Tag: physician

Don’t say that!

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Do NOT apologize for advocating for yourself!

To advocate is to publicly recommend or support. In terms of healthcare, it means speaking up for yourself and feeling more confident about the choices you make with your doctor. It means not letting someone else make all of your health care decisions without your input. It means being an active player in your health care team and helping drive your outcomes in a positive direction. It means asking questions when you don’t understand. It means keeping track of the course of your care. It means knowing your history and your family history and any other details pertinent to your health. It means following through with your doctor’s recommendations and taking your medications as directed. It means emphasizing an honest, team-oriented relationship with your physicians. It means being honest about your preferences or concerns. Let me clarify. This does not mean being rude or inappropriate or deliberately obstinate with your physician or constantly being on the lookout for a mistake that you can capitalize on. It is exactly the opposite. That kind of behavior really does nothing but insure a negative outcome.

You get the picture? Advocating for yourself requires action! You are representing you! You are the only one who knows you intimately and is with you 24 hours a day. This is something that you should never have to apologize for. For me personally, I love it when patients ask questions and get involved with their care. It shows me that they are actually interested in getting better. I have some colleagues that would strongly disagree. They hate it when they have to spend extra time answering questions. They view it as more of an act of belligerence or a personal attack, doubting their expertise. To me that is just a sign of their own insecurity in their recommendations. I say ask away and don’t leave the office until you feel comfortable.

Did you know that studies show that people who advocate for themselves are healthier and tend to live longer? Sounds like another bonus to speaking up if you ask me. Self advocacy is important because it helps you to be able to make your own decisions. It helps you gain self-respect and self-confidence. It helps you form an alliance with your physician. It helps you be a part of the doctor patient team relationship. It helps you learn to express yourself properly to attain the goals that you want. From what I can see, there really isn’t a down side so speak up why don’t ya?

Dr. Katz

I have a hard time turning it off

Word Writing Text Private Practice. Business Concept For Work ...

So, I am sitting here right now, trying to relax. I am supposed to be on vacation and yet my mind is spinning with thoughts about my business. Are my patients going to be okay? Will my colleagues care for them like I would? Are any bills going to be late? Did we tie up all the loose ends before we left? Will there be any money in the bank when we come back? Is there anything I forgot? Will all my followers move on when I don’t post for a week? Will I miss any job applications? Will I miss a deadline I didn’t know I had while I am gone? It just goes on and on.

I guess that that is the life I signed up for. You are never truly “off” …..at least, not if you are really in it to win it. It is the compromise that you strike the second you sign on the dotted line to commit to a private practice sans safety net type of scenario. I have no set hours or guaranteed salary. However, I am at least philosophically the master of my own destiny. In reality, my success also depends on a number of third parties like insurances, reimbursements, billing companies, vendors, and employee work ethics. So, I am kidding myself if I think that I alone can guarantee or swamp my career.

I am not a 9 to 5 type of physician and I never wanted to be. I look all around me and see the significant disincentive to starting private practice. Medical school graduates now seemed to be groomed to think that private practice is impossible and that they NEED the backing of a large conglomerate, set hours, employed practice in order to even entertain the possibility of being a physician. It’s a shame really. What these new docs have traded for this implied security is stamina, work ethic, commitment, and dedication. To be 100% transparent, this is only my opinion based upon what I have observed all around me with the newest generation of doctors. I am not trying to be some hard core, stone age dinosaur, but I have literally seen resident physicians turn away mid conversation about a patient if that conversation was occurring when their shift was over. That is just not what I want, nor do I feel that that is appropriate. That is going too far in the 9 to 5 direction. We are not office workers. We are responsible for lives.

The private physician is slowly but surely going the way of the dodo and being replaced by shift workers with set hours and volume driven goals at the expense of quality. For me, the world does not stop the second that the office phones get turned off. My responsibilities are not just handed off to the next guy. That is not my reality and that is OK. I am not saying that I never need a break because, in fact, I do. I really do sometimes. It’s just that I am not going to spend time whining about the inconvenience when I chose to have it this way. It would be kind of ridiculous. Now, having said that, I am sure that my family would not agree that I should always be on. It definitely goes against that eternal quest for balance that I am always talking about. Yes, yes, I do actually listen to myself when I am attempting to espouse wisdom to the masses. I guess what I really saying is that I still just need to work on it.

Dr. Katz