7 Post-residency Career Skills Every New Doctor Should Know to Succeed
Becoming a doctor is one of the most difficult and rewarding careers anyone can pursue. The medical field is always changing, which means an ability to adapt quickly. This blog post will discuss 7 things every new doctor needs to know to succeed and thrive as you enter your physician career.
Good Communication Skills
Effective communication skills are essential to a successful medical career to help build healthy, strong doctor-patient and doctor-team relationships. Patients always want to feel like they are being heard and understood, so engaging with them is essential. Good communication skills will also make your job easier by helping deliver complex information in simple ways that all staff members can understand.
Be a Team Player
The medical field is collaborative, so employing doctors must trust you and know that you can work well with the team. Being a team player means developing ideas and solutions to complex problems without talking down or disrespecting anyone. Doctors must maintain good working relationships with their team to provide the utmost care to patients and to ensure a happy workplace. Additionally, it’s important as a doctor to support your co-workers when they need help or assistance with anything work-related or personal that could affect how they perform in the field.
Be Open-Minded
The medical field is constantly evolving, so we must always stay open-minded and willing to change and adapt on the fly. As a doctor, you will encounter many different people and situations that present unique challenges, so it’s important to have an open mind when thinking about how best to address them.
Be Passionate About What You Do
As a doctor, your patients need to know that you care as much about their health as they do. They also likely want someone who takes the time to get to know them to feel more at ease. Being passionate is easier to do if you love what you do, because it will be clear that your patients are important and their health matters.
Be Flexible With Your Schedule
The medical profession typically involves very long hours, which means doctors must also have the ability to adjust their schedules accordingly. This might translate to taking on more work when necessary on certain days to have more flexibility when you need it. Flexibility gets tricky for physicians with young families or other commitments, but they can do it with good planning and a solid support system!
Employ Good Time Management Skills
Along the same lines as being flexible, time management is an essential skill for doctors as well. It’s important to thoughtfully prioritize what needs to be done so you can get the most production out of every day. Some physicians may choose patients by severity, while others might decide based on urgency. Patients will often require additional time outside of their scheduled appointments with questions that require a doctor’s attention. Either way, as long as you have a system that works for you, you will be able to meet your patients’ needs effectively.
Working Well Under Pressure
You never know what emergencies may arise in the medical field, which means doctors must always stay calm and collected no matter how chaotic a situation gets. Remaining calm under pressure is important for physicians to show strength under pressure for both the patient and to aid the rest of the supporting nurses and staff to remain calm and on track. Getting this right is the only way to get through emergencies and still do your job effectively.
The transition from residency into a new physician career is filled with uncertainty, and it’s often hard to know what skills are the most important for success in your new job–the 7 tips mentioned in this post will help you on your journey. If you want help preparing for this next phase of your professional life, contact us today about our current physician career opportunities in Los Angeles.