"If you were a college pre-med who recognized
what has been happening to private medical
practice, even to employed physicians, for many
decades and worsening with time, wouldn't
you consider choosing another career that could
be more profitable, enjoyable, and fulfilling?"
Well, a serious number of American college males are doing exactly that. The evidence of that can't be denied when one notices that medical schools have been recruiting foreign medical students in larger numbers than American college
males to fill their classes over at least the last decade.
Does the public not know about that? Has any person, medical organization, medical school, or the million of doctors now in clinical medical practice become aware of that issue? Logic says that
many of them have known about this for years. Who has in the past or presently is doing anything about it? In another sense, our government and crafty politicians have been controlling the medical profession behind our backs, covertly, for many years.
I can't blame them for that. Any smart American college student should have enough brains and intellect to discern where the medical profession is headed, and it isn't good. If our direction is what controls our destiny as some very intelligent people say, then someone needs to set the medical profession off in a different direction.
The problem with accomplishing a new direction is that the medical profession physicians do not have stable allies. The AMA caters to the Left politicians. We have no unions to back us up. The American billionaires that could make a difference are non-supportive or the private physicians plight today. Oh yes... they do donate to medical schools to get their name on the medical school, save some taxes for the donation, and maintain their billionaire status.
What is quietly hidden in the recruitment of medical students are the rapidly increasing numbers of foreign students joining the profession while bringing their biases, cultural tendencies, and behavior patterns with them. That's where the money is, needed by medical schools, and wealthy foreign parents or supporters more than willing to spend what ever is needed to make it happen.
Americans are quickly becoming the minority of medical students. Who wants to become a medical professional to be forced into being a physician employee to survive, having their medical career determined for them, earn much less than comparable business people, and lose the freedom to practice medicine as they want?
The thought that a physician can't earn enough to put the kids through college, fund a good retirement plan, keep their medical office open, meet their expectations for their careers, and to live just above the poverty level is a national disgrace.
So foreigners are filling the medical school gaps along with women students, half of which practice part time. Is that evidence that we are continuing to graduate medical students that are investment grade professionals and that we are keeping up the physician population that can adequately care for our increasing population? Are we entering an era of new healthcare where medical patients will be depending on part time physicians as well as the constant turnover of physicians?
At the same time the medical schools contribute directly to the frustration and disappointment of the physicians they graduate. That's because of their complete and intentional avoidance of providing a business education of physicians, whom they understand will probably not financially survive in practice and which we see the results of today.
Private practice physicians are blinded to the need for business knowledge in practicing medicine, so they don't know how to run a profitable and successful medical practice business or even don't know anything about medical practice management.
At least physicians who obtain business knowledge can see the truth for what it really is. There are a truck load of reasons to correct this deficiency and a train load of ways today to do it effectively. No one seems to give a damn about upgrades when they are sliding downwards more every day.
If you manage to have some personal time, you would be very disturbed about what I describe in my book that I wrote and republished the second edition of in July 2021, THE WOUNDED PHYSICIAN PROJECT. It would open your eyes to what is really happening in the medical school education system that has predestined physicians to financial failure in private medical practice when there is absolutely no reason to do so.
For the last century all medical schools in our nation have never added a business education to the medical school education curriculum. Physicians leave medical school business ignorant. Does it bother any of them at all? Seemingly, NO.
Over 98% of physicians are uneducated about medical practice business planning. Is it hard to start a medical practice business with only a fragile and superficial business knowledge they happened to pick up from experiential segments of business employment earlier in their lives?
Marketing for physicians is part of the business knowledge necessary for the medical practice business to grow on a continuous basis. Physician marketing is another problem for private medical practice physicians because it is how medical practice businesses earn more income.
Have all those medical students, about 20,000 a year, been brainwashed? Cursed? Didn't know that they were going to be responsible for building their own medical practice business?
Maybe they just assumed they'd hire someone to do it for them, if they could afford to do that? At least today with the huge educational debt shadowing them, never happen.
The third myth about physicians over the last century that has spread throughout the public domain and propelled the belief of potential medical career applicants savory of becoming a physician is that physicians are all wealthy. The truth is far from that belief. And the consequences of that belief have perpetuated the increasing numbers of physicians who end up short of their expectations they had for their medical careers both financially and fulfillment-wise.
The passion to help people who suffer from disease, illness, trauma, and mental illness among others, is a common beckoning that has righteous regard by medical school applicants. Despite this attribute of helping humanity, which is the ideal recruiting factor for medical schools, the opposing elements of destruction of the medical careers of an increasing number of physicians avoids discussions and deliberate honesty of the reality in our profession today.
Of the about 20,000 new medical school students each year entering our medical schools, how many of them do you think are there primarily because of their passion to help humanity medically? How many of them are really there primarily because of medicine being a lifetime job, income stability, position reputation, or family imperatives? Are those items part of the recruiting criteria?
Those medical students whose motivation is and will remain the primary driver for their careers in medical practice services to medical patients, would more likely be satisfied with lower incomes and very adaptable to government mandates and fee restrictions, less family time, and less complaints. Their focus would likely be on a safe and easy life and career. This is one side of the
motivation issue.
The problem is that these quiet physicians are not the innovators, future thinking, specific goal driven, highly productive and growth orientated cutting edge risk takers that constantly improve their levels of confidence and value to the medical profession and healthcare of our citizens.
This contrast in medical practice motivation factors explains the differences not only in their career destinies, but also the difference between accomplishments and satisfaction, difference between value to the profession and value to themselves, difference between treating their medical practice as a social-medical context of effort and treating medical practice as a business.
Of all of the wealthy physicians I've met and worked with, those who understood medical practice as a true business in itself along with associated criteria that promotes the success of any business, usually had a business knowledge tucked into their minds before reaching medical school. Either their family ran a business, owned a business, or managed a business.
This is what convinces me that the usual medical student without that background goes through medical school oblivious of the fact that they may be starting a private medical practice business soon and don't care to prepare for that effort beforehand.
Such a behavior may be why medical school scholars prefer to avoid adding a business education curriculum to the medical education curriculum, and are glad to leave it all up the each student to manage themselves later.
Many times I have written about the fact that medical students shy away form medical business education because they are kept ignorant of the benefits to themselves of a business education. If all premed students were fully informed about the importance and critical nature of a medical practice business management, at least they would have an opportunity to take business courses in college to prepare them for what is coming.
It would be fairly easy for college students to do that because applications to medical schools are made in the third or fourth year of college, which leaves a full year to take the helpful business courses offered.
When medical students graduate and later start a medical practice, think of how much time, effort, and slowness of a new medical practice growth, built by a new physician collecting experiential business components, info, and strategies from other local physician's suggestions and advice.
Without exaggerating, such actions as these are the usual expected means of starting a medical practice form scratch by using only advice that is stuttered with misinformation, outdated advice that has been passed up through many physicians over decades, and takes two years to get the medical practice business rolling. Think about how much time and effort is wasted in the process, when a business education knowledge would enable a physician to jump start their practice in
two months.
Being able to earn income faster and sooner in your medical practice career would be a miracle for any starting physician. Paying back educational debts sooner would also reduce the interest costs on the debts. Medical practice income would he higher for the two wasted years of trying to start your medical practice business the old fashioned way--lifetime earnings greater.
It comes down to the same question. Why hasn't any efforts been made to provide such a necessary business education, not only to enable physicians to start earning sooner, but reducing the financial stress they will face for the rest of their medical practice business careers.
Recognizing that today over 50% of graduating medical school students are applying for employment medical jobs in government mandated healthcare facilities, is a rude awakening about the trend towards socialized medicine.
Are my efforts to combat that outcome fruitless?
What happens when the medical education becomes unaffordable, except for the wealthy families?
Can you imagine what it feels like to finish medical school with a $165,000 debt to pay? And you are business ignorant?
Remember, this is where your kids might be headed, so, what will you do to get them
educated properly?
----Professional Probe----
"The fact that American males are no longer
choosing to become physicians is not because
they are not motivated or lack the skills and talents
necessary for such a respected and important career,
but they recognize the consequences that are
constantly shadowing the lifestyle, conflicts, and
monetary factors that physicians must tolerate
throughout their careers and personal lives. All
these issues create a kind of hurt that many potential
physicians cannot accept and live with.
Articles©2013-2022/CGG INVESTMENTS LLC. All rights reserved. #119, 3-16-22
