Hi everyone. Dr. Inc. here bringing you the truth about employed physicians. I want to thank you today for your hard work and dedication. As I’m writing this, it’s a holiday weekend here in this country, and what I know about doctors is there are thousands of you as physicians who are going to work on this holiday weekend and doing your job, just like you always have, in a dedicated way to take care of patients all over the country who are in need of you today. It’s an amazing thing what you do as a doctor.
I’m thankful that I get to do this myself, and I’m thankful that there are scores of you who are providing care for patients when frankly, you might not even want to (you’d probably rather be doing something else with your family or going to the beach or to the mountains or whatever it may be). But you’ve chosen this path, you’ve chosen this career, and you’ve signed up to do the work that you’re doing on days like this when many Americans are off. Thank you. Thank you for all that hard work. Thank you for that dedication.
Today’s truth is that predictable paychecks make doctors happy.
One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed in my career is collecting that regular paycheck that is really quite substantial and large. I’ve always found that to be a sweet feeling getting that paycheck. Of course, nowadays I don’t receive a paycheck, I just receive a direct deposit to my account. So the feeling of that paper being in my hand or looking at it has really sort of gone away, however, those monthly bank deposits also result in a wonderful feeling.
Of course, this is not the reason that we do what we do as doctors. I really see it as being downstream of the beautiful thing that we get out of taking care of patients and doing what we do to provide care to people every day.
But when it comes to getting that predictable and sweet paycheck, there are some assumptions that come along with it. The greatest of these is you’re getting paid at a fair market value. You’re also getting to practice in the community of your choice and preference. There are a few things that come along with that paycheck and the responsibilities that come with being an employee, but isn’t it sweet to have some confidence to know that you’re getting paid fairly and that you’re getting to choose where you want to live, and you’re getting to choose to do what you want to do?
You know, it is the easy button for us as employed doctors, because quite frankly, we’re getting paid a guaranteed rate that allows us to know (when it comes to our own personal budget) that we’re going to have money in the bank every month. We’re going to know precisely what that amount is and we’re going to know what we want to do with that money.
Some of you found out in the past six months though, that as much as you thought you had a guaranteed contract and income when COVID came and your health care employers began to bleed a little bit and began to feel the pressures of the financial shortfalls, for many of you they began to short your checks, or they began to change your contract or they wanted to renegotiate how much you’re being paid. Many of you felt that was an injustice. Many of you felt that was wrong. Many of you felt pretty bitter towards your employer.
I’m not sure where you are in that or how that landed for you, but it certainly is a memorable event for each one of us. At the end of the day, most of us love receiving a guaranteed paycheck with a guaranteed rate as an employed physician. Many of us also enjoy the pre-packaged benefits that come with being employed. From our health insurance to our dental insurance, to our life insurance, to malpractice insurance, and all the way up to retirement programs, these are all pre-packaged in a nice HR product line that really provides some predictability to how we go about living our lives and our family’s lives and provides some of the substance that we have become used to as physicians.
Although many of you as physicians may not realize this, the majority of physician employer retirement programs will really cause you to fall short of the range that you have come to learn to live out when it comes to your retirement. So I encourage you to take a look, do a little bit of the math, and see where you’re at with that. Maybe talk to your financial planner or financial advisor, or whoever works with you in regards to these things, just to make sure that you’re meeting the goals that you have for your financial future when it comes to retirement because again, most physician employers retirement programs will cause you to fall short. There are a number of good things about those programs, but again, you need to save a little bit more.
I also love the fact that we get to forego practice management when it comes to being employed in positions. I have an office manager in my practice and she’s the one that manages all of those days today headaches that arise from having 25 employees and all the nuances that come with every Monday through Friday work week, the weekends, the sick days, the kids who are sick, and all the myriad of elements that come with employing people in today’s healthcare economy. I’m really thankful that I don’t have to deal with those issues. I’ve found that in my 25 years of practice I don’t mind being a leader and I don’t mind exerting my clinical influence in my own practice and own office, but I also don’t mind letting somebody else have the responsibility of managing all of the people that are there. I do enjoy the simplicity of simply practicing medicine and taking care of patients, and receiving a good income that comes from that. As long as I provide quality and safe care and meet the productivity requirements that my organization has set for me, I can simply enjoy those patients and enjoy practicing medicine and doing it in a quality way.
And I think many of you feel the same way. That’s one of the great things that you do enjoy about being an employed doctor. You also probably enjoy the good life that comes from being a high-income earner and all the money that results from it. I find it a rich blessing to be an employed doctor in today’s world really provides massive opportunities for me to just enjoy patients and enjoy practicing medicine and do what I was made to do and do it in a way that provides a very good living for me and my family.
I hope that many of you have found that the predictability of that paycheck and the predictability of all the benefits that come with being an employed doctor are true for you as well. And I invite you to give me your insight and your feedback on what it is that’s made you choose to be an employed doctor, and what you would like or don’t like about the paycheck, the benefits, the management, the guaranteed rates, how your contracts are arranged–there are so many nuances to it that are worthy conversations that we’ll have as continue to unpack these truths.
One thing is for certain, the majority of us are happy that we have a predictable paycheck.
And that’s the truth for today.
