Congratulations! You finished training and are starting your new job. It’s such an exciting time! By now you’ve met the partners and office managers and gotten to know your space. Here are four tips for how to best settle in and navigate your new practice.
1. Learn the previous system.
There's often a certain rhyme and reason to why things happened that way or in that order, even if it may not be the way you're used to. It's easier to see how things have been done before and try to edit rather than coming in guns blazing and forcing everyone to bend the knee to your regime. It can really cause a lot of tension and bring on growing pains if you try to immediately overhaul and match the way you learned things without understanding the underlying manner in which the practice already runs.
There's probably a reason for the system they use, and understanding that first can show you where you can edit and update to fit your style later. This not only goes for clinic flow, but personnel as well. For example, you may be used to a certain number of technicians or photographers coming from your academic training. This may not be available to you in private practice. Instead of having a fit, observe for a while first, and try out the way it is.
2. Endear yourself to staff.
We need our staff for our practices to run efficiently and effectively. Our front desk staff are often the first and last interactions patients have with your office. It is worth your time and energy to get to know your staff — learn their names, where they’re from, what they like to do.
When you come to the office in the morning, take the moment to say hello to the front desk staff by name. They will notice and pass on the good vibes to your patients. Your technicians are there to help! Talk to them with dignity and respect and ask them for their input as well. Then, when you really do need something, you have a team that is on your side.
As they say, you catch more flies with honey. If you come in guns blazing, you can make enemies with the staff, which can make your life very difficult. Once you get to know your team better (and let them get to know you), you’ll be able to function better as a leader and truly work together.
3. Meet your community.
Building a practice takes time; but you can accelerate the timeline by meeting your community. Based on your type of practice, who would be your most common referral source? For pediatric ophthalmologists — pediatricians. For general ophthalmologists — optometrists. For subspecialists — other ophthalmologists.
When you just start, you will likely not have full days of clinic already booked; so take a half-day a week or a day a month to visit your referring doctor’s offices. Shake hands, bring leave-behinds, tell them what makes you special, think about giving them your cell-phone number. You want these referring doctors to think of YOU when they are referring a patient.
4. Get to know your partners.
Put the effort in to get to know your fellow doctors. If you are not in solo-practice, you’ll have other doctors in your practice. Get to know them well — they are essential for your well-being — both mental and financial. Have them over to your house. Get to know what kind of doctor they are. Can they mentor you in your practice? What can you learn from them? What can you teach them? Develop this professional relationship. When you’re first starting out, it is wonderful to have both clinical and surgical mentors to call on for help.
Starting in your first job after training can be a stressful time as you navigate all sorts of new scenarios, not to mention taking care of patients completely solo on top of it all. Keeping in mind these tips can help make your daily life a little easier during the transition.
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About the author: Jessica Randolph, MD, is a vitreoretinal surgeon, assistant professor of ophthalmology and medical student educator at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. She joined the YO Info editorial board in 2021. |