Start & Run a Medical Practice. Michael Clifford Fabian

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      Such a situation might be upsetting for some doctors, particularly early on in their career. However, you have to understand that this family is under a lot of stress over their wife, mother, daughter, and sister being in an accident, with the exact nature of her injuries still to be confirmed. Appreciation on the part of patients and/or their loved ones might not be in the equation, at least in the short term, and you have to be fully aware of this concept before you go into medicine. There are different areas in medicine in which similar situations occur.

      Don’t get me wrong — many patients appreciate what you do, but every now and again this type of situation occurs. Every doctor has his or her own story and personal take on this. So, choose medicine because you want to help people, and not because you want to receive gratitude and recognition for it. This concept is not unique to medicine, but can be of relevance to some of the other health-care fields as well.

      1.4d “T” — unconditional desire to help people despite the “treats”

      Together with money and status often comes other types of materialistic gain. I am sure you have all come across people who joke about doctors having fancy homes, sports cars, boats, or holiday homes. While sometimes this is the case, I think it’s accurate to say most medical doctors do not fall into this category.

      If you are thinking of doing medicine and you have thoughts of luxuries as a major motivating factor, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Often they don’t come, and then you will be a doctor without your “treats,” and unhappy in your career, which is not a good situation.

      1.5 You are dedicated

      I cannot think of anyone who has entered a medical field without showing enormous dedication. Achieving the grades and other requirements for acceptance into medical school clearly demonstrates dedication and determination. In order for you to proceed successfully in this career, these qualities are definitely required. There is no area of the health-care fields in which you do not need commitment in order to go forward and succeed.

      Let me give you an example of how dedication can clearly be displayed by a person. Let’s call this person Joe for the sake of the illustration.

      Joe always wanted to be a doctor from as young as he can remember. He is also a star athlete, ice hockey being his strongest sport. Joe, while having the ability to excel in the ice hockey world, has decided to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a medical doctor. Due to the enormous amount of time spent on hockey training, Joe’s grades are not fantastic, but they are good enough to apply to medical school.

      Joe applies to five medical schools and does not even get an interview at any of them. He decides to do a year of basic science courses to prove that that he is able to excel academically. The next year, Joe applies to four medical schools and gets an interview at three of them. Unfortunately, when it comes to final selection, he is rejected at all three schools — the competition is just too tough. Judging by information provided by the universities and the available statistics, he suspects his performance in the interview process brought him down. Joe is determined to continue the challenge to go to medical school. He is also becoming more and more in debt from the years of study, and only being able to work part time. His hockey is now limited to a community league, as he does not have the time to play on a more serious level.

      Joe spends the next year doing a few more courses and volunteering on a project for a clinician scientist, as well as volunteering in an emergency department at the local hospital. He knows that these things will also strengthen his application. During this time he tries to practice interviewing techniques as much as he can, but he finds it tough to find interview partners. Joe then applies for the third time to five medical schools. He gets an interview at all of them and receives an acceptance offer from two of them. Dedication has finally paid off!

      This type of situation is not that uncommon among medical school applicants. Determined applicants will not give up their goal of ultimately getting that acceptance letter.

      1.6 You are patient

      It is funny to me that being “patient,” and taking care of a “patient” have the same word in common. According to Longman English Dictionary, “patient” as a noun means: “someone who is receiving medical treatment from a doctor or in a hospital.” As a verb, “patient” means “able to wait calmly for a long time or to accept difficulties, people’s annoying behavior, etc., without becoming angry.” While every dictionary you consult will have a different interpretation of the word, I feel these definitions are very appropriate in the medical context.

      It is very important to have patience all along the way. From the outset of your journey toward becoming a medical professional, during further training, while setting up your office, practicing as a doctor and beyond, you will need patience. Life will become very difficult for all involved if you are unreasonably impatient. I use the word “unreasonably” as most people have some form of impatience to varying degrees.

      I believe not having sufficient patience will impact on your ability to be happy in this career. For example, picture a family doctor (general practitioner), Dr. Smith, who has practiced medicine for ten years. While inherently being a somewhat impatient individual, Dr. Smith has managed to keep things seemingly under control up until this point.

      The situation, however, has now become more difficult. Dr. Smith has a busy and successful practice, seeing about 40 patients a day, which is a lot. He is having difficulty taking the time to listen to the patients like he once did. He seems to cut them off quicker, sometimes even mid-sentence, while they are describing their symptoms to him. He becomes more abrupt with his responses, and lacks the necessary sensitivity that he used to have. At the end of most patient visits, Dr. Smith is standing with his hand on the door handle before the patient is fully content with his explanations, or feeling ready to leave the room. He never used to be like this. This does not make for a happy day in the office, nor does it make for a satisfying or content feeling on the part of the patient.

      While there could be many reasons for a doctor developing this type of practice behavior, one would hate to think that this is the result of increasing frustration with a career choice and an acquired intolerance for spending time with patients. You can only hide your true self for so long, and showing your dissatisfaction with a career in medicine is no exception. While this might be something that surreptitiously snuck up during the years, there are things you can do to try and improve the situation. Seeing 40 patients a day is draining for anyone, and simply modifying the schedule and seeing less patients can do wonders for some people.

      2. The Wrong Reasons to Choose a Health-Related Profession

      The following sections outline some of the wrong reasons on which to base your decision to become a health-care professional.

      2.1 Family pressure

      The time has come for choosing that career path toward the end of high school. You are very smart and obtaining stellar grades; you are especially strong in the basic sciences. In addition to your academic strengths, you are a gifted piano player and vocalist. You have spent almost every spare minute you have on the piano, singing and compiling your own jazz tunes. You have already done the basic piano training and vocal coaching and are now able to continue playing, singing, and composing music independently. You have starred in every school musical produced at the schools that you have attended in the past ten years. You wanted to join a band, but being 17 years of age, your parents have put on the brakes and said you have to concentrate more on getting СКАЧАТЬ