call to back them up, with a registered
covering physician as a last resort.
Kansas where he has solo-practiced
for 12 years. He was able to vacation
in his first year but found himself
fielding phone calls in airports.
informing them ahead of time and
he has developed a kind of "informal
cross-coverage" with the other GI
specialist in town. (He concedes that
this approach might not work as well
in a larger community, however.)
He also has a physician's assistant,
and the State of Kansas requires a
registered covering doctor to be on
record for his patients when he leaves.
three years out of school and into
his practice, and has only taken one
vacation during that time. He hopes
to hire a physician's assistant as his
practice grows, but in the meantime
has two full-time receptionists in
his office to field calls and schedule
appointments while he's away.
patients, and your personality.
with Patients
work to set boundaries with your
patients or end up never being able
to feel like you're fully away from
work. Implementing this rule will
vary, depending on what branch
of medicine you're in and on your
personality.
to her patients:
me; people have access to me. I never
really have a full vacation where I
can say, `I'm totally away from it all.'
Even when I was having my daughter,
people were calling me in labor. From
the time I became a dermatologist, I've
always had some interaction with my
office or my practice or my patients."
about his vacations, chooses vacations
that tend to render him unavailable
such as on cruise ships, which don't
get great wireless reception.
completely out of contact with the
world. So with medicine as your
calling you've got to decide: are you
willing to be unavailable for someone's
inevitable emergency?
Financial Impact
year: a 20-day trip to South America.
But it did sting a little. As he explains:
I found that not only did I lose 20 days
of potential earning income where I
literally made $0, but I found that it
was also slow one week before I left,
and when I came back things were
slow for about 5-10 days. So, really,
my income was essentially decreased
for about 30 days.
trip, the loss in income while you're
away, the cost of paying your staff
and ongoing practice expenses in your
absence, and the chance of things
being slow to pick up again once
you return.
trips: long weekends. He plans to "take
three days off, maybe add another two
days and go somewhere not too far,
versus taking 20 days off that was
really tough."
all and relax, you're going to have to
be at least partially disconnected from
technology when on vacation.
on the beach in Australia answering
his cell phone." With his physician
assistant and covering physician,
Dr Dierenfeldt feels more comfortable
leaving for vacation with the family
now than when he first started.
to let go. But for me, now that I've got a
little bit of a backup when I'm gone, it's
made it easier," Dr Dierenfeldt says.
you'll stay connected. For instance,
you might commit to checking email
and voicemail only in the mornings.
Tell your staff or patients to text you
only in the case of an emergency that
you'll be capable of addressing long-
distance. Then turn off your phone,
or leave it in the room.
Doctor
http://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/ for their practice.