For new physicians to succeed in practice, they need to learn some non-medical lessons.
When Ben Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes are the only things that are guaranteed in life,” he was mostly right. But he forgot to mention, also certain, is that every June freshly trained physicians leave the secure nest of residency or fellowship and go out into the real world. Typically, more than 99% of the advice and education a newbie provider receives is geared towards providing patients with the latest technology, the newest techniques and upholding ethical decision-making. But this recipe for success is missing a key ingredient: How to make non-medical decisions such as how to run a practice, buy technology, scale your clinic volume efficiently or even consider how to own your practice.
This missing ingredient quickly becomes a free pass for the new provider to simply declare, “We were never taught business in medical school” whenever confronted with the need to make these crucial, but non-medical decisions. This truth is both an excuse and a reality. Early in my career, I found the best advice came from bumper stickers that counseled me to “Be the person I talked about in my college essay” or the “person that my dog thinks I am.” Now that another June has arrived, again with certainty, here is my advice for my current fellow and all her colleagues venturing out to create the next generation of ophthalmologists. Knowing hindsight is 20/20, let’s explore some key tips that I would give my younger self.
ALLOCATE TIME TO LEARN SOME BASIC BUSINESS CONCEPTS
Most doctors think business means chasing money or being greedy. In reality, it’s about optimizing operations, budgets, communication and establishing goals that often empower you to create meaningful growth for your practice. Embracing even basic business concepts by no means implies that you need to take an accounting class or pursue an MBA. Instead, simply take baby steps by learning ways to create opportunities and optimize your work. This can be easily accomplished during your commute or at other random times by listening to business podcasts or reading some classic books such as “Good to Great” (by James C. Collins) or “Thinking in Bets” (by Annie Duke). Understanding the language and thought processes that drive those responsible for budget and operations in your practice will allow you to best communicate your needs to advocate for your role within the practice. This education doesn’t take much time and it will decrease stress, allow you to see your work in a different light and create a positive experience for you and your patients as you build your practice, alone or within a larger group.
ACT LIKE THE CEO OF YOUR CLINIC, NOT AN EMPLOYEE
Work on your practice, not for it. Often providers start practice feeling paralyzed to make non-medical decisions. They adapt to “what has always been done,” such as adapting the schedule of a senior doctor because they don’t want to make waves. Only you will truly know what’s happening on the “streets” of your practice, and it is crucial you recognize how important it is to find ways to optimize your time and ability to care for patients. Empower yourself to drive decision-making beyond medical care — it will significantly impact your ability to work. Think like an owner rather than an employee. Be the CEO of your schedule, clinic and all things related to the care you provide. Go out of your way to create regular meetings — especially when things are going well — to build understanding and strong relationships so you can constantly fine-tune your clinic.
When serious problems do come up, these relationships will result in those problems being resolved quickly rather than snowballing. Communication is the key and finding a cadence for meetings is the answer.
FIND YOUR PEOPLE
It is the instinct of any physician to hide in the exam room, because all our training is geared toward patient care. However, with minimal effort, a physician can become proactive in finding other providers within your office, on your platform or private equity group, or within an association to talk about non-clinical ideas, brainstorm novel ideas on topics such as clinic flow or just have someone to share concerns about your work life. What you will realize is that your problems are very similar to others’. Most importantly, you will realize you don’t need to reinvent anything — just listen to other ideas and then make them your own, but better.
This effort involves seeking engagement with community associations, actively asking others to meet for lunch or coffee, and going on “field trips” to see other practices. This all takes time, but just the anxiety of practicing alone is easily offset by the effort to create a peer group for support. At the end of your career, you reflect on these relationships and cherish them as much as your time caring for patients.
TRUST YOUR GUT
Don’t be concerned when you see things nobody else does. Sure, it is intimidating to be the only one doing something novel in your practice. But, at some point, you will realize something your coworkers are not “getting” or you will be intrigued by a technology even though it is not integrated into many practices yet. Keep in mind that if everyone waited until “everyone is doing it,” nothing would ever change. Do your homework and read the studies, then don’t be afraid to act if you are certain it is the right thing to do. Instinct is a collection of all your prior experiences and your consciousness is what is trying to guide you.
Of course, a cardinal rule is to always make decisions that medically benefit patients and never ones based on financial gain. The money will follow but is fueled by your passion for the change and its impact on better patient care. Test your instincts by starting small; success will then allow you to build up to even larger, better decisions.
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A HELPFUL THING
Don’t blink. Before you know it, you too will be the senior doctor reflecting on pearls to share with the next generation. It will start when one day you are no longer able to understand the language a new associate is using, such as “no cap” or “rizz.” I have no clue how “low key” could ever be used in a sentence. But I do know that learning some basic language of the business world will allow you to leverage your medical knowledge and this, of course, is “no cap.” OM
