Best of 2010: Top Career Stories of the Year

From residency to retirement, your career has a lot of chapters to its story. Each year, we give you the tips and tools you need to help manage the day-to-day occurrences at your practice and enhance your own personal career goals.

Here are our top 10 stories on career issues this year, according to our readers:

10. The Moment I Knew I Wanted to Be a PhysicianFrom our Physician Writer Search, surgeon Robert L. Horner planned to see the country as a railroad engineer until a watershed moment in a pool hall in Wyoming convinced him to change tracks.

9. Will Practices Be Forced to Sell Out to Hospitals? Are private-office doctors going to be forced to work for a hospital in the next several years, or face extinction? Perhaps not, but hospitals are buying up private practices at a rate not seen since the late 1990s.

8. 6 Not-So-Obvious Roles Docs Play You may be thinking, “I already know what I do - I’m a doctor, and I treat and care for people on a daily basis.” Well, yes. But you’re so much more. Being a doctor affords you the opportunity to make a difference in a number of other ways, too, leveraging your knowledge, skills, and compassion to help folks in big ways and small. You’re not just a doctor.

7. Credibility Crisis at the AMAWhen President Obama wanted to address American physicians directly during last year’s health reform debate, he pointed Air Force One toward Chicago and spoke at the AMA’s annual convention. Next time, he might do well to find another venue.

6. Rethinking RetirementYou thought your retirement was secure. Your portfolio was on track. You may have even retired already. Then Wall Street tanked. Now the good news: there are lots of options for working physicians. Here's your un-retirement primer.

5. Employment and Partnership Contract Negotiating 101 You did it. You landed your dream job. The offer is in hand. You've met the staff. And you can already picture your name displayed on the front office door. A little advice? Don't pop the champagne bottle just yet. There's still plenty of work to be done.

4. How Healthcare Will ChangeThe year that's almost over was a miserable one in many ways, but for better or worse it was also the most important year for American doctors since the passage of Medicare in 1965.

3. The Future of HealthcareInnovative thinkers in healthcare predict the future of care delivery

2. What I Didn't Learn in ResidencyPart of our Physician Writer Search, pediatrician Sandy L. Chung on getting schooled in the business of medicine during her first year of practice.

1. Is Board Certification Overrated?It's expensive, time-consuming, and practically a prerequisite for practicing medicine today. But does board certification make you a better physician? You might be surprised by the answer.