NonClinical Careers for Physicians™ Podcast

Podcast Comment/QuestionPhysicians tend to be logical thinkers who follow logical mostly linear pathways to solve problems and to be successful. However, that thought process can stymie successful transitions to interesting and rewarding nonclinical jobs. After all, leaving practice is a decidedly non-linear activity. So, don't try to make it one. Think creatively to make the most of your nonclinical career transition.

Podcast Comment/QuestionFor as long as I've been in this business, and the title of my very first podcast five years ago, the question I'm most asked by physicians is, what's out there. As I explain in person as well as in my podcasts, what's out there is the wrong question. Listen to learn why it is the wrong question, and learn what are the right questions.

Podcast Comment/QuestionFailure is not a word you want to hear when planning to leave clinical practice, but physician career transitions to fail. The reasons are simple, and you actually know each one. After all, career transitions fail for the same reasons patients fail in their recovery, fail to avoid avoidable disease, fail to thrive. Listen to this podcast and you'll understand. Listen and you may be better able to answer your own question, "Will my career transition be successful?"

Podcast Comment/QuestionIn a hurry? Want your new job yesterday? You've come to the right place - NOT. Nonclinical career change or transition is not the same as securing a "next" clinical post. It's a different process, requiring different skills and a significantly different timeline. But, once you understand the process - much like a patient realizing that recovery from any disease or procedure does take time, you'll be able to shape your expectations appropriately.

Podcast Comment/QuestionFrom working with the Big 4 to Boutique firms, you do have choice, and a choice may be to be your on consultancy. What format is best for you is a decision you can make and one you can also modify. Regardless, whether in an organization or on your own, you will need to define your brand as a foundation for your demand. But, once your your way, managing your business will be come more important as you determine your growth, your change, and your future.

Podcast Comment/QuestionBeing a consultant requires a range of skills. Some are very task oriented, some derive from emotional intelligence and some are just about, as in medicine, following proven principles and processes. Let's jump start your consulting career with this advice. 

Podcast Comment/QuestionFrom defining consulting and consultants to understanding a successful consulting business structure to taking the right steps to be able to state your preferred consulting focus, this is the first of a series of podcasts predicated on transition from medical practice to the world of consulting. 

Podcast Comment/QuestionThis is the sequel I Just Lost My License. In this podcast I speak to the next steps in establishing a nonclinical career.

Podcast Comment/QuestionIf you've lost your license you need to take definitive action to understand your situation, the actions and work required to determine the status of the actions taken against your license and, the big question, what's next. You need expert advice most likely from a seasoned attorney with intense experience in addressing licensure issues with physicians. This podcast addresses those needs and presents possible ramifications of not taking appropriate actions to help yourself. 

Over half of all physicians report some degree of burnout with up to 80% being affected in some studies.  Burnout is associated with twice the number of medical errors and associated increases in malpractice litigation.  It leads to staff turnover; it can cost up to a million dollars to replace one physician.  In 2021 over 230,000 MDs, RNs, NPs, PAs quit their jobs.  And one physician takes their own life every single day of every single year.  Listen to hear Dr. Hinnebusch's personal story and about  resources to address physician burnout. 

“Committees are, by nature, timid. They are based on the premise of safety in numbers, content to survive inconspicuously rather than take risks and move independently ahead.” Have you perhaps made similarly derisive comments about committees at your hospital or in your practice? If you have, you’re in good company. That particular quote is from Ferdinand Porsche. An  early to mid-20th century automobile pioneer  But, as you likely agree, Dr. Porsche’s quote is no less accurate today, and particularly as it applies to today’s job market. Why is this important to you?

One Texas attorney made a name for himself by appearing as a cat emoji during court proceedings. While his presentation error didn't end the court proceedings, he did create a delay and an impression. Being a cat is not the impression you want to create as we find remote work becoming more of an accepted and expected norm. From learning to be better communicators, to bettering managing our time and understanding some of the organizational challenges of remote work, those who do it successfully will thrive. Those who resist or are late adopters will pay a career price. Let's get you focused and on the right track... after all, you're not a cat

Armin Feldman, MD is a practices Forensic Medicine not only providing critical information to legal clients, but also teaching other physicians how to launch their own nonclinical career path in the interesting field of medical legal consulting. In his interview he not only recaps his range of experiences that led to his own career change, but provides important information for any physician interested in medical legal consulting as a career focus.

Do you sometimes dream of visiting scenic and exotic places with great food, fun activities and wonderful companions? Do those dreams include being paid to be there? The Reeders, started a global Cycling CME business taking physicians around the world, having fun, chasing their dreams and helping physicians obtain necessary education... Both the Reeders and their story may inspire you, challenge you and motivate you to follow your own dreams and ambitions.

Physician often express there nonclinical career objectives as any job that will use their knowledge their skills and pay reasonably well... I equate that quest with the fairy tale, Alice in Wonderland when Alice asks the Cat, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the cat. "I don’t much care where” said Alice "Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the cat.

If you see your brand as a caring, competent physician, then it's time to redefine that brand for the nonclinical world. I'll tell you how.

Physicians think too much about end points and achieving their goals and not enough about process, and the value of not rushing decision making. Thinking like an Entrepreneur means thinking optimistically, thinking creatively, thinking globally, thinking big and thinking about process.

You're not going to get the job you want unless you're actually in the same room with the people you want to work with and work for. It's that simple, and this podcast will tell you how to get to that room.

A body at rest remains at rest and a body in motion remains in motion... is your nonclinical career transition on the move or stalled to a stop. Let's talk about how to create positive career inertial to move you more effectively towards the nonclinical career you want.

So, you want to be a consultant. If yo can answer these four questions you'll be able to chart a clear pathway to a successful venture. What's your special sauce?Is your special sauce needed?Is your special sauce wanted?What is the value of your special sauce?Listen to learn more.

This podcast is focused on answer some of the questions you've, my listeners, submitted recently. The focus is your stump speech, your digital networking activity and creating face to face meetings with potential employers.

What's next, what's normal, what's happening now. COVID-19 has and will continue to shake up the healthcare and medical worlds as we strive towards some new definitions of normal. What will be your role, perhaps your new job? Let's look at drivers and outcomes.

So, what can you do to blow your interview? Well, really, it’s a bottomless barrel of things you could say or do, but I’m going to focus on what I see as the top ten easiest mistakes you can make... that is, easy things to say or do. There are too many examples to list here, but believe me, it’s very easy to have one of those multiple personality episodes where you’re screaming at yourself… no, I didn’t just say that….. yes, you did.

Moving into the arena of nonclinical careers is vastly different from how you secure medical postings. No recruiters, no online postings... Just you and your ability to travers the complex web of events, people and opportunity presenting your value proposition along the way. This is not in your comfort zone, but it can be. I'll tell you how and why you want and need to expand your comfort zone to achieve your goals.

I'm asked every day, "Do I need and MBA?" Here's the answer... also the answer about other degrees, certificates, certifications and what to do if you simple need to be able to make good decisions and provide good answers. Most importantly, I'll tell you the most important credential you can have.

Now... Now is the best time if you're asking yourself the question. Once you begin questioning whether or not you should leave practice, you're probably already experiencing systemic issues of no return. Let's talk about making the decision and the process to move on.

Successful Physician Career Change follows a definite pattern and process. It's comprised of Phocus (literary license), Package and Process. This podcast speaks to the critical element and components of each of these three steps

You have questions... from selecting recruiters, to entering telemedicine, advancing your career within your organization and to making first, best choices for your nonclinical career. Your questions are answered here.

Physicians have been suffering through severals decades of lost control and prestige. Various events led to the profession moving from the most respected and trusted to one derided for numerous real and false reasons. However, today's cataclysmic events are offering physicians an unexpected second chance... a second chance to enhance their power, their control and the rightful position as the experts they are. Are you ready to be in charge? Listen about how.

Medical practice is a set process and it's most likely that you'll be doing essentially the same job the day you stop practicing as you were doing the day you began. Most physicians are planning for retirement from the very beginning. In the nonclinical world, you'll want to shift your thinking to what you're starting. The Career Lifecycle moves in groups, three to five years, five to seven years and beyond seven. Each cycle represents a new start, whether you actually leave the company you're working with or if you venture into the marketplace for a completely new start.

Networking is about follow up. It's about creating reasons to build relationships, about people wanting to introduce you to other people and about your management of a group of people in order to help them help you. Follow up, appropriate follow up is the key to managing networking well. This podcast talks about how to follow up effectively in order to create an effective and successful nonclinical career transition.

Emotional Intelligence is a constant topic of discussion and even concern among physicians transitioning to a nonclinical career. However, your Organizational Intelligence is equally, if not more, important to your success in an organizational executive role. Learn what it is and how to manage and improve it, here.

The Research Interview is a networking technique that positions you as an expert, both seeking and imparting important and interesting information to the executives in the companies and organization you want to be working for. The research interview transforms you from a job seeker to an industry expert whose knowledge others want. Learn how, here.

Great Ideas are a Dime a dozen… Good Implementation is Priceless. Does that surprise you to hear me say this? I’ve listened to the great ideas of hundreds if not thousands of physicians. However, very few ever talk to me about how their idea will be implemented. In this Podcast we'll discuss the importance of implementation and it's key drivers for your entrepreneurial business.

While social distancing and self-isolation may be bywords of today's COVID-19 environment, for physicians still pursuing their nonclinical carer transitions, an opportunity to provide a needed public service awaits. Your community, however you may define community, needs clarity of information. They need to know what to believe and what not to believe.... Who better to help with that task than you. Listen to learn different approaches you can use today.

Today you are Hunted, hunted constantly by staff, patients, clerks and others, but as you transition to a nonclinical career, you much become a Hunter. Using the Lion as our guide, this episode focuses on decision-making needed to determine your appropriate prey and how to attack. After all, lions don't chase rabbits, and neither should you.

Social distancing, cancelled conferences and meetings, the world, literally is moving towards a lockdown, but now is the time for you to be making your move to a nonclinical career transition. How do you keep up your momentum, or even get started during these challenging times... Here are my tips and recommendations to keep your networking and personal branding not only on track, but to perhaps put you at the front of the pack.

You likely see getting a job as your primary objective... scanning job boards and looking for jobs you could fill. However, filling any posted job always means fitting into what someone else defined as necessary, necessary in both form and function. It's a little like having someone hand you a manual and telling you this is the way we want you to exam a patient. Creating your job is just the opposite. Creating your job means you're hired for your communicated and demonstrated expertise to solve a problem, to achieve a result, a goal. And jobs that are created are built, literally built, around the experts hired into them. Isn't that more your goal in leaving clinical practice, to be hired to achieve results and goals based on how you have defined yourself as a problem-solver?

Heidi Moawad, MD had created an interesting and rewarding career, based in clinical practice but expanded to include writing, teaching, consulting and helping other physicians with tools and resources to explore and navigate the road to nonclinical careers. Here, she talks about her own career path, how she became interested in nonclinical endeavors and some of her advice to other physicians to perhaps make their transitions easier and more successful. You can also visit her online at www.nonclinicaldoctors.com.

When I say, what is the culture, the corporate culture, the business culture, the office culture of your medical practice, do you say, Huh? Most physicians do. Working with physicians both in and out of practice for more than three decades, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a physician comment to be about the culture of his or her practice. Managing your corporate culture is the most overlooked aspect of physician practice development, yet it demands your attention... Let's talk about how

Today, the focus at nearly every level of medicine is to be Patient Centered. However, the nucleus of medical practice is "One Physicians and One Patient." The Physician-Centered™ Practice creates a new paradigm predicated on happy physicians at the core of their own medical practices. The Physician-Centered Practice is predicated on clearly and scientifically charting defined, measurable work needs of each physician and re-building the practice around the physicians. After all, you, the physician, are the only person who will be in your practice for as long as you practice.

Medical practice is generally considered a pretty secure job. So when physicians decide to move into the nonclinical career world, job security is often a question mark. As I explain, job security is generally a fleeting objective, but there are steps and measures you can take in your nonclinical job to improve the job security you feel and you have.

Herding Cats has long been a cliche used to describe managing physicians. Unfortunately, today, that metaphor is misused far too often to simply imply physician practice or group management as a difficult task rather than the actual analogy predicated on the individuality of both species. Let's talk about how to actually appreciate the real practice of managing a group of highly intelligent and high performing individuals - individually.

It seems there are some everlasting truisms that may seem obvious, but working with physician careers for the past 30 years, I've learned reminders are sometimes necessary. These three items are essential both to effecting not only a successful career transition but to your next step into the nonclinical world as well.

Years past, physicians ruled medicine and healthcare. However, today, physicians are struggling to just to keep pace with the changes in reimbursement, in medical practice organization, government regulations and the never-ending consolidation taking place. This podcast takes a look back as well as a focus on important initial steps if you have nonclinical career aspirations.

Making the decision and taking those first steps from clinical practice towards a nonclinical career can be fraught with fear and anxiety, not to mention criticisms from those around you driven both by your departure from a treasured medical career path as well as from jealousy evoked because you're getting out of the grind and they are not.

Physicians too often believe leaving practice is like stepping off a cliff. They're falling into some abyss. In reality, transitioning to a nonclinical career should represent a natural evolution, a natural next step in career development. And, if you remember these Ten Truths, you'll find your transition a much more logical and natural change.

Video and phone interviews are different from face to face. Words, mannerisms, even your setting will create an impression. I'm here to help you create the right impression to show you're ready for prime time.

Interviewing can be an intimidating process, but if you use some of these tips and tricks, it will be easier, more enjoyable, and more successful.

As a physician transitioning to a nonclinical career, you'll find your CV no longer represents you the way you need to present yourself... as an accomplished executive, administrator or leader. What's your option? I develop a Functional Resume for more than 80% of my clients. I may be the right resume for you.

The process for Physicians wishing to move from clinical to a nonclinical career path can be equated to a game of darts and there are two ways to play that game. You can either sit at your computer and apply online for jobs - which is a darts game called Bullseye, where you either score a bullseye of zero. Or, you can develop and implement a highly structured and focused networking strategy - which is what we most know as traditional darts... your score is some of your throws. In a networking strategy, your "throws" continue throughout your career transition, increasing with each new encounter and contact. Which one do you believe will yield the highest score?