Speaker: Having a system helps surgeons work effectively at all stages of their careers
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PHILADELPHIA — When orthopedic surgeons establish a system for workflow early on in their careers, the system can serve them for many years and help them practice and operate more effectively and efficiently, a presenter said.
“You will have time to operate the rest of your career if you create that system early, so you can tolerate the volume that comes in,” Neil P. Sheth, MD, FAAOS, said at Building a Successful Practice – Pennsylvania.
Among the goals of such a system is to build good habits early on, Sheth said in a presentation at the course, which was organized by the Foundation for Physician Advancement.
“This is advice I actually give all our residents and fellows, and this is irrespective of this being your first practice or your second practice or beyond,” he said. “Especially when you’re starting, you’re coming out of fellowship, your job in your first 2 years [is] to create good habits and break bad habits.”
A system of workflow to use in practice takes time to create. However, it is a worthwhile effort because, in the long run, using the system can help an orthopedic surgeon be more productive and promote better work-life balance, Sheth said.
He has observed some of his colleagues over the years who “never spent time early on creating a system where you’re not busy.” As a result, those colleagues were overburdened with dictations, being in the clinic until 8:30 p.m., working on weekends and struggling to spend more time with their families, he said.
“So, in your first 2 years, you go and you figure out the things that your system needs,” Sheth said.
Once that is determined and the work system is used regularly, early career orthopedic surgeons can usually handle everything well, finish each workday on time and focus on being with family “when the volume comes, and those patients come, and you’ve built your practice and referrals are knocking at your door,” he said.
Seeing is believing, according to Sheth. He said he invites residents and fellows to see his system in action during a Monday clinic during which sometimes up to 60 patients are seen and there is still sufficient time for the team to go to lunch together and for him to complete his notes within 45 minutes of seeing the last patient. “That’s not by chance. That’s by design. That’s a decade-plus of putting that work in to create that system.”
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Sheth NP. Building your practice: The three As. Presented at: Building a Successful Practice – Pennsylvania; Sept. 17, 2022; Philadelphia.
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