Hi, this is Dr K from imedicalschool and today we are going to talk about life after residency.
In medical school and training, your focus is gaining skills and knowledge to be an effective
doctor, but unfortunately, we are not taught how to navigate life after residency.
In this series, we will talk about some key points on finding your first job as a physician
out of training.
Make sure to check out our free educational content on our youtube channel imedicalschool.
If you like what you hear make sure to like, share, and subscribe.
Life after residency, yeah, wow
You have spent countless hours and sleepless nights getting through medical school and
residency to now be faced with probably one of the most important decisions you will make,
finding your first job as a doctor.
Today we are going to talk about the three questions to ask to find your ideal job.
Up until this point from getting into college, medical school, and residency you have been
trying to get into certain schools or programs.
Finding your first job as a doctor is completely different.
Now you are interviewing practices or hospitals to see if they fit you and whether you will
be happy with them.
The reason this is important to remember is that finding a job that makes you happy will
set you up for a successful career.
Let’s go over some basic questions to ask yourself.
The first question to ask is what is your ideal job?
Ideally, my ideal job would be lounging on a tropical private island but no one is going
to pay me to do that.
To identify your ideal job you do have to base it in reality.
Think about what type of job you want.
We broadly categorize jobs as academic versus private practice versus hospital-employed.
However, over the past two decades, there have been dramatic changes in the types of
physician jobs.
In residency, every resident pretty much had the same job, but once you start your career
you will find out how different your job is compared to your peers you completed training
with.
Taking all of this into account it is important to understand whether a more academic-oriented
job versus a non-academic job is right for you.
Do you want to be involved in research or teaching?
You do not have to be in an academic setting to do research or to teach, but in the academic
setting research and teaching benchmarks are a part of how you are evaluated.
In private practice or private hospital-employed positions, you can do research and teach but
these are generally outside the normal workday and are usually not linked to your salary.
In private practice versus hospital-employed positions, there are pros and cons for both
areas.
In private practice, you will develop significant autonomy as you should eventually become a
part-owner of the practice, if you are not starting the practice on your own.
In private practice, you potentially can have different income streams such as lab services,
pathology services, surgical centers, and anesthesia services.
On the flip side you must be business-oriented and dedicate time, in addition to your clinical
work, to learn and understand the business aspect of a medical practice.
This includes understanding reimbursement or billing, payroll for employees, insurance
company contracts to how you are taxed as a business.
Now your required depth of knowledge may vary depending on how large your group is but understanding
how your business works is key.
While it may seem like a lot of work, the independence and feeling of owning or being
a partner in your business can be quite rewarding.
Hospital employed positions have the advantage of being able to do clinical work without
worrying about the business side nearly as much.
In addition, you do not need to market your practice as referrals come from within the
hospital system so you never need to worry about not having patients.
On the flip side, there is significant bureaucracy in a hospital system and this can be good
or bad.
If you have great administrators, as I have at my job, it can make working enjoyable.
On the other hand, if you have a bad administrative team it can lead to job dissatisfaction, burnout,
and added stress.
Fortunately, a lot of hybrid jobs have developed that blur the line between academic and non-academic
jobs, so as long as you do your homework you will find a job that meets your needs.
Defining an ideal job is not just about the details of the job but also about the environment
you will practice in.
Do you want to practice in a city, suburb, or a rural setting?
Practicing in each environment has its benefits and drawbacks.
Not only will each setting present you with different clinical experiences but this can
also affect compensation.
Typically in cities compensation will be less, relative to cost of living, versus suburban
or rural areas.
The cost of living is very important both in how you live day to day and how much you
are able to save.
The higher the cost of living the more of your income you will spend on day to day expenses.
On the other hand areas with a higher cost of living tend to have more things to do in
addition to many other benefits, so there is always a tradeoff.
Take a weekend and just write down your thoughts about your ideal job and give yourself time
to think about what you really want.
The next question is what do those you care about want?
For some of you when you started medical school and when you finished training there have
been dramatic changes in your personal and family life.
For me, I got married and had my first child so there was a lot to think about when choosing
my first job as an attending.
It is really important to understand what your significant other and family needs to
be happy.
To tease out these answers, think about where your family wants to live?
Does the type of weather matter?
Do you want to be close to family?
If your spouse is a physician or has another profession can they get a job?
Is the area a good place to raise children?
It is really important to involve your significant other into the job search process to help
you find not only your ideal job but an environment where your family can also flourish.
The last question to ask is “what should I expect from my job?”.
It is really important to understand what to expect for compensation and benefits.
What does the average physician in your field make?
How does the compensation differ from one setting to another?
I remember being driven in a car to an interview dinner and being handed my potential compensation
package.
At first the salary was amazing, but when you're in training any job’s compensation
can look like a good deal.
Once I did my homework I had a better understanding about how to judge an offer.
This is important to discuss because you do not want to invest time in getting to know
a practice or hospital that does not plan on compensating you fairly, so know your worth.
Probably, at this point in your training, you are getting recruiter emails about potential
positions.
These can be great resources as the information drops right into your lap to review.
Reviewing these emails can provide some insight as to what compensation is looking like in
your field and what benefits to ask for.
Another great resource is those that have recently graduated from your training program.
Talking with those that are a year ahead of you will give you incredible insight on the
mistakes to avoid when searching for a job.
Alternative options are looking at journals as many of them display ads.
Lastly check out sites like practicematch.com, practicelink.com, or careermd to find more
positions and information.
Writing down the benefits and details of each job is very helpful.
Comparing each position using this method will give you a realistic evaluation of what
job is right for you.
Well those are the highlights of how to begin your job search as you are leaving residency.
Remember the three key steps are to understand what you need in a job to be happy, what your
family needs to be happy, and understanding compensation.
With these three steps you will be able to find your ideal job quite easily.
In the next episode we will talk about contracts and what to look out for.
If you have any questions about any of this information, place them down below and I will
be sure to answer them.
If you like our content, make sure to like, share, and subscribe..
This is Dr. K and I will see you next time.