In 2020, the number of physicians in Brazil will surpass the mark of 500 thousand professionals. The number of medical schools will soon reach 400.
In a universe of fierce competition, where an enormous number of physicians graduate every year, how is it possible to differentiate oneself and survive an imminent transformation in this market?
Low-cost clinics such as Dr. Consulta, Cia. da Consulta, and Amparo have been gaining ground with near-immediate scheduling and low-cost diagnostic services.
In a survey conducted among a group of physicians, the main challenges listed are not necessarily directly related to the profession itself. The greatest pain points lie in Management, acquisition of new clients, and innovation.
Niall Dickson, President of the National Health Service in England, said: “you would have to be on another planet not to see that something is changing in the state of medicine“, referring to the new behavior of “consumers” (read: patients).
This shift is reflected in the way people search for new services today. According to IBGE, 140 million Brazilians are connected to the internet, with 130 million active on social media.
Of this vast population, 58 percent conduct online research before hiring services. And 45 percent begin the hiring process through digital channels.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Physician must recognize themselves as an Entrepreneur. Embracing this reality is the first step toward adopting different practices in managing careers, clinics, and private practices.
While some professionals struggle with increasingly empty schedules, many have distinguished themselves and maximized their financial results by using Content Marketing and Innovative Management techniques.
The successful Physician of the near future will not be the one who invests most heavily in technical skills by attending scientific conferences. It will be the one who specializes in Business.
For physicians who need time
On October 18th, Physician's Day was celebrated. But if you are a doctor working in healthcare, be honest: did you have time to celebrate, or did you spend the entire day working?
If you worked so much that you had no time to celebrate your own day, you are not alone — and you may need to take care of yourself a little more.
46 percent of physicians experienced burnout at some point in their careers due to stress, workplace pressure, and long working hours, according to the Medscape Physician Lifestyle survey.
Healthcare professionals are twice as likely to develop this syndrome compared to the world's general population.
This increases their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and even panic attacks.
All of this, combined with the hectic pace inside hospitals and clinics, can negatively impact a physician's work.
Endocrinologist Cintia Cercato, in a recent article for UOL (Physicians need health to better care for others), revealed that burnout can cause:
— dissatisfaction and loss of enthusiasm, reducing physician productivity; and even:
— an increase in the incidence of medical errors, directly compromising the quality of patient care.
Today, one third of physicians in Brazil suffer from burnout according to the Medscape survey, and 11 percent go on to develop depression.
If you are a physician, you know that you must continuously learn to manage your time and routine in order to take care of yourself, provide better care to each of your patients in clinics and hospitals; manage your time more effectively; and increase the number of appointments without sacrificing your time and quality of life.
There are already medical professionals using tools and methods to accomplish all of this, and they can teach you the same — after all, every physician is the manager of their own career.
Is the system working against physicians?
Physicians around the world are deeply frustrated with their profession — this is the verdict delivered by a survey conducted by McCann Health, named Health Network of the Year for the third time in 2019.
The survey was conducted with two thousand physicians from sixteen countries, including Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India, the Philippines, China, Japan, and South Korea.
The data shows that 82 percent of respondents believe the commercial system surrounding the profession is depriving them of medicine's core mission: the ability to care.
What exactly is this "commercial system"? It is when physicians are required to see an ever-growing number of patients, without concern for quality of care.
Meanwhile, in the private sector, health insurance companies freeze consultation fees, forcing physicians to see even more patients to secure their income — which, once again, impacts the quality of care and compels many physicians to give their patients less attention than they would like.
This pervasive sense of professional frustration ultimately takes a negative toll on these physicians' quality of life.
According to the McCann survey, 66 percent of respondents reported sleep problems. In Brazil alone, that figure rises to 72 percent.
Furthermore, the survey also indicates that 58 percent of them experience relationship problems.
From the very beginning of their training, physicians must contend not only with a system that works against them, but also with a range of problems triggered by that system, including anxiety, sleep deprivation, emotional imbalance, and even panic disorder.
According to Jecé Brandão, president of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), today's physicians are subject to the forces of the market.
For physicians exhausted by on-call shifts
There have never been so many human beings living on this planet.
Life expectancy has increased. Healthcare and medications have become accessible to millions of people… and the physician's daily reality seems to have become even harder.
As we live longer, we fall ill more often and require new types of care that were not necessary 100 years ago… and with all of this, the routines and responsibilities of physicians have grown increasingly overwhelming.
A publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association details a review of 54 international studies. Together, they compile data from 17,500 medical residents and reveal:
28.8 percent of physicians in training show signs of depression
When we look at already-graduated physicians, the numbers worsen… A survey by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) involving 7,700 physicians reveals that:
44 percent of them suffered from depression or anxiety. Another 57 percent showed signs of exhaustion and disengagement from their work
The research indicates that professional burnout, unsatisfactory compensation, pressure, and relentless on-call shifts are the primary causes of the challenges faced by the professionals who trade their own lives for ours.
But not all hope is lost…
Over the past 3 years, we have welcomed more than 6,000 physicians, business owners, and healthcare executives at our conferences
Many of them have overcome this stage of physical and mental exhaustion described in the research.
They became entrepreneurs of their own careers, achieving greater quality of life and delivering better care to their patients.
All of this without exhausting work routines or on-call shifts.
By learning the skills and disciplines essential to the daily life of a healthcare professional — which, in general, medical schools are not teaching.
Therefore, if you are a physician or healthcare professional experiencing the burden of the profession, feeling exhausted and pressed for time…
And you are always striving to become a better professional and find fulfillment in your career…
We would like to invite you to our training program Gestão Inovadora para Médicos, which currently has the last 15 spots available.
In 2 days, you will learn more about technologies you can apply in your practice, agile management, digital marketing, team and career management, new business models you can pursue… and much more.
Disciplines that medical schools probably never taught you, but that can help you reclaim your quality of life.
Source: Startse