Physician In Numbers – Page 61 – A female primary care physician opines on money, travel, fitness, and other topics to be determined

Fitness Log #23

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I was doing well enough that I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week; I totally backslid after a tough two weeks (bad weather, draining rotation in the hospital).

Wednesday Wool-gathering

I have some scattered thoughts, none really worthy of a full post.

Frugality Fails

This is a rewrite of a post I started a few months ago, in which I was going to detail all the cool tips and tricks my husband and I employed to reduce our spending when I took a pay cut. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as we had hoped.

Fitness Log #22

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I was doing well enough that I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week; I’m still working my way up to that part of the goal.

Anticipation

I’m going through a tough time now. I’m working long hours, and I can’t say I am loving winter. In fact, Spring is welcome to drop in, any time it feels ready.

Normally when I start feeling like this, I’d start daydreaming about my next trip. I would browse the internet to consider various destinations, maybe even finding a plane ticket, or looking at hotels to stay in.

Get Your FULL Salary

For the employed physician out there, your salary comes to you in forms other than your monthly paycheck. This post is a reminder not to give some of it away.

Fitness Log #21

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I was doing well enough that I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week; I’m still working my way up to that part of the goal.

Women in Medicine and Personal Finance

I recently found some papers related to my time with AMWA (the American Medical Women’s Association), and was reminded of an experience I had in medical school.

Both my undergraduate college and medical school were rather late to admit women. Women were still in the minority at both schools when I enrolled, which left me with an interest in Women in Medicine while a student.

I attended pretty much every meeting for female medical students while in school. In my senior year, I remember a comment an older (faculty) doctor made, something along the lines of “here you are again.” The implication (at least what I heard) was “it’s much better now, why do you keep coming to these talks?”

Retrospective Budgeting: the 10% Rule

One of my big financial regrets is not having had a good plan for my money when I started my first attending job. My salary increased by about 150%, and I wanted to be sure I made the most of it. Finding the right balance of saving and splurging (or taking care of things I had put off for years because of I couldn’t afford it), was pretty stressful for me.

At the time, personal finance blogs, let alone physician personal finance blogs, weren’t nearly as easy to find as they are now.

I thought it might be interesting to apply a few of the doctor blogger financial rules of thumb to my first attending year, and see how I did. Since I did not have as much student debt as seems to be typical these days, I also will see how these numbers might look for a PCP just starting out with 6-figure student debt.

Fitness Log #20

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I was doing well enough that I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week; I’m still working my way up to that part of the goal.