MIT Sloan Executive Education: The power to turn crisis into opportunity

I'm a big fan of executive education. I'm a believer in lifelong education. I suppose every physician has to be, right? We're all called to continue our medical education through various certified CME (continuing medical education) courses.

Aside from medical education, what about executive education? MIT Sloan offers several executive education courses. If you're an MIT alumni, you can save 20% by using a special referral code. You can work your way to getting an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate if you complete enough courses. The areas of concentration include:

• Strategy and Innovation
• Technology, Operations, and Value Chain Management
• Management and Leadership

So, what are you waiting for? Did you know that MIT Sloan Executive Education also has a Twitter account? Follow @MITSloanExecEd and don't forget to follow me @DrJosephKim

Jobs during medical school

What types of jobs do medical students have? It's hard to believe that medical students actually time for a part-time, let alone a full-time job. However, I know several students who went through the first two years of medical school holding part-time jobs. I also know that some students have various types of Internet-based businesses. This can be anywhere from blogging to selling antiques on eBay. Remember, there are many non-traditional medical students who have extensive experience in law, business, consulting, and other industries. They may have some part-time non-clinical jobs that keep them busy on the side.

So, what happens when you ask medical students about their part-time jobs? Here's what you get:

• Working at a country/golf club on the weekends
  
• Tutoring (I have experience with this)
  
• Working in a restaurant
• Blogging or medical writing
  
• Donating to a sperm or egg bank
• Research (let me clarify - being a human research subject)
• Working in the school library
• Pizza delivery
• Online business
  
• Ice cream store (now that would be my first choice)
  
• And of course, working as an exotic dancer (wasn't that on a TV show? Yes, on Grey's Anatomy, but don't start getting any ideas.)

This list isn't meant to be exhaustive. Keep in mind that many students simply live off their school loans and they don't bother getting part-time jobs. Why has the time when you're trying to memorize all those body parts and drugs?

What's happening at Sermo and the AMA?

Curious about the recent war between Sermo and the AMA?

Then make sure you read: Things are getting ugly between Sermo and the AMA

You may also be interested in this: Sermo's founder Dr. Daniel Palestrant on video

Medical Informatics Training

If you're a physician, at what point do you need "formal training" in medical informatics if you wish to pursue a career in health IT?

It's hard to answer, because it largely depends on how motivated you are to self-learn. Have you been keeping up with all the recent changes in health IT? Are you familiar with health IT language? Are you a member of HIMSS? Are you tech-savvy? Have you been actively involved in your hospital's health IT committee? Do you hold any certifications in health IT?

You're probably not going to find a "crash course" on health IT that will teach you everything you need to know in a very short amount of time. However, if you're willing to invest some time and energy into formal education, then you may want to take a look at some programs that leverage distance-learning and online classrooms.

If you're interested in pursuing a Master of Science in Medical Informatics, then I would suggest the program at Northwestern University that is offered in partnership with the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Northwestern University's Master of Science in Medical Informatics program gives individuals with information technology backgrounds and clinically trained health professionals the knowledge and experience needed to apply their talents to careers in information services organizations within hospitals, health systems, academic environments, and the health systems and equipment industry. This interdisciplinary professional program aims to blend computing and clinical skills in the emerging field of medical informatics. The curriculum recognizes the complexities and academic demands of the field and emphasizes the specific technical requirements of the profession without training its students too narrowly. Graduates are able to understand and affect developments in the medical informatics field from a technical, theoretical, and managerial perspective.

The nice thing about distance learning is that you can take courses from anywhere. I almost went to Northwestern University for my undergrad. I ended up at MIT instead. However, I think I would have been very happy at Northwestern. Chicago is a great city.

Social Networking on BusinessWeek: Business Exchange

Did you know that BusinessWeek has its own social networking section? I'm not talking about the blogs or forums. There's another section called Business Exchange where you can share links to blogs, news articles, and other interesting content. It can also connect with Twitter and LinkedIn and it's another way that you can broadcast yourself on the Internet.

Right now, some of the most popular topics are:

• US Economy
• Twitter
• Business Planning
• Green Energy
• Social Networking
• Entrepreneurship
• Economies of American Cities
• Business Innovation

Of course, they also have health-related topics such as:

• Health Insurance Reform
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Managed Care
• Health Information Technology

You can view my profile on Business Exchange by going here. To access Business Exchange: http://bx.businessweek.com/

Aerospace Medical Association

Have you heard of the Aerospace Medical Association? It's not usually called the AMA, because that would cause some significant confusion. The website is AMSA.org

The Aerospace Medical Association is the largest, most-representative professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. It is an umbrella group providing a forum for many different disciplines to come together and share their expertise. The Association has provided its expertise to a multitude of Federal and international agencies on a broad range of issues including aviation and space medical standards, the aging pilot, and physiological stresses of flight. AsMA's membership includes aerospace medicine specialists, flight nurses, physiologists, psychologists, human factors specialists, and researchers in this field. Most are with industry, civil aviation regulatory agencies, departments of defense and military services, the airlines, space programs, and universities. Approximately 25% of the membership is international.

So, if you're looking for a career change and you wish to leave the world of clinical medicine, maybe you need to think outside the box for a minute. Would you have any interest in aerospace medicine? So what exactly is aerospace medicine?

Aerospace medicine concerns the determination and maintenance of the health, safety, and performance of persons involved in air and space travel. Aerospace Medicine, as a broad field of endeavor, offers dynamic challenges and opportunities for physicians, nurses, physiologists, bioenvironmental engineers, industrial hygienists, environmental health practitioners, human factors specialists, psychologists, and other professionals. Those in the field are dedicated to enhancing health, promoting safety , and improving performance of individuals who work or travel in unusual environments. The environments of space and aviation provide significant challenges, such as microgravity, radiation exposure, G-forces, emergency ejection injuries, and hypoxic conditions, for those embarking in their exploration. Areas of interest range from space and atmospheric flight to undersea activities, and the environments that are studied cover a wide spectrum, extending from the “microenvironments” of space or diving suits to those of “Spaceship Earth”

If you love sci-fi, then this may be the perfect career changing opportunity for you. I'm a huge fan of science fiction and I think it would be a ton of fun to be a space doc. I'll never compare with Beverly Crusher, but I may have better manners than Leonard McCoy.

Reconnecting on LinkedIn

I just found out that a college friend (MIT alumni) will be relocating to my neighborhood. I haven't seen him in over 10 years! How did I find out? Through LinkedIn. Isn't social networking amazing?

He's starting dental school this fall and I want to wish him the best. After over 10 years of consulting and marketing, he's now entering the clinical world of dentistry. It's understandable to see people shifting from the non-clinical side (i.e., corporate America) to the clinical side. Given today's economy, you could have an MBA from Wharton and still be unemployed if you over-qualify for some of the positions that are out there. Marketing budgets are shrinking and pharma companies and merging and restructuring. It's a scary world out there, but if you stay on the clinical side of healthcare, things appear to be more promising. Well, I just wanted to share another story about how social networking sites can help you get reconnected.

Non-Clinical Jobs: Top Posts for Last Week

Here are the most popular posts from last week on NonClinicalJobs.com:

1. Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians

2. The Best Non-Clinical Healthcare Jobs

3. 5 High Paying Medical Careers That Don't Require A 4+ Year Degree

4. 20 Highest Paying Jobs

5. Consulting for McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group

6. Freelance Medical Writing Jobs on Elance

7. 10 tips for physicians interested in a health IT career

8. Working in a start-up company

9. Transparency begins with salary info

10. Health IT Jobs for Physicians

How do you find non-clinical jobs?

How do you find a non-clinical job? Do you still look in the newspaper? Medical journals? I don't think you'll find many listed in JAMA or the New England Journal of Medicine. So what's the best method?

Well, perhaps you landed on this site because you were looking for a non-clinical job. Do you depend on job boards to find non-clinical opportunities? How about LinkedIn? Are you looking for part-time work or a full-time career?

In today's world of buzzing information technology and connectivity, the best way to find a job is through a combination of social networking, recruiters, online job boards, and diligence. Forget about the newspapers or printed journals. Leverage networking sites like LinkedIn and meet as many qualified and competent recruiters as you can. Stay active in online communities and you may just find a job that meets your personal and professional needs.

Search engine keywords for NonClinicalJobs.com

What do you think are the main keywords that lead people to this website? What are people typing into Google to get here? I don't think you be very surprised by this list of keywords:

• non clinical physician jobs
• non clinical jobs for physicians
• non clinical jobs
• medical writing jobs
• non clinical medical jobs
• non clinical careers for physicians
• non-clinical physician jobs
• non clinical jobs for doctors
• public health jobs california
• medical jobs
• non clinical physician careers
• non-clinical jobs for physicians
• leaving the bedside: the search for a non-clinical medical career
• nonclinical physician jobs
• physician salaries
• non clinical medical careers
• non-clinical medical careers
• non-clinical medical jobs
• clinical jobs
• freelance medical writer jobs
• freelance medical writing jobs

Over the last 30 days (month of June), search engine traffic represented roughly 30% of my site traffic. Before that (prior 30 days or the month of May), it represented 21%.

Independence Day

Today is July 4 and it marks Independence Day in the United States. Our country has changed dramatically since 9-11 and I think Independence Day has a revived meaning in this country. As we combat terrorism and fight for freedom, let us continue to pray for our soldiers and their families.

Why are doctors looking for non-clinical jobs?

Some doctors are looking for some non-clinical freelance work because they need supplemental income. Others are changing careers because they are burned out. Some are forced to find non-clinical work because of a variety of reasons. Others wish to explore the non-clinical arena to see what types of opportunities are available. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

What are your reasons for finding a non-clinical job? Are you looking for something part-time? A full-time career transition? Supplemental income? Moonlighting? A "backup plan" in case you end up hating clinical medicine?

These are interesting questions and over the next several months I'll be writing about various examples that outline why physicians and other healthcare professionals are looking for non-clinical jobs. I'm also still working on my new book and my goal is to get that out by the end of 2009. Let's see if that ends up happening.

Importance of alumni connections

What type of alumni connections do you have? Are you actively involved in your alumni association? I currently belong to 3 different alumni groups, and if I continue my education, then maybe I'll join a fourth someday. For now, I belong to these three groups:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine (UAMS)
  
• University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences (UMass)
  

It's been easy to get reconnected with old classmates through Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter. This goes to show that social networking sites really do work.

So why are alumni connections so important? Imagine that your former classmate is the hiring manager for a certain position that interests you. Instead of trying to reconnect before you submit your CV, wouldn't it be better if you had already maintained that connection? How would you even know if your former classmate is the president or CEO of a company? You'd be amazed at the types of connections you can find through your alumni network.

Does medical blogging pay?

How do bloggers make money? This is one of the most frequent questions I encounter since I'm a medical blogger. I actually spent a few years blogging for zero pay. It was a hobby and I did it in my spare time. However, several months ago I decided that I could leverage my blogs for some supplemental income. What's there to lose? So, I decided to venture into the world of blogging for an income and it's been a very interesting experience.

You may have heard that certain "pro bloggers" out there are making tens of thousands of dollars each month through their blogs. Is that real? (yes) How do they do it? The answer is simple: high traffic and ads.

If you have a website that draws millions of visitors each day, then you can make a tremendous amount of money simply by posting a few ads on your site. If you site isn't drawing many visitors, then you're probably going to be making a few pennies here and there. Advertising is a huge industry and many companies spend billions of dollars to market products and services.

In order to generate a significant income through your blogs, you need to generate a large volume of consistent traffic. That takes time (unless you're well-connected with people who can help you gain that traffic quickly).

So, does medical blogging pay? If you're getting a ton of traffic, then it can pay quite well. Otherwise, it pays slowly and you must work diligently to grow your site traffic. Follow my blog as I write about ways you can boost traffic to your site.

Transparency begins with salary info

You don't see this every day. Transparency at the White House begins with salary information. Today, the White House publicly disclosed its Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff. This information is now available on the White House blog:

• Lowest annual salaries listed are $36,0000 (Staff Assistants)
  
• Highest annual salaries listed is $192.934 (Director of Public Health Policy)
  

Now that's transparency! So if you're interested in pursuing a government career in public health policy, you can have a realistic idea of what type of salary you may make someday if you reach the director level. To get to the White House blog and to see the detailed salary listings, click here.