Category: Physicians

On Call on Christmas? Here’s How to Cope.

If you celebrate Christmas and find yourself on the schedule, here are four ways to cope with being on call during the holiday.

If you work in the medical field, particularly in a hospital setting, having to work on Christmas is not out of the question. While a lot of private practices and clinics will close their doors for the holiday, hospitals do not have holiday hours. After all, illnesses and injuries strike indiscriminately, and they do not have a habit of checking the calendar before they do.

Though many who work during the Christmas holiday may be of a religion that does not celebrate it, or those who haven’t a family to celebrate with, if you do celebrate and find yourself on the schedule, here are four ways to cope with being on call for Christmas.

Remember the Reason for the Season

To many, the reason for the season is found in the importance of giving. From the presents tucked under the tree to the time spent with loved ones, giving is woven throughout the Christmas holiday. By working on Christmas, you are giving, as well. Not only to the patients you are treating, but also to your coworkers who you are “taking one for the team” for by allowing them to spend the holiday outside of the hospital. That surely makes you feel just a little merry.

Reschedule the Holiday

No one says you absolutely, without question, have to celebrate Christmas when everyone else does. Make your own traditions for the years you end up on call—celebrate Christmas Eve on the Eve of the Eve, open presents the day after Christmas. Your family is already likely used to being flexible, given your career, and they will be just as thrilled to celebrate with you a day early, or a day late, as they would be to celebrate with you right on time.

Give Yourself Something To Look Forward To

If you are on the schedule for Christmas, there is a fairly high probability that you will not have to work on other big holidays, such as New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day. Give yourself (and/or your likely very understanding spouse, if you have one) something to look forward to and make plans for the days you won’t have to work. The gratification may not be instantaneous, but it may boost your spirits just enough to get you through your shift.

Celebrate with Your Work “Family”

It takes a lot of people to staff a hospital, even on a holiday. Those people are in the same position as you, and all of you can find some comfort in that. Spread a little cheer by celebrating together with a potluck, catered meal, or Secret Santa type of gift exchange. Even if Christmas isn’t your holiday, a good meal or a fun gift can go a long way to get you through a shift.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Medical Errors Linked to Physician Depression

A new study has linked depressed physicians to an increase in medical errors, further highlighting the need for interventions aimed at bolstering physician well-being.

As the conversation about physician burnout and what to do about it continues steadily on, a new study published in JAMA Network Open has linked depressed physicians to an increase in medical errors.

Researchers from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor conducted a systematic review and analysis of 11 different studies, which involved more than 21,000 physicians. As a result, they found that physicians who experienced depressive symptoms were 1.95 times more likely to make medical errors than their mentally healthy peers, and that the association between depressive symptoms and perceived errors was bidirectional.

“Given that few physicians with depression seek treatment and that recent evidence has pointed to the lack of organizational interventions aimed at reducing physician depressive symptoms, our findings underscore the need for institutional policies to remove barriers to the delivery of evidence-based treatment to physicians with depression,” the study’s authors wrote. “Investments in patient safety have been associated with significant reductions in health care costs, and the bidirectional associations between physician depressive symptoms and perceived medical errors verified by this meta-analysis suggest that physician well-being is critical to patient safety.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

This Year, Physicians Are Thankful For…

We asked you, “What has your career in medicine made you most thankful for?” Here are our top ten favorite responses to that question.

We asked you, “What has your career in medicine made you most thankful for?” We received a lot of great responses, and we picked our top ten favorite answers to feature this week. Here they are.

I love a challenge, and my career in medicine challenges me most days. —Nina S.

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I’m grateful for my team. From the nurses to the residents to the ancillary staff, we are all in this together, and the efforts of the group enable me to be as efficient and effective as possible. —Sandeep R.

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I am thankful to have the opportunity to help and to heal. I think that is why most of us got into this profession in the first place. —Brain W.

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I am grateful for my mentors, their knowledge, and their patience. —Benjamin R.

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The air in my lungs and the ground beneath my feet, I’m thankful for that. Just to be alive is a blessing. Sadly, too many patients I have come across in my specialty cannot say the same. —Angela O.

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I’m thankful for my family. Coming home to them is the balance I need restored at the end of a long, trying day in medicine. —Vikram L.

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The salary, and knowing my children will not have to go into debt as I did while putting myself through medical school. —Charles G.

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I’m grateful to know that, in my line of work, there will always be a job available to me. That security is not found in many other professions. —Gerald P.

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I have the opportunity to completely change someone’s life for the better through the power of medicine and my knowledge of it. That is incredibly rewarding. —Wendy R.

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Vacations. I’m grateful for vacations. —Daniel D.

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No matter what you are thankful for this year, we are thankful for you and all you do. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Where the Female Physicians Are

Female physicians have long been a minority across the country. These are the states with the highest and lowest percentage of active female MDs and DOs.

Female physicians have long been in the minority across the United States, often cited as accounting for only about a third of the physician workforce. Some specialties, however, are dominated by women residents, such as obstetrics and gynecology (83% female), allergy and immunology (73% female), and pediatrics (72% female), and there have been reports of overall gender statistics flipping amongst younger physicians entering the workforce. However, female physicians are still outnumbered by males in every single state in the country. To that end, these are the states that currently have the highest and lowest percentages of professionally active female MDs and DOs.

Highest Percentage of Female Physicians

1. District of Columbia: 48%

2. Massachusetts: 42%

2. Rhode Island: 42%

4. Delaware: 41%

5. Connecticut: 40%

Lowest Percentage of Female Physicians

1. Idaho: 24%

2. Utah: 26%

3. Wyoming: 27%

3. Mississippi: 27%

5. Nevada: 28%

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physician Board Certifications on the Rise

As worry surrounding the primary care physician shortage in the U.S. continues, promising numbers were released this week regarding board certifications.

As worry surrounding the physician shortage in the U.S. continues, promising numbers were released this week regarding board certifications.

The figures, which were announced on Monday by the American Board of Medical Specialties in the 2018-2019 ABMS Board Certification Report, show a 2.5% increase over the last year in board certifications, with approximately 940,000 physicians now board certified across 40 specialties and 87 subspecialties.

Of the nearly one million board certified physicians, the largest certifying specialties were Internal Medicine (238,913), Pediatrics (105,685), and Family Medicine (91,208); Colon and Rectal Surgery (2,421), Medical Genetics and Genomics (2,630), and Nuclear Medicine (4,285) were among the smallest.

Other items of note from the report include:

  • Board certified physicians, when grouped by specialty, were comprised of 59% medical, 27% surgical, and 14% hospital.
  • Nearly half of all board certified physicians came from only ten states: California (104,258), New York (70,849), Texas (59,208), Florida (48,140), Pennsylvania (40,975), Illinois (36,240), Ohio (31,101), Massachusetts (30,462), New Jersey (26,800), and North Carolina (25,993).
  • States with the fewest board certified physicians included Wyoming (1,100), North Dakota (1,755), Alaska (1,917), South Dakota (2,108), and Delaware (2,349).

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Physician’s Role in Disaster Response

If you’ve ever wondered what your role is when it comes to disaster response, here are seven things that can help you prepare for the next emergency.

By Deborah Swanson

Alongside firefighters, police, and other first responders, physicians are often some of the first people to respond to disasters. In emergency situations, physicians have to balance many competing priorities, from figuring out which patients to treat first to weighing their own safety against the need to treat patients. If you’re a physician wondering what your role is when it comes to disaster response, here are seven things that can help you prepare for the next emergency:

Remember Your Ethical Commitments

Disaster relief can present a complex ethical situation for individual physicians. Doctors have an obligation to provide critical medical care while also weighing the risks of providing care in the moment vs. being able to provide care in the future. After all, disaster relief can put physicians’ safety and health, and sometimes even their lives, in danger. The American Medical Association provides the following ethical guidelines for disaster relief:

“With respect to disaster, whether natural or manmade, individual physicians should:

(a) Take appropriate advance measures, including acquiring and maintaining appropriate knowledge and skills to ensure they are able to provide medical services when needed.
Collectively, physicians should:

(b) Provide medical expertise and work with others to develop public health policies that:

1. Are designed to improve the effectiveness and availability of medical services during a disaster

2. Are based on sound science

3. Are based on respect for patients

(c) Advocate for and participate in ethically sound research to inform policy decisions.”

Take an Emergency Response Training Course

Your hospital will likely provide disaster response training, and other seminars and workshops may also be available locally. There’s also training available from international and national organizations, such as the American Board of Disaster Medicine (ABODM). Through ABODM, the American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS) offers disaster medicine certification and recertification to physicians of many different specialties and backgrounds. After applicants meet the eligibility requirements, they must pass an online exam that runs for four hours and consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. The certification shows that physicians are skilled in competencies critical in a disaster, such as triage principles, protective equipment, psychological first aid and more.

Build Relationships with Local Agencies

If you live in an area prone to floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and other natural disasters, it’s a good idea to build relationships with your local agencies so you know what their plan is in a crisis and who to call. These agencies may also be able to assist you in updating your hospital’s emergency contingency plans so you can work together. Even if you’re lucky enough to live in an area that doesn’t get a lot of natural disasters, you should still get to know your local agencies in case of a situation such as an active shooter, which can occur no matter where you live.

Plan, Plan, Plan Ahead

Don’t wait until a disaster strikes and then grab your medical bag and try to react in the moment. You should have a plan in case of a disaster at the personal, family and institutional level. For example, if a flood strikes your area, you should know how to keep yourself safe, where your family will evacuate to and what your hospital will do in the time of crisis. Your facility will likely already have a plan in place, but there’s always room for improvement. If you have experience in disaster relief or have gotten your certification, you can volunteer to review the policies or serve on an assessment committee.

Embrace Your Leadership Role

In some cases, you may be directly responsible for helping your facility to prepare for and respond to disasters—for example, if you serve as an emergency physician in addition to acting as the chief of hospital operations. In other situations, you may not have a direct leadership role when it comes to disaster relief. Even so, in emergencies, people naturally look to physicians for leadership. Your nurses, techs, and other medical personnel will definitely be looking to you to lead, and so may ordinary citizens and bystanders. Clear-minded decisions by an authority figure can make a difference in a disaster, so rather than resisting this role, embrace it and prepare for it as much as possible.

Make Sure Your Own Family Is Prepared

You won’t be able to care for patients in a crisis very well if you’re worried about your loved ones. Talk with your spouse, partner, children and anyone you’re responsible for to come up with a plan in the case of common disasters. How will you communicate with each other? What will you do for food and water if you’re snowed into your house? If you need to evacuate suddenly, where will you meet up? Do you have a backup in case the power goes out? Your emergency plan should be customized to the natural disasters most likely to affect your area.

Register for Disaster Relief Organizations

If you’re really passionate about disaster relief, you can be proactive and volunteer for one of several organizations that helps mobilize doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to travel to disaster areas. The American Red Cross is perhaps the best-known organization, but there’s also Doctors Without Borders, the Emergency System for Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals, the Medical Reserve Corps, HealthRight International, the Registered Nurse Response Network and many more. Many of these organizations require you to complete additional training before you can be mobilized, but if you’re really passionate about disaster relief, it’s a great way to make a difference and truly save lives.

When it comes to a disaster, you can’t just throw on your scrubs and rush to the scene. Preparing in advance and having an emergency plan in place will maximize your chances of keeping yourself safe and treating as many patients as possible. Follow these seven steps to make sure you’re ready as a physician and as an individual in case you ever face a disaster.

Deborah Swanson is a Coordinator for the Real Caregivers Program at allheart.com. A site dedicated to celebrating medical professionals and their journeys. She keeps busy interviewing caregivers and writing about them and loves gardening.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physician Burnout on the Decline?

Recent research indicates that physician burnout improved since 2014 and is now even lower than levels not seen since 2011.

Recent research indicates that physician burnout improved since 2014 and is now even lower than levels not seen since 2011, suggesting progress to combat this widespread problem is not only possible, but well underway.

The findings, which were published last month in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, come as a result of researchers surveying more than 5,000 physicians in the U.S. on burnout and work-life integration. According to the findings, 43.9% of respondents indicated that they experienced at least one symptom of burnout, down significantly from 54.4% in 2014, and less than the 45.5% who self-reported burnout in 2011. Satisfaction with work-life balance has also improved, up from 40.9% in 2014 to 42.7%.

The news isn’t entirely rosy, however. According to the findings, 41.7% of physicians who responded screened positive for depression, a steady increase from 2014 (39.8%) and 2011 (38.2%). The findings also indicated that more than 20% of physicians would not choose the same profession, if they could go back and do it again.

While the research indicates that progress has been made, it is very clear there is still much work to be done in terms of improving the lives of the nation’s physicians.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Top 3 States with the Most Physician Jobs

Given the growing physician shortage, it’s a buyer’s market, so to speak. If you’re thinking about a new job, you might want to consider these states.

Healthcare as a whole has added nearly half a million jobs so far in 2019, and with the physician shortage being a continual hot-button issue, it’s a buyer’s market, so to speak. So, where are the jobs? We analyzed data on our site and came up with the three states with the most available openings for physicians right now, as well as a selection of noteworthy positions.

1. California

Average Annual Physician Salary in California: $204,190

Noteworthy Openings in California:

Click Here to View All Jobs in California

2. New York

Average Annual Physician Salary in New York: $139,710

Noteworthy Openings in New York:

Click Here to View All Jobs in New York

3. Washington

Average Annual Physician Salary in Washington: $239,080

Noteworthy Openings in Washington:

Click Here to View All Jobs in Washington

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

“Hey, Google, Find Me A Doctor.”

60% of patients turn to search engines to find a doctor, while 51% rely on social media. If you don’t have an online presence, it’s time to get one.

Your online presence is more important than you may think.

Newly released results from Binary Foundation’s Healthcare Consumer Insight and Digital Engagement Survey indicate that digital research has skyrocketed for patients seeking the right provider. So, if you and your practice are not online, or if your online presence is poor, now might be the time to rethink your digital strategy.

According to the report, which surveyed 1,000 American adults to produce their findings, 60% use search engines to find a doctor, while 51% turn to social media. Both numbers are on the rise, but, in particular, social media searches are soaring, up from only 7% in 2017, or a 621% increase.

And what are patients looking for exactly? Ratings and reviews, it seems.

The survey found that 75% of patients are influenced by online feedback, such as reviews and star ratings, and it was also found that comments from other patients about a practice or provider are the second most important factor for patients when choosing a physician.

Factors that are less important to patients now than in 2017 as identified by the findings included hospital affiliation, facility location, and insurance coverage.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physician Pay Up, Productivity Stagnant

Physician compensation rose significantly in 2018, according to findings from the AMGA. See a breakdown of the numbers here.

Physician compensation increased significantly in 2018, while productivity stagnated, according to the newly released findings of the American Medical Group Association’s 2019 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey.

Overall, physician pay rose by a median of 2.92% in 2018, a sharp rise over 2017’s 0.89%. Productivity, however, did not see such a large increase as a whole, up only 0.29% from 2017’s 1.63% decline.

Median pay for all Primary Care specialties increased by 4.91%, a staggering difference over the 0.76% compensation growth in 2017. Within Primary Care, Family Medicine saw the highest increase in compensation at 6.25% in 2018, followed closely by Internal Medicine (5.90%), while Pediatrics saw a slight decline in compensation of -0.04%.

The overall median compensation was up for medical specialties, as well, seeing growth of 3.39% in 2018, with Psychiatry seeing the sharpest increase of 15.6%.

“The 2019 survey shows that physician compensation in 2018 rebounded from a stagnant 2017,” said Fred Horton, M.H.A., AMGA Consulting president, in a press release. “While productivity also increased, it did not increase enough to surpass the decline we saw in last year’s survey, meaning productivity still has not risen since 2016.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.