A webinar on physician suicide (scope of problem and evaluating data)

Too often, depressed physicians who struggle with employment or other problems end up committing suicide. We need to do a better job identifying these physicians and providing them with resources and help. Physicians who lose their ability to practice medicine (due to medical licensure revocation or other issues) can be very vulnerable to depression and suicidal ideation. Many are not even thinking about non-clinical career opportunities because they are not aware of the possibilities.

There is an upcoming webinar from the AMA focusing on the topic of Physician Suicide: What is the Scope of the Problem and What Does the Data Show?

This event will examine the following:

• What has the data shown as to the extent of the problem?
• Are suicides committed by physicians and physicians-in-training comparable to those in other professions?
• What are the current gaps in research on physician suicide?
• What are some best practices and model programs for suicide prevention that can be replicated by others?

Date: Wed, Sep 7, 2011
Time: 12:00 PM CDT
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Host(s): Sonja Boone MD

AMA names new executive vice president/CEO

The AMA today named James L. Madara, MD (left), as its new executive vice president and CEO. Dr. Madara will assume leadership of the nation’s oldest and largest physician group July 1.

Dr. Madara, 60, is an accomplished academic medical center physician, medical scientist and administrator who served as Timmie Professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine before assuming the Thompson Distinguished Service Professorship and deanship at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Madara was the longest-serving Pritzker dean in the last 35 years.

Physicians re-entering the work force

Physician re-entry is a hot topic that is gaining more momentum these days. There are several forces that are significantly impacting this re-entry phenomenon.  First, retired physicians need income because they've lost much of their savings and/or they under-estimated how long they would live and how much money they would need. Also, the national physician shortage is triggering more physicians to re-enter the workforce. We also have moms and others who temporary left the clinical scene to raise a family, and now they're re-entering the workforce. How are these physicians doing it?

The Dec. 15, 2010 AMA Wire has an article titled, "Re-entering the work force? Let the AMA help you navigate the challenges." You can read that article here.

The AMA has a web page focused on physician re-entry fact/resources/articles. You can view that here: http://www.ama-assn.org/go/reentry

Physician Reentry Regulations by State

Physician reentry into clinical practice can be defined as returning to professional activity/clinical practice for which one has been trained, certified or licensed after an extended period. This is an issue that cuts across genders and specialties. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that reentry into the workforce will affect women more often than men. Although there is paucity of data on this complex topic, many agree that it is an issue that is gaining prominence.

The American Medical Association Division of Graduate Medical Education has made available information on physician reentry including a table describing reentry regulations for each state from its publication, State Medical Licensure Requirements and Statistics, 2010.

Physician Health e-Letter

The Physician Health e-Letter is a new publication of the American Medical Association. Here's some information from the AMA:

Our goal for this monthly publication is to offer news, updates, and information related to physician health, including wellness, stress (caused by practice and personal concerns alike), burnout, addiction, depression, duty hours, impairment, and suicide.

To read the first issue (August 2010), click here (PDF).  Speaking about physician health, don't forget that there's a great resource out there called http://ephysicianhealth.com/

State Medical Licensure Requirements (for continuing medical education or CME)

The American Medical Association (AMA) has an annual document that outlines the CME requirements for each state. For 2010, you can see that there have not been any significant changes. Sixty-two boards require continuing medical education (CME) for license reregistration (Table 16). Some states also mandate CME content, such as HIV/AIDS, risk management, or end of life palliative care.

What are you doing to stay current on your CME requirements? Are you still paying for CME when so much free CME is readily available online?

To view the 2010 requirements on the AMA website, click here. 

AMA Manual of Style

If you're thinking about careers in the medical communications industry (either as a medical writer or medical director), make sure you're very familiar with the AMA Manual of Style. The American Medical Association (AMA) released its first editorial manual in 1962 for scientific journals. We're now up to the 10th edition. Here's a little snippet that describes some of the updates included in the 10th edition:

Throughout the book, there is an increased international scope and recognition of the changes in the scientific publishing field associated with advances in technology, the Internet, and the electronic evolution of writing, editing, and publishing.

AMA - National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration

I'll be in Baltimore later this week for the AMA - National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration annual conference. The 20th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, "Learning From the Past; Planning for the Future", will be held Oct. 14-16, 2009 in Baltimore.

In this rapidly evolving world of continuing medical education (CME), it's critical to stay current on all the discussions about certified medical education. I'll be quite busy during this meeting, but I hope to blog about some of my thoughts as I attend this year. Each year, the focus seems to shift to some "hot topics." In the past, those topics included things such as:

• resolving conflicts of interest within the medical education industry
  
• transparency
• multi-support models for commercial support
• collaboration instead of competition
  
• the importance of educational design when developing CME
  

This year, the focus is on the future of medical education. Physicians will always need CME, but

You can learn more about this event by reading the conference brochure found here.

I missed an interview opportunity with CNN

A producer from CNN sent me by e-mail yesterday. She was interested in interviewing me for an article regarding physicians who have pursued a second career outside of medicine. I had also spoken briefly with a different CNN/Money.com reporter several weeks ago on a related topic. I don't know if this is a continuation of a series or if this is something different. Unfortunately, I replied indicating that I was not available at the time due to other commitments. However, I wish the CNN team the best as they write about physicians and non-clinical careers.

Speaking of reporters and interviews, a few months ago I was interviewed by a reporter who writes for the American Medical News (published by the American Medical Association or AMA) and she graciously included a link to this website on her article titled, "Job-hunting in a recession: It may take some searching" (read the American Medical News story here). I wrote about that experience here: American Medical News mentions NonClinicalJobs.com

AMA - National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration

The CME (continuing medical education) industry has its own set of rules and regulations that are governed primarily by the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education). How well do you know those rules? To learn more about the CME industry, you can attend some national meetings. There are many different conferences regarding the CME industry, but I generally attend two of them (I like to limit my travel).

• The first one is the AMA - National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration. This meeting is in October and tends to stay in the Baltimore region.
  
• The second meeting is the Alliance for CME Annual Conference. This meeting is in January (this year, in New Orleans)
  

This year, AMA - National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration will be in Baltimore, so it's not that far for all those living in the northeast:

Mark your calendars to attend the 20th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, "Learning From the Past; Planning for the Future", to be held Oct. 14-16, 2009 in Baltimore! This conference will provide the opportunity to network and participate in dynamic sessions with leading industry experts.

For more information about AMA Task Force conference, read the program brochure.
I hope to see you in Baltimore next month.

American Medical News mentions NonClinicalJobs.com

I was recently interviewed for an article that's now up on the American Medical News (published by the American Medical Association or AMA). The article is titled, "Job-hunting in a recession: It may take some searching." The article highlights how the recession is taking a toll in the physician job hunting community. Towards the bottom of the article, you'll see a discussion about non-clinical job opportunities for physicians who wish to leave clinical practice.

Since launching this website (nonclinicaljobs.com), I've been approached by numerous medical students, residents, and attending physicians who are exploring various types of non-clinical opportunities. Some are looking for part-time supplemental income. Others are looking for a career switch. A few months ago when I wrote a post about non-clinical mentorship, I was flooded by e-mails from people who were eager to receive some assistance with a career transition into the non-clinical sector of healthcare. The social network "Non-Clinical Healthcare Professionals" continues to grow with new members every week. This tells me that there is a strong and growing interest among physicians to find some non-clinical jobs.

To read the American Medical News article, click here.

IMGs or FMGs and non-clinical careers

• IMG = international medical graduate
• FMG = foreign medical graduate

They mean the same thing, but you may be more accustomed to using one acronym vs. the other. Hence, let me use both in the title, but to be consistent with the AMA (American Medical Association), I will use the term IMG.

If you're an IMG and you're considering a non-clinical career, do you know where to begin? I've found that there are very few resources for those seeking non-clinical careers in medicine for U.S. grads, let alone for IMGs. I've written on this topic before, but I'd like to highlight a few points:

• If you're an IMG, it's critical that you have very strong language skills if you wish to excel in a non-clinical career in the U.S. I've met many IMGs who have medium U.S. language skills and that's going to make it very difficult for you to get into any position outside of clinical or basic science research.
  
• If you're an IMG, social networking is critical. You want to have many connections in the corporate world so that you can gain a "foot into the door." By expanding your social network, you may meet people who can help you gain entry into different companies.
  
• Visas - these can be a real obstacle in certain situations. You can't rely on a J-1 Student Visa anymore. Make sure to ask any potential employer about issues related to an H-1B Non-Immigrant Work Visa.

There are many IMGs who hold very high positions in different non-clinical industries ranging from pharma/biotech to medical communications. How did they get there? Some may have entered by working internationally and then transferring to the U.S. Others slowly worked the corporate ladder and "climbed" to success. If you feel lost, perhaps you'd like to start by Finding a Non-Clinical Mentor.

29th Annual Medical Communications Conference

The 29th Annual Medical Communications Conference is about to occur in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The conference is presented by the AMA and this year, the National Association of Medical Communicator (NAMC) members have voted and the board members moved to officially nominate Dr. Sanjay Gupta for the first annual Health Communications Achievement Award. I've never attended this conference that started back in 1980, but I hope to some day.