and prevents disappointment.

Wrong Way
There are no job descriptions for 'a doctor who wants to change direction.' Recruiters are very specific in their needs. One of the first questions recruiters ask me is, "do you know someone who is a good fit for this position?" They typically describe the experience and skills they are looking for.

The wrong way to transition out of clinical medicine is to look for, ‘anything else’ without specifying what it is that you are looking for. If you state that you can do anything (especially that you want to provide advice) you are less likely to be taken seriously than if you are specific and targeted in your approach.

Managers and recruiters try to avoid hiring people who seem like they want to 'get away' from something.

Right Way
The right way to obtain a non-clinical job is to:

1. Honestly evaluate your goals and professional priorities. There are so many options, and there is no reason to pivot to a position that will not fit in with your life goals. This includes your level of interest in the work, as well as other priorities you might have (stability? flexibility? working from home?)

2. Study your options and narrow down your choices to the type of jobs that match your professional and personal objectives. Finding the right fit is the most important part of landing the right job. Doctors who are changing direction need to reevaluate their goals before, not after, they start looking for the right non-traditional job.

Each type of non-clinical job requires a different approach. Before applying for any non-clinical position, it is helpful to become familiar with the work environment, typical salary, work expectations, and, of course, the best approach for finding a job in that specific field.

Find out if you are qualified for what you are looking for. Learn how to become qualified for the most common non-clinical jobs to see if you have the time and interest to make yourself a good candidate.

You could sabotage yourself by offering to do 'anything' or 'provide advice'. You can use nonclinicaldoctors.com and the many resources for physicians who are looking at non clinical jobs to find more details about how to effectively tailor your job search for the job you really want. This will give you a huge advantage as you look for the right fit.

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Top 10 signs that you need to find a non-clinical job

12/13/2022

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Recent surveys show that at least 50% of doctors would leave medicine if they could. The road to becoming a doctor is challenging and loaded with hard work.

The road out of clinical medicine is not easy, but it is certainly easier for you to find a great non-clinical job at any stage in your medical career than it was for you to get accepted into medical school and become a licensed physician.

A non-clinical job can be the right move for some doctors, but not all. Find out if you should take action and start redirecting your career path.

These are the top 10 signs that you need to get serious about finding a non-clinical career.

1.You are more interested in your work activities outside of patient care than you are in your clinic or hospital work. If you are more enthusiastic when listening to a seminar or dabbling in medical technology, research, writing or editing, teaching, consulting or serving on committees than you are when seeing patients—then it is about time for you to get paid for doing non-clinical work.

2. You don't look forward to patient care. After all the studying and training and test taking that you have done, you have earned the right to look forward to your daily work. If there are jobs that you would like more than what you are currently doing, there is no reason to stay in a job you do not want to be in. You can move forward in your career continuum. Find out more about your non-clinical options to see which type of position would be the right fit for you.

3. You keep putting off that project you have been dreaming of. If you want to start your own business, do something innovative or work in medical technology someday, it is worth your while to figure out a timeline - 5 years, 10 years, after retirement? Decide if and when you want to be ready to take a professional leap that you have been craving.

4. You have already applied to non-clinical jobs and your applications have been ignored or rejected. Most doctors make a few feeble steps at sending non-clinical job applications or inquiries, only to be rejected. The non-clinical world is different than the clinical world when it comes to looking for a job. You need to learn how to position yourself so that your applications will be effective and land you the position that you want.

5. You are jealous of physicians who have non-clinical jobs or resentful of professionals who are not doctors. You should not remain in a position that leaves you bitter. Jealousy is a sign that you are burning up with complacent dissatisfaction and you need to learn how to make a change now.

6. You are feeling trapped in medicine. Medicine is not an involuntary imprisonment. However, if you are feeling that it is a life sentence - you need to do yourself a favor and find the key to get out- you are the only one holding the key!


7. You have a nagging feeling that you are missing out on something. If you keep looking at the world outside of medicine as a bright, missed opportunity - then by all means grab the opportunity and let it take you wherever you want to go.

8. You hate your work. It is bad enough if you don't look forward to your work. (See #2) You have put in too much time, sweat, money and effort into your career to stay in a job that you hate.

9. You became a doctor to please someone else and you are spitefully waiting for the payback that you think you deserve. You will never get enough payback to compensate you for sacrificing your aspirations and dreams for someone else's approval. Sacrificing for someone else is a type of martyrdom, and if you expect extreme payback for being a doctor because it wasn't your choice, then you need to stop expecting disproportionate payback—because it will never come. You have to decide to either continue to live someone else's dream or to live for yourself.

10. You wish that you weren't a doctor. The fact that you became a doctor is nothing short of awesome. But tomorrow is another day and you can use your education, skills, certification and smarts to become whatever you wish you could be.

You can succeed and find a job that gives you personal satisfaction and at least the equivalent of doctor's salary if you learn about your options and how to position yourself to get the job that best suits you. Explore nonclinicaldoctors.com and Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine to learn what you need to do to transition into a non-clinical job.

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There is more than one way to be a doctor

12/12/2022

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As a physician, you are a highly educated and trained medical professional who carries the most prestigious educational qualification—and you have earned a highly sought after license to take care of patients when they have medical problems. Yet there is no reason that any doctor should be limited to a particular career blueprint.
If you want to take a professional path that allows you to achieve your professional and personal priorities, you have a variety of options.


Medicine Is Evolving
Medicine is rapidly changing, and your career management is going to have to expand in light of the fact that there is more than one way to be a doctor.
Doctors can directly care for patients. And, doctors can also do much more:
  • Doctors can run hospitals.
  • Doctors can control payer reimbursement.
  • Doctors can find cures for medical illnesses.
  • Doctors can create biomedical devices.
  • Doctors can inform and empower the public about issues of health and wellness.
  • Doctors can promote preventative care.
  • Doctors can educate the next generation of doctors.
  • Doctors can lead healthcare policy.
  • Doctors can create medical care guidelines.
  • Doctors can manage population health.
  • Doctors can enforce the quality of healthcare delivery.
  • Doctors can shape priorities in the funding of healthcare.
  • Doctors can direct the goals of nonprofit organizations.
And that list does not even come close to including all of the potential jobs that doctors can do.

As a health care professional, you are not limited to specific  career model. You can find your own professional path within or outside of healthcare.

Health care is not exclusively about patients going to the doctor to get a prescription or to have a procedure. If you want to see how you can work as a doctor outside of those confined definitions, you may be surprised to learn that you have more career options as a physician than you thought.

After reading the following physician descriptions, think about the ideal work description that you envision for yourself 2 years from now.

 Do you see yourself in one of these physician profiles?
*Dr. Kramer is an ophthalmologist with subspecialty training. She is employed by a major medical center in a large city. She frequently travels to speak at specialty conferences and writes peer received articles—primarily case reports and literature reviews. She has to make occasional concessions in her practice due to administrative demands. For example, he had to relocate her office to another floor in the medical center, and she has not been able to obtain access to her billing and collections reports- despite repeated requests. But, she loves her day to day work and she is compensated well due to her sub-specialty expertise and because of her popularity among patients and referring physicians.
 
*Dr. Lee is an internist working as a senior medical officer for a health care management company. He has recently relocated to another part of the country because he received a  job promotion. His duties include selecting care guidelines establishing goals for physician reviewers and nurse case managers and evaluating the results, as well as coming up with ways to implement a better work flow. He attends at least 1-2 meetings per day, primarily with non-physicians, and he sees his role as a bridge between 'medical talk' and 'business talk.'

 *Dr. Snyder is a clinically busy gastroenterologist who is very active and influential on local hospital committees and boards. A private practice physician in a group of 8, he has built strong relationships with the senior level hospital administration and has been able to negotiate a convenient and optimal scheduling process for his group's procedures. He also oversees a strong financial arrangement at the hospitals where his group has privileges. He has a great deal of influence on the group practice decisions as well as on hospital wide decisions.
 
*Dr. Perez is a nephrologist who runs three clinics with adjoining outpatient treatment facilities. He employs 68 staff members, 7 of whom are physicians. Dr. Perez no longer sees patients and he personally manages all of the contracting with payers. He has had to deal with costly staff turnover at the busiest of his facilities due to mismanagement of staff relations by one of the mid level managers. While morale is down at that location, revenue has remained healthy. He is working on adding clinical research services to his business as another revenue stream.
 
*Dr. Levine is a family practice doctor who works part-time for a private group in a suburb of a medium city. She does not manage financial contracts and has arranged for a convenient schedule and a modest part-time salary. She knows many of her patients from the neighborhood or from her children's school and she is loved by her patients and by the staff, who always strive to make her day go smoothly.
 
*Dr. Pose is a neurologist who has a full-time tenured appointment at a major university. She has obtained research grants and runs a basic science research lab, occasionally consulting for pharmaceutical companies. Her work consists of about 10-20% patient care, with the remainder of her time devoted to research and teaching.

*Dr. Lazar is a surgeon who worked full-time for a start up medical device manufacturer after obtaining an MBA a few years into practice. He worked on the financial side of the company for three years, and was laid off after the company was purchased by another company. He then took a job as the head of scientific communications for a pharmaceutical company and has generous vacation time, works remotely, and earns a salary equivalent to the 50th percentile of physicians in his specialty.
 
*Dr. Stucco is an OBGYN who no longer practices medicine and works as a full-time administrator in a medium sized suburban hospital. She has already changed professional administrative titles twice in the past 3 years, and, while she loves her job and is compensated generously, she does not have a guaranteed position for more than one year at a time.
 
*Dr. Johnson is a PMNR specialist who holds a full-time job working for a national publisher. He edits medical books, educational videos and medical research articles. He also works with several medical schools on curriculum development.
 
*Dr. Kumar is a pediatrician who is one of 20 partners in med/peds group that covers 5 hospitals over a large geographic region. The financial reimbursement of each doctor in the group is based on volume. Dr. Kumar is proud that she works between 10-12 hours per day, seeing patients whenever the office is open. She takes more call than most of her partners, as the reimbursement for call is generous and straightforward, and some of her partners prefer not to take weekend and night call. She also takes emergency room shifts about twice per month. She is very happy with her arrangement and is building a large patient base.

*Dr. Halgon is an internist who has just opened her own medi-spa as part of a medi-spa franchise. She has been adding procedures to her own practice, and she also sends her staff for training in aesthetic procedures. She plans to rent an adjacent space and to add more medical services and a fitness center to her business within the next 2 years.
 
Do you see yourself in any of the above stories? Or do you see a completely different career trajectory for yourself? One of the strategies I often tell doctors to use in constructing a realistic career path is building a narrative. Write a few paragraphs describing your own ideal bio 2 years from now so that you will have a defined objective in your sight as you work towards building your career.

Explore nonclinicaldoctors.com to find job openings, and company links and to learn more about the methods you can use to reach your goals as you work towards making your ideal professional bio a reality. Or use Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine to learn the details behind each type of non-clinical position.

As an added incentive for yourself- send your future bio to nonclinicaldoctors.com today and then send in your story in 2 years to be featured as a physician success story!

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Additional Income Sources for Physicians

12/7/2022

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There are many different types of projects that physicians can pursue for additional income while maintaining patient care responsibilities. Some doctors take on these types of projects to augment their earnings, and some seek them to gain experience and exposure to other aspects of medicine. Side work can be a good way to gain experience that will eventually help you position yourself for a full time non clinical job. A number of these options can also provide a salary to replace full time clinical practice.

  • Chart review– Also referred to as utilization review, this work is a common part time venture that can take from a few hours per month to several hours per day. Chart review work generally involves reviewing length of stay, prescription medications, diagnostic testing, or procedures. Physician reviewers make a recommendation for approval or denial and might discuss peer to peer details with ordering physicians. You can find chart review companies listed here.
  • Medical legal work- This normally requires maintaining active clinical practice, and the hourly rate is often fairly generous. The work typically entails reviewing medical outcomes, creating a report, and sometimes testifying in court as well. You can work directly with a law firm or with a medical malpractice company, or you can sign up to be on an expert witness registry. Physicians can sign up to be on the registry of The Expert Institute and SEAK

  • Consulting- This seemingly vague term encompasses two main routes for physicians. 
    • Some doctors work for medical consulting companies that require a full time commitment and significant travel. This type of work may involve projects for larger pharmaceutical clients. A number of these companies are listed here.
    • Another option is becoming an independent consultant and providing seminars and advice for corporations within a specific niche. This physician is an example of that route. This type of work requires a substantial investment of time and networking to be able to get projects.
  • Physician advisor- This role is not generally a full time position. Often, pharmaceutical and medical device companies need to interview physicians to better understand the role that their products play in the disease and therapeutic landscape. These positions are generally temporary, require modest time commitment, and pay generously. The best way to pursue this avenue is through involvement in clinical trials or by networking with colleagues who direct clinical trials.
  • Writing- Many doctors consider writing to be fairly tedious, but for those to whom writing comes naturally, it is an appealing source of revenue. In general, breaking into non-medical writing jobs takes dedication and time. Here are tips about self-publishing for physicians. And medical writing, another interesting route, requires some planning, as discussed here. Medical writing jobs can involve writing for pharmaceutical or biomedical device companies, CME, or educational writing.
  • Teaching- Medical education is a wide ranging field that includes many different roles. Working as an adjunct professor is among the most beloved part time pursuits for physicians because it offers a community of creative colleagues and a young, energetic university or medical school environment. Generally, finding a teaching job requires networking within your local education community. Find out more about how to use your medical qualifications to find a teaching job here. Additionally, physicians can work as clerkship directors, test prep writers, and can give lectures in medical school or other health professional schools.
  • Concierge care- Concierge care is patient care, but with a somewhat different arrangement than usual. There are companies that help physicians with the logistical aspects of setting up a concierge practice and. A physician explains how he integrated concierge care into his practice here.
  • Disability exams- While performing and documenting disability exams is patient-based, it does not require on call duties, and thus is an attractive option for doctors who want to add a generous extra income without incurring additional patient follow up commitments or medical malpractice exposure. You can potentially do this type of work along with clinical care or full time. More information here.
  • Product affiliations- Doctors have varied degrees of involvement when it comes to product affiliations. Some physicians directly sell products in the office or on social media, and some endorse products or serve as a spokesperson. You can contact a leader who guides physicians through the process here and a physician who has built an expanded her team here.
  • Investments- Investing in the stock market, in real estate or in start up companies can provide a revenue stream for doctors who already have a reasonable financial foundation and an interest in spending the time necessary to thoroughly vet potential growth opportunities.
  • Franchise ownership- As with investing, franchise ownership is a route chosen by people of all backgrounds and professions. There are so many franchises in a variety of different areas, and some companies, such as this one, for example, help people sift through the options to select the best fit.
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How to Write Health and Wellness Articles

11/21/2022

9 Comments

 
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If you are interested in health, wellness or medical writing as a career or as a supplement to a career, it is important to work on your writing to make it as good as possible. Even established writers who have written many publications continue to improve writing skills to be able to communicate more effectively with readers.

Some features of good non-fiction writing include the following:

Content rich 

A strong article or book contains substantive material that readers can learn from or glean some valuable information from. Very good articles are those that readers consider worthy of saving or bookmarking for future reference.

Relevant

No book or article can be relevant for every reader. Some topics have wide appeal and relevance (example, over-the counter-medications for the common cold) while others obviously have a small niche audience (vaccinations for adults traveling to southeastern Asia.) Your topic may have a small or wide audience, but it should be relevant to at least some readers. 

Knowledgeable

A well-written article should demonstrate that the author is well informed about the topic, while maintaining a language and a level of detail that is appropriate for the target audience.

Qualified

Most readers value authors who are qualified to write about the subject matter, which goes beyond self-taught familiarity with the subject. Qualification involves formal designation, while knowledge is about experience.

Interesting
Not every person who is knowledgeable and qualified can write something interesting about the topic. But, being interesting isn't always important, depending on the purpose of the article. Some readers or publications prefer lists or charts that are full of accurate facts, some are looking for a reference piece, and some are looking for an interesting read with a thought-provoking, inspiring, or reassuring message. Tailoring how interesting your medical writing should be is about understanding your audience, and most importantly, the publisher's objective.

Depth, breadth, specific, detailed 

Depth, breath and specifics also depend on knowing your audience. Some readers are looking for a wide range of information about a broad topic, without too much detail, while others are interested in understanding a topic in great depth. Most well written articles and books are content rich, but do not have to have the qualities of depth, breath, specifics and detail. Instead, the author and publisher select the purpose of the piece and stick with either depth or breadth, unless it is intended to be an encyclopedic reference source.

Insightful 

Most readers are looking for some form of insight. This means that the author provides additional information about the topic or a different interpretation of the subject matter that makes the article or book more valuable.
Insight is a characteristic that is not judged uniformly by all readers. A reader considers an author who agrees with his or her own (the reader’s) overarching beliefs as insightful. When the author’s 'insight' is based on a different core viewpoint than that of the reader (example, vaccines are safe vs. vaccines are not safe) the reader is likely to dismiss the article, the author, and possibly the publication, even if the author is qualified and knowledgeable.  

Helpful, useful
Most readers of health and medical articles are looking for something helpful. This could be simply to understand a health condition, to learn how to take a medication, or to know when a symptom is normal vs. worrisome.

Practical 
Most readers are looking for information, knowledge or how-to that is easy to apply. This means that most readers cannot take on enormous, overarching, life changing plans and advice.

Timely, current
When it comes to health information, updated information is considered better than old information. When readers see health and wellness articles with well-established advice, most readers expect some type of acknowledgment from the author that, 'this has been the prevailing method for years, and new research continues to uphold this as the gold standard.' 

Real
Readers expect a genuine tone and voice from the writer, particularly from books and articles about health. An artificial or condescending or 'miracle cure' attitude is typically dismissed.

Honest 

Honesty is highly valued, and your audience can easily perceive your level of honesty.

Friendly 
Most of the time, the tone of a health, wellness or medical article should be pleasant- but not too casual to the point of not being authoritative or untrustworthy. Reference articles do not need to be friendly.

Balanced

An easy way to bring a sense of balance to a health article is to share a few facts. Instead of saying, 'the vast majority of people who take medication Y do not experience side effects,' it is more balanced to say, 'of the 70,000 Americans who use medication Y, approximately 4.7% experience side effects.' This takes the appearance of bias out of the equation.

Not offensive
Articles that offend the reader are a huge turnoff. In fact, articles that insult anyone are generally regarded poorly, even if the target of the insult is very different from the reader.

Not bitter
Healthcare can be a highly political subject. Controversial topics can make for good writing, but a bitter or angry tone makes the author sound as if they have an agenda, which discredits the article as being not geared towards helping the reader.

Funny
This is a tricky one. If you have a great sense of humor, you can try it. But humor in medical writing requires an exceptionally talented writer, and it doesn't usually work.

Organized, flowing 
Well-structured material is critical. When it comes to writing health or scientific books and articles for the public, the science can be complicated, and logical organization is the trick to making difficult material interesting and understandable.

Clear
Often, clarity is more important than attention-grabbing material. If you can be interesting and clear at the same time, then you will be able to keep readers engaged and informed.

Succinct
If you can avoid repetition and get your point across briefly, readers are more apt to enjoy your material. 
 
One of the ways that your audience shows appreciation and approval of what you have written is by sharing it with others. When a reader shares something that you wrote, this is a statement that they found your article useful and are comfortable being associated with it. This is a huge compliment to any author. It is impossible for any piece to have all of the qualities listed above, but if your writing has most of those qualities, it is more likely to be well received.
Find out more about how to get a job as a health and wellness writer here.

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What are your professional priorities?

11/18/2022

3 Comments

 
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If you are thinking about making a career transition, you probably have a "gut" feeling of what you want to do. But often doctors go against that gut feeling accepting the first non-clinical job offer that comes their way, and neglecting important priorities. 

Before you spend time (or money) searching for a new career path, it is useful to sit back and objectively rank your priorities from most important to least important so that you can see in clear terms what you really value in your career.

If you are considering a change, you need to make sure that you transition to a job that still gives you the job characteristics that you rank at the top of your list.
One of the huge advantages of being a doctor is that you have choices.
Think about:
  • What aspects of your work do you most enjoy?
  • How would you personally rank this list of career qualities in order of importance?
  • How many of your most important values are you getting from your job right now?

Which of the following priorities do you value the most?

*Challenging yourself
*Feeling that you are a good person
*Job security
*Comfortable around patients
*Personally experienced a medical problem and want to help others in the same position you were in
*Work environment is enjoyable
*Aspire to imitate a role model
*Being appreciated
*Solving problems
*Prestige
*Respect
*Approval (of someone in particular?)
*Avoiding disapproval (of someone in your life?)
*Proving that you are good enough for your job (did someone say you couldn't do it or that you weren't good enough?)
*Competing with someone
*Having free time
*Fitting in
*An income that you consider desirable
*Being attractive for a romantic partner
*Helping others who are sick
*Improving patient quality of life
*Perks, such as conferences
*Feeling like a leader
*Financial freedom
*Having a busy schedule
*Flexible schedule
*Feeling needed
*Meeting expectations
*Bragging rights
*Feeling 'in demand'
*Feeling important
*Enjoy understanding how the body works
*Feel a connection with patients
*Divine/ spiritual calling
*Enjoy seeing the results of your work

When you think about which of these qualities you consider most important, you might notice that your current job is or isn't fulfilling your priorities. Some of the above professional characteristics are so important to some people, but do not matter to other people at all. Take 'feeling important', for example. Some people consider that a necessity of the work day, while many others simply don't care. Some people are inspired by the example set by a role model, and are willing to overcome hurdles to reach that role model's level of success and expertise.
Re-evaluating your goals is a good idea every 6-18 months, because your goals might change. I have talked to many doctors who need to see a full schedule in the appointment calendar in order to feel secure and in demand. But after 5-7 years, that need is often fulfilled, and then a different aspiration arises, such as the need to practice leadership. You can achieve your aspirations as milestones throughout the years of your career.
If it is time for you to make a transition, you can start with instructions provided in the nonclinicaldoctors.com transition toolkit for tips and use the useful links to get started on the process.

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HOW A PHYSICIAN CAN BECOME QUALIFIED FOR A NON-

7/2/2022

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How to Get a Non-Clinical Job in Healthcare
I hear from so many doctors who tell me that they are trying to leave clinical medicine and can't seem to get a job outside of direct patient care. Sometimes, a physician looking to make a transition outside of patient care needs to acquire just a few additional qualifications to become a strong candidate for the job. It's important to make yourself the best candidate you can be for the non-clinical positions that you want to apply for, and you can do that by devoting a reasonable amount of time and attention to the process.

Below are a few examples of common non-clinical careers for doctors and what you need to do to get there.

Research
If you want to work as a lead researcher in a pharmaceutical company, you need to gain demonstrable research experience. If you have not already built experience during your medical school and residency, you can enter into the area of research later in your career. And some physicians work in the research field without doing a residency—usually starting at an entry level and gradually taking on more and more responsibility and leadership. 
You can acquire experience by starting in an entry level position:
  • At a pharmaceutical company
  • In a university setting as a post-doc
  • At a government research organization that trains scientific investigators
All of these roles provide experience, as well as a salary. There are also several programs that can help international physicians gain experience in research.

Business
If you want to work in the business side of medicine, either on the payer side or on the administrative side, you can start by joining a hospital committee or by taking your specialty organization courses on medical reimbursement. Some doctors choose to take the MBA route. All of these strategies can work.
The key is to learn the language and processes that drive healthcare administration and business and to practice working with others to achieve demonstrable outcomes.  Learn how you can better understand the business and/or regulatory side of medicine here.
 
Leadership
If your objective is to become a leader, you need to start by proving that you can lead. Surprisingly, this doesn't mean that you should demonstrate that you know how to intimidate people or boss them around. You need to start by making things work within your professional environment—and that means making agreements happen and making things run smoothly. When others can vouch for your leadership capabilities by saying that you are the person to turn to in times of need, you can confidently say that you have what it takes to be a leader.
 
Medical writing
In order to be paid to write, you have to prove that you can write well. This is a tough area to break into, but you can begin by working on a team to write an academic paper for a peer reviewed journal or by submitting an article to an online blog. You cannot expect to be paid to write until you have demonstrated that your writing is good enough for a company to pay you to write for them. Health and medical writing can be a lucrative field if you make your work valuable from a business perspective.
You can get started by submitting an article to nonclinicaldoctors.com to see how an audience responds to your writing and also to use the article as a writing sample if you apply for a writing job.
 
Medical review
The world of pre-authorization and utilization review is becoming more regulated. Clinical practice or previous work on specialty guidelines is often an unofficial prerequisite for this type of work. A medical license or board certification is typically a requirement for medical review work.
Consider serving on your hospital utilization committee or participating in your specialty guideline group if you are considering applying for a position in utilization review.  See a list of chart review companies here.

Applying for a non-clinical job should not be stressful. Be prepared to devote some time and energy to learning about non-clinical jobs before you apply. A knowledgeable applicant is the strongest applicant.
Once you know the qualifications a doctor needs to get a non-clinical job, be honest with yourself as you ask yourself whether you are a strong candidate?
There are several ways to figure out if you are a strong candidate:
  • You can try to find a recruiter to ask directly. I have known several recruiters who are willing to give a look to a CV and give thoughtful feedback.
  • To figure out some answers about your qualification for non-clinical jobs on your own, you can search for the companies that hire doctors for the type of job you want. (Find some links to companies here. ) Take the time to read each organization’s mission statements and what they expect to achieve. Look through the biographies of members of their leadership team, and review the qualifications of the people who hold the job you aspire to. Then honestly ask yourself—"where do I stack up?"
At this point, you can decide whether you are ready or whether you need to take some time to build up your qualifications.

Making yourself a strong candidate
To build your qualifications for the non-clinical job you want, you need to be purposeful in your approach. You need to establish skills or qualifications if you don't have them already.
The biggest mistake doctors make when applying for non-clinical jobs is saying, "I can do any job." Find out how to avoid mistakes when looking for a non-clinical job.

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Read this before you drop out of medical residency

7/1/2022

 
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Physicians need to complete at least one year of training in a certified residency program and must pass all three parts of the USMLE to become qualified to apply for a medical license. Residency entails a 3-7 year minimum commitment of training to attain clinical skills and board eligibility. Residency is highly sought after, and there are hundreds of candidates who do not match each year.

I want to drop out
But what if, after finishing medical school, matching, and starting your training, you decide that you hate residency and want to leave before finishing? What if you decide that you want to pursue another avenue? You will most likely receive a number of different messages from various people.
I have received this question over a hundred times, and I have heard over one hundred different stories of why residents want to drop out, including:
  • Bullying
  • Hostility
  • Burnout
  • Anxiety
  • Disenchantment
  • A sense of missing out on your true calling
  • Concern about the future of medicine
  • Finding out that peers who are not doctors are earning a good income
  • Landed another good opportunity

The answer of whether or not you should leave residency depends on how you visualize your future.

You can decide by asking yourself the following questions.
  • Do you want to practice medicine the same way that senior level physicians in your specialty practice medicine?
  • Do you want to become a leader in your specialty?
  • Do you want to work in your specialty, but not as a leader?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you need to stay in your residency to become qualified.
Your discouragement is understandable, but dropping out will not help you get where you want to go.
  • If bullying, intimidation or harassment are driving you out of your program, seek the assistance of a mentor (preferably a senior faculty in your specialty) who can advocate for you. There is a strong chance that the person or people who are behaving unprofessionally with you are also behaving unprofessionally with others, and your complaint is likely to be one of several complaints.

If you answered no to all of the above questions, then move on to the following questions.
  • Do you want to practice medicine the same way senior physicians in another specialty practice medicine?
  • Have you discovered that another specialty that you were not previously exposed to is appealing?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you need to develop good relationships with your program directors and transfer into a different residency.
You deserve to practice the specialty you want to- and even if you waste a few years of training to get the specialty you want- you will find the extra training well worth it.

If you answered no to all of the questions so far, then move on to the next question.
  • Would you like to be a leader in the health care field?
  • Do you want to work in a non-clinical job in medicine?
If you would like to be a leader in health care or work in a non-clinical job in medicine, the honest truth is that you will have a very hard time if you do not complete residency. It is true that leaders in health care can be nurses, PhDs, pharm Ds and MBAs. But the vast majority of non-physician healthcare professionals did not leave their own training and are certified and usually experienced in their own fields.
I am sure you don't want to hear this, but, completing your residency actually puts you on par with non-physicians who are qualified in their own areas.


If you have still answered no to every question so far, then move on to the next question.
  • Would you prefer to work as a businessperson, a lawyer, an investor, a journalist, a professional consultant, an entrepreneur or in any other field with little to no emphasis on medicine?

If you answered yes, then leaving residency is probably in your best interest. Residency, board eligibility and board certification will not help you attain these types of positions any more than just having a graduate degree. In fact, this is the only instance in which you will waste time professionally by remaining in your residency. But, be aware that your medical school and your residency will not be helpful in getting you the job you are looking for, and that you will have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

For more information on how to find a non-clinical job,  see Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine. Find out more about your specific career options without residency here.
You can also see a resource dedicated to quitting residency here.

Getting Started as a Health Writer

6/30/2022

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Doctors, nurses, physician assistants and therapists, among other health care providers, are often interested in health writing. Given the abundance of websites and articles on the Internet, many professionals interested in educating the public about wellness are looking towards authoring magazine articles and online articles to help educate the public about health issues. That is certainly an achievable goal that can be rewarding and enjoyable. Here are questions to the most frequently asked questions about jobs for health writers.

Are there jobs for physician medical or health writers?
There certainly are jobs for health and medical writers. Writing positions for healthcare professionals include textbook writing and editing, authoring test prep materials, professionally editing articles for peer reviewed journals, scientific writing for pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies, technical writing for health regulators, and writing health articles for online websites, magazines, and newspapers.

What are the qualifications to become a medical writer?
The majority of these jobs do not specifically require a medical degree, but they often require subject matter expertise, such as a graduate level or undergraduate degree in the health sciences. Subject matter proficiency beyond the stated job requirement is not necessarily an advantage.
The most important criterion that you will be evaluated on when you apply for a job as a medical writer is the demonstration that you can write for the publication’s target audience. If you want to get a paid job as a health or wellness writer for a public audience, you will be asked to submit writing samples that have already been published in order to show your writing skills. Getting your first few writing samples published is a crucial step in this process because your written pieces are the most important part of your application.
If you are considering applying for a medical writing job at some point in the future, it is worthwhile to work on building a portfolio that includes at least a few published writing samples in advance. 
If you want a job editing scientific manuscripts or medical textbooks or journals, you should begin by authoring several peer-reviewed articles as the lead author. If you envision yourself writing health articles for a general audience, you can start by submitting articles to blogs, websites and magazines.

How can I get a job as a medical writer? 
There are 2 ways to get a paid position as a medical writer.
1. Applying for a job
2. Being recruited for a job
 
Most professional publications use recruiters to find prospective authors who have experience in writing. Some publications list job openings for medical writers and editors on their websites under ‘employment’ or ‘jobs' or other similarly worded links. Another method of finding job openings is by searching job sites. Publishers who hire health writers are typically flooded with applications for the positions they list on job sites, and therefore they screen for the best applicants by evaluating applicants’ published work. 
 
How should I send my writing samples?
It is a good idea to construct a CV than you can use when you apply for writing jobs. Even if you have published strong articles that prompt a recruiter to initiate contact with you, you will be asked to submit a CV if you are interested in pursuing the job offer. You can place links to your writing samples right on your CV under a heading ‘selected publications’ or ‘writing samples,’ along with the title of the article. This makes it easy for senior editors to see your articles and to get a feel for your writing style. Because there are so many applicants for medical writing jobs, positions fill quickly. Therefore, it is best to have your CV ready and waiting for an opening so you can send it right away when you see a posting for a writing job.
 
Building your writing sample library 

A number of websites accept submissions for consideration. The health and wellness websites and blogs that you read might accept submissions from health care professionals.

You can submit an article to the Tips from Your Doctor page of nonclinicaldoctors.com, send your article here.  Some popular guest written articles include How to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain and Hiding Veggies in Your Kids Food.
See tips about how to write health and wellness articles here.

You can also submit an article to the Physician Career Strategies page here.
Popular guest written articles include Physician Contract Negotiation Tips and The Dual MD/MBA.

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Should doctors who do not want to practice patient care take the USMLE?

6/24/2022

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In medicine, the top 3 measures of a physician's value lie in certification, certification and certification. 

This is especially true in the United States.
I have heard from doctors throughout the country who want to know if the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a necessary pre-requisite for non-clinical positions.

The answer to this frequent question is - sometimes the USMLE helps and sometimes it doesn't.

What is the USMLE?
You are required to pass parts 1 and 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) in order to get your MD degree from a US medical school. Most DOs trained in the United States also take it. And you cannot receive a medical license without passing parts 1, 2 and 3 of the USMLE.

The tricky part is that it is recommended to take part 3 of the USMLE after your internship- and it has been getting harder and harder for foreign medical graduates, international medical graduates, and some US medical graduates to match into residency programs in recent years. More doctors can't match into an internship than ever before, and thus they cannot get a medical license.

And some doctors-in-training already know that they want to get out of clinical medicine early in the medical training process. This is where the question of how to succeed without taking the USMLE comes up.
To find out more about 'dropping out' of residency, see here.


Success without USMLE?
There are numerous success stories of non-clinical doctors who have reached high salaries and attained prestigious professional appointments in jobs that are outside of patient care. And some did not rely on licensure or certification.

But, your choices without a medical license are limited, so if you have an opportunity to take licensing exams- don't walk away from the opportunity just so that you can more quickly apply for an entry level non-clinical job. If you are a doctor, you know how to pass exams and you know how to score well. Just do it.

If you have a solid non-clinical offer on the table that you don't want to pass up, then it is understandable that you would want to jump at the chance to build your non-clinical experience if your long-term goal is to become a leader or an executive in the non-clinical arena of healthcare. When you have a solid contract in front of you, if you want to take a break from tests and prove your worth in the non-clinical world, by all means go with your gut. Nevertheless, if you have time to study for your board exams while working that non-clinical job, it is best to do both. (I know, this is not what you wanted to hear.)

You can only achieve success without the USMLE if you become distinguished enough that companies want to recruit you. However, it takes some time to build such a stellar resume to be recruitable - and sometimes the entry-level and mid-level work that builds your resume does require medical licensure.

Why take the USMLE?
Whether you are an entrepreneurial minded foreign graduate with years of clinical experience overseas under your belt or whether you are a recent graduate from a medical school in an exotic tropical location or whether you are a U.S. graduate who didn't match- the unpleasant truth is that state licensure and specialty certification opens some doors that your MD or DO does not, even if your goal is in non-clinical work.

So the short answer is- if you don't have a non-clinical offer in place, continue to make yourself the most qualified candidate that you can possibly be. And the USMLE is the most recognized way to do that, even for non-clinical jobs. A medical license is required for most non-clinical positions that require chart review or litigation review. If you have your foot in the door to a non-clinical opportunity, follow the path that best matches your long term goals, but keep in mind that most non-clinical positions are not known for being secure.

What if I can't take the USMLE?
If you absolutely cannot take the USMLE, but still want to work, you have to really decide whether you want to stay in the medical field or not. There are other ways to work in the medical field, and becoming an expert in regulatory matters is one of the most powerful steps you can take.

Fortunately, even without the USMLE, there are a number of non-clinical entry level positions which require some form of official specialty certification. For example, a clinical research associate can earn about $75/hr without residency, and must take a specialized training course.

Learn more about jobs for doctors without residency or licensing here.

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Creating and Making an Income From Your Website

5/28/2020

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Having an online presence is becoming an important part of building and maintaining a professional reputation. For your customers, clients or patients, visiting your website is one of the most important ways they use to 'screen' you to decide if they want your professional services. Constructing a website can be intimidating, but even if you are not experienced with computers, you can tackle it in a few manageable steps. 

1. Decide why you want a website. Determine whether the priority of your website is to attract customers to your offline business or whether you want a website for the purpose of interacting with your patients.
A simple informational website may have plenty of material, articles, links and pictures without interactive features beyond a simple email/contact feature for your web visitors to ask you questions. An interactive website allows visitors to create their own profiles or to order items. If you want an interactive website, the process of building the website is much more involved than if you want a website that provides information.

2. Search for a web host. A web host is a service that is already designed to help you build and publish your website. A web host is to a website as PowerPoint or Prezi or keynote is to a presentation. Popular and easy to use web hosts include weebly.com, wix.com, wordpress.com, go daddy.com, bluehost.com, and squarespace.com among others.
All of these web hosts have easy to understand tutorials for do-it-yourself web builders. The web hosts typically offer a free web building package as well as additional add-ons that you can pay for, such as a domain name or a dedicated email. As you navigate the do-it-yourself instructions, you will get an idea of which web host is more in line with your goals for your website and whether you want to move forward with building your website yourself of hiring someone to do it for you. 
 
3. Decide if you are going to move forward by building and managing your own website or by hiring someone to do it for you. There are an abundance of web designers who you can hire. You might choose someone who is local, or you might even find a web designer by searching online. Often, your web host can provide this service for you at a cost determined by how complex and interactive you want your website to be. 
 
4. If you are going to proceed with the do-it-yourself path of building and managing your website, you need to choose a web host. Typically you can 'buy' different packages from the web host, and most web hosts have a free basic package that includes easy to follow instructions. You can usually upgrade if you want additional features at a future time.

5. The next step is choosing a domain name. This would be ‘yourwebsitename.com.’ Your domain name is going to be on your business cards and on your social media links, so think about this carefully. It should be easy to remember, but also specific enough that it describes the feel and purpose of your website accurately. Thinking through this step may take you longer than any other step. If you change your domain name at some time—whether it is 3 months or 3 years from when you publish your website, old links using your previous domain name will not work anymore, and that could have a significant impact on your website traffic and on your credibly if people try to search an old link and reach a page that says, 'this page no longer exists.' As an alternative, you can redirect your old page to a new one, and this requires learning some coding.
Registering a domain name requires a fee that must be renewed every year, and you should be able to find simple instructions for registering a domain name through your web host
 
6. Build your home page using the web host’s template for a home page.  A home page features your website title and a description of the website. Your home page is the page that people reach using your web address, so this will be your most visited page. Your website visitors will use your home page to decide whether they want to learn more and whether your business is right for them.
While templates are available, you do not have to use them—you can be more creative and build pages from scratch or even code your own pages if you want to.
 
7. Additional pages can follow a web host template. And each page has its own title that is part of the web address for that particular page. For example, an additional page web address would be 'yourwebsitename/ournewfeatures.com.' Additional pages may follow a simple page format with information and pictures or may follow a blog format, which features articles and pictures. As with the home page, you can opt out of pre-designed templates and create your own set-up or program codes for special features if you are skilled at coding.
 
8. Graphics should follow a similar theme and color scheme throughout the whole site. Graphics are extremely important to website visitors, as they relay a powerful message about you and your business. You can usually use graphics provided by the web host or you can upload your own photos.

9. Marketing your website may be important if you want your website to be a highly ranked destination. If your site is primarily playing the role of serving existing customers, then you probably do not need to focus on marketing your site. But if your website is one of your marketing tools for bringing in new patients or customers, then you need to have a marketing strategy. Sharing your site or sharing articles from your site in special interest groups or on your social media channels are some of the ways to build traffic. Collaborating with other websites that are similar or complementary to yours by guest posting can also help build cross-traffic. For example, if your site is relevant to the content on nonclinicaldoctors.com 'medical career strategies' or 'tips from your doctor,' submitting an article can help drive traffic to your own site. 
 
10. Revenue tools include automated ads or collaborations. If you want to earn revenue from your website, you can negotiate with individual businesses to advertise on your site or sign up for automated advertisements with programs such as such as Google AdSense or Amazon.com, among others.
Automated Advertisements
If you want to use advertising with a company like Google or Amazon.com, you need to apply to become an affiliate before they accept your site for their targeted advertisements.
If your website is accepted as an affiliate, you will receive your own code that you can place on your website so that you can feature targeted advertisements on your website. Your own web host will have a special tool that looks like something this < > for you to put into your web pages in order to place your designated codes for your ads. Then, depending on your traffic, you will earn revenue that can range from pennies per day to thousands of dollars per day if many visitors come to your site and stay on the site.

Commission and Partner Advertisements
If you want to place individual affiliate advertisements or links, you can negotiate an upfront fee or a commission with individual clients. These fees can be based on sales that the client obtains from your site referrals. With individual affiliate arrangements, your website and your posts serve as sales tools for your clients.

11. When it comes to earning income from your website, good content is the key.  This means that if your site is not useful, or if you have a title that promises more than it delivers, visitors will only stay on your site for seconds and will not return or recommend it to others. So of you want to earn revenue from your website, the number one method of doing that is by having good content that is relevant for your readers.
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Steps to a Non-Clinical Career in Medicine

2/14/2020

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Doctors who want to transition into non-clinical jobs often don't know where to begin. There are many physicians and health care professionals who want to find non-clinical jobs- for a variety of reasons. The following steps can make that transition happen smoothly.

1. Evaluate why you want to get out of clinical medicine. Each doctor has a unique story. Start by evaluating current goals. Some doctors want more money, some want more recognition, some crave free time, and some want new challenges. You can use Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine or this list identify your goals. You must remember - your own personal goals are valid and worthy of follow through. Identify your goals and be proud of your career goals.

2. Learn about the options in the non-clinical world. There are many important roles for doctors in health care besides patient care. Non-clinical jobs for doctors is a catch-all label that covers a wide array of choices. Explore the resources around you to find out as much as you can about the different options and what to expect in terms of salary, time commitment, work environment, and future prospects for promotion. There are also opportunities completely outside of healthcare that you can excel at. You can find a substantial amount of useful information here on nonclinicaldoctors.com and there are useful links to help you find other online resources as well.

3. Match your goals to the available career options. Find the right fit for you. Narrow your career search to focus on the jobs that suit your current, and possibly future, career goals. You might decide to stay in patient care, but make some adjustments to your job. Or you may decide to stay in the medical field in a job that does not involve as much patient care as your current job, you might decide to leave patient care completely, or you might even decide to leave medicine completely. These physician success stories can help you get an idea of the day to day life of a non-clinical physician.
4. Strategize to determine the right approaches you need to take for the jobs that fit your goals. Become an expert at understanding the ins and outs of your future career. Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine provides you with thorough insight into non-clinical job opportunities and shows you in detail how to get the job. I did all the research for you, so you don't have to. If your only complaint is that I have provided too much detail then I have done my job- because I want to provide you with as much guidance as you could ever need!

5. Taking Initiative
As you map out your next steps, there are three methods that you can use to approach your career transition:
  1. Self-guided: If you choose the self directed route, you can learn about non clinical jobs by talking to peers and recruiters. You can read books like Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine to understand the job descriptions, salary expectations, and requirements. You can identify job openings, write your cover letters, and fill out job applications. This self directed method is the one that most doctors have been able to use to effectively find a well paying non-clinical job in line with long term professional goals.
  2. A non-clinical careers course: There are a number of courses and seminars that provide doctors with advice and guidance in resume writing, linking with recruiters, and becoming qualified for non-clinical jobs. Hundreds of physicians attend these courses annually, and the vast majority have found them useful for career transitions.
  3. Find a personal coach/mentor: You can hire a professional career coach to review your qualifications, help you identify your priorities, point you in the right direction, and suggest potential career options for you. With this route, you can get personal one on one attention from an experienced professional, as well as an accountability partner.
Of course, you can also combine these methods to find the right mix for you.

6. Accept a good job and continue to prove to yourself and to others that you are an asset. Doctors can succeed in a variety of non-clinical fields. When doctors thrive on the non-clinical world, there are many winners, including the health care delivery system as a whole.

If you decide at any time throughout this process that you want to stay in clinical medicine, but you think you need to make some changes to your current work environment, don't delay improving your situation. Your patients will be better served if you are in a situation that is fair and productive. Every physician can and should achieve career satisfaction.
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Teaching Jobs For Physicians

2/11/2020

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If you are a physician looking for a teaching position, there are several options open to you, including college, graduate school and a professional school teaching positions. Teaching jobs in elementary through high school usually require an education degree and a teaching license, which takes several years of additional schooling, even if you already have an MD or a DO. 

Teaching is a joy for some and a drag for others. It is often a suitable fit for doctors who are good at interacting with students and peers. But teaching is not usually the right choice for doctors who want to escape from patient care, and students deserve to be taught by professors who enjoy teaching. It takes time and energy to find a teaching position, and doctors who are not genuinely interested in teaching may find the time involved in searching for a teaching job discouraging. If you consider teaching a desirable option, there are some useful tips to consider first. 
Personal Qualities 
Most university and graduate school department chairmen receive numerous inquiries from highly qualified professionals who want to teach. If you want to be considered for a teaching position, you should have evidence of certain personal qualities in addition to your medical degree. And, a chairman or departmental committee will check your references to see if you have these qualities. 
  • Experience in teaching: Most physicians have taught junior residents or medical students in hospital rounds. You have probably also given a few grand rounds or prepared morbidity and mortality meetings. You may have also given a few lectures or case study sessions in the medical school setting. 
  • Good feedback from students or peers: If you have taught before, it is likely that your teaching skills have been formally assessed. Recommendations that reference your teaching evaluations can be valuable when you are applying for a teaching position. 
  • Demonstration of organizational skills: Teaching a course for a whole semester requires organization of lectures, exams, and creating a syllabus. While it may be difficult to demonstrate this ability if you have not previously taught a whole semester class before, experience with tasks such as organizing an on-call schedule or a clinic schedule can demonstrate that you are capable of preparing a course for students. 
  • Attentive to learning goals: This one can be difficult for physicians. As a high achiever, you may have strong opinions about your teaching objectives. However, while your goals are probably commendable, teaching a course isn’t about you. It is about ensuring that your students learn what is necessary at their educational stage. 
  • Encouraging and fair: Students learn when professors empower and challenge. Students need to be given instructions, opportunities to demonstrate skills, balanced feedback, and chances for improvement.
What to Expect 
It is also important to know what a teaching position may entail. 
  • Full time vs. part time: If you want to teach undergraduate or graduate level courses, you may qualify for an adjunct position if you don’t want to do research, or for a full time tenured position if you want to do research. Sometimes, there are full time teaching positions for non- researchers, but these are not at common. 
  • Compensation: The pay for university teaching varies, and it is typically calculated per credit hour or per course taught. The hourly rate may be competitive, particularly as you gain seniority and if you are knowledgeable about the subject matter and organized in your work. 
  • Vacations: There are typically built-in vacations, as you will rarely be expected to work when school is not in session. 
  • Professional development: Most universities provide opportunities for professors to learn new skills and stay up to date. The university setting is generally more updated when it comes to technology than a small medical office or a small company, and you will quickly learn how to use the most efficient and updated systems. You will also have the opportunity to learn about updated teaching strategies. 
  • Smart colleagues: One of the major benefits of teaching is the exposure to creative and energetic colleagues who are devoted to students, their research, or both. 
  • Student interaction: Teaching can be a great option for physicians who like interpersonal interaction. It does require patience, kindness, and the ability to grade and evaluate students fairly. If you want to leave medicine to escape from anxious patients, then teaching may not be a good fit, because students can be anxious as well. 
  • Professional opportunities: University professors are highly sought after as experts in industry. Publishers, medical manufacturers, and conference organizers are likely to offer you well compensated consulting opportunities. 
How to Find a Job
In general, most teaching positions in higher education require a PhD. Physicians are not the typical applicants, but some are able to find teaching jobs in college, medical school, or another type of graduate school. There are some helpful methods to keep in mind in your search.
  • Applying: If you want a teaching position, it is best to apply widely to several universities. Finding a job in a prestigious university may take longer, as you wait for job openings. However, if your objective is to gain experience in teaching, it is best to apply to a variety of universities, even those that are not especially prestigious. 
  • Networking: If you are interested in teaching, it is helpful to network and to mention your interest to physicians and professors so that you can learn about openings, and so that people will know to contact you when teaching positions become available. Chairmen and professors often know about opportunities that come up in other departments and universities, and may share information with you when a good fit comes up. 
  • Clarity: It is not uncommon for physicians to teach a few lectures on a volunteer basis. If you are looking for a paid position, you need to be clear about your goals and objectives. 
  • Accepting a compromise: Depending on the universities in your area, it may be difficult to find a full time position right away. However, an adjunct teaching job can open the door to a full time position after a while. But if your goal is a full time position, it is best to confirm that it will be an option at some point in the future before you accept a compromise that cannot lead you to your long term goals.
 
Many doctors express a desire to teach. Teaching can be enjoyable, and it opens many doors professionally. However, teaching requires dedication so it is important to decide if you really want to teach before you start looking for jobs.
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Finances of Business vs. Hobby

2/8/2020

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By Dave Denniston, CFA
Have you ever wondered… is my business a hobby?
You may have heard that having a small business is one of the best tax deductions out there.
But… when is a business a business and when is my ‘business’ a hobby?

I have many folks that I work with who are passionate about some cool stuff- toy trains and art and music. Heck, my wife is one of those amazing artists. Some of these businesses are actually quite profitable.
They have revenue.
They have expenses.
They have a profit.
The IRS loves those businesses because they can TAX those juicy profits. The gray line becomes when there is NOT a profit.
Maybe there isn’t revenue and there are only expenses. Or the revenue is minimal. What if it’s the latter of those two scenarios? What if this business doesn’t have a profit?
Can I still write it off?
Just because a business doesn’t have a profit YET doesn’t mean that you should toss it away and not take the write-off.
As a matter of fact, there are some cases where you should take a tax loss and it’s perfectly acceptable.
Heck, I even encourage you to pursue having a business as one of my 5 Smart Strategies To Slash Your Taxes in 2017.
Before we carve into the meat of the article, let’s figure out what the IRS says about this.
There are 9 specific questions that the IRS poses to determine whether or not your business is a hobby:
  • Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit?
  • Do you depend on income from the activity?
  • If there are losses, are they due to circumstances beyond your control or did they occur in the start-up phase of the business?
  • Have you changed methods of operation to improve profitability?
  • Do you have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business?
  • Have you made a profit in similar activities in the past?
  • Does the activity make a profit in some years?
  • Do you expect to make a profit in the future from the appreciation of assets used in the activity?
So, let’s break this down a little bit.
Question# 1. Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit? The key word here is INTENTION.
You need to have documentation that you have INTENTION.
For example, do you have a 1 page business plan? What have you invested into your business? Do you have a website? A Facebook page with active postings? A Twitter account posting your content?
Do you have any products or services? Have you tried to market them?
If you’ve never put any money into marketing the business- for example, you don’t have a website and you’ve never tried advertising and you’ve never tried guest blogging or podcasts- you may have a very difficult time to prove that you intended to make a profit.
Are you just writing off a portion of your house bills or your cell phone or your new computer, but don’t have any activities to point to show that you are INTENDING to make a profit?
Make sure you have documented evidence!
Here’s more from the IRS on this issue…
“An activity is presumed for profit if it makes a profit in at least three of the last five tax years, including the current year (or at least two of the last seven years for activities that consist primarily of breeding, showing, training or racing horses).”
So, unless you are into horse breeding and raising, you could write off at least 2 years of business losses- but once you get into year three… you really have to think long and hard about your intention to make a profit.
The second question can be a key one for continuing the write-offs…
Question# 2: Do you depend on income from the activity?
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.
One physician I work with is an expert witness. He does this ‘on the side’. He makes substantial income- 100k+ a year from this activity in addition to his work at an academic hospital.
He depends on this activity to help save for retirement, pay off his mortgage, etc. So, in this case, he is dependent on the income.
He could take a year off and only make $10k from this business and still do some write-offs.
Definitely a business and not a hobby. There’s a history of profits here.
Another client I work with is the spouse of a high-earning client. The primary bread winner makes $300k to $500k a year. His spouse has an incredible heart. She takes old ties and turns them into pieces of art. She sells them at craft show and often donates half the proceeds to charitable causes.
In this case, there’s still a cost of supplies- quite often the business produces a loss.
She doesn’t advertise. She does it on the side and doesn’t really care whether or not she makes a profit. Some years she makes $2k or $5k. Other years she might lose a few hundred dollars.
This is a case that’s right on the edge.
There is revenue. There are expenses.
However, it’s not their main source of income. Heck, it’s so relatively small, it’s really unnecessary. 
Some CPAs would call this a ‘hobby’. Others might call it a write-off.
If you have a similar side-hustle to this case, it could depend on how aggressive you want to be with your taxes. You do stand a good chance that the write-off could be disallowed if you get audited. However, it might be okay too.
Just remember… you have two years! So, there’s some runway to get your business to lift off.
Question# 3: If there are losses, are they due to circumstances beyond your control or did they occur in the start-up phase of the business?
This gives you some grace in a really bad year or if you are just getting started.
There is NOTHING wrong with taking a write-off when you are launching a business. You may not yet have revenues or they may be very meager.
There is also NOTHING wrong with having a bad year and taking a fat write-off in the process.
The problem is when you never ever, never ever make a profit and it doesn’t appear to be anywhere on the horizon after 2 years.
You can always launch and try a new business after those 2 years and take another write-off.
=-)
Although, after a while… you might wonder if your money was better invested elsewhere.
Question# 4: Have you changed methods of operation to improve profitability?
The IRS is also willing to give you a pass if you are trying to do something different.
For example, let’s say that you had a podcast and it wasn’t generating any revenue after 1 year. You would be perfectly in your right to write off the losses.
Let’s say you generated a little bit of revenue, but had losses in year 2. You’re making progress, but you aren’t there yet. That should be fine to write-off too.
Then, in year 3, you change the way you do things. You start sending e-mails to prospective advertisers and you try to find some affiliate deals. You even make some arrangements and put advertisements in your podcast. You write a new book and try to sell the book on your podcast.
In this case, you have documentation in the forms of e-mails, podcasts, and other ways to demonstrate that in fact you changed your operations to improve profitability.
Remember how important documentation is in everything related to the IRS.
Final Thoughts
There are so many amazing opportunities in the world today. You can sell courses on everything from podcasting to land flipping to painting toy trains to underwater basketweaving.
You can seek plenty opportunities outside of clinical medicine.
Pursue them! Go after them!
You can even write them off for a couple of years and who knows, maybe that side-hustle income can skyrocket and even go way beyond the salary of your clinical career.
More Advice by Dave Denniston- The New Retirement and Does Stuff Own You?
For some more tax-saving ideas, make sure to check out 3 Answers to The Tax Questions Physicians Have Been Asking and The Little Tax Secret for Physicians.

About the Author
Dave Denniston, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), is an author and authority for physicians providing a voice and an advocate for all of the financial issues that doctors deal with. He also has 1 wife, 2 kids, and a bunny named Black Snow (which is a lot better of a name than Yellow Snow).
More Advice by Dave Denniston- Does Stuff Own You? and The New Retirement
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Is a non-clinical job the right solution for you?

2/5/2020

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Doctors often wonder about whether a non-clinical job could offer more work-life balance, more autonomy, a better income, or more job satisfaction than clinical practice.

In the changing healthcare climate, non-clinical work may be a better fit for some doctors. But it is important to examine the characteristics of non-clinical jobs before assuming that they may offer what you are looking for.

How to know if a non-clinical job is the right solution for you
I hear from doctors from all over the country every day.
The physicians who reach out to me are feeling beaten down and having trouble keeping their heads above water. Many doctors tell me that clinical work used to be rewarding, but that high quality patient care is becoming incompatible with the increasing financial and regulatory requirements demanded by employers and payers. Most established physicians don't want to settle for lower quality patient care, and faced with a difficult dilemma, thousands of physicians think about changing direction.
Young physicians who are still in the midst of residency training often have a gut feeling that a career centered on direct patient care is not the right fit. And medical students frequently contact me- already considering applying for non-clinical jobs straight out of medical school, instead of applying for residency.

But is the grass really greener in non-clinical medicine? It all depends on what you want to get out of your work.

Documentation blues
*Are you looking to escape from excessively documenting every detail of your patient care by transitioning into the non-clinical world? You can finally achieve that with some non-traditional medical jobs in areas such as medical writing and chart review, but you can drown in a different type of documentation.
In fact, many non-clinical positions essentially entail a whole day of documentation or reviewing another health care provider's documentation. Of course, if you work in a non-clinical role, the documentation portion of the job is work that you will be paid for, in contrast to clinician medicine, which requires documentation as a prerequisite to reimbursement for patient care.
Medical malpractice angst
*Are you tired of medical malpractice anxiety? Most of the time, you will not be held directly responsible for patient outcomes in the non-clinical world. And this is one of the most appealing factors that draws doctors to non-traditional jobs.
Ironically, even physicians who work in areas such as utilization review or as expert witnesses face far less scrutiny and liability than practicing physicians, as unfair as that may seem.
Connecting with patients
*Will you miss taking care of people? Some doctors are really good with patients but not so great with colleagues and meetings- the balance will change dramatically in the non-clinical arena, where you will interact almost exclusively with peers and professional colleagues, not with sick people.
Job security
*Do you value job security and stability? Clinical medicine is admittedly becoming less secure than in the past. While some non-clinical positions offer more job stability than others, overall, non-clinical jobs are less secure than clinical jobs. And, even if you have a leadership position, may have to deal with sudden company downsizing. If you are assigned to lead a project on a medical product that becomes obsolete, outdated, or is shown to be less valuable than competitor products, you could find that keeping your non-clinical position is dependent on factors that you have absolutely no control over.
Pride in What You Do
When you move into the non-clinical aspects of medicine, you could be put in charge of reducing cost, trying to get a new device approved, or running a non-profit. If you believe in the integrity of your cost containment strategies, the safety and efficacy of the device, or the value of the non-profit, you may feel even more pride and satisfaction in your work than you did in patient care. But if you find yourself forced to communicate in ways that you do not believe in, you could end up craving the integrity of patient care.
Income
*Money is a vital component of any job. A number of non-clinical options offer stellar compensation if you can demonstrate your value. On the other hand, some non-clinical jobs offer salaries equal to or even lower than your job as a practicing physician. See Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine for more information about salaries of non-clinical jobs.
Emotions at work
All jobs have the potential to be highly volatile. Clinical medicine, however, requires a particularly cool head and an ability to calm others down amid the fear of a bad diagnosis and the stress of unpredictability. On the average, day-to-day work in the non-clinical arena is more predictable and less frequently fraught with emotionally unstable interactions.
Independence
One of the biggest complaints that doctors express is the growing sense that someone is 'looking over your shoulder' and second guessing everything you do. Industry is inherently designed to be much less autonomous than medicine. This is an important consideration to keep in mind if you want to transition out of patient care. The frustration of what you consider to be excessive and superfluous oversight may follow you in the non-clinical arena as well. 


Find out more about the reality of non-clinical jobs for doctors and learn how to make yourself a strong candidate for the job that is most suitable for you by exploring nonclinicaldoctors.com or Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine.
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Your Most Valuable Tool For Finding a Non-clinical Job

2/1/2020

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When I hear from doctors who are looking for good non-clinical jobs, physicians often include a list of positive attributes such as 'I work well with others,' 'I am eager to learn,' or 'I have a strong interest in starting my own business.'

While these attributes are valuable in achieving success, they often don't help in gaining credibility in the transition to the non-clinical workforce, or in negotiating a competitive salary.

Your most valuable tool for finding a non-clinical job is expertise in regulations and policies.

Expertise is one of the most valuable tools that health care professionals possess.  Doctors already have expertise in medical care. However, the current medical atmosphere has led to an overwhelming growth of policies in areas of coding, billing, licensing, accreditation, practice parameters, best models of health care, patient privacy, cost containment, documentation and electronic medical records- to name just a few of the complex regulatory matters that affect every aspect of health care.

Whether you aspire to work in an executive or administrative role or to start your own business, a mastery of these hard to grasp regulatory issues will serve you well and can potentially make you irreplaceable. When you customize your own areas of non-clinical healthcare policy expertise, you will reap the benefits of your invested time and energy.
There are a number of effective ways to master healthcare regulation. You can use the following approaches to build regulatory expertise. Most doctors do not need to use all of these methods, and instead mix and match these tools at a self-appointed pace.

  • Join one of your decision-driven hospital or university committees (such as pharmacy committee or payer relations or compliance or resident education or CME) You might not get appointed right away, but if you show interest, ask to attend a few meetings as a 'guest,' and contribute usefully to the discussion (or, at least, don't anger too many people) you are likely to get an appointment in the next appointment cycle.
  • If you are offered a part-time consulting job, consider it. Most doctors turn their noses up at chart-review jobs or consulting opportunities that pay $150-200/hr. However, the experience of doing 'behind the scenes' work provides more insight into the realities and complexities of healthcare policy than most formal courses.
  • Attend programs sponsored by your professional specialty association. Most regulation centered programs do not count as CME- but they can be worthwhile for your own educational and practical benefit. These presentations are generally well designed and relevant.
  • Take a course in healthcare policy at a local college to fill in the gaps of your regulatory knowledge and to tailor your learning.
  • Use free online resources. Almost everything anyone would ever want to know about healthcare laws, rules, regulations, payment, licensing and so forth is available online. Here are some links to introductory resources to get you started.
  • Consider getting an MBA, healthcare MBA, executive MBA or MPH. So many doctors are getting these extra degrees now, that many administrative positions unofficially require them. In considering whether to get an extra degree, it is important to keep in mind that these programs can provide a mechanism to help you understand healthcare regulation- but they might not. It depends on the curriculum of the program you are considering. There are some advantages to studying for an MBA, a healthcare or executive MBA or an MPH, and these different degrees are not all the same. You should carefully examine the curriculum of several programs to get insight into what the programs have to offer- and then decide whether a program can help you in achieving your objectives. A doctor shares her decision making process and experience with the dual MD/MBA degree.

Overall, expertise in medicine is not enough to catapult you to the next step in your career. The details of regulatory and policy issues are unfamiliar to most healthcare professionals. However, a mastery of these laws and rules is a necessary step if you want to attain a leadership role in the medical world.
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Physician Career Continuum

1/28/2020

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A physician's career is no longer limited to patient care, as it once was. Almost 50% of US medical students envision themselves doing some amount of non-clinical work. There are a variety of ways that doctors can make a great impact. Doctors now can take on jobs with a wider range of responsibilities and can enjoy more roles outside of the clinical setting than ever before. Over the course of a physician's career, an evolving professional structure allows a physician to use a medical background to lead healthcare, influence public policy, educate the public, and cure disease.

Professional career paths
Many physicians have considered exploring non-traditional career paths. Yet, physicians often view a non-clinical career transition as a major life decision. This is in stark contrast to other highly qualified professionals.
The majority of attorneys do not practice trial law and this is not typically thought of as a colossal decision. A significant proportion of nurses transition from one type of job to another, frequently taking leadership roles in health care, a move often viewed as a career advancement. PhDs regularly have multifaceted careers involving a combination of research, teaching, and administrative positions in the scientific and business aspects of industry. These professionals often view different roles as a professional continuum, rather than as 'leaving.' Yet doctors of medicine more often perceive a career shift as a tremendous undertaking, requiring great consideration, and sometimes even justification.
Lack of clear direction
One of the many reasons for the different attitudes regarding career transitions for doctors in comparison to other similar professionals is the lack of clear direction and openness when it comes to discussing the options available for medical doctors. In fact, there are a surprising number of alternative jobs and roles for qualified physicians, dentists, chiropractors and podiatrists. Here is a list of over 50 nonclinical health care jobs. Physicians can be leaders, innovators, business executives, directors, speakers and authors. A physician's career can undergo a continuum of different roles, each with new responsibilities and greater influence than the last.
Doctors can change the course of medicine
When doctors who want to change direction learn about the alternatives and the right routes to achieve their goals, non-clinical physicians can move the course of medicine in the right direction for patients and for practicing physicians. The physician career pathway may not always involve exclusively clinical practice. Doctors who are itching for a change can have a tremendously positive impact on health care and on the world as a whole while achieving new career goals.
Find out if you need to change your career path by re-evaluating your goals and learn how to make the transition if that is the right course of action for you.

Non-clinical work is undoubtedly becoming a direction that more and more young physicians want to take. Given the lack of formal preparation for this path, if you are considering a non-clinical job at any time in the future, you must take the initiative to understand what you have to do to best position yourself for a job in the medical field that is not centered on patient care. Explore nonclinicaldoctors.com and Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine to learn where non-clinical jobs are and to become the best candidate for a nonclinical position.
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Health Care Providers Have Other Options

1/27/2020

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Feeling trapped
Doctors who are unhappy with their work environment can end up feeling trapped.

If you are dissatisfied in clinical practice, it is important to know your options so that you won't miss out on opportunities that could be a better fit for you. Your practice setting may be inefficient, unprofessional, or toxic. If that is the case, you should remember that you are in demand, you can find another job, and you are not trapped.


Building your confidence
Doctor may begin to lose confidence in themselves after working in a negative environment. If you are told that you take too long to document your notes, if your productivity is not meeting targets, if you were not the best resident in your program, or if you can't get into a residency, it can take a toll on how you view your options. Yet, there are doctors who performed at every level on their boards who are extremely successful. Once you begin to realize that you can succeed, you can begin to look beyond your immediate environment and your dissatisfaction.

Knowing your options
If you know that patient care is what you want to do, then you need to seek out different practice options sooner rather than later. For some doctors, non-traditional professional paths can provide more professional satisfaction - and an equal or better salary than patient care. Once you know about your options, you can take the steps to reach your professional goals.

There is a demand for doctors outside of patient care
As medicine is becoming increasingly complex, the healthcare industry is relying more and more on experienced physicians to lead the medical field in roles outside of traditional clinical practice. If you find yourself wishing you had other options as a physician- you may be more suited to a different position within the healthcare field.
Physicians who have the skills and certification to provide patient care can also guide other areas of healthcare- such as the financial, technological, educational, or utilization aspects and more.

Giving yourself permission
There are advantages and disadvantages to every type of job.  But, if you are a physician, you should know that there is nothing wrong with working at a job that would make you happy. And remaining in a job that you don't want to do would only make sense if there were no other options that could provide you with equal or more compensation. However, the vast majority of doctors have other options. There is no reason for a physician to stay in a bad job.
It is important to realize that a physician's career, which spans over 30 years, is a continuum, with options for increasing levels of expertise, promotions, and career pivots. There are a number of ways to serve patients, the community, your family, and your own well being, while earning the income that you aspire to.

Seizing your options
There are not many resources that consolidate all of the non-clinical career alternatives for physicians. That is because the companies and industries that need physicians in non-clinical roles recruit separately based on their own needs and criteria. This makes finding a non-clinical job different than applying for the match- which lists all residency specialties in an easy to find format.

As you explore your options, it is important to remain confident in your abilities, intelligence, skills, and qualifications. When you face rejection or obstacles, remember that most leaders did not achieve their success without hard work and persistence.


You are not trapped in a health care career that you do not want. There are options out there.
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Self-Publishing Tips for Physicians

10/9/2018

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Self-Publishing Tips for Physicians, by George Smolinski MD
I often am asked, “I have a great idea for a book (or alternatively, ‘I have a book I wrote’), how do I publish it?” Publishing a book, like many things in life, can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it, but in today’s world of eBooks and digital media consumption, producing your own book is can be a fairly painless task.
 
Its estimated that over 80% of Americans feel that they have the makings of a great book rumbling around in their brain, but only a select few ever put a pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) and write their book. Part of the reluctance stems from the intimidating nature of trying to get one’s book accepted for publication by a major publishing house, but fortunately in today’s world, there’s an easy work-around. Its called Kindle Direct Publishing.Let’s back up a bit. I’ll take for granted that you already have your book written and edited. That is by far the hardest part, but unless you have a book done already, most of this blog post will unfortunately not apply to you. Assuming you do have your book written, there are several key questions that many people have regarding self-publishing. I’ll answer these in the following paragraphs to help you on your way to self-publishing success.

1.    I have a great book idea, how can I get it in front of a publisher?

This is a superb question, but let’s take a look at some realistic appraisals of the publishing industry. First, although the concept of being picked up by Random House or the like has definite allure, its pretty close to impossible to have your book reviewed and accepted by them. Here’s a fun fact: One of the most successful book series of all time—Harry Potter—was rejected by over a dozen publishers and even the small publisher who did accept it (Bloomsbury) initially rejected the book. It was only when the editor’s eight year old daughter read the first chapter and deemed it worthy that the book was published. In competitive genres like self-help, medical texts, and fiction, its nearly impossible for a publishing house to notice you. As such, I highly recommend that you look at publishing on Kindle (and alternatively, or in addition, iBooks), as their Kindle Direct Publishing and iBooks Author publishing platforms are incredibly easy to use. You simply upload your book, your cover, write up a description for your book, choose your price, and that’s it! That way, your book is guaranteed to be published AND you retain control over pricing, distribution, and promotion. I’ve co-authored a book that covers the details of the Kindle Direct Publishing platform and gives you step-by-step instructions on how to get your book onto Kindle, “How To Publish A Book: Publish on Amazon Kindle with Kindle Direct Publishing & Build Your Business Now!”, available on Amazon by following this link.

2.    How much will it cost me to self-publish a book?
This is a superb question, and the honest answer is “zero dollars to well over $5000 dollars”. In today’s digital age, if you have the skill (or time to learn the skill) to lay out your book into a format accepted by Kindle Direct Publishing (such as a MOBI format) or iBooks (an ePub format) and design your own cover, you can do it yourself! As a matter of fact, I did just that with a children’s book I published myself with my twin sons back in 2013, “The Story Of Jubby Jubby Jow Jow” (Note 1: this is an actual book you can still find on Amazon. Note 2: my sons were 7 when we published this). The layout and cover are very important, as a great-looking book--both inside the book and the cover--will provide your reader with an optimal reading experience. However, if you haven’t the time or skill to do this, you can easily outsource the cover creation and layout of the book. Websites such as Fiverr.com and our own Gutenberg Reloaded site (www.gutenbergreloaded.com) have contractors that can produce a book layout and cover at a reasonable price. Normally, for a great cover and layout, a price of $200-$300 will yield a great looking book and cover design without breaking the bank. Obviously, top designers will charge far more, even into the thousands of dollars for a book cover, but for most self-published authors starting out, that’s a bit out of reach.
3.    How much will I get paid if I write a book?
Yet another great question, and the answer is, “It depends on how hard you want to work!”
Truthfully, when you self-publish a book, there’s numerous options available to help you promote your book, and the better your book is promoted, the more money you’ll earn from royalties. This is a lot of work, but can yield great results if you know how to promote a book effectively. Amazon’s royalty structure for eBooks priced from $2.99 to $9.99 is 70% to the author, 30% to Amazon. That’s a pretty reasonable royalty share, but know that for books from $0.99 to $2.98, the share is only 35% to the author, and 65% to Amazon. But, for even for the baseline $2.99 book, you’ll earn $2.08 for each sale. That may not seem like a lot, but top sellers on Amazon sell dozens, even hundreds of books each day. If you can effectively promote your book (something that we also help folks with), you have a great chance of earning a reasonable amount of money with your book publication.
 
In closing, publishing a book today is easier than ever, and if you’ve already written your book, you’ve done the hardest part! The entire publishing part is simple, straightforward, and by using contractors to outsource the cover and layout design, you can easily get your book published in a very short time. We are always happy to discuss the book publication process and answer questions—please contact us at contact@gutenbergreloaded.com and we’ll be happy to help!
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Burning Bridges

10/5/2018

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Q: I am about to finish my Internal Medicine training and I want to try to find a non-clinical job. I am not sure that will work out, so I am concerned that if I ask for recommendations from my attendings, they will see me as less dedicated to clinical medicine, and I will lose my chances at good recommendations for clinical jobs if I need them.

A: You don’t need to worry about your attendings seeing you as less dedicated if you ask for letters of recommendations for more than one job or for more than one type of job.
It is typical and in your best interest to evaluate several options before you accept your first job offer. Unless you have specifically heard your attending criticizing a particular work environment, you should not worry.
However, sometimes it can be best to ask an attending who may have observed you in one setting (as a senior resident on the wards for example) recommend you for one type of position while another attending who has observed you in another setting (presenting grand rounds) recommend you for another type of position. For example, if you are applying for a job at a medical consulting company, you may want to ask for a recommendation from a faculty member who saw your work when you volunteered on a hospital committee. If you are applying for a job in a substance abuse treatment setting, you might want to ask for a recommendation from a faculty member who supervised your interaction with difficult patients.
An important factor to keep in mind is that regardless or whom you list as a reference, future employers are more likely to call their acquaintances in the department where you are doing your training- even those who you have not listed as references.

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I Finished my Pre-Med Undergraduate Degree and Now I Changed My Mind

10/4/2018

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If you are a biology, chemistry or health sciences major with a pre-med mindset in college and then changed your mind, you might feel a bit lost right now. Colleges report that between 45%-65% of entering pre-med freshman are no longer pre-med at the time of graduation.

Students who change their minds about a future in medicine might do so at a number of different stages in the pre-med process. Some students change their minds about a future in medicine right before medical school applications are due, some after acceptance into medical school, and some after starting medical school and realizing that it isn't a good fit.

I feel like a loser
This stage in life is tough if you have already spent years studying science - and you suddenly feel unqualified to do anything. If you are also worried about disappointing your parents who expected you to become a doctor, you might have the added stress of needing to select another path with a 'wow' factor. Another nagging feeling is the feeling that you might always be labeled as 'not being able to get into medical school.' In fact, there are a number of physicians I have interviewed over the years who attended medical school just to prove that they were smart enough to tackle the challenging program.

However, it is important to realize that if your heart is not in it, you are unlikely to be content with continuing in a medical career day in and day out for the next 50 years. There are several good approaches for you at this point. Spending a little time re-evaluating your goals is vital at this stage and can help you decide which, if any, aspects of your undergraduate science education you want to use in your future before you start on your next steps.

There are some key questions you might want to ask yourself at this point:
*Do I want to work with sick people?
*Do I want to study health and disease?
*Do I want to develop patience with people when they are scared?
*Do I want to learn to comfort emotional and agitated people?

If you answered yes to the questions above, you might still enjoy and succeed at a health services career that is not an MD.
Health services careers include:
  • Dentist - more specialized than an MD right from the beginning of graduate school
  • Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine - similar to MD, but more focus on wellness
  • Nurse - very hands-on with patients
  • Chiropractor - focus on joint and spine health through hands-on procedures
  • Podiatrist - more specialized than an MD right from the beginning of graduate school
  • Physical therapist - focus on exercise and rehabilitation
  • Physician assistant - can independently see patients and write prescriptions, some specialization
  • Dietitian - prescribes caloric and nutritional instructions
  • Science PhD - research in the sciences
  • Geneticist
Non-health job path
If you answered no to all of the questions above, then a student internship can be a great next step. Even an unpaid internship can help you immensely in deciding whether your 'dream job' - journalist? trader? financial analyst? business owner? designer? - is as great in real life as it sounds.

Whether or not you end up formally using your science degree, having had a STEM major in your undergraduate years will be of benefit to you because of the rigor and the different skills that you need to use to succeed while studying science during college. You still have a world of opportunities ahead of you, and reassessing your plan after 4-6 years as a pre-med will not be as big a setback to you in the long run as it may feel right now!
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Writing a Book

10/1/2018

1 Comment

 
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One of the most frequent comments that I hear from doctors is, “I really want to write a book.”
I had the same feeling a few years ago when I wanted to write a book for doctors about the subject of non-clinical careers. But I did not know where to begin. When I was starting something completely new to me, I was fortunate enough to receive some great advice and guidance from trustworthy people in the publishing industry along the way. If you are thinking about writing a book, here are several points you need to think about.

Why do you want to write a book?
  • Do you have a creative story, a personal story or useful information that you want to share with others? Do you want to write fiction or non-fiction?
  • Do you have enough information to write a whole book (at least 50,000 words) or just enough for an article (350-2000 words) or to create your own  blog (5000-50,000 words)?
  • Do you want to write a book because you want to provide information for others, because you want to make money from book sales or because you want to promote and market yourself or your business? Rank these three in order and always keep your priorities for writing a book in mind to help you stay on task.
  • Would you be willing to pay to self-publish your book, or do you want to have it published through a professional publisher?
Professional Publishing
It can be very difficult to get a publisher to look at your book idea. You must have a well-written proposal. I have already had many doctors tell me, ‘I just want to run this great idea by a publisher.’ If you are not already an established author, it is not easy to get a publisher to listen to your idea. You must have an excellent, well-written, clear and flawless book proposal.
Self Publishing
It is a good idea to look into self-publishing before you approach a publisher so that you can get a handle on the cost of getting a book in print. Calculate the costs of editing, printing, marketing etc. Estimate how many copies of your book will sell. Do you think your book would be profitable if you self publish it? Any publisher will do the same calculations; so think the numbers through even if you prefer to write your book using a publisher.
Building a Brand
Consider starting by writing an article about your topic of interest. Then gauge reader's comments and interest in your topic as you construct your book proposal. You can consider submitting an article to nonclinicaldoctors.com to see if you are ready to hear reader's responses to your writing. (article submission guidelines here.)
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Solutions Based Approach

9/26/2018

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Solutions Based Approach to Medical Career Problems
It seems to be a recent trend in the media to feature stories of doctors who are going broke, being driven to despair, and quitting what used to be viewed as an altruistic and rewarding profession. The news articles and segments certainly feature accurate depictions of disillusioned and unhappy doctors, but there is more to a medical career than despair.

The practice of medicine, not unlike many professions, is undergoing a transformation. While there are definitely too many unproductive cooks in the kitchen trying to grab a piece of the ever-shrinking healthcare pie, there are other developments in medicine besides the worsening bureaucratic crisis.
Face the Fact that Medicine is Changing
Medicine is also experiencing some positive changes stemming from advances in science, technology, public health and patient knowledge and empowerment. Any doctor who imagines that over a fifty year career in medicine, he or she will not be required to attain new knowledge and skills is in for a very unpleasant reality.

Whether it is adapting clinical practice to constantly improving devices and medical therapeutics or learning to use unfamiliar patient records or dealing with new and often temporary policies on multiple levels- it is the physician who is able to easily adapt and roll with the punches who will thrive.

Changes in rules, regulations and organizational structures of health care will continue to cycle, twist and turn, while the reality of the demand for caring, compassionate and capable doctors will remain constant. The challenge for doctors is to continue to improve competence, always providing the best care, while understanding and, more importantly, taking the initiative, to actively shape and influence the peripheral factors that encompass patient care.

There are ways you can adapt to the changes in medicine without losing your mind!
*Keeping up with regulations is one of the most effective ways to manage a healthcare career. Find out how to increase your regulations know-how here.
*Recognizing that a medical career is a continuum instead of a static destination can help you throughout your whole career path. There is more than one way for a doctor to make a difference.
*Periodically re-evaluating your professional goals can help you redirect your career if necessary.
*Know your options. As medicine changes, it is crucial for doctors tohave a grasp of the range of professional options. You might want to remain in patient care and adapt to the changes in healthcare. Or you might want to leave patient care as you adapt to the changes in health care. Either way, the one factor that will not change is that every doctor must adapt to the changes that are affecting in health care.
Medicine is NOT all doom and gloom. There are solutions for the bumps in the road of a medical career.
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Can you be a good mom and a good doctor at the same time?

9/20/2018

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Recent polls suggest that  physician mothers of young children are more likely to feel torn between home and work than mothers of teenagers or young adults. Nevertheless, most successful physicians who are mothers of older kids did not suddenly get there overnight. They were, at one time, mommies of babies too! Mom MD's of older children often have good advice to share. However, one of the comments that I have heard from physician-mothers of older kids is that it seems to be getting harder to manage the combination of parenthood with being a physician than it used to be. Some of the reasons that maintaining a clinical practice while raising a family is so difficult for moms in recent years is that some things have changed with the times while other things haven't.

Some Things Have Changed...
Licensing and board certification exams
The years in your life when you are studying for certification exams are often the same years that you find yourself sleepless with young babies and sick kids who wake up at all hours of the night. This makes it tough to carve out dedicated study time in between work and caring for your family, much less to concentrate on studying during that time. On top of all this, re-certification is a new requirement that is more time consuming than ever before. 

Documentation
Paperwork and regulatory requirements require a different mindset than patient care and take your focus away from your core duties as a physician. The threat of being accused of improper billing if you forget to hit 'save' on just one of your EMR notes is enough to make you double and triple check everything you do. While that level of compulsiveness is admirable, we are trained as physicians to be compulsive in checking patients' electrolytes and medication doses. This reality of additional administrative/documentation responsibilities divides physician attention at work.

Some Things Haven't Changed...
Persistent gender roles

Dads want to be equal partners at home. While modern dads have made great strides in caring for young children, the work environments of modern dads have not caught up with the 2 working parent reality. Most workplaces are not any more accommodating of a dad's participation in child care than workplaces of the past. In fact, many would point out that the demands of high powered positions and mid-level jobs provide tenuous job security and are more stringent than ever, making it scary for fathers to request flexible schedules in order to share responsibility for kids in a 2 parent working family.

You can make it work
Regardless of the factors sabotaging physician mothers, there are numerous ways for physicians to balance work and family. As you evaluate your future goals as a physician, know that you have unlimited options and that nothing you aspire to is out of reach. Leaning In is not only about working as much as you can. It is about making your own work situation work for you.

Business Know-How
Women earn less than men in most professions, including medicine. One of the most important tools you need to have in order to be a better negotiator is an understanding of the economic and regulatory factors that come into play in the world of healthcare. This means diving right in and unraveling the complicated financial matters and reimbursement situation at work. It may take months or even years of 'self study' to understand the complexities of where your value comes from. But, once you master the language and the details of the business of medicine, you position yourself as a better negotiator.

Collaboration
Teamwork is about more than just getting the job done. Being a doctor who is trusted by other physicians and other healthcare providers goes beyond strong patient care skills. We all appreciate camaraderie and we are more likely to work well with others who are gracious and understanding in the work setting, rather than threatening or accusatory. It is a subtle, almost subconscious response to avoid those who are judgmental and hostile. Working well with others while maintaining patient safety is a delicate balance that makes the daily work of a physician smoother.
Keep Long Term Goals in Mind
Being a doctor is a great privilege. Women physicians need to take hold of opportunities to become leaders in health care. The physician career can have many stages, including clinical practice, but not excluding other options such as leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation. Understand that a physician career is a continuum of education, clinical practice, leadership, and creativity. You have the power to take your career in any direction you want to- at any time.

Know Your Options
Physicians have so many career options. Knowing your options is a critical part of planning how to set the stage to reach your goals. And it is an important part of being able to choose the right job without 'settling' for a position that is not really fulfilling your professional and personal goals.
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    How To Find A Non Clinical Job
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    Contents

    • There is more than one way to be a doctor
    • Additional income sources for doctors
    • The path to a non-clinical physician job
    • Teaching jobs for physicians
    • Managing your finances as an independent contractor
    • Is a non-clinical job right for you?
    • Becoming qualified for a non-clinical job
    • Other options for healthcare providers
    • Regulations know-how
    • Job search mistakes to avoid
    • Creating a website
    • Physician career continuum
    • Feeling trapped in medicine
    • Read this before you drop out if residency
    • Should you take the USMLE if you don't want patient care?
    • A health writing career
    • Health article guidelines
    • How to self publish a book
    • Burning bridges
    • I don't want to be pre-med anymore
    • Writing a book​
    • What are your priorities?
    • Solutions to medical career frustration
    • Quiz-do you want to leave medicine?
    • Solutions for physician mothers
    • Top 10 signs that you need to find a non-clinical job
    • I Know a doctor who seems miserable
    • Career management for the modern physician
    • 7 tips for marketing your book

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