A female primary care physician opines on money, travel, fitness, and other topics to be determined
A few years ago, my extended household saw the purchase of two new cars. That’s right: two new cars. Shocking to those who read financial blogs!
The two purchases were very different in many ways, and I thought it might be worthwhile reviewing the experiences, with the hopes the comparison might be entertaining, and maybe educational.
Continue reading “A Tale of Two New Cars, Part One”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 will see for how long I am willing to document my progress Saturday to Friday.
This week I was back working in the hospital, with lots of responsibilities: sick patients to care for, medical students to teach, residents to supervise. Not to mention office patients to see.
Time is a little short these days, what with work and the holidays. I decided to list several posts that I found inspiring in that they actually made me do something.
This post by Angela at Tread Lightly, Retire Early about the male-centric culture of personal finance blogs, and the list of female bloggers, was one of the posts that inspired me to start this blog.
Several more posts inspired me to get a website and start Physician in Numbers in earnest: this Fincon wrap up from Miss Bonnie MD, and this post about imposter syndrome from Chief Mom Officer.
Chief Mom Officer also inspired me in a different way about one year ago: her post about making a photo book for her grandmother. I’ve given one to my father, who says he “isn’t in the accumulation stage anymore,” but who seems happy to have photos taken of and by family.
More inspiring in the mind-changing way was this post (nearly 3 years old!) by Maggie at Northern Expenditure. She wrote about the “fill-the-bucket list,” which I find a useful exercise in my own life. It helps foster gratitude rather than envy or regret.
In medicine, I love to sell my patients on the “two-fer,” those lovely medications that have more than one benefit: this medication will help your migraines and help with weight loss! This one will lower your sugar and help regulate your periods! This pill can protect you from a heart attack and lower your risk of colon cancer! I can’t always get them to take their meds, but this always feels like I am getting them a deal.
[As a reminder, please do not construe the above as medical advice. Medication choice is something you should discuss with your own physician, who knows you; not something you do based on what a stranger types on the Internet.]
In life, there are other two-fers.
Continue reading “In Search of the Two-Fer”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 will see for how long I am willing to document my progress Saturday to Friday.
This week I walked a lot on the weekend for holiday-related events, and even fit in some walks during the week.
Read moreAbout one month ago, I dropped down to 0.9 FTE (full-time equivalent). I thought it might be time to reflect on how it’s going so far.
Continue reading “One Month Later”Any resident who joins me in clinic will hear me talk about billing. It isn’t the most important thing I can teach them–seeing a variety of medical issues, learning nuances of outpatient medicine, practicing efficiency: these are what they want to learn, and what they should learn. However, I had little education on billing as a resident, which really came back to bite me in my first job, and I would like to help them avoid this in their own practice.
If you know how you get paid (which you should!), you need to make sure you get paid appropriately. I think it’s also important for employees to get credit if they are working hard. My first job became quite unpleasant after a few years, mostly due to my ignorance of proper medical billing practice.
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 will see for how long I am willing to document my progress Saturday to Friday.
This week involved a lot of driving, and coming back to a full week of work. And holiday stuff.
In the corner of my parents’ living room sits a large armchair, Louis XV style. It’s my father’s chair, generally speaking no one else sits in it, unless one of the cats sneaks in. It’s quite handsome, and guests frequently remark on it.
My mother tells the story of how they acquired the chair:
Continue reading “The YOLO Chair”Something that I see written about frequently–and will likely write more about myself–is saving your money. As attendings, we doctors are paid pretty darned well, and ought to be able to live within our means, while also saving for retirement. However, some of the numbers offered as reasonable physician income are far higher than what an average primary care physician or internist can reasonably be expected to earn.
While it is reasonable to find savings to put away by spending less, another strategy is to make more. Working hard at your job, or negotiating better terms on a contract, are important factors to earning more. What I’d like to write about today is knowing where your money is coming from. That can help you make smarter choices about where you want to put your effort, possibly helping you get paid for work you are already doing.
Continue reading “Know How You Get Paid”