NPR: Young Doctors Weigh In On Health Care

I want to thank my friend Roland for pointing me to this link. There's an interesting NPR segment titled, "Young Doctors Weigh In On Health Care." Here's the description of the clip:

"Two young doctors, just finishing up their residencies, discuss the decisions behind their career choices. Nicole Loeding is going into primary care, while Brian Southern, after becoming disillusioned with primary care, has chosen pulmonary critical care."

How do medical students choose their specialties? Why do some decide to pursue a career in primary care? As we go through healthcare reform, will the interest in primary care increase or decrease? Will more physicians choose to leave clinical practice to pursue non-clinical careers?

The 8 minute NPR segment is interesting, but perhaps what's more interesting are the 12 comments that discuss physician salaries. So how much do primary care doctors make? It really depends on your geography and your patient volume. To access the NPR segment, click here.

Preview My New Book

Do you want a preview? This is still a very rough draft, but here's a small preview of my new book (which is currently in draft form - I'm working on Chapter 6):
A Taste of Chapter 1 from My Book

Currently, I plan to use Lulu.com to publish my book once it's ready.

Top Posts Last Week

Here are the top posts for last week:

1. Double Hand Transplant!

2. AMA on Ethics and CME

3. Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

4. Health Data Hacked at UC Berkeley

5. Living and Dying in an Iron Lung

Top Content Last Week

Top content for the last week:

1. Double Hand Transplant!

2. Autism and the Amygdala

3. Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

4. Face Transplant Photos

5. Non-Clinical Careers and Opportunities for Physicians

6. Face Transplant and Microsurgery

7. Hacked: Medical Data on 8 Million Virginia Residents

8. What if Some Medical Myths Were True?

More People Getting Interested in Non-Clinical Opportunities

I seem to be meeting more and more people who have questions about non-clinical opportunities in medicine. I'm not talking about specialties that involve the least amount of patient interactions like pathology. I mean that people want to leave the clinical setting and enter the world of business. Or, they want to work for themselves and do some medical writing. For those of you who have an interest in non-clinical jobs and opportunities in medicine, I encourage you to subscribe to my updates on my blog that is dedicated to this topic: http://www.nonclinicaljobs.com

Blogging for Supplemental Income

You've probably heard that you can make money by blogging. It's a great non-clinical opportunity if you enjoy writing. But how do you get started? What type of blog should you create? Can you make more if you write a medical blog? These are some of the questions that I often get asked.

Blogging can be a hobby (that may result in some supplemental income) or it can be a full-time career. There are people who have left six-figure salaries to go into full-time blogging. Remember the story about the nephrologist Arnold Kim who left his clinical practice to be a full-time blogger? I'm sure that KevinMD also makes a significant amount of money through his blog. I often wonder if he will leave clinical medicine to devote his time fully to his writing.

Blogging is a great option for retired physicians and other healthcare professionals who enjoy writing about different things. Keep in mind that the largest revenue generator are advertisements. However, there are other unique opportunities if you capture the right audience with your blogs.

To get started, I suggest that you use Blogger on Google. It's free and easy to create a Google account. Plus, after you create your blog, you can use Google Analytics to see what type of traffic you're getting on your blog. Many people also use WordPress for their blogs.

Join a FREE Social Network of Non-Clinical Healthcare Professionals

We currently have 487 members on the free social network titled, "Non-Clinical Healthcare Professionals." My hope is that we'll reach over 500 members by the end of this month. There are many new and exciting things that I'm working on to help those of you who may be looking for non-clinical job opportunities, supplemental income, and complete career changes into the non-clinical world. Right now, there are many jobs in Health IT (information technology), but you may not feel like you have the right skills and training for that industry. I may be able to help you with that. Join the FREE network and tell others about it so that we may collaborate and help each other find the right types of opportunities.

Interview With a Pharma/Biotech Recruiter

If you've been interested in getting a non-clinical job in pharma (pharmaceuticals) or biotech (biotechnology), you may not know where to begin, especially if you've only been in clinical practice and/or academia. You may have questions that you want to ask, like "How do I break into pharma?"

Well, I have the unique opportunity of interviewing a seasoned pharma/biotech recruiter who has extensive experience working in HR (human resources) at several major pharma/biotech companies. This individual has also interacted heavily with various executive search firms (or head hunters if you prefer) and can provide some practical tips and advice.

I'd like to give you the opportunity to ask your questions to this individual. Please either e-mail me your questions or post them as comments. Once I collect a handful of questions, I will post the responses in a Q&A format.

Improvements at NonClinicalJobs.com

Over the last few years, I've been approached by many physicians and other clinicians who are looking for either full-time or part-time non-clinical jobs (either as a complete career change or to find for some supplemental income). As a result, I've decided to leverage my personal contacts in the healthcare industry to provide a platform where employers and employees can come together.

Stay tuned by frequently visiting NonClinicalJobs.com and telling others about the FREE non-clinical healthcare network. We currently have almost 500 members registered on that growing network.

Bio Pharma Career Fairs

There are several different BioSpace career fairs coming up in bio/pharma. If you've been interested in a non-clinical medical career, then you may want to visit one of these events. If you're a student waiting to graduate, you may find some exciting opportunities at these events:

BioCapital Career Fair
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 11am to 4pm
Hyatt Regency Bethesda
Bethesda, Maryland

BIO Career Fair
Monday, May 18, 2009, 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Georgia World Congress Center
Thomas B. Murphy Ballroom
Atlanta, GA

For more info, visit: http://www.biocareerfair.org/

Health 2.0 Meets Ix

The Health 2.0 Conference and the Center for Information Therapy (Ix®) are having their first joint conference this year. It's coming up in a few weeks in one of my favorite cities: Boston, MA. April 22-23, 2009 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. How do you define Health 2.0? As this industry grow, more and more jobs and opportunities are becoming for clinicians who wish to shape the future of Health 2.0

Most Popular Content: Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

The most popular content on my blog over the last few weeks has been this article that I wrote last summer: Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

I suppose it's a catch title, since there are some medical students who simply don't want to go through residency. I didn't write this to encourage students not to enter residency. Instead, the purpose was really to help inform students about some of their options if they decide that clinical medicine isn't the right fit for them.

Health IT is an Integral Part of Healthcare Reformation

We will probably see some significant changes to the healthcare system in the next few years. The big push is on Health IT or HITECH, so let's see how doctors and other clinicians adopt to all this change. We all know that Health IT will play a major role in healthcare reform. The bigger question is: how will clinicians adjust to the changes in medicine and technology? Will they become more productive or will they reluctantly adapt so they don't get penalized? There are non-clinical jobs in health IT for clinicians who have that level of interest. Are you qualified?

Making the Non-Clinical Transition

I often get asked, "how do you make the transition into the non-clinical world? Isn't it risky?" The answer is that change can be risky. But, you have to be certain of your talents and interests. If you find yourself very dissatisfied working in clinical medicine, then ask yourself why you're dissatisfied. I try to encourage people to look for another opportunity in clinical medicine where the work-life balance might be a better fit. Many physicians who wish to leave clinical medicine are simply burned out and they need a break. If that's you, then make sure you take a break and be comprehensive as you plan your future. It's important to remember that it can be very difficult to re-enter clinical medicine after you leave.

7th Annual MD/MBA Conference

7th Annual MD/MBA Conference in Dayton OH
When: April 17-19, 2009
Where: Wright State University School of Medicine and College of Business
Want to learn more about this event? Click here.

You may think that most people who pursue a combined MD/MBA plan to pursue non-clinical careers, but that may not be true. An MBA can be very beneficial to help you run a more efficient practice or hospital. If you stop to think about it, medical management is really a form of business administration, so if you're properly equipped, you'll be better at it.

Many Questions Related to Residency and Non-Clinical Careers

I've received quite a few questions recently on the Student Doctor Network about residency, clinical medicine, and careers in non-clinical medicine. Here's the bottom line: you'll have many more career opportunities if you complete a residency and become board-certified in a medical or surgical specialty. Of course, if you're stuck in the middle of a very long residency and you really don't enjoy your work, then you may want to consider switching to a shorter one. You can still find opportunities if you don't complete a residency, but make sure to do your research so that you understand your options.

Also, you don't need an MPH or an MBA to succeed in the non-clinical world. Although these degrees help, they aren't necessary.

Consulting for McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group

It seems like many students who pursue a joint MD/MBA want to get a consulting job at McKinsey & Company. Who wouldn't? I've known several people who have worked at McKinsey and I'm always fascinated by the unique stories associated with the McKinsey culture. I've also met medical school graduates who have pursued opportunities at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG, not to be confused with the BCG vaccine). So what about you? Do you have strong interests in the business/consulting industry? If you're pre-med, are you planning on pursuing an MD/MBA program? As I look back on my education, I often wonder whether I would have pursued a combined MD/MBA. Since I lacked "real world" working experience before applying to medical school, I think I would have been lost in business school. Had a been a non-traditional student who had worked for several years prior to applying to medical school, then I would have seriously considered a combined MD/MBA program.

Top Content in March 2009

According to Google Analytics, my post on "Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience" had the highest amount of traffic. I often get asked about this on the Student Doctor Network, so I see that many people are also finding this content helpful.

My post on "Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians" is still very popular among site visitors. I hope that most people recognize that I've created a site dedicated to the topic of non-clinical jobs and opportunities for doctors and other healthcare professionals. You can find it here: www.NonClinicalJobs.com

Why Do I Write About Non-Clinical Opportunities for Physicians?

Why do I write about non-clinical opportunities for physicians? After all, I may be helping others who will may be competing against me for certain job positions, right? If I help, educate, and train all these doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and nurses to fill non-clinical roles, then what will I do when it comes time for me to make a transition? What's the purpose of this site?

Well, I think one of the main reasons why I have this site is so that I can help those who feel lost during that time of transition. I've seen many people go through medical school, hate clinical medicine, and realize that they need other options. They feel lost and confused. They need someone to talk to, but they're unable to find the right person who can provide advice, guidance, and counseling. I hope to provide some of that help to individuals who seek information. I recognize that I can't answer all the questions that come my way, but I'm well connected with other physicians who may be able to help. I want to help. After all, isn't that what made us pursue medicine in the first place?

Non-Clinical Jobs on Sermo

I've started seeing more non-clinical jobs posted on Sermo these days. If you're looking for a total change in your career, you may want to take a look at some jobs in medical communications, marketing, consulting, and pharma/biotech. The Sermo job board typically lists clinical jobs, but occasionally you'll see some non-clinical opportunities. If you're a US physician, I encourage you to join Sermo.