Design Your Ideal Medical Practice (Even If You Think You Can’t)

If there were no restrictions, no limits, nothing too out of this world ridiculous – other than winning the lottery and never working – what would your ideal medical practice look like?

Before you click away – I know this probably won’t be reality, at least not right now.

BUT whether you’re looking at potential jobs or years into your practice, stepping back and asking yourself this question can be incredibly revealing.

It can help you make decisions, from choosing which job to accept to modifying how you’re running your existing practice.

Why bother dreaming when reality exists?

Because it helps figure out which parts of your job you actually enjoy vs the ones that drain your soul.

It’s also key to figuring out your priorities. If it’s more important for you to live in a certain area than have a certain sub-specialty practice, you gotta know that.

A supportive group of colleagues might be a make it or break it decision for you.

Or maybe your dream is to to be a left atria surgeon only – that’s going to influence which jobs you’re looking at.

Knowing what your non-negotiables and where you are willing to compromise makes scanning the job posts, talking to potential colleagues and navigating the job search a lot easier.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• Are you into research or big-time admin – and do you want protected time for it?
• Do you want/ how many dedicated procedure or scope days?
• How many colleagues do you want to work with?
• What type of call do or don’t you want to take?
• If you’re a specialist, is there a certain type of referral you want (or definitely don’t want) to accept?
• Which remuneration model seems more appealing (post on the different models coming soon)?
• Where do you want to live?
• Do you want Friday afternoons off? Want to spend one week per year shadowing a sub-specialist to hone certain techniques?
• What is the best version of your practice you could imagine?
• What type of contract best suits you?
• Do you like teaching? How much?

Let’s be real: there’s no perfect medical practice

There are good ones and even pretty great ones, but no one has a perfect practice—regardless of how hard we try.

So know what you are willing to compromise on.

Personal opinion: every job has some compromise. But knowing which things you’re okay to compromise on versus the ones you aren’t is critically important to job satisfaction. And subsequently, to wellness and preventing burnout.

If you’re job hunting, use this as your compass

Compare potential jobs to your ideal medical practice and see where they fit. (And if you have a colour-coded spreadsheet to compare and rank, even more power to you. 😉)

If you’re already in practice, this isn’t ridiculous to do

Admittedly, doing this exercise when you already have a job can feel a little silly. But it helps you take stock of where your practice has grown.

Do you like the direction your practice has taken? Are you able to modify what you’re doing to inch closer to a medical practice that would make you happier?

Not sure how to pivot successfully? Start by finding the win-win.

One of the silver linings of our profession is that our practices evolve over the years. For many of us, this happens whether we plan for it or not. So if it’s going to happen anyway – why not try to move it in a direction we like rather than one we don’t?

Your ideal medical practice will evolve (and that’s okay)

What you want might change. What you “don’t mind” or can “tolerate” might shift – and that’s completely normal.

But by checking in a few times throughout your career, you can see if your current medical practice is still aligned with what suits your current season of life.

You figure out your ideal practice – then let’s work to make it happen.

You survived residency. You deserve a practice that doesn’t just pay bills – but one you actually enjoy and allows you to build the life you want outside the hospital.