After obtaining marketing and business coaching herself, she started Stress Free Mom, MD to provide coaching and training that's 100% focused on helping physicians reclaim time, freedom, and peace of mind. Creating the ideal career enables them to find that perfect rhythm between their professional life and home life.

Photo by Victor Rodriguez on Unsplash

Create a Plan for Career Change

Maiysha provides some sound advice when it comes to career transition:

• She explains that career transition follows the usual stages of change. After moving from pre-contemplation to contemplation, it’s important that physicians spend sufficient time thinking about what they want from their careers.
• Then, we should take sufficient time and seek help from an accountability partner or a coach. We should avoid the tendency to make decisions in desperation. She says we might consider a bridge job to pay the bills until we can fully explore our career options.
• She also reminds us that we should NOT be too hard on ourselves. Physicians take rejection very hard. We like to be in control. But be prepared to be rejected by an employer or two prior to finding that ideal job.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

• Finally, the process may take longer than we thought. And, it's important that we learn from our setbacks, and continue to pursue the career of our dreams until we find it. The opportunities are plentiful for physicians who devote sufficient time and energy to the process.

You can contact Dr. Clairborne through her web site at  Stress Free Mom, MD. You can also find her on Facebook, LinkedIn, or in the Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters Facebook Group .  [JJ: I'm one of the “admins” for that group.]

And you can find her Facebook Group here: Physicians in Transition.

Get My Newsletter

I provide additional nonclinical career information in my newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter, simply complete the information found at vitalpe.net/newsletter.

LinkedIn

I believe that every physician who is thinking about career change should start to build a professional LinkedIn profile. I address this topic in a blog post at Top Reasons to Be LinkedIn, and in two podcast episodes, including Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn and Follow these Steps to Create an Awesome LinkedIn Profile.

And I encourage you to connect with me on LinkedIn. You can find me at www.linkedin.com/in/john-jurica.

Join me next week for another episode of Physician Nonclinical Careers.

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Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed herein are those of me and my guest, where applicable. While the information published in written form and in audio form on the podcast are true and accurate, to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed herein will lead to success in your career, life or business.

The opinions are my own, and my guest's, and not those of any organizations that I'm a member of, or affiliated with. The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only and should not be construed as advice, such a medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of advice.

If you take action on any information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult a professional, e.g., attorney, accountant, career counsellor, etc., before making any major decisions related to the subject matter of the blog and podcast.

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Where noted in parentheses, I receive a small stipend for referring you to a site, such as Amazon, where you may purchase a product discussed in a podcast, show notes or blog post. This does not affect your cost for the product. I only promote products that I have purchased, or used myself, or that respected colleagues have recommended.

The post How to Negotiate the Stages of Career Change with Dr. Maiysha Clairborne – 040 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

You may have noticed, if you're a regular listener, that I've been a little bit delayed. My last episode was released a day or two late, and then the show notes were about two or three days late. Basically, there's just been a lot going on. And rather than just skip a week, I usually give myself the leeway to publish something a day or two late, rather than just skipping and missing an episode.

You'll notice the last three, including this one, are solo episodes. I'm hoping that's okay. I prefer to do interviews, but interviews are logistically a little more complicated. Every once in a while we'll have someone who cancels and then we reschedule, so then I'm left with a gap. I'm not that far ahead in planning my interviews. I’m still going week by week at this point.

Sometime in the future, I'm going try to get a little more organized. Right now, I'm planning for my next two episodes to be interviews. They should be very interesting. I'm not going to give you the names, but I will say that the next one should be with a physician who's been working in the life insurance industry, which is a very attractive industry for physicians. I should have her on next time. And then I've got one lined up for after that as well.

Updates

You might know through previous episodes that, for the last few months, I've been helping Laura McCain as an administrator for the Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters' Facebook group. And, I have three bits of information about that. There's some news I'd like to share with you.

Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters is Growing

The first is, it continues to grow. We're adding about 20 plus or minus new members every day. And, we're, oh, a few hundred members from breaking the 10,000 mark. So that's quite a milestone. And I'll announce that when it happens.

Facebook has added some new services, at least one new service. And that is, for certain types of Facebook groups, including those that are geared for careers, they've added a mentoring program. That's something I found very interesting. So they're facilitating a program where we link up mentors with mentees, and Facebook will walk us through an eight week process in which the mentor helps the mentees to make some real, tangible progress in a way towards their new career goals, or in improving their careers.

From what I know, the process involves about one hour a week for both parties. And, it runs, like I said, about eight weeks. We just got it set up on our Facebook group. So, if you haven't been on the group in a while, you might go there again. It's the Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters Facebook group.

Physicians Only

This group is only for physicians. So, if you're not a member of the group and you join, or attempt to join, you're going to be asked three questions. Be sure to answer those questions. We need the reassurance that you're a physician.

Anyway, there is a process. And we're just learning about the mentorship now. I've just assigned one mentee to me. And I've also assigned one other. So, we only have two pairs right now. But I saw today that we have probably close to 20 mentees, and only myself and one other mentor. So, we're looking for more mentors for the group. And we're trying to link the mentees and mentors up so that they're looking at the same type of career opportunity. In other words, since my background is in hospital management, I'm looking for a mentee who's interested in hospital or medical group management as opposed to someone who might be looking to go into entrepreneurship, or consulting, or working for Pharma, since that's not my expertise.

Some Members Struggle to Get Started

So far, I've also noticed that there are a number of mentees who just want help with “finding a nonclinical career.” So, it's pretty generic, pretty open-ended, which brings me to the third point about the group, which is, I often get ideas for this podcast from discussion threads that are occurring on the Facebook group.

And, with this new mentorship program, there were so many requests for a generic, “How do I start a nonclinical career” question, I decided today that I'm going to talk about three practical, tangible, simple, direct steps that you can take if you're interested in a nonclinical career and you really haven't taken any steps to get started.

This is for those who are very early in the process. They're still thinking about, “Well, what do I want to do? How do I do it?” And so I hope you'll find that useful today.

Okay, to reiterate, today's episode is some advice for those who are very early in the process and are just struggling to figure out how to actually get started. So, if you're looking for a nonclinical career, or you're considering it, and you want to know what's out there, I'm going to give you some ideas of ways to get started.

Begin Your Education in Nonclinical Careers

The first thing to do is to educate yourself. I've been looking at these things for a year or two, if not longer. Here are some suggestions. You want to educate yourself about the whole issue of nonclinical careers and career transition. There are several good books and websites that you might want to start with, just to get an overview, and to get a partial list of all the potential nonclinical jobs that are out there.

I found the following books to be useful. Note that for the books, there will be affiliate links here, where you can link directly to the book and purchase it through Amazon. I do get a small stipend for doing that. But it does not affect the price for the book in any way. There's no affiliate link for the websites. Those are just normal links.

Great Books

The first is Michael McLaughlin's book, which is very readable, inspiring, and extremely helpful. It is called, Do You Feel Like You Wasted All That Training?: Answers About Transitioning to Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians. It's done in a question and answer format. And, even though he ended up in a specific career – I guess you'd call it medical writing, and ultimately entrepreneurship, because he started his own company – he really addresses a lot of the issues related to career change. And he even talks about how he followed a process, which could serve as a model for you to follow if it makes sense to you.

The second book is Cory S. Fawcett's book, titled, The Doctors Guide to Smart Career Alternatives and Retirement. And he does spend a fair amount of time talking about retirement and financial issues. But there are two or three chapters in there that address some unusual clinical and the usual list of nonclinical careers. And he has vignettes and stories about physicians who have successfully made the transition. So I think you'll find that useful and instructive.

Latest Find

I found another book recently that I've not mentioned in the past, because it's new to me. And this one is by Emily Woolcock. It's called, Make Your Move: A Physician's Guide to Clinical and Non-Clinical Alternatives to Medical Practice. It's written by an orthopedist who now teaches online how to do independent medical exams. And I believe she's still practicing. So, I read the book. I found it interesting, and inspiring. So you might check that out.

The last book I want to mention is a book that I reviewed and summarized somewhat in Episode Number 2, called Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, by Jenny Blake. It provides an overview of the process of career change and transition that I think makes a lot of sense and can take some of the fear out of the process. So, again, I would recommend that you read Pivot, by Jenny Blake.

Useful Blogs

There's a relatively new blog called Look for Zebras. And, recently there was a post titled, “Nonclinical Career Profiles for Physicians.” But it links to 19 specific jobs that are nonclinical, with fairly detailed descriptions. And for each one, the author answers this question: Is this a career for you?

I found that very interesting and helpful, because we don't want to rush into a career that really is not compatible with our personality, our interests, or our passions. I found this one to be very helpful.

Another blog that lists many nonclinical careers and provides some examples of each, is called NonClinicalDoctors.com. This is the blog that's produced by Heidi Moawad. She's got a long list of nonclinical careers. And, some of them have links to specific examples. So that'll give you a little bit more insight into each of those careers. It might be a little different from the other ones.

And finally, I want to recommend the blog that's produced by Heather Fork at Doctor's Crossing. It doesn't have as many specific job descriptions, but there are a lot of articles that address issues like personality, how to make the decision, and other supportive topics that will help somebody who is looking to leave clinical medicine. To really make sure they've considered all of their options, and to go into this process with their eyes open. That can be found at DoctorsCrossing.com.

So that completes my comments on action item number one, which is to educate yourself. There's a lot more out there than what I've described. But those books and websites will surely get you started.

Try Something New

Now we're going to move into the second action item you can follow. And these can be done concurrently. One of the approaches that can be helpful in career transition is to do little pilots, or to try different things and see if they gel with you. If they meet your needs. If they're something that generates some degree of passion or interest and fits your personality and so forth.

And, it's not always easy to tell ahead of time if this is going to be the case. Sometimes you try things and you find out after you've tried them that they really do get you going. That they really interest you. They motivate you and inspire you. So, just get into something, even though you may not know for sure how much you're going to like doing it.

Volunteer and Learn

This first set of explorations I'm going to describe have to do with finding and joining a nonprofit board. Okay, why do this? Well, a number of reasons.

By taking action and identifying some nonprofit boards you might want to join, you're going to be putting yourself out there. You're going to be doing something positive. You're going to be contributing to that organization. And then while you're doing that, you're going to be learning as you go. Because you're probably going to learn about financial reports, and quality improvement, and other topics that will build on what you already know through your medical career.

You're going to focus on joining a nonprofit that's in the healthcare field. There are many charitable organizations out there that you could join. But, I think it's better to focus on one that's in the healthcare field. Just to give you a preview, it would be boards for organizations that might be helping the disabled, or a women's shelter, boards for hospice, or if there was a nonprofit nursing home or home healthcare agency.

Let me talk about how you would find such an organization and contact them. Obviously, if you're well established in the community, you want to talk to your friends and colleagues. If you work at a hospital, you might see if they're looking for board members. If the hospital has an affiliate, such as a foundation or other spinoffs or affiliate organizations with a board such as a nursing home or home health, as I mentioned earlier, you might see if they need board members. And then, of course, just checking around, you might have knowledge about other facilities. Perhaps in working as a physician, you've interfaced with those in referring patients to them. And if all else fails, I have one other method for identifying a potential nonprofit to approach.

Use GuideStar

There is an organization called GuideStar. And it has a site called GuideStar.org. And, this is the site that lists all of the nonprofits in the United States. It’s sort of well-known because the 990 information that hospitals and other nonprofits have to publish is placed on GuideStar for review (by the public).

To get the most current data, you have to pay for a membership. But, you can sign up and obtain a free membership. If you really want to, you can go and look in the 990s and find out what your local hospital's CEO, CMO, CFO, and board members earned in previous years. The free version is providing only information from two three years ago or longer. But it's still a very interesting site.

But, for our purposes today, we're going to use it to try and find some candidates to approach for board membership. It's probably true that these organizations aren't just waiting around for a physician to show up and volunteer their services. But the reality of the situation is that many of these organizations would love to have physicians on their boards and have difficulty getting them.

Begin Your Search

So, it's very likely that if you find two or three that make sense to approach, one of them might have an opening. If not right now, at least within the next four to six months, because the board membership turns over usually every two to three years on most of these boards.

The process is quite simple:

1. You go to GuideStar.org.
2. And you click the button that says Sign Up.
3. Then you put in your name, and your email address. And now you have access to the free part of the site.
4. The next step is to click the Search button. That brings up a sophisticated search panel on the left.

Narrow Your Selection

Probably the easiest way to search is to click your state, or a closely neighboring state, and then click a city if you want to limit your search to a certain city. Then I'm recommending that you search for an organization that has revenues greater than $5 million per year. That way you know the organization's large enough to have meaningful financials, a sizeable employee population. And so, what you learn in looking at reports on an organization like this will apply to future jobs in many industries.

Let me give you an example. If I use this search function to search Illinois, it says there are 71,323 nonprofits in the state. If I look specifically at Kankakee, there's 191. Kankakee is a fairly small town outside of Chicago.

Or, I can look in Illinois and use a keyword search for “hospice,” which will identify 68 separate hospice organizations.

The other thing you can do is, under “Organizations,” you can break it down into type of organizations. For example, you might look in your state, and then under type of organization, you will find that letter “E” correlates to “Healthcare – General and Rehabilitation,” which includes a lot of hospitals, or “F” –  “Mental Health,” which is another medical field that might have appropriate organizations for you to consider joining.

To take it a step further, if you were to look under section “E” under Healthcare, you'll see that there are subsets. And for example, in the state of Illinois, under “Healthcare,” you've got 74 that are considered to be “Advocacy” organizations, 108 that are “Professional Societies,” 54 that are “Hospitals and Primary Medical Care Organizations,” and 115 that are “Community Health Systems.” These will probably overlap quite a bit.

But again, play around with it. Try and find three, four, or five organizations that meet your criteria, that seem interesting, that are located reasonably close to you. And, that have, as I said, 5 or 10 million dollars in gross revenue, so that they'll be big enough to be meaningful, but small enough to be approachable.

Similar Organizations

There are two other types of organizations that won't be found on GuideStar but are very similar. One is county health departments. They all have boards, and they all have physician members on their boards, generally. And they have the same type of meetings, looking at the same type of information that can be useful with regards to exposing you to some of these issues.

And, don't forget your professional societies. There are state and county medical societies that have boards as well. And they also review similar types of reports, although, they'd have to be a pretty large county medical society or association to match the budget, let's say, of one of the nonprofits we're talking about.

Anyway, the point is to see if you can get appointed to some of these. And just start attending the meetings. Do some networking. See if there's anything going on that is attractive to you. If you like participating, then certainly volunteer for membership on some of the committees where you can learn even more specific details on areas of interest.

If you find that it's something that doesn't really align with your interests or passions, then, by all means, after six to 12 months, just inform the chair that you will need to resign. And then consider looking for another opportunity.

Remember that you'll be learning along the way. It won't have any downside to put a year or two experiences on your resume. It shows both an interest in helping as well as some experience in business practices that you'll be exposed to. And it may lead to other opportunities that you can't even imagine.

Other Small Pilots Closer to Home

Well, I did say that we would have three steps or actions we could take. So, I know we're running out of time. But let me just add one, third step that's pretty straightforward. This applies to anybody's who’s in any kind of organization directly, such as an employee of a hospital or health system, or a medical group.

Or, even if you're independent, but you're on a medical staff of a hospital, or otherwise affiliated with an organization that you work with. Just stop for a moment. Look around and see if there are opportunities to assist that organization in any of the major areas that might be of benefit to your learning process.

So, I'm talking about they probably have a department, or at least a person that is assigned to tracking quality improvement, or perhaps safety, even if there's an area that looks at the finances or other, even clinical activities. Many hospitals have specific clinical teams and committees such as the cancer committee, tumor board, perhaps there's a cardiac cath conference.

Teams Need Physician Leaders

There might be units such as an observation unit, or the ICU, or other specific, very focused clinical teams that you can become part of. And they usually have meetings, and they usually need a chair. Then you get into that, and you start leading these meetings and assisting and demonstrating your expertise outside of the strictly clinical area into management and leadership.

You might join the UM or case management team, or the informatics team. We've talked about some of these in the past. But, as you get involved, not only are you learning some clinical subject matter, but you're also learning leadership and transferable skills that will apply to a specific medical directorship, medical advisorship, and then ultimately other types of positions.

Oh, and let's not forget about the continuing medical education committee, if there is one. That's a pretty altruistic area, but it's very practical to learn to skills regarding CME. You might learn about writing, presentation, accreditation, and these will provide some skills that can be transferred to other settings. And give you some ideas on what kind of long-term nonclinical career you might wish to pursue.

Take the First Step

The important thing is to get started with your education. Get started with exposing yourself to some other opportunities and other experiences. And, over time, you'll start to develop some clarity around what you want to do nonclinically. And you'll also discover other opportunities for being mentored or coached. You'll be networking. You'll be identifying other colleagues that may be a step or two ahead of you. And you'll also be identifying other resources that are out there.

Well, I think that's all we have time for today. And, I will remind you to please go into your podcast app and subscribe to the podcast. And, while you're there, leave a review and a ranking. That would be really appreciated. It will help to make sure that others who are looking for this kind of information can find it more easily.

Before we close today, let me remind you that I did put together a free guide called 5 Clinical Careers You Can Pursue Today. You can download that for free by giving your email address to vitalpe.net/freeguide. That's vitalpe.net/freeguide, all one word.

I want to end there today. I want to thank you for joining me. Next week we should be returning to the interview format. So join me then on Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Resources

The Resources are linked to in the content above.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

If you're ready to move on, here is Episode 000

If you'd like to listen to the premier episode and show notes, you can find it here: Getting Acquainted with Physician NonClinical Careers Podcast – 001

The post 3 Simple Tactics to Launch Your Exploration for a New Career – 038 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Free Career Transition Guide

Before I jump into today’s content, I need to tell you about a new “how-to-guide” I’ve written. It’s a 24-page manual, complete with checklists for 5 nonclinical careers. It outlines the steps you can take to pursue a career in utilization management, clinical documentation improvement, informatics, medical writing, and hospital management as VP for Medical Affairs.

I wrote it based on my personal experiences, and what I’ve learned doing interviews for this podcast. I was thinking of selling it on Amazon as a Kindle Book. But for now, it’s completely FREE for listeners to this podcast. To download your copy, just go to Free Career Guide.

A Listener's Question

I was on a phone call the other day, talking with a physician listener interested in exploring a new career. She was working as a gastroenterologist in a fairly large medical group and had become involved in quality initiatives at her local hospital.

Let’s call her Nina.

She didn’t have a formal leadership role in the hospital or medical group, but she really enjoyed working on quality improvement projects. And she wanted to explore a career in quality improvement.

She was thinking that she might ultimately want to work as chief quality officer at a hospital or a large group. And, she asked me how to best pursue such a career.

I thought you’d like to hear the advice I gave her, so I’m presenting that today. But first, let me give you a little more information about this relatively new senior hospital executive position.

A New Position: Chief Quality Officer

As hospitals have begun to shift from volume- to value-based care, someone must be responsible for collecting and submitting data needed to demonstrate the organization's quality. And there are multiple processes, tools, and departments that must coordinate their efforts to make that happen.

Let me point out some of the duties of the CQO:

1. Implementing quality improvement measurement tools that can provide risk-adjusted outcome measures;
2. Implementing a tool that will cull clinical data for the purpose of reporting to CMS;
3. Writing and implementing a quality improvement plan that addresses all QI activities, such as
   • physician peer review,
   • chart reviews for quality monitoring,
   • implementing mandatory quality initiatives, such as those for central line infections and DVT prophylaxis,
   • initiating QI projects using QI models such as PDCA (plan – do – check – act),
   • performing root cause analyses for serious errors or sentinel events;
4. Monitoring public reporting (Hospital Compare, HealthGrades, LeapFrog, Truven Top 100 and others);
5. Hiring, directing and evaluating the director of QI department and often the Patient Safety Department; and,
6. Developing and promoting a culture of safety and quality.

I described my vision of the ideal QI program in Building a Great Hospital Quality Improvement Program.

I’ve seen tremendous growth in this field. This is primarily because CMS is penalizing hospitals financially that don’t meet quality, safety, length of stay and readmissions benchmarks. So, it now makes sense to invest 200- to 300-thousand dollars to avoid paying millions of dollars in penalties. And a CQO will promote quality of care and the hospital’s rankings and reputation.

Suffice it to say that there is a growing demand for physicians who meet the qualifications needed to lead hospital quality efforts.

My Roadmap to Chief Quality Officer

As I thought about her situation, there were several ideas that came to mind, and I shared those with her. Thinking more about the question later, here is what occurs to me:
In general, there is a pretty standard approach to shifting from a strictly clinical career to one in hospital administration, including a role as CQO. It involves these basic steps:

1. Overcome mindset issues
2. Demonstrate commitment
3. Utilize mentors
4. Obtain unpaid real-world experience
5. Get formal education
6. Acquire certifications and degrees
7. Obtain formal or paid experience
8. Actively pursue a CQO position

It’s sometimes possible to skip a step or rearrange the order. Some clinicians are thrust into a formal, paid position out of necessity and have to address multiple steps concurrently. Some physicians may obtain an advanced degree, such as an MPH, while completing medical school, not realizing it will help them in the search for a CQO job later. But most of us need to follow the steps I’ve outlined.

And there are tactics along the way that help accelerate the process, like joining appropriate associations, obtaining coaching, and networking.

1. Mindset

I’ve previously discussed the issue of mindset and self-limiting beliefs with at least two of my guests – (Episodes 10 and 18). Nina had already overcome that barrier. She was really excited about quality improvement and knew it was something she’d be good at.

2. Demonstrate Commitment

In the hospital setting, in order to be involved in formal and informal QI projects or standing committees, those in charge must understand that you have both interest and expertise. In an absurd example, the president of the medical staff is not going to recommend someone in the finance department to work on quality initiatives due to lack of both of these attributes.

Physicians already have the necessary expertise to get started. We know medicine, epidemiology, statistics, and basic infection control and quality improvement principles. But unless someone in a leadership position knows we’re interested, they won’t seek out our help.

Our interest can be demonstrated in only 2 ways: what we say and what we do.

In my conversation with Nina, I started by asking her if she had talked to the director of the Quality Improvement Department at her hospital. She had not. I told her the director would be the person who'd have the most information about the quality improvement enterprise there.

If there was a chief quality officer, she'd know who that person was, and she'd also know which physicians had been most active in the quality initiatives. If there's no chief quality officer, there might be a medical director or two that were involved in certain projects.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

And during that conversation, of course, Nina would tell the director that she was interested in working on QI projects, even if they did not involve her specialty. She’d also express this interest to the chair of her department and to the chair of the QI Committee and the president of the medical staff.

She’d also have a conversation within her medical group, to the extent there was a formal QI department or team.

Finally, she’d really demonstrate her interest by consistently attending the meetings, and contributing her input and time to the projects she was working on.

3. Mentors

I told her that based on those conversations, it should be possible for her to identify a mentor or two to begin speaking with. The Director of Quality, generally a nurse with special training, could be one of her non-physician mentors.

The best mentor would be a physician already deeply involved in quality, such as the CQO or medical director for quality. Remember, the typical mentor is generally a step or two ahead of you. I described how to identify and engage a mentor in Episode 4 of this podcast.

If there's no mentor readily available in your organization, it’s possible to identify mentors outside the organization. There are associations that physicians like Nina can join. They provide access to education and certification, but a big benefit is the networking and access to mentors.

The National Association for Healthcare Quality is probably the best known. There is also the American College of Medical Quality.

Another way to find a mentor is by using LinkedIn. Membership is free, so there's really no barrier to joining. On LinkedIn search for PEOPLE with the designation of chief quality officer or medical director for quality. You can filter the list by geographic LOCATION. If there are any reasonably close by, you can start by asking to connect on LinkedIn. Later you can speak with them directly, or even meet them face to face.

Then begin a dialogue, ultimately creating a relationship in which you can ask for advice as you pursue a career in quality improvement.

4. Informal or Unpaid Experience

I suggested to Nina that while speaking with the Director for Quality Improvement, she should inquire about ongoing quality projects that she can help with, and committee meetings she can attend.

The committee structure at a hospital is fairly formal. And each committee has assigned members. Nina was concerned that she couldn’t attend a meeting if she was not the appointed committee representative.

However, I advised her that most medical staff committees can be attended by any medical staff member. Just to avoid potential confusion, it is wise to speak with the chair of the quality committee and the department chair about attending as a nonvoting member because of your interest in quality improvement. You’ll quickly become a regular member.

Doing so demonstrates commitment, offers another opportunity for networking and mentoring, and begins the process of acquiring experience in QI. By observing the chair, you will also learn about planning and running meetings, project planning and working on an interdisciplinary team, all useful leadership skills.

Nina can also volunteer to sit on any formal quality or process improvement teams that her medical group might have. Learning about process improvement is very useful. PI projects are more common in the outpatient office and procedural settings than formal QI projects.

Lean is the term used for process improvement methods originally developed and implemented by Toyota. Lean process improvement uses techniques to reduce waste and improve quality in manufacturing. It’s now been applied to the healthcare setting.

Nina and I talked about learning Lean methods in the office setting, and possibly becoming certified in Lean process improvement. Knowing Lean concepts and procedures is very useful for those interested in quality improvement.

5. Formal Education

This brings us to the next step involving formal education. You can become a green belt or black belt in Six Sigma, another PI methodology designed to reduce variation in care. As noted a minute ago, there are courses in Lean process improvement.

The associations mentioned earlier (NAHQ and ACMQ) provide formal education in quality improvement, as do other organizations:

• Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• American Association for Physician Leadership (see Episode 24)
• Many specialty societies

6. Certification and Advanced Degrees

The NAHQ provides a path to certification in quality improvement through the Healthcare Quality Certification Commission. After obtaining the necessary experience and education, you can take an exam leading to achieve the designation as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality. It's a national certificate in quality improvement that demonstrates expertise in the field.

You can take that a step further and complete a master's degree in quality improvement. There are multiple university programs. The AAPL has helped develop a program specifically for physician leaders. It’s called the Master’s in Healthcare Quality and Safety Management (MS-HQSM) offered by Thomas Jefferson University.

I did not discuss this option with Nina during our call. It might be best to wait on pursuing this degree until after working in a formal QI position. That might allow you to get your employer to contribute financially and with time off to pursue the degree.

7. Formal Paid Experience

At some point, you’ll want to get into a formal QI role. If you have enough meaningful experience in quality and safety projects and with the CPHQ certification, you may be able to transition to a full, or near full-time position as CQO or VP for Medical Affairs.

More likely, you’ll split your time between clinical work and quality activities as the Medical Director for Quality in a health plan, medical group or hospital. In the hospital setting, you’ll bridge the gap between clinical and management realms. You’ll be promoting quality initiatives, reviewing quality data, presenting quality reports to medical staff departments, and working with individual physicians to improve their metrics.

During this phase of your career transition, you’ll continue to hone your quality and management skills. You’ll need to focus on leadership skills also, since the Chief Quality Officer serves as a senior level executive.

Therefor, you will need to shift your educational efforts to focus on leadership topics. Organizations such as the AAPL, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Advisory Board are just a few that offer leadership education that will help you.

Reminder: Think About Your Resume

As Nina pursues her career as a CQO, she should keep in mind that she will be competing with other highly qualified physicians. At some point she’ll be sending resumes to prospective employers.

Those employers will be looking primarily at what this new CQO can do for them. So, they’ll be looking on the resume, and soliciting during the interviews, evidence of what Nina has accomplished.

They won’t put much weight on what committees she’s been part of, or which projects she’s worked on. Instead they’ll be looking for the initiatives she’s led. They’ll be looking for evidence of metrics she’s improved. Did she get length of stay down significantly, or reduce mortality or complications? Has she increased compliance with core measures? Did she help reduce the occurrence of never events?

Keep this in mind as you participate in formal and informal positions. Don’t be a passive participant. Be a leader in these positions. Don’t just remain a committee member. Step up to committee chair when you can. And keep track of the measurable improvements that result when you and your team tackle each quality initiative.

Time to Pursue a Career in Quality Improvement

By following the steps I’ve outlined, you’ll find a CQO position.

It'll be easier if you’re willing to relocate, but if you live in a large metropolitan area, you might not need to.

The job is very rewarding, because you’ll be helping to improve the care of thousands of patients through your efforts. Quality Improvement was always one of my favorite departments when I was CMO.

Quick Review

Let me quickly review the steps I’ve outlined for Nina to follow as she pursues a career in quality improvement.

She should:

1. Overcome mindset issues
2. Demonstrate commitment
3. Find and utilize mentors
4. Obtain unpaid/informal experience
5. Get formal education
6. Acquire certifications and degrees
7. Obtain formal paid experience
8. Actively pursue a CQO position

Along the way she’ll find appropriate associations to join, like the NAHQ and AAPL, she’ll network with colleagues, and she’ll take advantage of educational opportunities as they arise.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions, post them in the comments section below, or contact me at johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net.

Don't Forget to Download Your Free Guide to 5 Nonclinical Careers

As noted earlier, I’ve completed a Free Guide called 5 Nonclinical Careers You Can Pursue Today that outlines the steps for 5 more highly popular careers. It can be found at vitalpe.net/freeguide

Let’s end with this quote from John Ruskin:

See you next time on Physician NonClinical Careers.

The resources included in the podcast are all linked above.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

The post Follow These 8 Steps to a Career in Quality Improvement – 027 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

I produce this podcast because I’ve personally pivoted to a nonclinical career. And I think that's a valid option that frustrated physicians should seriously consider. Over a period of several years, I shifted from full-time clinical practice to full-time hospital chief medical officer.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

About 4 years ago, I began contemplating my next move. Would I seek an executive position at another hospital similar to what I was already doing? Or would I flex my entrepreneurial muscles and try something with a bit more risk?

Entrepreneurial Tendencies

My Dad and many of my 9 siblings have started small businesses. It seems to be in our blood. And about 10 years ago, I helped my wife, Kay, identify a franchise to purchase and run. I then provided a little help with setting up QuickBooks to track the business finances.

Today she runs an award-winning Home Helpers, in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and has over 70 caregivers and nearly 100 clients. So, I’m a big supporter of entrepreneurial efforts.

Four years ago, I began looking for another position in hospital leadership and went on several interviews at nearby hospitals.

Then an entrepreneur contacted me through LinkedIn with a business opportunity. I'd help him open a new urgent care center north of Chicago, and become a minority investor, medical director, and clinician.

I won't go into the details now, but after some analysis and due diligence, I decided to proceed with the venture. I left my job as chief medical officer in late 2014.

If you'd like to hear more of the details of my journey, you should listen to the interview by Dr. David Draghinas on Doctors Unbound. It's the December 18, 2017 episode. You can find it by going to vitalpe.net/johnsinterview or at iTunes at vitalpe.net/doctorsunboundinterview.

So now I'm a partner, medical director and clinician at an urgent care center where I've been working for about three years. The plan has been for me to get things going, train the staff and then gradually reduce my hours as we add other clinicians. I've already begun to cut back.

A New NonClinical Career

While building that business, I started my blog in 2016 and my podcast in 2017.

I'll admit it's been a challenge at times creating the blog and podcast. There's a lot to learn, from web site design, to creating good content, and building an audience.

It takes time to arrange, record and edit interviews, and create blog posts and show notes to go with the podcast episodes. But there's a method to my madness.

I started the blog two years ago, in part to improve my writing skills. But I also wanted to encourage emerging physician leaders.

The podcast came about because I developed a strong desire to help physicians transition to a new career if they're unhappy or unsatisfied in their current situation.

Photo by Neil Godding on Unsplash

But there’s another reason I'm pursuing these new activities. It's because it gives me an opportunity to experience another potential career transition myself. And as I successfully develop this online business, I’ll write and talk about my successes and failures, and share what I’m learning.

I want to demonstrate that it’s possible for a physician to become an online entrepreneur as a blogger, podcaster, online coach, course creator, or e-book producer. So that's what I'm trying to do.

It's technically a hobby, because it doesn’t generate significant income. However, I have a plan to help you achieve your goals, create a community of like-minded physicians, and build a viable business along the way.

As I do so, I’ll document what I'm doing on the blog, podcast, and Facebook. I’ll share everything that I learn, in order to help you accomplish the same goal, but faster and easier than I me. In that way, I hope to inspire you to create your own online businesses, if you're so inclined.

What Did I Learn?

Writing the blog and creating the podcast has really helped me understand better what my colleagues are going through on a daily basis. And what I've learned isn't only from the interviews and the research I've done. I've also learned from readers, listeners and physicians who have already carved out space in the online business world as bloggers, podcasters, coaches and speakers.

During the process of sharing my content, I’ve joined several LinkedIn and Facebook groups, including the Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters Facebook Group.

This group was founded a couple of years ago by Dr. Laura McKain. And it's been growing pretty rapidly. After joining several months ago, I had the privilege of becoming one of the administrators for the group. There were about 4,000 members when I joined. The group is now approaching 9,000 members as I'm recording this in March of 2018.

In addition to that group, there are other Facebook groups and several LinkedIn groups that are devoted primarily to physician career transition or dealing with burnout.

1st Lesson

I've contemplated the forces that are driving this increased interest in nonclinical careers. And my attitudes about how physicians are being treated, especially by big corporate employers, has evolved.

In the past, I tended to be a bit “old school.” I came through medical school and residency at a time when it was still common to take in-house call every third day and work up to 100 hours or more per week. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but stoicism was a big part of medical training at the time.

It still is, but there are caps on work-hours during residency now. And there is acknowledgement that physicians in training can't work optimally if they're sleep deprived and chronically overworked.

My point in describing this is that, I wasn't highly sympathetic about physicians’ complaints about long hours or frequent call. In fact, when I was the CMO for my hospital, I was often frustrated because our physicians wanted to leave the office at 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. and didn't like the idea of being on call every third or fourth weekend.

Shifting Perspective

But as I talked to physicians that were reporting to me after implementing a new EMR, it became apparent that there was a lot of frustration.

Their jobs were becoming less and less fulfilling and more frustrating. Many of them were spending two hours in the evening, or three or four hours on weekends completing their medical records at home. I came to believe that those long work hours just weren’t right. Adding the demands of prior authorizations for testing, and new regulations only increased those frustrations.

More recently, I've spoken with physicians about career change. And, I've interacted with members of the Facebook and LinkedIn groups that I talked about earlier. It's become apparent to me that many physicians are being pushed around and overworked for no good reason.

Photo by Lucas Gallone on Unsplash

In fact, some physicians seem pretty darn “crispy,” and ready to walk away from medicine. Many are leaving simply because of the intense workplace frustrations they're experiencing.

New Realization

This has led me to the following conclusion:

Given the long hours, the years of training, intense effort, and sacrifice (forgoing vacations, hobbies and time with friends) tells me that you deserve something better.

There's absolutely no logical reason why you should NOT pursue and enjoy a career that's fulfilling and joyful. You should NOT continue doing a job that is burning you out. And you should NOT be working for any organization that's sucking the life out of you, intentionally or not.

So that's realization number 1 that I've come to fully embrace.

You don't owe your patients, your employer or your community your very soul. That’s not the oath you've taken. That’s not a debt that you owe.

If you're stuck in a situation like that, then I implore you to do two things.

First, make a commitment to yourself to change it, either to make it better, or to get out. Second, begin talking to someone about your feelings, whether it's your spouse, significant other, boss, or colleagues. Let them know what you’re feeling so they can support you as you do something about addressing the cause of those feelings.

You don't have to leave your current job, if you can make the situation better. But if you can't, then it's time to get out!

I think that is the most critical belief that you must come to grips with: that you must take action if your career is dragging you down, rather than bringing you joy and satisfaction. And that you deserve to be happy.

4 More Lessons

The 2nd thing I've learned, and talked about in Podcast Episode 2, is that if you're going to make a change, it doesn't have to be all or none, at least not initially. You can start with small pilots before you make the formal commitment to a new career. And that it's possible to do it in a way that isn't going to be disruptive.

I've also learned more about the pros and cons of obtaining an MBA. Yes, there are some very clear areas where an MBA can be useful. But after speaking with Dr. Atish Jaiswal in Episode 3, and with Kate Atchley in Episode 25, I think that considering an MBA should be done very deliberately, with the idea of balancing the costs and the benefits.

If you know that you're ultimately going to be in a leadership position, the best option might be the following. Get some leadership experience and a formal part-time or full-time job in management. Then when it's time to seek that MBA, approach your employer to help you with time off and funding.

The 4th thing I’ve learned is that there are many coaches available to help you. I would strongly encourage you to consider using a coach. Even if it's just for a few sessions, it will help to focus your efforts, particularly if you're not sure what direction to go.

Photo by Jamie Templeton on Unsplash

You may recall that I interviewed coaches Kernan Manion, Michelle Mudge-Riley, Robert Gleeson, Charlotte Weeks, Dian Ginsberg and Heather Fork. I found that they all demonstrated a great deal of experience and wisdom when working with physicians.

I’ve also heard from their clients, and they all benefited from the support and coaching of these capable professionals.

Most of them mentioned one common observation about their clients: that self-limiting beliefs and fear play a big part in holding them back from pursuing that new career. This is the 5th lesson I’ve learned.

And to move forward, we must learn to overcome those limiting beliefs. We all have a vast skill set and are capable of entering one of dozens of possible careers out there. A career that's much more interesting and fulfilling.

Mentors, Conferences and Professional Associations

The 6th lesson that I learned about while talking with the coaches mentioned above is that mentors are extremely important. I spoke specifically about how to identify and engage a mentor in Episode 4 of the podcast.

Since we're speaking about resources, the 7th thing I learned is that LinkedIn can be your best friend when seeking that new career. This is noted by most of the coaches I spoke with, and I addressed it in Episode 8 and Episode 9.

There are two other big resources that I've identified during the course of this work.

The 8th big thing I learned about is the Annual SEAK Nonclinical Careers Conference held in Chicago each October. It's the one place where you can find education, mentorship and coaching by dozens of physicians who have made a shift to a non-clinical career.

The other big resource, and the 9th lesson I’ve learned, is the American Association for Physician Leadership. It is a fantastic organization run by physicians, for physicians, that will help you to become a leader in whatever career you pursue. In Episode 24, Dian Ginsberg provided a detailed description of the organization.

How To Pursue Specific Nonclinical Careers

Finally, for my 10th important lesson, I learned about specific non-clinical jobs and how to pursue them. Developing a career in each was something I didn't understand before interviewing the following guests.

Cesar Limjoco talked about this role as a clinical documentation improvement consultant, but we also learned in Episode 5 how you can hone your skills in this area, and pursue a career as a physician adviser for CDI.

In Episode 12, Timothy Owolabi talked about his role as a physician adviser for care management. He really enjoys the work. And his job serves as a stepping stone to other management and leadership roles in the hospital setting.

I spoke with Brian Young in Episode 14 about medical informatics. He explained that informatics is a rapidly growing field with a need for physician experts. It’s a field that you can begin with just a sincere interest and a little experience.

Serial entrepreneur Mike Woo-Ming provided insights into how to create a new career or side-hustle in Episode 19. We learned about medical writing from Mandy Armitage in Episode 22, and how to become an insurance broker and physician advocate from Stephanie Pearson in Episode 23.

A Steep Learning Curve

I've learned a lot in these last 25 weeks. I was a little nervous when I started the podcast. There were the technical issues, and I really didn't have much experience doing interviews.

But I was a big fan of Michael Hyatt, Amy Porterfield, and Pat Flynn, and I was able to learn a lot from them, purchasing some of their courses to help me on my blogging and podcasting journey.

Things have gone pretty well. I've had generally positive feedback from listeners and readers. And I've had an opportunity to engage with many young physicians that want to learn more about career change. I’ve also met some great physician professionals who are working to help those physicians find the right career.

A Few Thanks…

I must mention Laura McKain, the founder of the Facebook group I talked about. I've been intending to interview her because she's a coach, resume writer, and nonclinical physician who worked in pharma for many years. She recently switched to a new career with a biotechnology company. She's done a fantastic job starting and growing the Physician Nonclinical Career Hunters FB Group.

I met her at the SEAK Conference last October. She's a great resource for physicians. So, I want to acknowledge her for the work that she's done. She encouraged me and invited me to help her with the Facebook group. And she's been a great role model for me and other members in the group.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

I'd like to acknowledge others who have served as mentors and colleagues to me. I've developed relationships with other bloggers, such as Future Proof MD, Physician on Fire (they like to post anonymously), and Mark at The Productive Physician.

As I mentioned earlier, Dave Draghinas at Doctors Unbound has been a source of encouragement. I’ve also had the opportunity to interact a little with Nii Darko at Docs Outside the Box.

Several of the people that I've interviewed have continued to keep in touch and encourage and support me. I’m especially thankful for the support and encouragement from Heather Fork at Doctors Crossing (Episode 18); Kernan Manion (Episode 7); and Michelle Mudge-Riley (Episode 10).

I'm Here to Serve You!

I'm really here to serve you. I encourage you to contact me in any way that you'd like. Please give me feedback and ideas for future episodes of the podcast.

The easiest way to contact me is to write me at johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net.

And I’ll tell you a little secret. If you’re interested in pursuing a career in hospital quality or administration, email me at that address. I'll provide up to an hour of free coaching if my schedule allows.

Otherwise, you can add a comment to the show notes below.

Today's Quote

Let’s end with this quote:

See you next time on Physician NonClinical Careers.

Here is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

[table id=11 /]

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

The post What Did We Learn and Where Are We Going After 25 Episodes? – 026 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

It’s just me today. A new interview will return next week. So, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about something that's near and dear to my heart. As stated in the opening of my podcast each week, the goal of this podcast is to inspire, inform, and support you as you pivot to a nonclinical career.

Since I have not personally experienced most of the nonclinical careers out there, I bring guests on so we can learn together how to pursue them. But I do have personal experience in one of the possible career options, that of hospital management and administration.

FEATURED DOWNLOAD: Get “8 Steps to Becoming a Hospital Chief Medical Officer” so you can pursue this awesome career!

My Story

Let me tell you my story. After residency, I joined 2 physicians in a family medicine practice. I did pretty much everything I could to build the practice. I did obstetrics, took care of newborns, cared for office patients, did hospital rounds, and took care of nursing home patients.

Side Jobs for Cash

To fill my hours and generate additional income, I started working at the family planning clinic. After a year or so, I took a part-time medical director position. So, in addition to seeing patients in the clinic, I would sign off on medication purchases, review and approve policies and procedures, and collaborate with nurse practitioners to meet state requirements.

I later began working part-time in the hospital-based occupational medicine clinic. I learned how to take care of workers' compensation injuries, assess occupational exposures to lead and other toxins, and screen workers for high-risk jobs.

Eventually, I became the medical director for the “occ-med” clinic. That’s when I decided to continue my education, completing the requirements for a master’s degree in public health, with a concentration in occupational medicine.

And so, it went. I had this need to fill my time, and a desire to try new things.

Finding a Mentor

As a surveyor for my state medical society, I visited hospitals so they could be accredited to grant CME credit. In the process, I came to know another surveyor, who was also the chair of the state CME committee. His name was Don. I’ve spoken about him in a previous podcast episode titled Why Both a Coach and Mentor Are Vital to Your Career. He became one of my mentors.

After learning more about Don’s work as the chief medical officer for a large stand-alone hospital, the light finally went on for me. I’d pursue a career in hospital management.

Be Intentional

My point is telling this story is that I don’t want you to meander from side gig to side gig, hoping to find the right career by chance, as I did. No, I want you to be much more intentional than I was. My hope is that you actively search for a career that’ll excite and challenge you.

That’s why this week, I’m going to tell you why you should strongly consider a career in hospital management. I’m talking about work in senior management, such as chief quality officer, chief medical officer, chief medical information officer, or eventually chief operating officer or chief executive officer.

Other Considerations

But before I get into the 10 reasons why you should pursue a hospital management position, let me address a couple of glaring issues that might affect your ability to do so.

• First, this option may be quite unlikely if you don’t work for a hospital system or are on the medical staff of a hospital. If you’ve spent years working in an outpatient-only position after residency, an opportunity to test the hospital management waters might not arise. This career might be ideal, however, for hospitalists, anesthesiologists, emergency medicine physicians, or medical and surgical proceduralists who spend lots of time in the hospital setting.
• Next, some will say that a bigger factor when choosing a career might be your personality type. I think that assessing your personality can be very helpful. And some types might be best suited for specific jobs, such as utilization reviewer, expert legal witness or a job in pharmaceutical sales. But, hospital executive teams work best when there is a variety of personality types on the team.
• Finally, how much do you desire challenges, personal growth and continuous learning? I don’t think you should work as a hospital executive unless you are committed to continuous personal growth. In most dynamic hospital settings, you must be constantly trying new management models, adopting new technologies and continuously growing. It’s a bit different from trying to remain current in your specialty. If you’re happy seeing patients every day and just maintaining your skills, then you may not want to be a hospital executive.

If none of those three issues are stopping you, then let's get to the topic at hand.

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Why You Should Pursue Hospital Management

I’ll list all ten reasons first, then discuss each one individually. They are:

1. Leverage and Impact
2. Quality of Life
3. Personal Growth
4. Job Security
5. No Special Training to Start
6. Multiple Entry Level Options
7. Transferable Skills
8. Opportunity to Help the Profession
9. Opportunity to Improve Healthcare
10. Financial Rewards

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1. Leverage and Impact

I enjoyed providing medical care to patients. To a point. But it often seemed incremental. With many patients, the care seemed trivial. Treating the common cold and minor self-limited injuries, and reassuring the worried well just didn’t meet my definition of making a difference.

I became more energized by measurably helping groups of patients. As a physician executive, I was improving mortality and complication rates, and inpatient length of stay. You can too.

You can identify process breakdowns and eliminate them. With a multidisciplinary team, you might develop new service lines and new programs.

You obviously won't do this alone. In fact, that kind of impact happens because of leverage. The leverage involves leading teams, engaging staff and physicians, developing protocols, and implementing best practices together. I found that to be exciting and rewarding.

2. Quality of Life

Physician executives are busy, sure. But, we generally have better control of our schedule than most practicing physicians, especially employed physicians. Vacations can be taken without the need to find coverage for patients.

Staffing is handled by the HR department. The stress of malpractice is gone. Continuous learning is necessary, just as in clinical medicine, but it is easier to find time to attend educational conferences. And your direct reports manage the day-to-day. Taking call every 3^rd to 4^th day is a thing of the past.

3. Personal Growth

It’s true that as a physician, you’re trained to be a lifelong learner. And most of the physicians I know want to continue to grow intellectually, emotionally, and vocationally.

Once in an administrative position, there is a tremendous opportunity for personal growth.  Just as you learned medicine through an intense period of study that spanned up to a decade after college, you will need to devote several years of learning new business, management, and leadership skills.

New challenges will occur daily and you will be asked to take on ever-increasing responsibilities. You’ll continue to learn by being mentored and coached, by attending conferences, and by interacting with the rest of the senior management team on a regular basis.

After serving as CMO or CMIO, you may be asked to step into a COO or CEO role. Or you may make a lateral move to a much larger hospital or health system.

Such opportunities for growth don’t often arise in other non-clinical jobs.

4. Job Security

When I began, my research indicated to me that there was a new trend in hiring physician executives. I was the first VPMA and CMO at my hospital. The number of hospital physician CEOs continues to grow.

It seemed a fairly safe choice to make when I started, and it continues to be an area of growth and continuing demand.

5. No Special Training Required to Start

You already have many leadership skills. With a little mentoring, reading, and self-reflection, you can easily take the first steps to a management career.

Yes, you'll need to learn to collaborate and listen more; to let your direct reports occasionally fail so they can learn. You’ll need to continue your learning and growth as you mature in this new role, but you already have most of the skills and attributes needed to get started.

In fact, you have many more skills than the typical MBA or MHA trying to join the C-suite, because you already have an intimate knowledge of medicine and healthcare.

6. Multiple Entry Level Options

Most of us can’t just jump from full-time practice into a corporate position, whether in the pharmaceutical, insurance, governmental, or hospital setting. We must start at a more entry-level job.

Thankfully, in hospital management, there are many jobs that don’t require a special certification or an advanced degree that can lead to the C-suite. These include jobs such as medical director of a service line or unit, medical advisor for case management or utilization review, or medical director for quality improvement, patient safety, informatics, or continuing medical education.

Each of these jobs can serve as a stepping stone to a career as a chief medical officer, chief quality officer, or chief medical information officer.

7. Transferable Skills

With the business acumen and leadership skills developed as a hospital executive, pivoting to a position in a large medical group or an insurance company is quite doable. This is not an option for the chart reviewer, expert witness, or medical writer.

As a hospital executive, you’ll learn to better negotiate, communicate, run projects, plan strategically, set management goals, and read financial reports. And those skills can be applied in a medical group, in other corporate settings, and even as an entrepreneur.

8. Opportunity to Help the Profession

Physician disillusionment, frustration, and burnout can be improved by working in an organization that is led by physicians. The engagement of physicians is better, in general, when there is meaningful involvement by physician leadership in these organizations. As a physician leader, you will have the chance to address these issues directly.

When I was CMO, I was able to fight on behalf of one of my physicians to increase his salary when he was clearly being underpaid, for example.

9. Opportunity to Improve Healthcare

Would you hire an orchestra conductor who had never played a musical instrument? Would you hire a baseball or football coach who had never played the game? Yet most of our hospitals and health systems are run by businessmen and women who have never cared for a patient.

As I shared in my blog post Become a Leader and Save the Medical Profession, there is good evidence, both anecdotal and empirical, that hospitals run by physicians have better physician engagement, more cohesive teams, and better patient outcomes, in general.

Many of the top-rated hospitals in the U.S. are run by physicians, even though less than 6% across the nation have physician CEOs.

10. Financial Rewards

As an experienced vice president or chief medical officer, it should not be difficult to achieve salary and benefit levels that easily exceed the average income of most physicians, except for the busiest medical subspecialist or surgeon.

Most CMOs receive salaries in excess of $300,000 per year, plus bonuses, deferred compensation, and generous benefits. A quick scan through Form 990 of many nonprofit hospitals listed on Guidestar.org will often demonstrate total compensation well in excess of that number.

FEATURED DOWNLOAD: Get “8 Steps to Becoming a Hospital Chief Medical Officer” so you can pursue this awesome career!

Final Thoughts

It’s difficult to capture in words what it’s like to sit in a board room with 10 to 12 seasoned senior executives, creating strategic plans that will positively affect the lives of thousands of employees, and tens of thousands of patients.

If you’re looking for a career that can improve your quality of life, provide financial stability, job security, and growth, and the ability to positively impact populations of patients, a career as a physician executive is worth considering.

I’m recommending you look for mentors and network with physician executives to see if it’s a fit for you.

Let’s close with this quote:

Thanks for listening to today’s episode of Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Please sign up for my email newsletter so you’ll be notified of each new episode.

Next week, I’ll bring you an interview with medical writer Dr. Mandy Armitage.

So, join me next time on Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Resources

Resources are linked above.

Right-click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher 

If you'd like to listen to the premiere episode and show notes, you can find it here: Getting Acquainted with Physician NonClinical Careers Podcast – 001

The post 10 Reasons Why You Should Pursue a Hospital Management Career – 020 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

During the recent SEAK NonClinical Careers for Physicians Conference, I was surprised by the number of times LinkedIn was mentioned. It is a critical tool when seeking a nonclinical job. In one presentation the speaker noted that LinkedIn was the primary method for finding jobs as a medical writer.

In this week’s podcast, I address two of three major issues related to LinkedIn. The third issue will be addressed in the follow-up episode next week.

The three major aspects I'll describe are:

• Exactly what LinkedIn is;
• Why it is so important that you create a LinkedIn account; and,
• How to set up your account and use it.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social network designed for the business community. The site allows members to establish networks of people they know and trust professionally.

It’s a social media site that was founded in 2002. It is now owned by Microsoft. With over 500 million users worldwide, it boasts about 130 million users in the United States. It currently posts about 10 million jobs.

The primary feature that defines LinkedIn is each member’s profile. Think of this profile as a dynamic visual resume. But there are several other important LinkedIn features. These features make it critically useful to the physician pursuing a new career. These include networking, writing and posting articles, and online education.

That’s what it is. Let’s move on to…

The Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn

I believe that LinkedIn is a must for those planning to pursue a career in any nonclinical field. It is especially useful for physician managers and executives, consultants, coaches, and medical writers.

Here are the reasons I find it so useful. Most of them relate directly to its status as an online resume.

Reason #1. Job Hunting

My Story

Three years ago, I updated my LinkedIn profile and submitted my name to the job listings page. A short time later, an entrepreneur contacted me. He indicated to me through the Messaging feature that he was looking for a physician with my background. And he wanted me to consider joining him as a minority partner in a new venture: to open a new urgent care center.

He had devoted a couple of years to researching the business opportunity. And he had plans to open a clinic in a region north of Chicago that had a deficit of urgent care services. He thought that I had the necessary skills to partner with him. And offered to meet to discuss the opportunity.

About six months later, following some negotiation, I signed several agreements. I purchased stock in the new company. And I gave notice to my current employer that I was leaving my job as chief medical officer.

Fast forward two and a half years. Our clinic, called PromptMed Urgent Care, has grown from an unknown entity to a very thriving healthcare facility, treating 40 to 50 patients per day.

LinkedIn Has Helped Many Colleagues

I know of several other physicians who have found jobs in this way.

By creating and updating your profile and participating in LinkedIn jobs, you can constantly receive alerts about new jobs that match your search criteria. As an online resume, it works best if your profile is detailed, clear, complete, and authentic. However, it can present much more information.

It should contain your complete employment history (no gaps), and educational background. It should also list other experiences, including volunteer work. And you must include endorsements from those who know you well (professionally).

Think of this as creating your own personal brand that can be used for a variety of purposes, but especially job hunting.

Reason #2. Connections and Followers

LinkedIn provides recommendations for potential connections on an ongoing basis. You can cull your existing email lists or manually search for connections to add. But LinkedIn also facilitates the process of identifying new connections.

It will use your first-degree connections to identify second- and third-degree connections. You can message them and invite them to connect.

You can identify people in your workplace, and alumni from your undergraduate school, medical school, and residency programs to connect with or follow.

Once you’ve developed this network, you can sort and categorize them for the information you want to send them. You can message them, ask them questions, and consult with them in ways that help each of you professionally.

My Networking Story

About 2 years ago, I started with about 100 connections, mostly people who worked at the hospital where I was working as Chief Medical Officer.

After I started my blog, which targets physician leaders and executives, I made a concerted effort to nurture and grow my network, gradually adding mostly physician leaders. I would attend professional association meetings, then afterward reach out to physicians I had met, and connect with them on LinkedIn, adding them to my network.

I now have over 600 first-degree connections. And unlike Facebook and other social networks, there is no one spamming me or trying to convince me to join multilevel marketing schemes or forward chain letters.

For the physician pursuing a career transition, this networking feature is the second important feature of LinkedIn and it may actually supersede the importance of the Job Listings. In his book, Do You Feel Like You Wasted All That Training?, Michael J. McLaughlin describes the extensive amount of time he devoted to networking and its importance in assisting him in leaving plastic surgery and securing his first nonclinical job in the medical communication industry.

He does not specifically mention using LinkedIn, but had it been available it would have greatly streamlined his networking efforts.

Reason #3. Get Published

I enjoy using LinkedIn to post articles and showcase my expertise and writing skills. Posting on LinkedIn enhances my authority and reputation by allowing me to share articles from other sources, or my own original writing.

My Story

I posted my first article in August of 2015. It was a simple description of my wife’s business, a Home Helpers franchise that she opened in 2009.

After that, I posted articles focused on topics I thought would be of interest to physician leaders. The topics included physician employment, contracting and compensation issues, management, CME planning, quality improvement, patient safety, and communication.

So far, I’ve posted about 20 articles. Most receive less than 100 views. But I had one article (The Best Hospitals Are Managed by Physicians) posted in December of 2016 that has been viewed by 562 LinkedIn members so far.

I also post links to my blog articles and this podcast, both to my main feed and to some of the groups that I have joined on LinkedIn.

Share Your Articles

In addition to posting articles on LinkedIn, if you write for other outlets, like Medium or KevinMD, those can also be shared on your LinkedIn home page.

The article mentioned above (The Best Hospitals Are Managed by Physicians), and shared on LinkedIn, was picked up by Doximity. While most of my popular blog posts generate about 150 to 300 views, that one generated 1,000 views in one day, and so far over 2,800 views since it was posted in July of 2017.

Writing can help with career advancement, network development, and promotion of your side business or consulting practice if you have one.

Reason #4. Groups

There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn that can expand your reach and serve as a source of education and networking.

I’m personally a member of 14 groups, most of which are related to physician leadership, hospital executive interests, and non-clinical careers. I also enjoy the conversations posted to the Writing on LinkedIn Group.

Group members can interact even if they’re not otherwise connected on the site. I can post specific articles and opinions to my groups and thereby encourage interaction with other members. I sometimes post questions to experts in the groups.

Group members can help to identify nonclinical careers and share their experiences and answer questions you may have about various career options.

Reason #5. Good Source of News

I receive an ongoing flow of information from LinkedIn, including posts and articles on my feed from my connections and group members. I’m also able to find new authors to follow by managing my feed preferences. By clicking the “More“ icon on any post, I can add persons to follow from the Improve My Feed list, or the Followers list.

News and other content is also delivered to me daily from each of my groups. When I enter the Groups Area, I’m presented with Today’s Highlights, which is a personalized selection of conversations from my groups.

Reason #6. LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning grew out of LinkedIn’s purchase of Lynda.com. It has taken this content and merged it with its professional networking.

The content is free if you have a Premium Membership. There is a monthly fee to access LinkedIn Learning if you don’t.

There is a library of over 9,000 digital courses. And LinkedIn Learning will create personalized recommendations of courses for you, based on your interests and expressed needs. These courses can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on cell phones and other personal devices. And they’re very professionally produced.

Bonus Reason #7: It’s Free!

One of the big reasons to sign up is that you get all of this for free. Sure, there are premium services that can sometimes be useful but are often not required.

I’ve been growing my network on LinkedIn for about two years, mostly using the free membership.

In Closing

There you have the top reasons to join LinkedIn. If you are serious about pursuing a new career, especially a non-clinical one, you MUST use this platform.

If I’ve convinced you that you need a LinkedIn profile, you can go ahead and set it up now, or wait until next week when I'll walk you through Steps to Create an Awesome LinkedIn Profile. With that episode, I will provide a downloadable set of instructions to use if you need them.

I want to thank you so much for joining me today.

If you’ve enjoyed the podcast please tell your friends to check it out and Subscribe on iTunes

Let’s close with a quote.

Resources

Here is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

[table id=10 /]

Right-click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

If you'd like to listen to the premiere episode, you can find it here: Getting Acquainted with Physician NonClinical Careers Podcast – 001

The post Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn – 008 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

There are four major phases, some of which can easily overlap. I plan to use this model of the four phases to help organize future episodes of this podcast. These phases definitely follow the steps I took as I transitioned from full-time family physician to hospital chief medical officer. While there is no ONE, this is a model that has been shown to work.

You may notice that they follow the steps outlined in a book written by Jenny Blake called Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One. It’s a book I highly recommend, in part because Blake helps assure the reader that taking small, yet effective, steps can get you to that new career or business without risking everything.

Here are the four phases being discussed:

1. Address the mindset
2. Educate yourself
3. Try small pilots
4. Execute the transformation

Phase 1

The First Phase is emotional and intellectual. Most of us leave clinical medicine because of a combination of two factors:

• Something about medicine is pushing us away, like burnout, boredom, tedium, or frustration, and
• Something is also pulling us to it, like a mission, passion, sense of adventure, compelling interest, greater meaning or  more freedom.

The first question to answer is: Do I really need to leave clinical medicine to make a change? Or, are there alternatives?

• Change my practice location, or move to another local organization?
• Change or narrow my specialty?
• Simplify my work (i.e., eliminate hospital work or office work)?
• Go part-time?
• Do locums?
• Take a sabbatical?

Only when you are clear about the WHY, will your efforts be productive and sustainable. The WHY will help to sustain your journey.

You will also need to prepare for the self-doubt that will appear.

I remember at different times on my journey, internal self-talk that sounded like this:

• I just don’t have the skills to do that job.
• They’ll see right through me.
• I’m not ready for this.
• I don’t want to fail and I don’t want to look stupid.

This doubt is very common – it's human nature.

But here’s what I have to say about that…

As a successful physician, you have already demonstrated intelligence, focus, endurance, resolve, and what some call grit. I’m also convinced that you have the qualities to be a leader in whatever career you pursue. So, don't let those self-doubts and false self-limiting beliefs stop your progress.

In summary, this phase is complete when you’ve:

• Determined the Why behind this transition,
• Begun to formulate your vision for 1 to 5 years out, and,
• Prepared to face the self-doubt that might show up.

Phase 2

The Second Phase is about EXPLORATION. You can start this Phase even while still considering the questions in Phase 1. Phase 2 involves refocusing your commitment to Lifelong Learning. Because now, some of the learning is directed to one or more Non-Clinical domains. Even if you are VERY early in the process, this Phase can both prepare you for a future pivot AND help you decide what that eventual career might be.

Shift some of the time that you now devote to your clinical realm to the NON-clinical. Some of the exploration can be quite nonspecific. There are many skills that will serve you well in almost ANY non-clinical career. Skills such as:

• Non-medical writing
• Negotiation
• Accounting
• Leadership and management
• Public speaking
• Creating PowerPoint presentations
• Marketing
• Information technology
• Project management
• Epidemiology and statistics

Learning these “generic” skills will expose you to related topics and potential career choices. As you narrow your options you can begin more intentional research and investigation into what’s available. Unless you’ve already discovered a likely new career, you may need to do some intense study on what’s out there.

Many options exist – here is a short list:

• Consultant
• Medical director
• Medical advisor
• Writer
• Expert witness
• Professional or life coach
• Researcher
• Entrepreneur
• Medical group manager or executive
• Paid speaker
• Hospital executive
• Nonprofit sector medical director or CEO
• Government sector employee
• Inventor

This phase involves research into what’s out there.

Phase 3

Phase Three involves trying small PILOTS. These can be a side hustle/part-time work, writing, speaking, volunteering in professional societies, utilization review, quality or safety work, or coding and documentation.

Phase 4

Finally, it will be time to jump in and execute your pivot to the new career. This is Phase Four. You’ve considered your options, committed to making the change, acquired the necessary skills to get started. And remember, you won’t really master this new career until you’ve been in it for a while.

It’s time to interview and take that new job, start the new business, or commit to full-time coaching, speaking or writing.

Not everyone follows this exact path, but it serves as a good model to follow.

Let me summarize the steps again:

1. Address your mindset; consider alternatives to a nonclinical career; start to develop your mission and vision of what life will look like. And prepare yourself to ignore the negative self-talk and self-doubt that will show up.
2. Learn general nonclinical skills such as writing and accounting, then investigate specific nonclinical career options. Expose yourself to them through internet research, blogs, websites, books and conversations.
3. Try small pilots in the areas that seem attractive to you. Join appropriate professional groups and attend pertinent conferences. Find a mentor or two and do some part-time work, paid or volunteer, that will advance your progress.
4. You can circle back and repeat parts of the process. But when it seems right – give it your best shot and execute your pivot to the new career.

Here is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, by Jenny Blake

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

If you're ready to move on, here is Episode 003: Seeking an MBA.

If you'd like to listen to the premier episode and its show notes, you can find it here: Getting Acquainted with Physician NonClinical Careers Podcast – 001

The post The Proper Way to Pivot – 002 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.