Work/Life Balance

Have you managed to achieve that coveted work-life balance? We want to hear about it. For this month’s Physician Writer Search, we are calling for essays about finding balance.

It's not always easy to do what's best for yourself. But living healthier doesn't have to be impossible. Here are six fast and easy ways to put your well-being first.

Physicians often don't take the time to foster their own physical and mental health. In our Great American Physician Survey this year, we found that about 30 percent of you don't get much exercise, and 32 percent don't have a regular primary-care physician. Sixty-four percent get routine check-ups and follow their doctor's advice.

Deborah C. Henry, MD, on how she managed her burnout

We often hear physicians' frustrations about their patients not following their advice. How many times have you discussed a treatment plan or a healthy lifestyle with a patient, only to have her return having not followed a single item?

You are already dealing with a potential Medicare reimbursement drop, pondering your relationship with an EHR, and managing the day-to-day operations of your practice. But what about issues outside of your work life? Well, it seems to come down to dollars, D.C., and danger.

How three humbling weeks in Senegal changed my perspective

Planning for retirement can be tricky, and it’s definitely something you want to get right. Check out these potential pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Happy but worried, American physicians are sorting through the many changes their profession is seeing.

One of the thorniest coding questions is: Can a physician bill for family meetings when the patient is not present? If so, who gets the bill ?

Divorce is usually experienced as a personal, familial, and social loss. Afterward, each person needs to recover without permanent negative consequences from their losses, grieve, learn, and go on to better futures. Parallel issues occur in medical partnership divorce: the breaking of legal, professional, and social bonds in a partnership.

One of the activities during a recent session on work-life balance was to use the Steven Covey grid that breaks down tasks on your to-do list into one of four categories: urgent/important, not urgent/important, urgent/not important, and not urgent/not important.

I think the modern workplace requires a sensitivity to both mothers and fathers and the very admirable roles they wish to play in their children's lives. However, how to maintain professionalism while acknowledging the personal can be a tricky balance.

The truth is that no matter where we are along the life path, we all struggle. I have come to the realization that women who finally appear to achieve some semblance of balance just happen to come across this great knowledge and ability around the time their children are grown.

We are considering implementing a Diabetes Prevention Program in our clinic. Based on clinical research demonstrating reduced progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes among participants in this group visit model, we thought this would be both useful and beneficial to our population. In the limited survey of patient interest so far, the response has not been as positive as we anticipated.

A couple of years ago, there was a survey of medical residents (or was it surgical residents?), 17 percent of whom admitted to laughing at or making fun of patients behind their backs. The other 83 percent are liars.

We are looking for physician writers for our September Physician Writer Search.

I recently took an online quiz to assess my vulnerability to stress. I was anxious to identify those areas that I needed to improve in order to lower my cortisol-induced stress haze.

The workforce is becoming much more diverse.

Many practices use midlevel providers to care for patients with routine complaints. But it’s important to understand their legal scope of practice and necessary level of supervision.

We know that things are tough out there, but letting yourself get dejected does a disservice to you and your patients. Here are our tips for unwinding and re-energizing.

Robert E. Kramer had run out of excuses for not taking his own advice to be physicially fit. So he took up running.

Gastroenterologist Robert E. Kramer on his uphill battle to stay fit for the long run.

Forget herbal tea and bubble baths - a physician’s stress requires a more aggressive treatment. Here’s how to dissect the causes of your stress and utilize effective strategies for finding solutions.

Our 2009 Physician Compensation Survey reveals general dissatisfaction - and wide divisions between specialists and primary care docs. Get all the details and advice on ways to earn what you deserve, despite the downward trend.