Starting Own Family Practice Office

[hp18]

Is it a good idea to take some education parallel to residency so that I can start my own office immediately after residency? Are there consultants available to provide good advise on the process?

[estairella]

Don't know where you want to practice, but the trend seems to be shared workspaces so it won't be much of an issue.

 

The lone ranger family doc is a fairly outdated model these days -> a front desk staff + a nurse + EMR system all to yourself in addition to office/supplies cost, you're going to find yourself at 40-50% in overhead costs.

 

In fact, I know a bunch of family docs who really want to retire, have the office/staff/patients all set up and ready to go, but no one wants to take them on.

 

/This is all city-stuff though, I'm sure it's different the more rural you get

[Darla]

Similar scenarios in the rural practices.

 

That said though, it's not a bad idea as a FD to have an idea of how to run your business. I know that MD Financial has some resources and may be able to point you in the right direction.

 

The residency programs I've been looking at have a component of business management as part of their lecture series. Not sure it would be sufficient to run the entire show, but certainly can be helpful for the newb trying to figure out what $ means.

[moo]

I think very few grads are able to immediately set up their own clinics. Reason is cost. If you think about it, you have to find a place (probably lease a place as you wont have enough capital unless you can secure a loan from a bank or have rich parents, that plus you have to pay student loans, probably want to save up for a downpayment for a house, etc.). Then hire staff. Then buy equipment. Then there's the headache of advertising your brand new clinic because if you don't, you will have no patients, i.e., be prepared to take a huge hit in the first year of practice. You can certainly take over a practice (solo) but very few people are equipped with the skills to run a practice. The thing people do most is locum, or join a group. Work for a few years, save up money, then go into business with some other docs by the time you're more settled financially (after about 10 years of work). I don't think it's even the lack of business skills that scare people off... it's more the headache of having to recruit new patients to the clinic and having to take a huge loss at the beginning, especially in big centers.