You went into medicine to help people. You worked hard and jumped through hoops to prove to your superiors, as well as to yourself, that you have what it takes: the knowledge to help people – not just fix their problems but to help them thrive. What you did not realize until you were well into your clinicals and residency was that fear overshadowed the passion. Fear of not finishing your chart notes on time; fear of not checking off enough boxes for the right insurance reimbursement; fear that you are spending too much time with patients according to insurance companies or the hospital; fear that you did not address the patient’s concerns due to those time limitations; fear that you made a mistake and there would be litigation; and the list goes on. On top of it all, there were the shift options. Working 12 hour shifts (or longer) back to back with little time to eat or hydrate, running on adrenaline the entire time. No wonder medical schools prefer young students that have proven themselves by overachieving in academia. Let’s face it, you cannot keep that pace and stress forever. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an epidemic of physician burnout going on across our country.
Physician burnout costs the U.S. about $4.6 billion annually when you conservatively estimate the impact of physician turnover and reduced clinical hours, according to a 2019 study co-written by Christine Sinsky, MD, the AMA’s vice president of professional satisfaction.
The AMA has authored dozens of articles on the causes and impact of physician burnout. They have dedicated research teams, established numerous policies and established relief funding to combat physician burnout. Their goal is to help physicians with support groups and shuttling administrative burdens onto others. If we approach the situation as you would a patient with a health condition, then you might expect the AMA would actually try to treat the underlying cause of physician burnout. The underlying cause is not the red tape and paperwork, ungodly hours and workflow demands. And the underlying cause is not the weak physician that just cannot keep up. The underlying cause is our system of medicine where insurance companies dictate what doctors can and cannot do. The underlying cause is hospitals that want money and dictate how much time a patient can see their doctor. The same hospitals give incentives to have doctors delegate away care they are perfectly capable of giving. The underlying cause of physician burnout is not a mental health issue or physical incapability issue of the physician. It is the industry of medicine that is the underlying cause.
How Physicians Can Opt Out of the Current Medical System
You have choices. You can make a career change. You can stay and deal with it. You can launch the practice of your dreams. Step toward the passion that drove you to work hard in undergraduate school and on into medical school. The desire to help people find answers to their health and live long lives. A patient-centered practice where you can use all of the tools you learned in your training. A clinic where you actually can practice medicine and improve people’s lives.
The Benefits of Starting your Own Integrative Practice
Changing the medical system is not something that will happen overnight, and perhaps not at all, but you can change yourself and then influence those around you. As my father always taught me, you can be a big fish in a small pond. You can care for your whole community by stepping out of the industry of medicine and into the practice of medicine the way you once envisioned it to be. There are many ways to approach this goal. You do it one step at a time. By creating your own practice you will be able to:
- Set your own schedule
- Set your own fees
- Use treatments that you see fit to help the patient get better
- Do workups that get you the answers you need to help the patient
- Make passive income
- Have follow through on patient care and become part of the community
Checklist to Start your Own Medical Practice
How do you start? It’s like training for a marathon; set your goal and outline a plan. As with entering into uncharted territory, a guide can help you stay on track. Of course, you can do it alone, however it may take longer and more mistakes and ‘off course’ adventures can occur. A guide, mentor, or coach can help you when life is busy, you have a goal and just need someone to show you the direction and keep you on task. This uncharted territory of building your own practice will require someone who has been there before and has experience. The more experience they have, the more you can trust in their abilities to keep you moving towards your goal. Trust is important – especially when making such a big decision. You can get started now by taking just a few simple steps. Here are 5 things you can do to get started today:
- Write down your goal
- Make a list of your priorities in patient care
- Search for similar clinics in your area
- Talk to your partner or spouse about it
- Get a mentor
So, if you are tired of being treated like a glorified secretary or data entry specialist or tired of having little control over your life as a physician, then expand your vision. Remember your passion to help others and to practice medicine – and to be compensated for the time and work you do. Where there is a will, there is a way.
