Pearls for the First Year out of Residency #PACPearls

The Practice Advisory Committee has put together a list of pearls
to keep in mind your first year out of residency.

Pearls from Dr. Sarah Jackson 

Many of us had no formal business training, yet we run successful businesses now. If you are starting your own practice, you must seek out the advice of experts, just as you would for a tough medical case. Throw yourself into learning about business, and utilize courses, mentors, and experts outside of our specialty. You will reap the rewards throughout your days of private practice!


Pearls from Dr. Monica Li 

Do not let patients pressure you into providing an intervention that you are not comfortable with.

When in doubt, go back to the basics and be systematic.

Always be nice to your support staff - they can be so helpful in ways known and unknown to you!


Pearls from Dr. Elizabeth Long 

Learn from failure. When patients express dissatisfaction from a treatment, a drug price, an interaction with staff, etc... always contemplate how that could have been avoided. For example, maybe they didn’t understand the diagnosis is a chronic problem that will require some degree of attention, intermittently, forever. To improve the experience, give patients a clear diagnosis and prognosis in addition to a flare and maintenance treatment plan or let them know it may take a couple of visits to determine the diagnosis and treatment plan. Setting clear attainable expectations can make a huge difference.

Keep an organized patient encounter. To combat a busy clinic with a wide variety of patients and chief complaints, I depend on personal handouts of my top 10-15 diagnoses that explore prognosis and treatment elements. I then review each sheet (and sometimes multiple ones) with the patient with customized recommendations for them based upon needs and budget. I update them annually and add new topics as I find myself handwriting the same instructions over and over.

Become a part of your community. I live in a small town and understanding the relationships between my patients leads to a deeper, more rewarding connection. It also gives you more feedback on both success and failure.


Pearls from Dr. Mark Kaufmann 

You may not have been exposed to coding in your residency, but you’ll likely be doing it for the rest of your career. Find a mentor in coding, buy a manual, and go to courses. Correct coding is vitally important.


Pearls From Dr. Deirdre Hooper 

Pay attention to relationships. When you meet other physicians as well as people in the industry, exchange contact information and stay in touch in the office or at meetings. Respect what that person knows. Your career is long and you never know who will be a mentor, who is someone you can mentor, and who will be a great friend.