Looking back through the last month it’s been very rewarding to view the expansion of Freelance MD.
It has been interesting to read Jeff’s recent blog post about Freelance MD’s first four week period in addition to the resonance this site also has had with physicians. Freelance MD was created to offer physicians objective, credible information on a variety of topics that happen to be crucial to modern physicians. We knew going into to this particular project that clearly there was not any other destination on the net like this, and we all felt that these topics that we all is going to be discussing would fill an important void. Based on our numbers, it seems others concur with us. Jeff and i also sincerely hope you’re finding the site to be informative and encouraging.
In contemplating the rise of Freelance MD in addition to the start of the Medical Fusion Conference, I started to think more about physicians and their careers. I’m at a rather unique spot when it comes to the condition of physicians and their career issues. First, I’m a physician. Second, I come from a family of medical people (my cousin is a medical student, my father and brother are surgeons, my sister is actually a medical malpractice defense attorney, and my mom is really an elected official who sponsored wrongful death tort reform in my home state). Third, I run two national conferences and are available into contact with physicians from multiple specialties who practice all over the country. All of this exposure to various kinds of physicians allows me a large amount of possible opportunity to discuss the thought of physician career modification and what physicians could be doing to boost their situation.
When the condition of career modification arises in conversation with my physician friends, it would appear that some are frustrated by their clinical practices, nonetheless they seem completely at a loss for the very thought of setting up a change. These friends resemble the survivors of the plane crash at a deserted island who are sitting on the beach in stunned shock realizing they’re now marooned. They’re so overwhelmed with all the shock and horror on the crash that they haven’t moved past the shock to the level of working towards their survival and, hopefully, escape from the island. They’re still relaxing in the sand, wailing, “We’ve crashed! We’ve crashed! All of us are alone! How will any of us survive? Precisely what are we planning to do!??!!!”
Look, That’s not me saying things are rosy and we all shouldn’t have concerns. I believe it’s obvious to everyone that the medical profession has crashed. Gone are the days when becoming an excellent clinician would be the only worry of the physician. Today’s physicians ought to balance clinical excellence with billing codes, patient satisfaction scores, duplicitous administrators, underhanded trial lawyers, as well as a government bureaucracy seemingly intent on driving the whole healthcare industry into the dirt. It isn’t a great situation to generally be in and when there ever was an occasion when one will be justified a little despair, now could be that point.
However, what I’ve found amazing about Freelance MD together with the Medical Fusion Conference is that despite pretty much everything doom and gloom in medicine, there are a number of talented individuals that happen to be not just surviving the present environment, they’re thriving. These folks aren’t relaxing in the sand weeping through their losses, they’ve moved off the beach and have taken active, deliberate steps to boost their situation.
I’m reminded on the quip through the author G.K. Chesterton who, when asked by the journalist what book he’d most wish to have with him if he was ever marooned within the deserted island, said, “Why, A Practical Guide to Shipbuilding, obviously…”
The leaders I’ve met?the majority of whom are authors on this website?are inspirational simply because they aren’t just moaning about precisely how horrible the crash has been with them or waiting passively at the beach for someone to rescue them. No, these leaders are out in the jungle, foraging for food, building shelter, scouting the island for opportunities and, most importantly, developing a vessel to have them off the island should the timing is right.
If these people have been so successful when making the transition, why then are so many physicians still moribund, stewing in despair and learned helplessness? Why’s making the change so hard for most physicians?
There are a great deal of theories regarding this and there are many individuals writing on Freelance MD who have been addressing this very issue, but it’s necessary to note what appears to be a universal truth: many physicians are experiencing a hard time adjusting their careers to the present reality around them.
When we build Freelance MD, one of my very own goals is to build this incredible website in a way that offers very practical, systematic steps for physicians to begin with taking hold with their careers, shaking from the learned helplessness by which they have been festering, and begin focusing on their “ship” to get them off their deserted island and back at the way to adventure in addition to a more fulfilling career.
Are you interested?
In that case, join our motley crew and learn in the experts on the site. Get involved and have questions. Help with the community and teach others what you’re learning. In a nutshell, begin, right now, making the transition on your own.
The amount of time for sand-wallowing is through.
It’s time to create your own ship.
Post courtesy of Freelance MD, a nonclinical physician careers community offering physician resources like nonclinical jobs and offering information that allows physicians more control of their career, income and lifestyle, from medical spas to real estate investing.