Wed. May 15th, 2024

Last week I presented a poll in multiple locations on social media asking doctors this question:

Physicians: would you work for 15-20% less if your environment was awesome (feel valued, great physician community, great staff, doctor’s lounge, a physician liaison, etc)?

I had 280 responses and 199 of them said……YES. That’s 71%. 

I took a lot of crap for asking this question. 

  • People were worried that administrators would use this against them. 
  • They felt hospitals should make the environment better anyway and not touch our pay.
  • This poll makes us look weak.
  • A better environment would make doctors produce more and get paid more. The poll makes no sense. 

I also heard from many who have taken pay cuts to work in places where the environment was incredible and they feel it was really worth it (ex. New Zealand).

We all look at things differently and you can see the results of this poll any way you want. Here is my take:

The physician work environment is SOOOO crucial that doctors would actually take less income to be in a happier place.

Do not get me wrong. This does not mean we should take a penny less!!! All it means is that poor working conditions are taking their toll on doctors and that hospitals and administrators MUST put a priority on fixing the physician work environment in order to stave off burnout and retain their doctors. 

OR

Go into DPC because this is why Direct Primary Care is so successful. You don’t have to worry about administrators making you happy . DPC doctors control their own environments and are extremely happy. 

What do you think?

154120cookie-checkPhysician Environment Poll Results: 71% Would Take a Pay Cut for a Better Place to Work
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By Douglas Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago MD is board certified in the specialty of Family Practice. He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Knee Saver and its knock-offs are worn by many major league baseball catchers. He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers. From 2001 – 2011, Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years. Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times. Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago has practiced family medicine for twenty-three years, first in Auburn, Maine and now in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months. Dr. Farrago still blogs every day on his website Authenticmedicine.com and lectures worldwide about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago’s has written three books on direct primary care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice. He retired from clinical medicine in October, 2020.

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