Self-actualization in Medicine Part 1: Your Hierarchy of Needs

When you are a new doctor jumping on board an established practice, it is expected that you subscribe to a way of doing things. Maybe these ways are right or maybe they’re wrong. Can you abide them or can the practice abide your not abiding them? You’ve always dreamed of how you would treat, educate, and relate to patients, and a well-oiled machine (i.e., an established practice) invites no torpedoes. Sometimes you must draw the line right away if you think there are dangers to patients or unethical practices. When your moral compass points south, it takes no time before you walk out the door. Other times you assimilate without difficulty; at some point, however, you will want to be your own person, your own doctor. Will you be a torpedo or an additional gear in the well-oiled machine?

Combating Sexual Harassment in Healthcare

Institutions must strive for an environment that promotes respect for all staff – regardless of their position in the hierarchy. From maintenance personnel to rainmaker physicians and administrators, every employee’s role is critical to the operation of the institution, and every employee must be treated with professionalism and dignity. Lawsuits are costly, as is turnover, but the damage to an institution’s reputation and brand may be a cost that no healthcare provider can afford. Without the trust of the community, institutions may struggle maintain their position as a leading provider their area.

7 Best Practices for Physician Onboarding

The average cost to turn over a physician is $1.2 million. In addition, the physician candidate pool is steadily decreasing. Effective onboarding is not just another task to add to everyone’s already hectic schedules. It is not just another meeting that needs to be attended. It is an essential process that improves productivity and helps to reduce turnover, ultimately increasing revenue and enhancing physician satisfaction and engagement.  It is a necessary part of the recruitment and employment process that cannot be ignored or forgotten.

Four Reasons Your Medical Practice Should Embrace CAM

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) refers to any therapy that is not a part of standard Western medicine. Despite increasing interest from patients – up to a third of Americans use some form of CAM – western medicine has historically vilified these practices as not evidenced based and without much merit. Despite this, many CAM practices are beneficial to patients and can safely be integrated into your medical practice.

Read on to see why your practice should start incorporating CAM…

This is How to Start a Healthcare Job Search

Assuming you have a particular direction in mind, you might be surprised to learn that labor markets are incredibly diverse, and advice is somewhat difficult to generalize. That being said, we’ll discuss a few tips that should be helpful, no matter where you are or what field of medicine you are looking to get in to.

6 Tips for Finding a Healthcare Job in Another State

Do you dream of looking out your window and seeing the Rocky Mountains? Do you envision going to a warm, sandy beach after your shift at the hospital instead of driving home in the snow? One big hurdle stands in the way of making your fantasy a reality, the difficulty of finding a job in another state.

Recruiting a Diverse Workforce in Healthcare

The prevailing wisdom is that a diverse workforce in the healthcare industry can lead to better patient outcomes. A workforce that better represents patients may be more adept in practicing cultural competency, awareness, and sensitivity. Institutions that work toward diversity in their recruitment and acquisition can see many positive results for their efforts; as their workforce expands to better meet the needs of their consumers, their environment and brand may also reap benefits. Moving toward a more diverse facility is something almost every healthcare provider should prioritize.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Choose My Medical Specialty

Choosing the right medical career is, like any other form of employment, filled with philosophically wondrous but functionally useless platitudes. The adage “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” decorates countless commencement speeches and career day addresses. Maybe that works for some jobs. In medicine, that strikes me as a bit backwards.

6 Best Practices for Building Patient Loyalty

Consumers today have high expectations when it comes to service. Companies such as Amazon, Netflix, and Google have thrived on providing consumers what they want, when they want it. As a result, we are living in an “on-demand” era that has increasingly infiltrated almost every industry, with healthcare being no exception. One may argue that medicine is hardly the same as ordering a video or a new set of bath towels online. However, the reality is that patients are consumers and they are living in an “on-demand” world.  To gain their business and win their loyalty, healthcare organizations and practices must recognize this shift and implement strategies to improve access, convenience, and personalization.

The following are six best practices for building and maintaining patient loyalty…

Top 9 Tips to Pick the Best Answers for USMLE Questions

The USMLE Step 1 has multiple questions, each requiring a unique strategy to arrive at the best answer. Here are 9 tips to help you finish your USMLE test on time, if not early, and get maximum answers right.