The title of this post is intended to have two meanings. Any manager, leader, or executive generally finds that there is rarely growth without discomfort. Growth and discomfort (sometimes outright pain) are usually linked. It also indicates that this blog itself is due for some growth.
When I jumped in and took my first executive position as vice president for medical affairs, it began a period of growth that I had not experienced since medical school and residency.
During that time, I was constantly feeling a sense of discomfort. I was only partially prepared for my new role. The experiences that felt especially uncomfortable were:
- Being the outsider at meetings with the CEO and other members of the executive team, who had worked together and met weekly for years before I joined them;
- Learning to interact with, support, lead and inspire the directors who actually ran my division;
- Accepting full accountability for my own performance and that of my division; and,
- Understanding and embracing budgets.
Over time, as I developed skills in these areas, my discomfort lessened. But the CEO and COO always saw to it that new challenges were identified. They tried to ensure that professional growth continued for all members of the team.
I'll come back to the growth discussion later. For now, I'd like to update my list of physician authored blogs and podcasts.
Updates on Physician Blogs
I have found some new blogs and podcasts to add to my list of physician authored blogs. I recommend you check them out. They are generally inspiring and often very interesting. Here they are:
From the About page: “To equip doctors with the skills to effectively contribute to healthcare organizations and manage their careers.”
The Boss MD is an internist and the blog is rather eclectic, covering topics that are personal, professional and financial.
From the About page: “At base, this is an attempt to put what is on my mind on the page. Some of the topics you can expect to see include:
Life and health experimentation
Parenting
Travel (including family travel)
Early retirement
Personal finance
Food (cooking and eating out)”
This author is a radiologist and he covers a fairly eclectic mix of topics, as noted above.
According to the author, Dana Corriel, her content is as follows: “As readers, you will be seeing a mix of material- both medicine and parenthood-related, and even some of the other beautiful things in life that I enjoy sharing- food I love, experiences I want to share, my love of vintage, and more.”
She is an internist addressing an eclectic mix of subject matter.
From the About page: THCB covers the business of healthcare, national healthcare policy, technology and day-to-day health care news.
The publisher is Matthew Holt, and he is not a physician. But I include this blog because the topics area relevant, and many of the writers are physicians. The topics relate to the healthcare industry, and the specialties of the contributors varies.
According to the side bar, this blog is: “A physician's commentary on current issues in medicine, clinical research, health, and wellness.” We don't know his specialty, but he appears to write mostly about health and wellness.
Two New Personal Finance Blogs
Here is information from the About page: “We are a married couple in our early 30’s, and we each practice our chosen healthcare professions in a small-ish Midwest city. We live in a little house with our child and a temperamental cat. We are not millionaires. We are not financially-free. Our goal is simple: Get rid of our student loans ASAP, and make other smart financial decisions along the way.”
This one is dedicated to personal finance. The specialties of the Doctors on Debt are not specified.
From the About page: “…there is an enormous gap in knowledge and resources for how professional women should not only manage money but also tackle the rising cost of childcare, divorce, elder care, and other unique concerns for breadwinning women.”
Miss Bonnie MD is a dermatologist and she writes about personal finance.
How About Two Podcasts
Weight Loss for Busy Physicians
Katrina Ubell is a pediatrician with a focus on weight loss for physicians.
According to Ubell: “What I do is create a safe space for you to unpack all of the baggage that is manifesting itself as extra fat on your body. Then, piece by piece, we work through all of it.”
She mostly produces podcast episodes and provides coaching services for interested followers.
This is a podcast by Carrie Reynolds, a pediatric gastroenterologist, who is devoted to creating “a space where women doctors can come together and share their stories of their business, project or side-hustle. We will also explore ways to stretch our hard earned dollars and be more efficient with our time and money. Join us as we explore the many creative ways women can practice medicine.” Her focus is on careers.
I will soon add these nine blogs and podcasts to the Physician Blogs Page.
Please send me any new physician authored blogs that you encounter.
Now for a New Growth and Discomfort Opportunity
One of the reasons I cut back to weekly posts a couple of months ago was to work on a new project. Let me provide some background.
During my research of topics for emerging physician executives, I've observed a great deal of interest by physicians in a variety of nonclinical careers. Management is not meant for everyone.
Some are more interested in work as a medical advisor or expert witness. A career in coaching or consulting is intriguing for others. There are numerous other career opportunities that enable physicians to:
- reduce or eliminate direct patient contact;
- fill the need to explore new opportunities and engage new and untapped skills;
- abandon some of the frustrations of “routine medical practice,” whatever the specialty; and,
- recapture passion for their careers.
I have addressed this broader issue of nonclinical careers in several posts, including:
- How to Pivot and Launch A New Career: A Book Review
- Is it Time for a Non-Clinical Career?
- Options for a Non-Clinical Career
I clearly have an affinity for hospital management, and will continue to recommend it as a challenging and rewarding, career choice. But there is an almost endless universe of other career opportunities that can be explored.
New Facebook Discovery
I recently discovered a very interesting and popular Facebook Group called Physician NonClinical Career Hunters. It is moderated by Laura McKain, MD, who works in the pharmaceutical industry. The group has been growing rapidly. As I’m preparing this post, it has just reached 6,000 physician members.
Reading through the posts, and interacting with the members and McKain, leads me to believe this is an area with a lot of ongoing interest.
Goodbye clinical career?
This is understandable, because the rapid changes in healthcare have caused many of us to rethink our commitment to direct patient care. And like any group of people, we all have different gifts that sometimes do not become apparent until later in our lives.
The Upshot
So…
I’m in the process of putting together a podcast that will address this very issue. It will be designed to inspire, inform, and support physicians seeking a “side hustle” or a full-time career in an area beyond direct patient care.
I look forward to learning more about the options available to physicians. I will be speaking to issues related to management, leadership and administration, as I have done on this blog. My plan is to learn more about other opportunities along with my listeners, by interviewing experts and physicians who have already successfully made the transition to one of these careers.
I’d ask that you check back from time to time to see the inaugural podcast episode. I will present the cover art and the name of the podcast on a future blog post before the podcast is released.
My goal is to publish the first episode by the end of September. I'll do everything I can to accomplish that.
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QUESTION
My additional request is that you let me know which nonclinical career you would most like to hear about. You can respond via email at johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net or use the Voice Message option.
Next Steps
Please add you're thoughts and questions in the Comments. I will respond to them all.
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Contact me: johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net
Until next time.
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