For Clinicians     Don’t overspend.   My first year in private practice, Mrs. Dr. Tom, my new son and I really put our credit  card through its paces. We had just moved to a new town and, despite a quarter of a million dollars in education debt, we spent!  We bought a much bigger home in anticipation of our growing family, a second car, a nice vacay—nothing was too good.  With a signing bonus and...

    How do you make yourself impervious to depression, disengagement, burnout?   Impervious to suicide?   What’s the secret?       Relationships.       Make sure you practice where you have the time to nurture relationships.   For co-workers, you need a trusting environment.   For patients, you need time without distractions.   For yourself, you need outside interests.     No one is going to create this for you.   Corp...

    “Tom, people are always going to have babies, they’re always going to get sick, they’re always going to get old,  they’re always going to die. And they’re always going to need someone to take care of them. Once there’s no more money, the businessmen are going to leave. Then it’s just you and me.”   Wise words from a former partner.   If medicine is your passion, follow it.   No matter what...

My first employment contract:     “Your compensation will consist of your total collections minus 1/4 of the total expenses of the practice.  The resulting number will be divided by 2—$90,000 minimum.”     Our first NP contract:     “Your total compensation will consist of $60,000 per year plus 10% of your collections above that number.”     My last compensation formula;     Don’t ask.     If you can recite and understand...