Applying for and being accepted to a residency after medical school is a complex, important decision. There are several factors to consider including the reputation of the place, the likelihood you will be accepted, the culture, whether it is a "good fit", your performance in medical school,where you went to medical school and undergrad, bias,whether you are applying as a couple, the local cost of living, and, the location and lifestyle amenities it offers and how much it pays.
The roots a physician creates during that time frame can extend decades. In fact, roughly half of residents who completed residency training from 2007–2016 are practicing in the state where they did their residency training, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The average debt of a graduating medical student is $190,000, so you will need to do the math, particularly in a city with unaffordable housing and otherwise high cost of living. Things get complicated in a hurry if you marry another doctor in debt. In some instances, your debt will greatly influence your decision. Even the 1% are getting squeezed.
The average yearly salary for a first-year medical resident is about $52,000 in the United States, according to the recruiting website Glassdoor. How far that number goes will depend on what sort of lifestyle a physician desires, their family obligations and where they plan to live. Consider consulting a cost-of-living calculator.
In addition, if you are interested in physician innovation and entrepreneurship, here are some questions to ask during your due diligence and interviews:
Since you might not match or, if for some reason, you find yourself in a city where you are unwilling or unable to practice medicine, you should ask yourself these questions early and often. In that case, here is how to find a job in your biocluster, or a non-clinical job.
While you need the answers to these questions, it is extremely unlikely that you will get them from the people interviewing you so you will need to go to third party sites and resources and talk to locals in the know. In addition, be careful what you ask for. Given the competitive nature of residency slots and how the game is played, the last thing program directors want to hear from you is that 1) you have no intention of practicing medicine more than 5 years, 2) you are interested in creating a digital health company instead of practicing medicine, and 3) they run the risk of having a "disruptive physician" in their midst for 3-5 years. Be a crypto-entrepreneur even if your Wharton undergrad, Stanford computer engineering grad school degree and McKenzie experience prior to applying to medical school is a dead giveaway.
Unless you are the best of the rest, all this might be moot and you will probably go to where you are accepted or create Plan B if you are not.
Good luck in your search. Winding your way through the GME match bottleneck can be hazardous not just to your career, but to your bank account as well. Until things substantially change, innovate your heart out. Just don't tell anyone you are doing it until the time is right.
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs.
Physicians are more active in acquiring knowledge so yes they could potentially become great entrepreneurs.
Doctors are adapting pretty well to the innovations in the healthcare industry.
Good article
Physicians are flexible in adopting new innovations but it has to streamline or blend into their daily workflows.
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is a professor emeritus of otolaryngology, dentistry, and engineering at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health and President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs at www.sopenet.org. He has created several medical device and digital health companies. His primary research centers around biomedical and health innovation and entrepreneurship and life science technology commercialization. He consults for and speaks to companies, governments, colleges and universities around the world who need his expertise and contacts in the areas of bio entrepreneurship, bioscience, healthcare, healthcare IT, medical tourism -- nationally and internationally, new product development, product design, and financing new ventures. He is a former Harvard-Macy fellow and In 2010, he completed a Fulbright at Kings Business, the commercialization office of technology transfer at Kings College in London. He recently published "Building the Case for Biotechnology." "Optical Detection of Cancer", and " The Life Science Innovation Roadmap". He is also an associate editor of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology and Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship and Editor-in-Chief of Medscape. In addition, He is a faculty member at the University of Colorado Denver Graduate School where he teaches Biomedical Entrepreneurship and is an iCorps participant, trainer and industry mentor. He is the Chief Medical Officer at www.bridgehealth.com and www.cliexa.com and Chairman of the Board at GlobalMindED at www.globalminded.org, a non-profit at risk student success network. He is honored to be named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives of 2011 and nominated in 2012 and Best Doctors 2013.
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