White Coat Wellness

Women in medicine encounter unique challenges and opportunities. Five female physicians who formed a tight-knit bond during medical school have been actively examining these issues. Over the past few years, they have shared their experiences and developed strategies to support women in various aspects of their medical careers, including applying to medical school, navigating residency and fellowship, understanding compensation, balancing work and family, and planning career trajectories. On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host, Shane Tenny, CFP®, dives deeper into the insights and initiatives of two of the authors, Dr. Sylvia Morris and Dr. Angela Walker. They discuss the experiences that brought them to write “THE GAME PLAN: A Woman's Guide to Becoming a Doctor and Living a Life in Medicine.” After years of mentoring and finding support within their own group of friends, the book was born out of the desire to reach a wider audience of professionals beyond what one-on-one mentoring could accomplish. It was important to both Dr. Morris and Dr. Walker to provide practical insights into navigating the real-life scenarios that they encountered but were not adequately prepared for on their own career journeys. “If you don't have people around you who have an intimate understanding and knowledge of what we're going through, then you're right, [the profession] can be very lonely,” explains Dr. Morris regarding building a community and having resources available to support medical professionals. Both authors wrote this book with a clear audience in mind. Dr. Walker wrote for the medical school version of herself, who did not have a clue what life would look like outside of school, and to answer the questions she wished she had known then. Dr. Morris wrote for her parents, as a guide to help parents and loved ones know what to expect.

Healthcare access is not equal across all countries around the world. Pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Scannell is actively working to address this issue. Recently, he resumed his passion for medical missions, embarking on a journey to provide essential care to underserved communities. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc Podcast, as Dr. Scannell joins host Shane Tenny, CFP®, to share his experiences and insights, offering inspiration for those considering similar humanitarian endeavors. Project Perfect World started in the late 80s with the refurbishment of a medical clinic in Ecuador. Dr. Scannell began volunteering with the group around 2010. At that time, the project's focus was shifting toward pediatric orthopedics. Now the group organizes twice-yearly missions to the area, providing medical care each spring and fall.“Anytime you're doing mission work, I think of going in and making sure that local surgeons and physicians are involved, making sure that there's good communication, making sure that there is good follow-up for those patients,” Dr. Scannell says. “So it's never something that you go in and you do these big surgeries, and then you're just gone.” The trips have been profoundly fulfilling for Dr. Scannell, both in terms of fighting burnout, reigniting his passion for the profession, and building long-term friendships with the other doctors who travel with him.

Every physician has felt it before: You have a bad day or work is stressing you out, and you start imagining what life would be like if you were doing something else. Most of us shake it off after a good night's sleep, but what do you do if that feeling doesn't go away? You don't necessarily want to leave medicine with all the time you have invested in your education and training. And changing careers doesn't feel simple. Fortunately, the pharmaceutical and biotech industries offer opportunities for you to use your clinical knowledge in a different kind of role. Dr. Nerissa Kreher, MD, MBA, advises physicians on how to make the shift from the grind of seeing patients and doing procedures to working in pharma or biotech.Three different roles comprise the options for physicians looking to land biotech or pharma careers: medical affairs, clinical development, and drug safety or pharmacovigilance. Each role lends itself to different types of practitioners.On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Kreher to discuss how she made the move from the patient room to research. For her, it all started with a pharma rep asking for her resume to pass back to their company. But she thinks there are plenty of other ways to break in.“I'm a big fan of LinkedIn,” she says. “LinkedIn is a great place to not only network — which is critically important to making this transition [to clinical research] — but also to job search.”Compensation for physicians transitioning to the pharma/biotech field starts in the mid-to-upper $200K range, with bonus opportunities and the potential for equity and options. But perhaps the greatest compensation of all for a tired physician? No call. The number of hours physicians spend working on call or during weekends factors into their hourly rate, Dr. Kreher explains. “That's something that they should translate as well, as compared to just thinking about that annual salary piece.

Having a well-oiled team is a crucial piece of any successful business. Medical practitioners running their own practices are no stranger to the impact of employee turnover. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, Shane Tenny, CFP®, speaks with Dr. Michael Neal about the importance of building a strong team and hiring and retaining the right people. Dr. Neal practices optometry alongside his wife, Dr. Amy Neal. When they first opened their practice, he began to experience the challenges of developing a team alongside a growing business.“We were approaching hiring team members the wrong way. We were approaching it completely upside down. And unfortunately, we got the results that we deserved because of how we were approaching it,” Dr. Neal says about his first hiring challenges.A desire to streamline the hiring process and evaluate candidates more effectively led Dr. Neal to develop assessments that determine a candidate's suitability for a role and their ability to learn quickly. These assessments are delivered via text message and filter out 97% of applicants, removing a significant administrative burden from the hiring process. This was the starting point of his other business venture, Build My Team, which delivers better people faster. Later in the episode, Shane and Dr. Neal discuss the benefits of bringing in a professional manager to oversee the operations of a medical practice. “It's the team that's providing the care for the bulk of [the time]. If you want to advance in healthcare, one of the ways to do it is to adopt that mindset and bring on these A players,” he says.

Physicians go to school to become physicians, right? Well, most of the time that's true. Sometimes physicians go through all their many years of med school, residency, and fellowship to find that they're actually more interested in research. Dr. Toyosi Onwuemene is one such physician, choosing to become a clinician researcher. And she thinks there's room for more doctors like her.“It's very obvious that there's a deficit now that I've done a little bit more research. As clinicians, because you're so immersed in patient care, you're reading the literature, you're interpreting the literature, there's a sense that you're aware of what research is needed, ” Dr. Onwuemene says in regards to moving from a clinician to a researcher. “You can interpret the research, but the gap we have is not recognized [is] how much really needs to come together to be able to be successful as a researcher.”In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Onwuemene to discuss her path to becoming a clinician scientist. Dr. Onwuemene views research as an exciting growth opportunity that feeds her curiosity to answer questions to help people improve their health. Recognizing there is a lack of mentors available to help guide clinicians to become clinician scientists, Dr. Onwuemene offers coaching to professionals in the field. She fills the gap for individuals who feel they lack the necessary training or mentoring to succeed in their research. Her ideal coaching client is someone who is early in their career and wants to move research forward but has the opportunity and the ability to lead their own experience. And if it's not early in their career, it's not too late. But sooner is better. “From the beginning, start with what you care about,” she says.

Studies from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and Healthgrades have confirmed that patients overwhelmingly want their physician providers to not just be smart and technically astute, but to also show compassion, comfort, patience, personality, and bedside manner.“The patient will never care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This quote aptly summarizes today's episode of the Prosperous Doc®, where host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Scott Abramson, a retired neurologist who practiced medicine for over 40 years with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Dr. Abramson is also the author of a book titled, Bedside Manners for Physicians and Everybody Else: What They Don't Teach in Medical School or Any Other School, which includes stories from his extensive medical experience and from coaching colleagues in the mission of physician communication. Tune in to hear Dr. Abramson talk about “bedside manner”, a central element of patient care. Dr. Abramson also shares his perspective and insights from years of training, including actionable communication tips, and practical takeaways.

Dr. Christine Meyer's negative experience working as an employed physician in poorly managed medical practices motivated her to become an independent doctor and launch her entrepreneurial career with her husband. The pair believed that they could provide better patient care through their own venture. “I think the movement towards value-based care in medicine has been tremendous and so enjoyable. I know a lot of people feel like it's a grind, and it's so hard to meet these metrics and earn these incentives. But what it has done for our practice is truly improve the quality of care that our patients receive,” Dr. Meyer says. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Meyer to discuss the preservation of independent medical practices and the alarming changes in the medical landscape over the past decade, with many private practices disappearing or being acquired. In 2022, the American Medical Association found that wholly physician-owned practices had dropped from 60% a decade ago to just above 45%. Despite the challenges of running an independent practice, Dr. Meyer can attest to how rewarding it can be. In its early days, the practice was just her, two examining rooms, and a couple hundred patients. Today, her practice includes five physicians, 15 advanced practitioners, and a team of 55 with multiple buildings to support the more than 20,000 patients they are responsible for. “People probably think they need to have some sort of a business degree to run a successful medical practice, and you really don't,” Dr. Meyer says. “I think it goes back to the patient experience. If you're a physician and you went into medicine to provide patients with an excellent experience, you can run a successful medical practice.”

“Part of my identity was just being a doctor. I never thought I could do things outside of medicine,” says Dr. Michele Cho-Dorado, who wrote a children's book about financial literacy and founded her own company to spread this knowledge to more children.But Dr. Cho-Dorado didn't start as an entrepreneur or financial literacy expert. Her own knowledge gap prompted the creative leap.“I was about eight years into practice as an attending and already almost 40. And I just realized, at some point, despite all those years of medical school and training, I had received very little financial education,” Dr. Cho-Dorado explains. On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Michele Cho-Dorado, a pediatric gastroenterologist, Medical Director, author of the children's book Reach for the Stars, and founder of Bright Futures EDG, which strives to educate and empower children through money knowledge.Dr. Cho-Dorado speaks about her immigrant parents and her upbringing, her work ethic and perseverance, and how, despite it all, she found herself in the dark about money and what to do with it. She set out to become more money savvy and, in doing so, opened the door for personal growth and even more success.Tune in to hear about how Dr. Cho-Dorado took charge of her finances, learned more about creating wealth for herself, and now shares this knowledge with today's youth.

“We're recording this in mid-2023,” host Shane Tenny says. “Already, there have been more mass shootings in our country than there have been days in the year. We're pacing about 330 mass shootings as it's often defined, which is atrocious.”Hearing these numbers is jarring and figuring out how to solve this problem is downright daunting. Where does the solution begin?On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. David Callaway to discuss the complex issue of gun violence in America. Dr. Callaway brings a distinctive perspective to the conflict, approaching it from the standpoint of a physician, a veteran, a gun owner, a law enforcement officer, a father, and a leader in his community. Dr. Callaway is an emergency medicine physician at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, the region's only Level I trauma center. He's been practicing medicine for about 20 years and served as a physician with the United States Navy and the Marine Corps, as well as in Iraq with a mobile surgical unit. After leaving active duty in 2005, Dr. Callaway spent the bulk of his career working on security and violence-related issues with law enforcement and now serves as a sworn Task Force officer with US Marshals. Needless to say, he has extensive experience with guns, violence, and the law. Together, Shane and Dr. Callaway needle through tough gun violence topics. Dr. Callaway shares his beliefs in coalitions and the importance of getting everyone to agree on a single issue.Tune in to hear about Dr. Callaway's belief in gun safety and gun ownership accountability as two of the first steps to be prioritized in combating gun violence.

Too many dentists leave money on the table. Kevin Cumbus, founder and president of the mergers and acquisitions advisory group TUSK Partners, returns for an encore presentation on how dental practices can understand their options and maximize their valuation before selling to a dental support organization (DSO).In his previous interview, Kevin explained how dentists have more choices than ever for a financial exit from their practice and the importance of evaluating multiple DSOs before committing to a deal. Now, Kevin returns to the Prosperous Doc® podcast to unpack common industry jargon so every dentist can have an informed conversation about private equity and corporate-owned dentistry.In the early 2000s, only dentists were interested in buying dental practices. Now that DSOs backed by private equity have created a more competitive market for dental practices, demand outweighs the supply, driving up prices. Dentists today have an unprecedented opportunity to secure their financial futures — but the devil is in the details. Without understanding the terminology of a DSO's offer, dentists could end up locked into an unfavorable deal that saddles them with too much risk.“Where you actually realize the value from the sale of your business,” Kevin explains, “is in the enterprise value and how that enterprise value is received through structure. And the structure is made up of a couple of key components.”What are those key components? Kevin joins host Shane Tenny, CFP® to define nine terms related to selling your dental practice that every dentist should know. From EBITDA to joint venture and holdco equity, Kevin puts economic concepts in layman's terms so dentists can be prepared before they even start the conversation. .

Owning a dental practice is hard work. After years of serving the community and dealing with insurance companies, many dentists are ready to sell to the first person who gives them an offer. Kevin Cumbus says to wait.Kevin is the founder and president of TUSK Partners, a firm that specializes in selling successful dental practices to dental support organizations (DSOs). TUSK has closed $850 million of deals in the past seven years, and Kevin wants every dentist in independent practice to know they have options.Many dentists have only heard outdated advice from a financial planner about how and when to sell a practice, leading them to bite too early when they receive their first offer from an interested DSO. “I felt like there was too much value being left on the table for dentists and underrepresented groups,” Kevin says. TUSK exists to help hardworking dentists realize the full value of the practices they've given their lives to build.The DSO landscape is ever-evolving, and rising interest rates have directly impacted the deal structures DSOs most commonly offer. To explain what's happening and what dentists can do about it, Kevin joins the Prosperous Doc® podcast. Host Shane Tenny, CFP® presses into the history of DSOs and what's changed since the pandemic. Dentists have more options than ever, but they should be careful to choose the right partner.“Who you partner with really, really matters,” Kevin explains. “You will certainly be rolling equity into their business.” That equity could secure financial independence, but a bad deal could postpone a dentist's retirement.

Dr. Carlos Moretta's path into dentistry rather than medicine was, quite literally, an accident. Having decided he wanted to enroll in the radiology tech program at his local community college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dr. Moretta went up to an information desk and found he was in the wrong wing. The receptionist, instead, gave him a few brochures about the dental hygienist program, which told Dr. Moretta how much he'd get paid and how much schooling he'd need to complete. When he saw the specs, he was sold.In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Carlos M. Moretta to discuss his medical missionary work, the way his worldview has changed, what inspires him to continue his work, and why he encourages others to take part in a medical mission.Tune in to hear some stories from Dr. Moretta's most memorable missions and what he learned along the way.

Dr. Harvey Castro is passionate about many things: healthcare and tech being two of them. Luckily, for the medical world, he has found a way to marry those passions and help others succeed in the healthcare and digital health sectors. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Harvey Castro to discuss the future of AI and Chat GPT in healthcare and medicine. Dr. Castro walks listeners through his own entrepreneurial experience within the healthcare sector and how he foresees AI being used to provide quality healthcare for patients.

Creating a positive organizational culture is crucial for the success of a medical or dental practice. Tom Loeblein, President and CEO of Healthcare Management Consultants and The Dental CFO, dedicates his career to building a strong culture within practices. He shares his insights on this episode of Prosperous Doc®, including why skills aren't the only thing to look for when hiring. Creating a positive work environment that motivates and engages employees is crucial to delivering world-class care and providing positive patient experiences — investing in your team's well-being is an investment in your patients (and your practice).By implementing Tom's strategies, practice owners can attract and retain top talent and achieve long-term success.

As a healthcare attorney and practice consultant at Knowledgeable Aging, Anu Murthy, Esq. is no stranger to contractual language and logistics. Anu previously joined host Shane Tenny to talk about healthcare workers making the most of their employment. Anu has expertise in medical employment contracts, partnership agreements, and other practice-related business matters — making her the perfect guest to discuss the FTC and potential changes to healthcare workers' rights on this episode of Prosperous Doc. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule that would effectively ban employers from using noncompete clauses.If you're in the health care, dentistry, or medicine sector, you know that these noncompete clauses are part of many employment contracts, often accompanied by negotiated “restrictive covenants.” The FTC claims these non-compete clauses suppress wages, hinder innovation, and prevent entrepreneurs from starting new businesses. The ban aims to force wage increases in the industry and expand career opportunities.Tune in to this episode to hear Shane and Anu talk about all things noncompetes, as well as a ban's potential impact.

In a 2014 survey, the medical network Doximity found that over 72% of residents had negative feelings about negotiating their compensation, including feeling stressed, concerned, anxious, or lost. 31% of physicians felt prepared to network, while only 9% felt ready to negotiate. It wasn't just first-time attending doctors who felt that way — doctors seeking raises were also affected. It's no wonder so many doctors feel anxious when few receive any training in contract negotiations.But physicians shouldn't settle for less, says Ethan A. Nkana, Principle at the Rocky Mountain Physician Agency (RMPA), which advocates for doctors seeking fair contracts and compensation.Having an advocate like Ethan helps in certain high-level situations, but you don't necessarily have to hire an advocate to get what you want. In this episode of Prosperous Doc, Ethan talks with host Shane Tenny about everything you need to know about contract negotiations, whether you're a graduating resident or an experienced physician.

Many years ago, Beth Lachance realized that there was an opening for virtual professionals in medical and dental practices. She began working on her business plan and fine tuning what would become REVA Global Medical. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Beth Lachance, CEO of REVA Global Medical, to discuss how she became one of the leaders in the virtual professional evolution in medicine.From front desk and clerical work to back-end insurance dealings and accounting needs, the medical virtual professionals at REVA are alleviating the stress caused by a low supply of healthcare employees. REVA prioritizes forming true partnerships with practices and physicians. Their interest is not in replacing existing personnel nor outsourcing jobs, but in creating the capacity to do more and better work.

Dr. Orman spent 21 years working in clinical community emergency medicine. In the first 10 years of his practice, he experienced three severe burnouts. Without much guidance, he thought the solution was to work harder - grit it out. Soon after his third major bout of burnout, Dr. Orman realized that his current way of life wasn't sustainable. So, he switched gears to work in medical education, and that became a salvation for him, giving him a new purpose. This led him to start his podcast, Stimulus, and spend a year getting his certification from a coaching academy. Dr. Orman is now a certified executive coach, and he dedicates his time to helping physicians develop strategies to live and work with intent, creatively solve problems, and practice self-compassion.Tune in to this episode of the Prosperous Doc® to hear our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, chat with Dr. Orman about the true meaning of grit and how physicians can still have it while being gentler with themselves.

“We have 1,440 minutes a day. We tend to be pretty careful thinking about our finances or our money, but ironically, we can always make more money, but we can never make more time,” says Dr. Christina Shenvi, MD, Ph.D.,MBA. Dr. Shenvi is no stranger to the challenge of time management. Having earned a PhD, MD and executive MBA, she was using timeboxing and other techniques before there was a name for them.After coaching medical students for their exams, Dr. Shenvi realized that much of that success came down to how students manage their time. She then spent several years deep diving into psychology literature on procrastination, goal setting, and motivation and began incorporating this knowledge into her lectures. After working with students for a number of years, Dr. Shenvi started to speak on this topic to her colleagues - the medical school faculty. And she would get an overwhelming response that it really resonated with people.In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, chats with Dr. Shenvi about how practicing better time management can lead to more fulfilling lives for busy professionals.

For those working in medicine and dentistry, having a great team is key to being able to support their patients. Today's guest wants to help practitioners attract, develop, and retain the right team so they can see their businesses thrive. Ben Shaver is a certified leadership coach and a business consultant working with medical and dental practices on organizational development, recruiting, and branding. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, host Shane Tenny, CFP®, asks the questions you want answers to if you're considering buying your own practice or struggling with attracting the type of team you need to be successful.

Dr. Cindy Tsai considers herself a recovering perfectionist. Having been motivated by extremely high standards for much of her life, Dr. Tsai found that her perfectionist tendencies were actually holding her back, impacting her relationships, and causing her to overwork herself.In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® talks to Dr. Cindy Tsai about the root of perfectionism, the connection between perfectionist-induced stress and physical symptoms, and how to overcome this chronic belief system.Dr. Tsai discusses her own experiences with illness as a result of perfectionism's toll on her body, as well as the work she has done to overcome it. In her self-help book “So Much Better,” Dr. Tsai outlines the key three pillars to overcome perfectionism: calm, confidence and curiosity. “It's a resource and guide that I wish I had years ago, because in my own journey, I realized that there were so many other modalities and techniques and practices that can be very helpful and transformative,” says Dr. Tsai of her book. “These are skills that anyone can learn and master. And so that's really the intention behind it.”

From an early stage in her medical education and training, Dr. Zed Zha knew she wanted to do primary care family medicine. The urban market of highly specialized care wasn't the place for Dr. Zha, given her love for delivering babies, geriatric care, and an interest in dermatology, all of which led to work in rural areas where she could practice a variety of medicinal care.  In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® talks to Dr. Zed Zha, MD about her work in a rural eastern Washington State farming community of 8,500, where the predominant population is made up of Spanish-speaking and Indigenous-speaking residents. Dr. Zha talks about building trust with her patients, who are mostly immigrants and/or undocumented workers. Her own experiences as an immigrant prepared her empathy toward and understanding of the population she serves. 

Melissa McClung, M.S. didn't have any plans to be a career coach when she began working at the career center at the University of Kansas Medical Center. But while there, Melissa fell in love with career coaching, and 12 years later, she's established a niche helping doctors get into residencies and scientists decide whether they want to work in the field or academia. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, talks to Melissa about her work as a career coach, specifically in the realm of healthcare, medical, and science professionals. Melissa says that what draws her to this work is her ardent belief that everyone deserves to be in a job that uses their best and favorite skills, compensates them well, and gives them the time and energy to enjoy life outside of work.

Burnout is one of the greatest challenges with which healthcare providers struggle today. As Dr. Dael Waxman explains, “Burnout happens when there's a mismatch between the individual factors that a person brings to the system they work in and the system factors of that system.” This dissonance often creates long-term emotional distress. To counteract this, Dr. Dael Waxman focuses on improving physician well-being.  In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® invites Dr. Waxman to discuss the importance of physician well-being and his journey from clinician to physician well-being coach. Dr. Waxman gives strategies for improving physicians' quality of life. Additionally, he reveals that an accidental presentation sparked his passion for burnout prevention while strangers' stories strengthened it.   

It is something we need to survive, but the more we try to obtain it, the more it can evade us: sleep. Looking at the clock throughout the night, scrolling on smart phones until our eyes shut, or sleeping with televisions on, many Americans do not create ideal, sleep-conducive settings for themselves, which can cause harm.  In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, one of the foremost experts on sleep and the Medical Director of Sleep Medicine for Millennium Physician Group, to discuss how sleep impacts health, memory, and how COVID has impacted an entire country's sleep habits. Dr. Abbasi-Feinberg breaks down sleep's impact on the lymphatic system, metabolism, cognitive abilities, and more. She even discusses the benefits and harms of taking naps.   

Estate planning is a topic most people don't want to think about, but it shouldn't be avoided. While it may seem daunting, it's a crucial step for you and your loved ones.  “Appropriate estate planning is truly planning for your estate, meaning planning for the management and disposition of your property, both during your lifetime and upon your passing,” explains Christian Perrin. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes esteemed attorneys Christian Perrin of Perrin Legal and Pete Benenati of Benenati Law Firm, P.C. The three discuss estate planning — what it means, why it is so important, and everything in between. The two attorneys also dive into the benefits of prenups beyond divorce preparation, the differences between executors and powers of attorney, and how to find the best help for you. “Everybody thinks that just because they have kids or a surviving spouse, it's easy,” Pete explains about the need for estate planning. “It's not really, because there's something known as the termination of heirship. You have to actually prove who the heirs are. A court-appointed attorney has to do the history on the family to confirm what you're telling them. It adds cost, it adds time, it adds expense. And it adds a lot of frustration for people, even in the smaller, simple estates.”

Dr. Stacy Goldbaum's move to Charlotte, North Carolina was a bigger transition than she'd anticipated. She missed having her friends and extended family near. Recognizing the importance of having a sense of community, Dr. Goldbaum decided to find a way to create connections in her new city.  Historically, making new friends isn't difficult for Dr. Goldbaum. However, with this move, she knew putting herself out there would be key to finding her people.  “I think we all are very aware, just as with training, you can't always pick [your city]. Sometimes when you're trying to find your first job out of training, you can't always have the choice of location or hospital system you want.” Dr. Goldbaum says. “We just picked up, moved, and hoped for the best. Charlotte is a bigger city compared to some, and it had access to airports, so we knew we could get to family quickly if we were having that itch to go visit them.” In this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, invites Dr. Goldbaum to explore the important topic of making friends in adulthood. They discuss how to cultivate a professional community for yourself while balancing the needs of a demanding career.  Dr. Goldbaum also discusses how the idea and need for the https://www.crretreat.com/ (Cultivating Resilience Conference) first began and shares details for the upcoming event on Saturday, May 14th, 2022 in Charlotte. The conference is the only Charlotte wellness retreat for local women physicians by local women physicians.  “The goal of this conference is to find out what's meaningful to you, who are the people who are going to support you, and how do you make friends out of this conference too," she says. "I'm telling you, once you find your people, it is such a life-changing experience, and every day just gets easier.”  

Dr. Beena Nagappala has done a lot in her career as a family physician and a public health expert — and she's still going. As a practicing medical doctor as well as a leader in school-based community healthcare in Detroit, Michigan region, Dr. Nagappala knows how important public health is for everyone. Part of Dr. Nagappala's mission has always been to provide healthcare for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to access it. But unfortunately, in Detroit in particular, there are people who simply aren't able to get quality healthcare in the area where they live. To Dr. Nagappala, this is unacceptable. “I always feel the need to provide care for the indigent,” she tells our host Shane Tenny, CFP® in this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®. “Some of the school-based clinics [that I oversee] are in communities where there is a lack of access to care, in terms of transportation and doctors. They have to travel outside of where they live to access these types of services. There is a distinct level of care that they lack.” The COVID-19 pandemic has further proved the importance of ensuring everyone has access to healthcare and accurate information about science and medicine. Working within the school system has allowed Dr. Nagappala to reach more people. Dr. Nagappala joins Shane to discuss her experience juggling a part-time family practice with working as a public health policy expert and overseeing dozens of school-based clinics. She also shares her thoughts on what makes public health so important, especially during a pandemic, and what keeps her going in this field even when things get tough.  

Dr. Joseph Stern was accustomed to helping patients face some of the toughest times of their lives. But when his sister was diagnosed with advanced leukemia, he realized what it was like to be on the other side of the doctor-patient relationship — and gained some crucial insights along the way. To Dr. Stern, grief is a part of life that everyone will experience at some point. This begs the question: why don't we take an honest and community-oriented approach to dealing with it? Too often, he says, doctors gloss over the intense emotional aspects of their job. Ultimately, that avoidance leads to problems. “I think a lot of times doctors burn out, not because of the intensity of the emotions, but because of all the effort that they put into avoiding them,” Dr. Stern says. On this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Stern to talk about how his experience of personal loss has helped him become a more compassionate and empathetic doctor who can help more people. Dr. Stern talks about how he is working to change the medical field to be more compassionate, focusing less on procedures and more on relationships and quality of life. After his experience grieving the loss of his sister after being with her through such a tough illness, his outlook has shifted toward one of empathy and compassion — and this is something he says everyone can do without much effort. “Empathy actually doesn't take much time, it's not like you have to devote more time. I think it's a common myth: people think, well, if I'm going to be empathic, that means I have to see fewer patients, and I have to spend more time (with each of them),” Dr. Stern says. “No: it means making eye contact, it means listening — not just blurting things out. It means being more of a partner and less of a position of authority.”  

Becoming a lawyer made Paula Davis realize that she'd always been destined for one kind of job: teaching! She just took a less-than-typical route to make it happen. After earning her undergraduate degree in psychology, Paula graduated from law school. Working for corporate America eventually burned her out. That's when she returned to her plans to teach. She went back to school, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's Applied Positive Psychology program. As part of the university's Resiliency Program, she taught Army personnel coping skills for depression. Based on this education, Paula was able to finally become a teacher. Of her time in the program, Paula says, “It taught me about how to teach adults and how to learn these types of skills, because I was a lawyer — I had no clue how to do that.” She credits the program with giving her the tools she needed to start the Stress and Resilience Institute (SRI). She's also the author of the book “Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience.” In this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Paula Davis to discuss the work taking place at the SRI. The institute's areas of research include the effects of stress and burnout in industries including tech, the military and healthcare, and strategies to help individuals and leaders better manage their working environments. Paula also discusses what she calls the Core Six causes of burnout, and a strategy called PRIME. “Each letter stands for a really important competency or set of skills that a team, individuals and leaders can implement to create this great environment and slow burnout,” she says.

In this special episode of the Prosperous Doc® Podcast, Will Koster, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at Spaugh Dameron Tenny, is here to walk you through student loans and recent updates to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. He helps make sense of how the recent changes might apply to you, this is an episode you don't want to miss if you have outstanding student loans. The https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver (announcement from the Department of Education) in early October that they will be easing some of the requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness likely left many people feeling a mix of emotions. From confusion over how this affects them, the excitement that they may now qualify, and stress over missing a crucial detail that might mean money spent unnecessarily. Throughout this episode, Will reviews how the new special waiver allows Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) to be consolidated into the Direct Loan Program and become eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the changes to what repayment plans are qualified as part of the program. Will also addresses next steps if you believe you qualify for the Student Loan Forgiveness program, including: Step 1: Verify your employment. To verify that you have worked for a qualifying employer for the duration of your 120 payments, you need to submit an https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-application-for-forgiveness.pdf (Employment Certification Form) for each of your employers over the 10 years. Step 2: Consolidate your FFEL and Perkins Loans. After confirming that your employment is eligible, request a https://studentaid.gov/app/launchConsolidation.action (Direct Consolidation Loan) before the October 31, 2022 deadline. This only needs to be done if your loans are not direct loans. You can complete this step for free by visiting https://studentaid.gov/app/launchConsolidation.action (Gov Federal Student Aid). You do not need to pay for assistance in consolidating your loans. Step 3: You're now ready to apply for PSLF & TEPSLF (Temporary Expanded PSLF). You can complete this by using the online https://studentaid.gov/pslf/ (PSLF Help Tool) found at https://studentaid.gov/ (studentaid.gov). “Depending on if you have FFEL loans, depending on if you've certified your employer before, depending on who your servicer is, all of those factors will maybe change your path just a little bit,” explains Will. “But the same rules, the same criteria, and the same application process pretty much apply to everyone. Whether you've completed them or not is probably personal or unique to your situation.” ➜For further reading, Will shares more about this topic in this blog post: https://www.sdtplanning.com/blog/federal-student-loans-news-temporary-pslf-waiver (Federal Student Loan News: Temporary Public Service Loan Forgiveness). ➜If you're a physician or a dentist and you need help navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, Will Koster's firm is here to help, you can find them online at https://www.sdtplanning.com/ (www.sdtplanning.com).

From the start, Dr. Michael Williams knew he wanted to run his own business. He liked the independence of working for himself and deciding on his own path. After finishing his dental residency, Dr. Williams worked as an associate in a private practice for about four years before starting his first practice. “Growing up, we had a few family friends that were dentists and watching them own their own business, talk about the autonomy, talk about work-life balance … that seemed admirable, that seemed exciting,” Dr. Williams says. On this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Williams to discuss his path toward independence and the hurdles that come with business ownership. “After practicing for a few years, after a good education, great residency experience, I was very confident and capable clinically ... But when it came to being a business owner, being a leader in the practice, I felt I hadn't had enough formal training, but also just not enough hands-on experience to be able to tackle that on my own,” Dr. Williams explains about those early stages. Dr. Williams and another dentist entrepreneur in the Charlotte, NC area bought a practice together. His partner had more experience with the business-side of things, having previously purchased a few practices. After working there for some time, Dr. Williams felt he had outgrown his role and wanted to step into a leadership position, inspiring him to branch out and buy a practice on his own. “I just got serious about embracing my role as a leader in the practice that I was in, in my partnership, honing in on the skills to become a better leader,” Dr. Williams says.

After spending the first part of her career in political and governmental affairs for healthcare companies, Shelly O'Donovan noticed that there was a pattern to effective communication.  These patterns separated the strong communicators who could accomplish agendas and climb corporate ladders from the communicators who didn't achieve their goals. That observation sparked a passion for decoding communication and understanding what makes others tick. “I started to be interested in what those patterns were and started to do some research on my own ... and eventually got trained in nonverbal communication by a behavioral research lab,” Shelly says of her journey to becoming a body language and communication expert.  On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Shelly to discuss her work and research about better communication — particularly with doctor-patient communication. Shelly, who delivers training programs to help executives and teams use authentic communication to deliver a message, shares how important strong communication and nonverbal cues are for building trust between doctors and patients. “If the physician walks in and really takes a moment to look at the patient, make some eye contact, be open, also be front-facing … that's going to make a big difference in opening up that trust,” Shelly says of the all-important nonverbal communication skills that encourage trust between two people.  Shelly also discusses how this trust is vital to the physician's practice as it encourages patients to be more open and communicative about their current health, ailments, or whatever may be bringing them into the office.  

As someone who started creating her own books when she was two, Dr. Maria Baimas-George believed she would grow up to become an author. When she fell in love with science and went on to medical school, Dr. Baimas-George found herself writing and drawing to de-stress. “Growing up, I loved English and I loved science, and now I feel like they are merging, which is wonderful,” Dr. Baimas-George says of her newfound side hustle. She's a surgical resident by day, and an author and illustrator by weekend. In this episode of Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. Baimas-George, a surgical resident at Carolinas Medical Center of Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to discussing her medical career, Dr. Baimas-Georges tells us about her children's book series, “The Strength of My Scars: Pediatric Surgical Chronicles,” and the path that led her to create such meaningful work. Dr. Baimas-George's first-hand experience in the pediatric surgery service shed light on the information that gets lost in translation between patients, their caregivers, and physicians. Physicians speaking in medical jargon to patients and their families who are already anxious and scared is not beneficial. Dr. Baimas-George's series provides both caregivers and children with understandable information they can process more readily in times of high emotion. “We saw a significant benefit in satisfaction, comprehension or understanding, and [decreased] apprehension or stress in caregivers and parents of patients undergoing common pediatric surgeries,” Dr. Baimas-George says of a controlled study conducted at Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Baimas-George's medical and authorial future is as bright as the lights on her OR table. She is a true testament to the power of following your passions wherever they might take you.   

Dr. Janelle White had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up until she watched a care team save her brother's life. “Watching his recovery is what really motivated me,” she says. “That was a life-changing experience for me, to see how those physicians … [and] the entire care team — honestly saved my brother's life, and revived him. So that spurred my interest in medicine.”  Dr. White accomplished her goal of becoming one such “miracle worker.” Still, it wasn't until several years into her career that she realized her impact isn't defined by the number of patients she sees or accurate diagnoses she gives. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP®, welcomes Dr. White, the Specialty Medical Director of Community Health at Atrium Health. They discuss how she became a leader outside the exam room, what to do about the health inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and why she went back to school to earn her master's in Healthcare Management from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. White finds her center by reminding herself of why she went into healthcare in the first place. “And that's to care for patients and improve their health and well-being,” she says, adding that maintaining perspective about the various ways she can impact the health of patients “is one of my guiding principles.”  

Despite not being a doctor himself, Doug Copple understands the challenges of running a medical or dental practice. He is a Partner at Bentson Copple & Associates, a transition company that assists orthodontists nationwide with practice valuation, partner location services, as well as negotiating transitions.  “Any type of administrative burdens, [we're] trying to take that off the doctor so the doctor can focus completely on clinical services in their practice,” Doug says of the firm's work.  In this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Doug to discuss the rise in the dental market and what that looks like for private practices and future doctors. “Orthos are really our bread and butter. We're involved with 50 to 60 transactions a year, at least on the ortho side. Our firm really provides evaluation, transition recruiting services for orthodontists. It's any change of ownership,” Doug explains. The firm is focused on facilitating effective and shorter negotiations with the greatest probability of closing the deal. This is timely as more orthodontic residents say they plan to work as employees for dental service organizations (DSO) and orthodontic service organizations (OSO).  “If you're a doctor and you're being overwhelmed by some of the things you don't want to do in your practice anymore, you can get a big lump sum [from an OSO buyout], and say you have $3 million in the bank now,” Doug says of the kind of transactions he helps facilitate. “That's a pretty nice little passive income for you as a doctor that you're adding on to your salary to work back.”  

Dr. Marshall Kuremsky knew he wanted to be an orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon since he was 12 or 13, but it wasn’t until four years or so into his practice that he took a keen interest in the financial and business world. That craving for knowledge, which had propelled him to success in medical school and at work, itched to be satisfied yet again. “I simply started to realize that I craved as much information, knowledge, and experience about business and finance as I could. I started to expand my network, socially and professionally, outside of medicine,” says Dr. Kuremsky. On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Kuremsky to discuss his path into venture capital, which stemmed from his passion for learning. Dr. Kuremsky shares his journey and how important it is to make your money work for you.  “If you make the right decisions, or the smart decisions, you're able to move through your career from the stage where it's you having to go to work, to the stage where it's your money going to work — to generate the money that you need,” he explains. Dr. Kuremsky also discusses the importance of investing in businesses that will make a difference. As a member of https://loud.vc/ (LOUD Capital), which follows the motto “Venture for People ®,” he’s involved in world-changing ventures.  “We want everybody to have access to capital, particularly underrepresented or traditionally excluded groups and it's everybody,” he says.  

Everyone has their breaking point, but doctors — especially in the era of COVID-19 — often feel like they have no choice but to push past their burnout. Dr. Jillian Bybee, however, decided to do something about it. “I was born and raised in a really hard-working family with a lot of perfectionism tendencies and some mental health issues like anxiety that probably were undiagnosed,” she says. “And I just achieved my way through school, through med school, through training. Kept going and didn't really pay attention to self-care. … It finally came to a head my second year [in residency] when I had a patient who ended up dying, and that derailed me.”  On this episode of the Prosperous Doc®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Bybee, Assistant Professor in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Director of Quality and Safety for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Spectrum Health, to discuss what it took to finally address her work-related depression. She details the experience that opened her eyes to needing help, and why overcoming her shame and confiding in her husband was the first step she needed to get professional help. Through her own self-care journey, Dr. Bybee discovered all the cultural issues that cause medical professionals to avoid therapy — including the idea that they must be strong “superheroes” for everyone else. Dr. Bybee explains why this mentality is dangerous, and why hospital management doesn't always respond appropriately to its resulting burnout. Dr. Bybee also offers suggestions for people seeking resources for themselves and loved ones, including several podcasts and apps that people can use to help calm their minds.

Dr. Armin Feldman, like many medical professionals, is driven by a passion to help the sick and injured. After selling his rehabilitation clinics more than a decade ago, he knew he wanted to continue helping others but in a less time-consuming way than as a practicing physician. The answer: consulting attorneys as a traumatic head and brain injury medical expert. This path made sense based on Dr. Feldman’s expertise in this field, which had developed over nearly 40 years from a personal injury lawyer who sent him head-injured clients. Dr. Feldman realized his knowledge of these types of injuries was invaluable.  “I have testified as an expert witness, as a medical expert, really more times than I want to remember on behalf of my patients who were either being cut off of their medical care or being offered some pittance of a settlement,” he says. “So I thought, based on all of that, well, maybe what I could do is consult attorneys on any kind of medical question that they had in a case. And that turned out to fill a niche that hadn't been filled — and now, 13 years later, has developed into a new subspecialty of preventive medicine.” In this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Feldman, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, to discuss this career transition into consulting work. Besides explaining his system for consultations and how he approaches every new case, Dr. Feldman shares how he’s expanded his business to coach other medical professionals who want to start their own consulting work. He also offers a sneak peek of his https://medlegconlive.com/medleg2021.xhtml (upcoming virtual Medical/Legal Conference), covering various topics about medical legal consulting, like how to operate and market your business.  

You might say Andrew Tucker was born to be an entrepreneur after growing up in a family of business owners. Today, as a tax attorney and CPA by training, he guides physicians and dentists who want to launch and run their own businesses. “There's something amazing about the entrepreneurship opportunities in the United States,” Andrew says. “But when people are coming into the idea of ownership, particularly from a trade where you're a doctor first or an accountant first or an attorney first, it's really hard to think about that role of entrepreneurship.” In this episode of Prosperous Doc®, Andrew shares best practices for professionals who want to launch their own practice or become a partner, including how to start with the launch mindset before you’re ready to go on your own. He talks about why it’s important to first make an honest assessment of yourself and your leadership style, understand who you need on your team to ensure success, and be clear about why you truly want to run your own business. According to Andrew, having a strategy for tracking expenses and key performance indicators, coupled with a production plan, can help you stay on track and reach your financial milestones. Andrew also addresses what it’s like if you’re going into a partnership. Uncomfortable situations might arise and he shares how to address issues before they jeopardize your practice. “If you don't think something's working, have a candid conversation. They [your partner] may be feeling the same way. And it gives you an opportunity to kind of redefine parameters and boundaries.” Finally, Andrew talks about how to find the balance between fast and slow change and building a team that will help you achieve your goals.  

Dr. Michael Myers admits he was late coming into the psychiatry field. As a first-year medical student in 1962, one of Dr. Myers’s roommates, also a medical student, committed suicide. The stigmatization surrounding mental health and suicide was so profound that the school did not even acknowledge this student’s passing. It was then some years later as an internal medical resident that Dr. Myers saw, once again, the imminent threat of poor mental health amongst physicians. “It was through that, that I got thinking I would like to attempt to be involved in people’s lives before they reach that desperate point,” Dr. Myers says of the experiences that drove him to his current profession.    In this episode of Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Myers to discuss his new book, “Becoming a Doctors’ Doctor,” and the path that led him to and his work in psychiatric care for physicians. Dr. Myers also discusses the impact, both negative and positive, COVID-19 has had on physicians and all healthcare professionals. He says the level of work brought on by the virus has certainly caused more work, more pressure, and more isolation for healthcare professionals. He also acknowledges, however, the true grit camaraderie that has blossomed amongst physicians like he has never seen before. The pandemic has also brought a newfound focus on mental health and self-care. People who spend their lives helping others are finally getting the focus and attention they deserve. “I think that I've seen big changes. I'm so hopeful about everything. I just feel that despite all of this and what we're going through in the world, I think, in regards to physicians’ health, we're making big strides,” Dr. Myers says.

Heather and Scott Paviol are one of the rare couples that can work together — and it’s because they each have strengths where the other has weaknesses. As an interior designer with an interest in leadership development and organizational performance, it was only fitting that Heather help her dermatologist husband open his new practice last year (even though he chose to do so during a global pandemic).  “We were coming off easily our best year at Mooresville. I wasn't even accepting new patients,” Scott says of his first practice. “It was a little bit both amazing and terrifying — and maybe not the smartest thing to do. And we had to make significant sacrifices.” Scott says he gives his wife “100% credit” for encouraging him to seize the opportunity when a nearby dermatologist decided to retire. He considers himself “much more risk-averse” than Heather, but with her support and business guidance, they made it happen. For example, she’s the one who realized they needed to purchase the suite next door to have enough room. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Heather and Scott to discuss why they decided to take the financial risk of opening the new practice and how they successfully blended a staff of new and existing employees. Heather and Scott also talk about how their shared vision and passion for leadership, coupled with their desire to foster a positive workplace culture, helps them work together as a married couple.

Dr. Nithin Natwa wears many hats. He practices family care, and he's also a board-certified physician in sports medicine. He provided care to football players at Michigan State University during his fellowship and continues to take on athletes as patients. He even runs an https://www.instagram.com/fantasydocs/?hl=en (esports injury analysis Instagram account) for his almost 13,000 followers. He's also back in school, but this time for something entirely different: an MBA. Dr. Natwa returned to school in part so he could get a better understanding of how the healthcare system worked from a business perspective and channel that into opportunities for himself. Attending business school allows Dr. Natwa to meet many entrepreneurially-minded people, giving him the opportunity to invest in their projects: "That's my goal with the MBA, on top of just the benefit of it being educational is to hopefully get involved with a couple of different ventures that will help increase some passive revenue for me going forward," he explains. Ultimately, Dr. Natwa hopes that learning about business and earning money outside of his day job can help him become a better doctor overall. "A lot of times we start being held at the whim of the overseer, of the hospital system in terms of our output," he says. "It would be very nice to just have a side passive income that we were able to not have to worry about having to meet quotas and able to just see the amount of patients that we want to see and provide good care." In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, host Shane Tenny, CFP® chats with Dr. Natwa about his sports medicine work and what he hopes to accomplish with his MBA. They also discuss social media for doctors, the advantages to earning a passive income, advances in telemedicine, and how to deal with patients armed with internet theories.  

For Dr. Colin Zhu, medicine runs in the family. Dr. Zhu's mother practiced Chinese medicine, an ancient practice that focuses on finding balance within the body. Now Dr. Zhu incorporates this philosophy into his own work. "She instilled in me how to look at the person, the patient, in a very holistic way. So, she instilled in me prevention, wellness, compassion, listening to the person. And so those were the values and skill sets that I've brought with me and that's the direction that I took going into medicine," he says. Dr. Zhu is a board-certified physician who practices family medicine in Los Angeles. He also practices lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, and what he calls "thrive medicine," in which he encourages people to live with vitality. He's written a book about his medical practices: “https://www.chefdoczhu.com/my-book (Thrive Medicine: How To Cultivate Your Desires and Elevate Your Life).” Dr. Zhu approaches his patients by searching for the root of their problems rather than treating them at the surface level. For instance, he might connect with a distracted teenage patient about their neglectful home situation instead of simply prescribing anxiety medication. "What I love to do … is connecting the dots for people," Dr. Zhu says. "And usually when people come to me for a certain complaint or problem, there's usually a deeper underlying source to their concern, pain, or struggle, that's not really connected with why they come in." In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, Dr. Zhu chats with our host Shane Tenny, CFP® about the ways that he incorporates his various medicines into his practice, and how culinary medicine can help people live more fulfilled and healthy lives. He also talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in the U.S. healthcare system, and how we as a society can work to improve it.

Healthcare attorney and practice consultant Anu Murthy wants to help physicians make the money they deserve — and keep making that amount, even during a global pandemic that’s furloughed and laid off many people. “There is inherent value in speaking to a healthcare attorney to understand the anatomy of the contract, the nuts and bolts, and primarily what are your rights under the contract?” Anu says. “But also what are your responsibilities under the contract? You may not be able to negotiate very much in terms of language, but you could negotiate some compensation matters.” In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Anu to discuss how to get the most out of a contract negotiation (particularly with the help of a healthcare attorney) and how to legally pick up a side hustle if the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your pay. Just like small business owners, she says it’s important for physicians to keep track of their expenses and take-home pay. Anu also discusses what to keep an eye on going into 2021, particularly in terms of potential Medicare changes and Stark Law reform. “Even patients that are in traditionally non-rural areas are going to have access to telemedicine and physicians, including procedural specialists as well … [so] we'll see higher reimbursements for telemedicine. The other issue that often comes up is just the furnishing of wearable devices, like a smartwatch or some kind of a monitor, etc. Cardiology sees this as well, that they're able to provide those to their patients. And it won't be considered illegal or run afoul of Stark Law. … The new Stark Law again is going to be more in line with the way that physicians practice and where patients are today.”

Dr. Ken Randall’s decision to go to dental school rather than medical school was largely inspired by a lazy vacation in North Carolina many years ago. Sick of seeing his grandson wake up at noon or later, one day Dr. Randall’s grandfather told the teen to be ready by 6:30 the next morning — so that he could help out at his grandfather’s practice. Almost instantly, Dr. Randall was hooked. “Basically from that day forward, any break that I had from school all throughout undergrad, I was in the office working as an assistant, scrubbing dirty instruments, scrubbing floors, — whatever was needed — just to try to soak up as much of that as I could,” Dr. Randall says. “It was love at first sight, I guess.” In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Randall to discuss his path into healthcare — which he almost didn’t take because of his other passion, aviation. Dr. Randall shares how, upon moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, he put out feelers to find a practice he could take over, and how he then got to know its employees and helped them grow while growing alongside them. Dr. Randall also discusses his journey from never reading a single textbook with a dollar sign in it to running his own successful business. He says it was possible by researching topics such as savings, salary and debt management, along with the compounding of money. “I think when you look at the value of compounding over time, it certainly made sense to find https://www.sdtplanning.com/blog/financial-planning-pyramid-of-priorities (somebody that could help) make those decisions and put us in a better place at the end of our careers, when it was finally time to retire,” he says.

Episode SummaryDr. Uli Chettipally once made the CEO of the company he worked for stop him mid-presentation because he dropped a figure that was so jarring: “50% of what happens in a typical U.S. clinical practice is unnecessary, ineffective, or dangerous.” This isn’t just Dr. Chettipally’s opinion, it’s a statement backed by much of his own research as well as others’ on the downsides of America’s most common business model of healthcare: the fee-for-service system. In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Uli Chettipally to discuss his research through the CREST Network project, which harnesses the power of data to help physicians make data-backed decisions about treating patients. Once this technology was implemented at Kaiser Permanente, the average length of stay in the emergency department decreased, hospital admissions decreased, and post-discharge testing decreased. Dr. Chettipally is the Founder and President of InnovatorMD, a platform aimed at inspiring innovation in healthcare. In the episode, Dr. Chettipally also discusses his book, “https://www.amazon.com/Punish-Machine-Promise-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/1599329441 (Punish the Machine),” the clash between insurance carriers and physicians and why it’s important to “follow the money” when trying to implement new technology in the healthcare field.

Personal branding is a familiar concept for people in business or marketing, but is often a foreign concept to medical professionals. Whether you’re in practice or employed, your personal brand is your professional identity and making proper use of it can help you elevate your career or business. If people don’t know you exist, how will they find out about you? In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Ernesto Gutierrez to discuss personal branding, how to acquire more patients, and how to leverage social media. As the owner of the Practice Growth Formula, Dr. Gutierrez teaches doctors how to grow their practice with his personal branding and digital marketing expertise. Dr. Gutierrez shares his personal struggle of taking over a failing medical practice in Cancun, which was close to shutting down. He also reveals impactful advice he received from his father that helped him realize he wasn’t just the medical provider. As the practice owner he had be the entrepreneur and understand how to run and market the business. Highlights from the episode: What is personal branding and how can a doctor use it to get more patients? (8:22) Why is it important for doctors to build their personal brand? (11:51) What’s involved in personal branding? (16:46) The first step in personal branding (17:30) Maintaining consistency in your marketing efforts (20:14) Is a podcast right for your practice? (21:42) What are the best social media channels for doctors? (25:55) The best methods for monetizing your personal brand (29:34) Financial Wellness TipOn today’s financial wellness tip, Will Koster CFP® tells us that preparing for retirement is not just about your 401k or having some passive income. Download the SDT https://www.sdtplanning.com/retirement-checklist-lp (Retirement Checklist) to find out if you’re on track for a stress-free retirement. To learn more about Dr. Ernesto Gutierrez and https://pgformula.com/ (The Practice Growth Formula) or to get more information on how to develop your personal brand, visit https://pgformula.com/ (pgformula.com). Dr. Gutierrez is also the host of the https://www.buzzsprout.com/166256 (Highway to Health Podcast). Resources mentioned:https://jamesclear.com/book-summaries/the-compound-effect (The Compound Effect), by Darren Hardy Prosperous Doc podcast by Spaugh Dameron Tenny highlights real-life stories from doctors and dentists to encourage and inspire listeners through discussions of professional successes and failures in addition to personal stories and financial wellness advice. Spaugh Dameron Tenny is a comprehensive financial planning firm serving doctors and dentists in Charlotte, NC. To find out more about Spaugh Dameron Tenny, visit our website at www.sdtplanning.com. You can also connect with our host, Shane Tenny, CFP at shane@whitecoatwell.com or on Twitter. Compliance code: CRN202211-274032

The last few months have brought intense focus to the topic of racism in the United States and around the world. The immediate circulation of media content has brought violent images of racial injustices to the forefront of our cultural attention. Here at the Prosperous Doc, we wanted to do our part to try and change the tone in our country around this. We know this is a emotionally fraught topic and we want to start by sharing a few words from our host, Shane Tenny, from this episode: Today's topic, I have felt compelled to address for a number of months now, but frankly didn't know how or where to begin... Today, we're going to talk about racism. Now, candidly, I've been nervous to address this on this show because of a number of reasons. I'm a middle-aged white guy with no training on the topic or in social justice, and I'm not even sure I have the right vocabulary to use. If I'm as honest about the topic as I want to be, and as I wish people were, I know I've got blind spots in my own life when it comes to racism and implicit bias. But I want to do my part to try and change the tone in our country around this. Shane welcomes Dr. Aaron Brandt, a pediatric orthopedic surgery fellow at Children's Hospital Colorado, to share his story and provide his personal experiences navigating growing up as black man in the United States and practicing in the medical field. Dr. Brand reveals his story of adoption; being part of a family of twelve where everyone was different, with drastically diverse backgrounds. At home he didn’t feel atypical, but in primary school he soon realized his classmates saw him, the only black child in the school, as different. “I was also taller than everybody, so I stood out like a sore thumb.” (7:18) Dr. Brandt explores the media events that took place this year surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, discusses the concepts of racism and antiracism, and reveals his personal battles with imposter syndrome. Highlights from the episode: Growing up as an adopted black child in a rural community (3:23) The current state of racism in society (17:16) Racism & anti-racism (22:27)  Dr. Brandt’s personal experience with racism (28:17) Overcoming Impostor Syndrome (32:07) How Dr. Brandt approaches and manages bias (37:16)   Financial Wellness TipOn this episode’s financial wellness tip, Will Koster talks about asset location. “Is the majority of your wealth tied up in your house? How about in your pre-tax retirement account, like a 401(k) or an IRA? Or have you been planning ahead and have a good mix of assets across different types of accounts?” (25:49) A few tips to consider: Having a combination of pre-tax and tax-free money available is invaluable when it comes to withdrawing money in retirement. t is important to have ample liquidity in retirement because selling tangible assets to fund your living expenses in retirement is not something you want to rely on. Having the appropriate amount of risk in your account is necessary to keep up with inflation, but your account balances should not be too exposed to market fluctuations. If you need help with your retirement planning, check out some of https://www.sdtplanning.com/financial-resources (our complimentary financial resources). To read more about Dr. Aaron Brandt’s story, check out his article ‘https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/my-parents-had-over-30-temporary-placements-and-adopted-9-children-i-struggled-with-my-identity-i-didnt-fit-man-thanks-adoptive-family-im-meant-to-do/ (My parents had over 30 temporary placements and adopted 9 children. I struggled with my identity. I didn’t fit.’: Man thanks adoptive family, ‘I’m meant to do something important)’. If you liked this episode and would like to hear more about Impostor Syndrome, check out our past episode https://www.sdtplanning.com/podcasts/overcoming-imposter-syndrome-in-medicine (Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in Medicine) with Dr. Gail Gazelle. Prosperous Doc...

You did the heavy lifting to become a doctor. The sleepless nights in medical school, the long hours of residency, the personal sacrifices to bring your dream to fruition. However, even at the pinnacle of this success, the little voice in the back of your head refuses to relent, ‘you don’t belong, you’re a fraud, how long before they find you out?’ Where does this voice come from? Why do I feel this way? Do my colleagues struggle with these thoughts? On this episode of Prosperous Doc, we welcome Dr. Gail Gazelle, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and https://www.gailgazelle.com/physician-coach/ (Master Certified Coach), to explore https://www.gailgazelle.com/imposter-syndrome-anxiety/ (impostor syndrome) among physicians. Dr. Gazelle examines the causes and symptoms of imposter syndrome, but also outlines her approach for overcoming these demons of self-doubt. Dr. Gazelle shares her personal experience of chancing upon mindfulness coaching and the benefits she reaped from the process, “[i]t helped me work with my inner workings, getting to know them more. And I felt a sense of almost leapfrogging forward with some of the things that had held me back. So I was inspired to become a coach.” (2:49).  During her practice as a doctor and a coach, Dr. Gazelle encountered a myriad of doctors and physicians struggling with crippling self-doubt and feelings of fraud or not being good enough. Discovering this problem and no adequate existing solution, Dr. Gazelle set out to attack the problem herself. She defines imposter syndrome as “the belief that what we know is minuscule and what our peers know is massive…that it's only a matter of time until we're found out. And once we are, we will be the laughing stock of our institution.” (4:57) Doctors and physicians are far from unique in this experience, with seemingly unflappable public figures such as Michelle Obama and Jodie Foster revealing their own struggles with imposter syndrome. Dr. Gazelle stresses that in order to overcome imposter syndrome, you must realize you are not alone. “We feel so isolated and this voice of ‘you're an imposter, you're not as good as others’ leaves us feeling like it's just us. So, [it’s] very important that we can remind ourselves, this is not just me.” (15:14)  Dr. Gazelle also addresses the connection between impostor syndrome, resilience, and COVID-19. Learn more about these topics in her book https://www.gailgazelle.com/resilience-book/ (Everyday Resilience).   Financial Wellness TipThis episodes’ Financial Wellness Tip encourages physicians to always thoughtfully consider the factors involved in lucrative investments before committing. While there’s nothing wrong with dreaming of an early retirement or having alternative streams of income, these are a few factors to consider first: While you often hear the success stories, don’t forget the far more frequent failed ventures that set families back and erase years of hard work. There are prudent opportunities to consider, such as https://www.sdtplanning.com/blog/buying-into-a-surgery-center (buying into a surgery center) that still come with risks Always onsider discussing your investment strategy and buy-in opportunities with an experienced financial professional.   To learn more about Dr. Gail Gazelle visit her https://www.gailgazelle.com/ (gailgazelle.com). Purchase her book or start https://www.gailgazelle.com/resilience-book/ (here) to read a free chapter. You can also connect with Dr. Gazelle on https://www.facebook.com/GailGazelleMD (Facebook), https://twitter.com/GailGazelleMD (Twitter) or https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailgazelle/ (LinkedIn) @GailGazelleMD Want to know more about about investing in a surgical center? Visit https://www.sdtplanning.com/blog/buying-into-a-surgery-center (Buying Into a Surgery Center) and https://www.sdtplanning.com/blog/pros-and-cons-surgery-center (The Pros & Cons of a Surgery Center).

Shame and guilt are common emotions faced by health care providers when dealing with a malpractice lawsuit. These struggles intensify when physicians hear phrases such as “don’t talk to anyone about this” from their lawyers, leading them to feel isolated, depressed, or anxious. Today’s guest discovered an unusual way of combatting some of these stressful emotions: reading. In this episode of Prosperous Doc, our host Shane Tenny is joined by Dr. Stacia Dearmin, a pediatric physician who faced an unfortunate patient outcome. In 2012, Dr. Dearmin checked on a young woman in the emergency department and, after her examination, concluded the best course of action was to send her home to finish recovering. The next day Dr. Dearmin found out the young woman had been admitted to the ICU. The young woman had suffered a cardiac arrest and stopped breathing; Dr. Dearmin knew the potential outcomes for this patient were grim. She was devastated, “I began to question what, if any responsibility I had for her death. I began to question my competence as a physician. I felt ashamed, I felt guilty, I grieved her death, I grieved my own sense of myself as a competent physician, and really struggled with these difficult feelings for much longer than I think I might have anticipated. I really didn't know how to understand the experience I was going through.” (5:32) A year later, Dr. Dearmin herself, was facing medical malpractice litigation. While the verdict was unanimously in her favor, prevailing in the lawsuit did little to ease the stress of the ordeal. “I felt critical of myself that I wasn't shaking it off, and that caused me to question even further, ‘do I belong in this profession?’ I see now that all that emotion is actually very closely tied to how seriously we take our work.” (10:39) During her struggle, Dr. Dearmin found comfort in the essay To Err is Human (https://www.thrivephysician.com/blog/2018/4/19/albert-wu-and-me-on-becoming-a-second-victim), by Dr. Albert Wu. Dr. Wu “identifies the victim as a physician or other healer who has injured themselves when something bad happens or nearly happens to a patient and that physician has made or fears that they've made a mistake.” This essay was powerful for Dr. Dearmin because it described the emotional experience she was having. She discovered she was not alone. “Oh, that's me. I'm not weak. I'm not badly suited to medicine. I'm reflective, and we don't want the reflective people to all abandon medicine." (11:19) The works of authors Brené Brown and Sidney Dekker also provided Dr. Dearmin a sense of peace. In their books she found words that allowed her to name her experience. “[I]t is powerful to have a vocabulary for these experiences because if I'm able to name my experience, just like Dr. Wu was able to name my experience, you realize, ‘oh, I'm not so alone in this. This is actually commonplace.” (17:02) Financial Wellness TipThis episode’s Financial Wellness Tip focuses on physicians’ and dentists’ desire to purchase homes after finishing school. Will Koster, CFP®, recommends three often under-discussed factors when buying a house, before making a hasty purchase: Hidden costs. The maintenance on a house can be sneaky expensive. Paying 6% of the sales price for a realtor to help you sell your house can often be a wise investment in order to save time, hassle, and to get you a higher price for your home. Lack of diversification. Oftentimes when a young person buys a house, it immediately becomes the overwhelming majority of their assets. (19:55) For more information on Dr. Stacia Dearmin or to view her resources and support for physicians facing malpractice litigation, visit thrivephysician.com (https://www.thrivephysician.com/) If you enjoyed this episode of Prosperous Doc, you might also like Finding Freedom and Balance as a Locum Tenens Doc, with Dr. Nii Darko (https://www.sdtplanning.com/podcasts/finding-freedom-and-balance-as-a-locum-tenens-doc) Prosperous...