Key Takeaways from Medscape’s 2019 Physician Compensation Report

According to Medscape’s annual Physician Compensation Report, overall physician compensation has been increasing despite the changing political and economic healthcare environment.

Physician Job Search: How to “Find the Right Fit”

Make a list of the non-negotiables in work and career— and don’t shortchange your goals in service to a paycheck. Most physicians work well over the standard 40-hour work week and still take their work home with them; it’s in our best interest to ensure we choose our work environment wisely.

Self-actualization in Medicine Part 2: Identifying Potential Complications

Doctors, especially long-established doctors, are tempted to treat their junior partners like children. It’s a variation on the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and senior physicians are self-appointed gurus for how you should practice medicine. It’s not dictatorial or mean-spirited, however. You must remember an established practice has a good reputation for good reasons. Nevertheless, senior physicians expect their subordinates to be obedient and productive and not upset the course of the practice.

When intolerable limitations aren’t known before committing to a practice, they can brew like an ugly abscess, inflamed and painful. It’s no fun being the foreign body that initiates a practice’s innate immune system against you. This is a psychological burden that is unexpected while you’re trying balance risks vs benefits, follow a therapeutic flow sheet, or even concoct an empiric regimen. Can this burden be avoided? Just what are the warning signals?

Self-actualization in Medicine Part 1: Your Hierarchy of Needs

When you are a new doctor jumping on board an established practice, it is expected that you subscribe to a way of doing things. Maybe these ways are right or maybe they’re wrong. Can you abide them or can the practice abide your not abiding them? You’ve always dreamed of how you would treat, educate, and relate to patients, and a well-oiled machine (i.e., an established practice) invites no torpedoes. Sometimes you must draw the line right away if you think there are dangers to patients or unethical practices. When your moral compass points south, it takes no time before you walk out the door. Other times you assimilate without difficulty; at some point, however, you will want to be your own person, your own doctor. Will you be a torpedo or an additional gear in the well-oiled machine?

Today’s Career Choices in Medicine: Chaotic Systems

What do you want to be when you grow up? Almost no one ends up being the type of doctor he or she was at the beginning. Private practice physicians end up as hospitalists, soloists end up in large groups, […]

Physician Satisfaction in Employed Settings

The Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2015 was recently published, stating, “Last year saw some modest good news for most physicians.” More than 19,500 physicians, across 25 specialties, responded to Medscape’s compensation survey. The report addresses compensation, hours worked, changes in […]