¶ Building a Medical Career
What's good everyone . This is Dr Nidarko . Make sure you hit the subscribe button below so that you're always up to date on the new uploads as well as alerts on this show .
The other thing that you can do to help build this community is make sure you leave a comment below , let us know what you like , what you don't like about the show and , ultimately , let us know who's winning these arguments , because I need to know that I'm beating Renee in these debates . Run the tape , folks . Your exciting new medical career .
It's just been hit with a serious illness or injury that stops you from earning a paycheck just when you need it most . Check out what Jamie Fleissner of Cephalife Insurance said back on episode 176 about having disability insurance early in your career .
The real reason to get it early on is really twofold . One is to protect your insurability . So if you are healthy and you can obtain the coverage , you also pre-approve yourself to be able to buy more in the future . So down the road , as your income does increase , you don't have to answer additional medical questions .
All you have to do is show that your income is increased and you can buy more benefits at that time . No medical questions asked .
Protect , income is increased and you can buy more benefits . At that time , no medical questions asked . Protect your income , secure your future . Check out setforlifeinsurancecom . Some of you guys may be asking like , why do I , why do I work like this ? Why not work closer to home ? You know you're away from family , you're away from your wife .
You know , is it worth it ? And I'm going to be really honest here it's a tough question and it doesn't work for everyone . But you know , I've really been able to find out what I really like . After a lot of years . I've been able to figure out what I like and what I don't like .
So , for example , you know , yesterday I was with a patient's family and they their patient was really sick and I've been taking care of them since the night before . And you know , the family asked me , like where am I from ? And I told them that I'm from , you know , new Jersey . And they're like you drive from Jersey all the way out here .
And just so you know , like where I live in Jersey , I'm about five hours from it right now . And I said , well , I stay in a hotel and then I'm here for a week , maybe even longer , and then I go home . And they understood and they asked me like , why do you do that ?
And I think that's one of the a lot of questions I get online , a lot of questions I get from other doctors who are considering doing locums . The reason I do that is , although I don't prefer to be away from home I've realized after 10 years of doing this even more is that I really need control over my schedule .
I need to know exactly when I'm going to work , when I'm going to be off and if I'm going to do more than how long I'm going to work or how the expectation in my mind as to when I'm going to work . I want to make sure that I'm compensated for that . I think that if I'm an employee , like , I really don't have control over that .
Like , if a coworker decides not to show up or they need additional coverage , guess what ? They just put your name on that calendar and you just got to take it . And although I'm a team player and I believe that you know there shouldn't be any gaps in the care of taking care of patients , I got to be able to do it under my terms , right ?
So you know , maybe , instead of it being on the day that they exactly need .
I'm just saying look like I can do a double shift here , I can do a double shift there , but you know I can't do it exactly on my kid's recital , or I can't do it , you know , on my wife's birthday , or you know , on my son excuse me , me and my wife's anniversary , just can't do that .
And I feel like I've put in enough work , I've built enough leverage . You know I don't have debt that I could just say yes or no . So that's why I like to work this way , because I really am in control of how I work . If I work less , then you know , I know what to expect , which is less pay . I have more time with my family .
And if I work more , I know what to expect , which is , you know , I would get paid more . Yeah , less time with family . But either way , whatever , if I'm working less or if I'm working more , it's really my decision and that's a decision between me and my wife , and we keep that in mind into keeping a healthy family structure and that's why I do it .
No matter where you are in your career , you've seen patients your age or younger get seriously injured , have a long-term illness or even have a mental health issue that affects their ability to work . Now , what if that was you ? No , for real . What if that was you Without disability insurance ? How are you going to replace your paycheck ?
In episode 176 , jamie Fleissner of Cephalife Insurance explains why the best time to buy disability insurance is during your residency .
Most people , most physicians , acquire their disability policies during residency , and there's several reasons . First of all , when you're younger , you're able to obtain the insurance because they ask you a whole host of medical history and so you usually don't get healthier over time .
Usually you get less healthy over time , so when you're healthy , it's easier to acquire the coverage . Number two it's also less expensive because it's based on your age and your health . You're not getting younger or healthier over time , so you're at the ideal time . The earlier you get it and the younger you are , the less expensive it's going to be .
So , whether you're a resident or you're an attending , it's never too late to protect your income . Renee and I , we use Set for Life Insurance to find a disability policy that fit our needs and budget . So what are you waiting for ? Check out setforlifeinsurancecom Once again . That's setforlifeinsurancecom , so I get to have the career fulfillment that I want .
But I'm going to be honest with y'all the way in which hospitals are , the way hospitals , I think the public looks at hospitals and doctors and hospital and medical professionals whether that's your nurses , your respiratory therapists , whoever it may be that's actually working in the hospital . People look at that as the the hospital .
It is the room , it's the door , it's the equipment . But the people who actually make a hospital work and give it life , the interest that they have , necessarily ain't the same as what the hospital is , and that's what I feel . I feel only strongly about that .
So how I take care of patients may not necessarily be in the best interest of the hospital , which is trying to do more of less , basically . So for me , I try to make sure that my interests and my patient's interests are priority and I try not to be , in essence , a cog in the wheel and let the hospital dictate what they can do with me and my schedule .
So that's why I work like this . I enjoy it . I've been doing it 100% for seven years and part-time total for about 12 years . Haven't had any issues with it and I love it . And the other thing that I get initially is , I think a lot of doctors , particularly the older doctors than me I'm 46 .
So we're talking about the doctors who are , you know , in their mid fifties or those definitely in their sixties . You know they looked at me initially and I think a lot of doctors who were doing locums . They looked at them as like pariahs , like what do you mean you want to work in this fashion ? What do you mean you want to choose when you get off ?
What do you mean you want to ? You know you're not working on this day or that day and you give dates , as opposed to the hospital dictate for you . You know , sometimes I used to be a little bit nervous about having this type of conversation with them , but I'm very confident in having the conversation Now .
Listen , like I get that you're scared and I get that this is new to you
¶ Exploring Independent Contracting in Medicine
. But just because it's something that's new to you , just because you don't have experience with it doesn't mean that you have to put a negative connotation on it , and I think we in the doctor community we do that a lot . If we're not experienced with something , then let's put a negative connotation onto it until we fully investigate everything .
And I'll be honest with you locums is not for everyone . Independent contracting is not for everyone . But it doesn't mean that if you don't know much about it or if you don't do it , or if you know someone who's doing it , that that's the end of their career . It's a great experience and I love it .
And I think that every doctor , whether you're young or old , mid -career , should experience it in some form or fashion . As a matter of fact , I'll even go past it and say that you know , coming right out of residency or fellowship , I think you should make it , you should do it part-time .
Whether you take a full-time employee position , there should be some component where you're doing independent contracting so that you can understand what it's like to work practice on your own terms . And then you know , you kind of decide what you want to do , and that's what I did when I finished fellowship . I just started doing locums for a year and a half .
I set my own schedule . I worked with a locums company that helped me with my flights I've submitted a timesheet to them and then they paid me direct deposit into my bank account , but I was in charge of how I took care of my own taxes . I had to figure out how to do retirement .
I had to figure out how to get healthcare and back then it was just me , and then eventually it was me and Renee and then eventually became kids . But during that time , year and a half , I had my own health insurance and that was a tax deduction . That was part of doing business .
So yeah , this is a long , drawn out segment just to say that that's the reason why I do locums , that's the reason why I work this way . And if you are considering it , you know hit , you know check below in the video and we got some links to tell you more about locums . All right ,