Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians

Detailed Syllabus

KEYNOTES

The Truth About Non - Clinical Career Transition for Physicians-Michael McLaughlin, MD

Dr. McLaughlin recounts his path from a practicing surgeon to a non-clinical executive, to becoming the owner of his own highly successful medical communications company. He will explain his successful methodology for career transition and offer frank comments about the process of transition, the time it takes, what sacrifices need to be made, and common issues physicians run into during transition. 

Available Jobs and Where to Find Them - James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq.

A review of the most popular financially and personally rewarding non-clinical fields available to physicians including: health insurance/IRO, physician advisor, Industry (pharma, device, and CRO), Administration, running your own business, consulting, communications/writing, disability insurance, life insurance, healthcare IT, and the Federal Government. Advice is provided on how to locate these jobs. Non traditional nonclinical jobs will also be emphasized.

The Path To Your Future: One Brick at a Time - Rebecca Moles, MD

Dr. Moles will provide practical and inspiring advice for how to successfully transition your career. She will teach you how to look forward, buy in to a career change (and get family buy in), and overcome your fear of change and the unknown. Dr. Moles will further provide insights on how to develop the tools needed for a successful transition. She will show you how to effectively prepare yourself for an exciting and somewhat unscripted future and overcome inertia to help you along your path. 

Getting Out of Our Own Way: Counter-Intuitive Strategies for Successful Career Transition - Ryan Bayley, MD

Many physicians seeking career change routinely overinvest in trivial aspects of the job hunt (ex: submitting resumes) while underestimating that which is truly important — networking and putting yourself in proximity of people doing the work. While an uncomfortable and nebulous idea for most of us, networking effectively is the single greatest predictor of career change success. Fortunately, technologies like LinkedIn and ChatGPT now make it easier than ever to take this vague yet essential concept and make it into a solvable problem. In this talk, Dr. Bayley will walk you through his step-wise approach for the “networking naive” and show you how to leverage technology to focus and systematize your networking to greatly increase your chance of career change success.

Change Your Story, Change Your Career: Your Mindset Matters - Carrie Holland, MD

Dr. Holland will provide insights on how to defeat the #1 enemy of a successful career transition - inertia. She will explain what you can do to defeat inertia and get your transition moving forward.

NON-CLINICAL CAREER OPTIONS

Opportunities for Physicians in Utilization Mangement - Rebecca Moles, MD

Dr. Moles will describe the intellectually stimulating opportunities available for physicians as medical directors tasked with utilization reviews and other duties. She will explain the types of utilization reviews that may be needed and what medical directors may do on a day-to-day basis. Dr. Moles will answer common questions about utilization review and working for payors and will offer insights into hours, working conditions (including the growing number of work from home opportunities), compensation, and benefits. Dr. Moles will discuss who this work might be a good/poor fit for, and most importantly, how to break into and succeed in health insurance and utilization review.

Opportunities as a Physician Advisor - Lisa Varghese-Kroll, MD

Dr. Varchese-Kroll will discuss the interesting and rewarding opportunities available as a physician advisor. She will cover hours/working conditions and what physician advisors do including meetings with insurance medical directors, staff education, chart review, improving charting, challenging denials, preventing denials, contract analysis, literature searches, and appeals. Dr. Varchese-Kroll will provide practical tips as to how to best position yourself for a physician advisor role, find and land these positions, and succeed at them.

Opportunities for Physicians in Life Insurance Companies - Michael Wetzel, MD

Dr. Wetzel will describe the rewarding and intellectually stimulating opportunities for physicians with the numerous US Life Insurance Companies. He will explain the underwriting and other interesting work physicians typically do in a life insurance company, hours, work environment (work from home often available), the compensation range that can be expected for new hires, the typical corporate compensation and benefit structure, what the work consists of on a day-to-day basis, opportunity for advancement, certification in insurance medicine, and the specialties and clinical experience which are most appropriate for this industry. Dr. Wetzel will explain how and where to obtain the skills needed to succeed as a medical director at a life insurance company. He will provide practical tips for positioning yourself for such work and landing a first-time position in the life insurance industry.

Opportunities for Physicians in the Disability Insurance Field - David Berube, MD

Dr. Berube will share the full time, part time and contract opportunities available to physicians in the disability insurance field. He will describe what physicians do on a day-to-day basis including claim review, research, report writing, peer to peers, and interacting with claims professionals. Dr. Berube will explain why he loves his job and finds it intellectually stimulating and rewarding. He will also discuss hours, compensation, requirements for boards/license, specialties most in demand, work from home possibilities, working conditions and benefits. Dr. Berube will provide advice on how to break into the disability insurance industry. 

Opportunities for Physicians in Pharma - Nora Philbin, DO

Dr. Philbin will discuss the opportunities for physicians in the pharmaceutical industry including pharmacovigilance and risk management (drug safety), clinical development, and medical affairs. For each of these functional areas, she will provide an overview of the clinical credentials required as well as roles and responsibilities, including the day-to-day work, travel requirements, compensation ranges, and opportunities for growth. Dr. Philbin will also provide practical advice on the benefits and risks of transitioning from clinical medicine to industry, how to interpret job descriptions, and apply for positions.

Opportunities as a Medical Science Liaison - Nabham Islam, MD

A Medical Science Liaison (MSL) is one of the most popular and competitive avenues for physicians considering a non-clinical career. This field-based position blends scientific acumen, storytelling, and relationship-building with Key Opinion Leaders on behalf of the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and diagnostics industries. In this 45-minute presentation, Dr. Islam will provide an overview of the MSL role, including typical activities, daily routine, salary and benefits, and the pros & cons of this career path. Dr. Islam will also share best practices and tips from his years of experience in both startup and “big pharma” environments, with an emphasis on leveraging your skill set as a physician, networking effectively, and completing critical steps as you begin your job search.

Opportunities for Physicians in Medical Device Companies - Juan Daccach, MD

Dr. Daccach will provide insight into the numerous full-time and part-time/contract opportunities for physicians available in the medical device field. He will discuss what physicians may do on a day-to-day basis including product development, data interpretation, protocol design and review, risk management, regulatory, safety, education, and recalls. Dr. Daccach will discuss which specialties are typically the best fit for device companies, working conditions (including potential work from home), hours, travel, licensure/certification requirements, compensation, and opportunities for advancement. Most importantly, Dr. Daccach will provide advice for how to best position yourself and land your first job in the medical device industry and how to succeed in this environment.

Opportunities for Physicians in Medical Communications & Advertising - Dana Carpenter, MD

Dr. Carpenter will survey the vast landscape of medical communication and healthcare advertising and describe ways that physicians can apply their clinical expertise in this fast paced industry, e.g. craft scientific stories for healthcare providers delivered via innovative mediums, create patient-facing content distributed through novel channels, develop medical education programs, lead publication-planning, and more. She will discuss practical matters such as qualifications (Boards and License generally not required), agency locations, a “day-in-the-life”, remote work opportunities, typical client base, career advancement, travel and lifestyle expectations. Most importantly, Dr. Carpenter will describe attributes that medical communication and advertising agencies are seeking in physician employees and will provide practical advice to help attendees break into this dynamic field and achieve success.

Opportunities for Physicians in Medical Writing - Morgan Leafe, MD

Dr. Leafe will survey the opportunities available to physicians in the interesting and rewarding field of medical writing — a field where boards or even an active license are often not required. She will discuss opportunities as both an employed medical writer and a work from home freelancer. Dr. Leafe will explain the wide variety of projects medical writers may work on. She will also discuss compensation, work setting, available training, what employers and clients are looking for, and most importantly, how to best position yourself to break into this field and find your first position or assignment. 

Opportunities for Physicians in Medical Administration - Tom Whalen, MD

Dr. Whalen will discuss the numerous and varied non-clinical opportunities for physicians in medical administration. He will explain the diverse and exhilarating work both part time and full-time physician administrators may perform. Dr. Whalen will also discuss earning potential, lifestyle, benefits, opportunities for advancement, and how physician administrators can positively impact the lives of both patients and care givers. Most importantly, Dr. Whalen will provide advice for how to best position yourself for transitioning into medical administration.

Opportunities for Physicians in Healthcare IT and Medical Informatics - Jon Lovins, MD

Healthcare IT/Informatics is a dynamic area that offers numerous roles and opportunities for physicians. These positions could be with a health care organization, industry, academic medical center, or the government. Dr. Lovins will discuss what physicians involved in Healthcare IT do on a day-to-day basis including assisting with quality and safety, process improvement, data literacy, decision support, training, guidance, adoption, and data analytics. He will provide insights on qualifications required (you don’t have to be a computer geek or mathematician) and helpful specialized education options to get you up to speed. Dr. Lovins will discuss possible career paths, compensation, career arc, and most importantly, how to position yourself to break into this field and find and land your first position.

Opportunities for Physicians in Teaching and Education Administration - Tahlia Spector, MD

Dr. Spector will discuss the fulfilling and widely varied full time, part time, and contract teaching opportunities available to physicians. She will provide tips for how to find and land jobs, expected compensation ranges, time commitment, and typical duties. In addition, Dr. Spector will survey the interesting and diverse opportunities for physicians in educational administration, including time commitment, day to day activities, and compensation ranges. She will provide practical suggestions for how to locate and obtain these positions. 

Opportunities for Physicians with the Federal Government - JP Ahluwalia, MD

Dr. Ahluwalia will provide an overview of the diverse and interesting opportunities available to physicians with the federal government at agencies such as FDA, CDC, HHS, CMS, FAA, and the US Public Health Service. He will provide examples of some of the many roles that physicians may play at these agencies and discuss pay, qualifications, benefits, hours, working conditions (including remote work options), and opportunities for advancement and moving into private industry. Dr. Ahluwalia will offer practical suggestions for those considering employment with the federal government. 

Opportunities for Physicians with Startups - Mehul Mankad, MD

Dr. Mankad will explain the life cycle of a startup and the diverse tasks physicians assisting startups may perform on a day-to-day basis (including advising, regulatory work, training, research, pitching, investor relations, development, etc.). He will discuss how physicians working with startups may be compensated. He will also discuss working conditions, potential travel, and work from home availability. Most importantly, he will explain the associated benefits and risks of working for startups. Dr. Mankad will provide practical advice for how to locate and land full-time, part-time and consulting positions with startups, how to succeed in these roles, and how to position yourself to be attractive to startups. 

Opportunities for Physicians in Coaching - Stephanie Brown, MD

Dr. Brown will describe the financially, personally, and professionally rewarding opportunities for physicians available in the field of coaching. Coaching is a rapidly growing industry that does not require Boards, residency, or even a license. Dr. Brown will discuss breaking into this work including available coaching certifications, what coaches do on a daily basis, the diverse coaching needs of physicians and other professionals, how to get your first few clients, and how to build a busy practice. Dr. Brown will explain the many advantages of this work including being able to work from home, flexible hours, and the immense satisfaction of helping clients dramatically improve multiple dimensions of their lives. She will give advice on how to set and collect fees and how to successfully develop, grow, and sustain a coaching practice. 

Opportunities for Physicians in the Financial Services Industry - Robert Levin, MD

Dr. Levin will survey the significant opportunities for physicians which exist in the financial services industry as a wealth management advisor plus opportunities as a buy or sell side financial analyst in the healthcare sector. He will describe what physicians in these roles may do on a day-to-day basis. Dr. Levin will discuss earning potential, how to break into the industry, and how to succeed.

OPTIONS TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR CLINICAL INCOME

Expert Witnessing - James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq.

In this segment the attendees will be introduced by Jim to the opportunities available serving as an expert witness and/or independent medical examiner. Physicians who serve as expert witnesses typically bill themselves out at $500+ per hour. In this segment attendees will learn what expert witnesses and IME examiners do, what they don’t do (including the debunking of some common misconceptions about expert witnessing), which clinicians are best positioned to perform this work, the advantages and drawbacks associated with medical-legal work (it is definitely not for everyone), and what they would need to do to start serving as an expert witness.

File Review Consulting - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

Disability and file review consulting is a growing and lucrative field. In this segment Steve will explain what file reviewers do and the specific types of matters physicians will typically be called to work on (e.g. disability reviews, utilization reviews, pre-authorizations, chart reviews, peer reviews, and medical necessity reviews). Physicians will be introduced to the marketplace for file reviews including who typically hires physicians, how to obtain this work, how much it pays, and how to excel at this work such that they can obtain repeat business. 

Opportunities for Physicians in Knowledge Consulting - Robert Cooper, MD

Dr. Cooper will explain how to supplement your clinical income through consulting with knowledge companies. He will explain how this work can be quite lucrative (three to four figures per hour), can be done at a high volume, and how this work will often improve your clinical knowledge and skills. Dr. Cooper will describe the various forms of assignments that can be obtained including surveys, phone interviews and focus groups. He will discuss how to get the work, turnaround times, compliance issues and will provide practical tips to start, build, and run a lucrative knowledge consulting practice. Dr. Cooper will also provide a list of knowledge companies which utilize physicians.

Opportunities as a Medical Review Officer (MRO) - Kirk Roberts, MD

A Medical Review Officer (MRO) is a person who is a licensed physician and who is responsible for receiving and reviewing laboratory results generated by an employer’s drug testing program and evaluating medical explanations for certain drug test results. Dr. Roberts will discuss what MROs do day-to-day and will cover how to become trained as a medical review officer, the specialties that can serve in this role as well as education and licensing requirements. Dr. Roberts will discuss the full-time, part time, and contract opportunities for physicians as an MRO as well as adding MRO work to a clinical practice. He will cover earning potential, work from home availability, and most importantly, how to find and land opportunities in this field. 

Opportunities for Physicians in Real Estate - Vince Faridani, MD

Dr. Faridani will provide advice on how to earn money from real estate — work that can be done full time or part time and from anywhere in the country. He will cover buying property to rent out, investing in real estate syndications, and saving and making money by obtaining a real estate license. Dr Faridani will provide suggestions and insights in many areas of real estate including how to identify properties to buy, when to buy, how to find no drama tenants, how to identify syndicate investments, and how to manage property without it becoming a time suck or hassle. He will also provide insights on typical long-term and short-term payouts and cash flows from real estate investments as well as discussing the risks involved.

Opportunities as a Wellness, Nutrition and Exercise Coach - Carrie Holland, MD

Many physicians have a passion for wellness, but are unable to best serve their patients with wellness advice because of the way health care is currently structured and financed. Dr. Holland will provide practical advice for how to start, build and run a successful fee for service wellness coaching practice which can be used to supplement or eventually replace a physician’s clinical practice. Dr. Holland will discuss training, fee setting, business structure, choosing services/packages to offer, how to deliver a superior product and numerous techniques for how to land clients.

Opportunities for Physicians as an Aviation Medical Advisor - Bruce Robertson, MD

All commercial and non-commercial pilots in the United States must be medically certified and regularly recertify to maintain their licenses. Such certification must be provided by an FAA trained and certified Aviation Medical Examiner physician. Dr. Robertson will discuss the opportunities for physicians as an AME including certification by the FAA (the FAA provides this training for free), responsibilities, liability, fee setting and the potentially substantial income opportunities. He will provide practical advice on how to get started as an AME and succeed in this area. He will also discuss the additional opportunities that serving as an AME can create such as consulting for the FAA.

How to Start, Build, Run & Sell a MedSpa - Lisa Jenks, MD

Running a medical spa allows you to make more money, work less, have regular hours, and never, ever deal with health insurers again. Medical aesthetics is a rapidly growing field - it has been estimated that the number of medical aesthetic procedures will double by 2020. Dr. Jenks will discuss the many nuances to this field such as start up costs, financing, marketing, insurance, licensing, creating a favorable client experience and staffing. In addition, she will provide a frank assessment of the biggest advantages and disadvantage to running a medical spa and will provide suggestions for how to test the waters in this field by first serving as a contract/employed medical director.

Opportunities for Physicians Performing Veterans Examinations - Jillian McAdams, MD

Dr. McAdams will explain and describe the opportunities for physicians to perform Nexus and Disability examinations for veterans seeking benefits. She will discuss what the work involves, how to obtain the work, training, qualifications, insurance, logistics and pay.

Niche Consulting - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

A proven way to either supplement your income or transition out of a clinical career completely is to serve as a consultant. Consulting can be well-paying, most of the work can usually be done from a home office and overhead, and start-up costs and risks are typically small. Best of all, consulting can be used to test the waters and position yourself for a new career. In this segment, attendees will be given an overview of serving as a niche consultant. Topics addressed by Steve include identifying the best consulting niches, setting (and collecting) your fee, marketing, and pleasing the client. 

Writing/Teaching - James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq.

Writing and teaching can be personally, professionally, and financially rewarding. In this segment physicians will learn from Jim how to monetize their subject matter expertise and life experience through writing and teaching. Traditional publishing, self publishing, freelance writing and blog writing will all be discussed. Most importantly, physicians will learn why GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO PHYSICIANS WHO WRITE, i.e. how their writing can be used to land high-end consulting assignments, teaching gigs, and even full-time non-clinical jobs. Numerous case studies will be presented.

Opportunities for Physicians as a Professional Speaker - Paul Dechant, MD

Dr. DeChant will discuss professional speaking opportunities for physicians. He will cover where physician can find speaking engagements, how to deliver a powerful presentation, promoting yourself/how to obtain gigs, how to negotiate speaking fees, speakers’ bureaus and associations, and the importance of talking on a topic you are passionate about.

ALTERNATIVE PRACTICE OPTIONS

Opportunities in Locus Tenens - Karyn Tapley, MD

Temporary clinical assignments can be an excellent way to earn extra income, maintain clinical skills in semi-retirement or as part of a transition to a non-clinical career. Dr. Tapley will give a frank assessment of the opportunities and potential downsides of both long-term and short-term locums work including: finding assignments, negotiating the best deal possible, licensure, credentialing, housing expenses, contractor status, withholding, benefits, tax implications, travel expense, malpractice insurance, the venue/practice setting the assignments typically are in, onsite clinical resources, and agencies. Dr. Tapley will provide practical information to determine if locums tenens may be a good fit for you, and if so, how to make the most of these opportunities.

Opportunities for Physicians in Hospice - Richard Parker, MD

Dr. Parker will discuss the well-paying and rewarding opportunities for physicians with hospice medicine. On the clinical side, this could be a good fit for clinicians who still enjoy helping patients, but dislike fighting with insurance companies, excessive charting, and demanding call responsibility. He will discuss both inpatient and home visit hospice as well as full and part time work including what hospice clinicians do on a day-to-day basis and the team environment they enjoy. Dr. Parker will also discuss the non-clinical opportunities available as a full or part time Hospice Medical Director.

SKILLS TO FIND AND LAND NON-CLINICAL POSITIONS

How You Can Transition and How Others Have Transitioned - James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq.

You will learn the four step process for successful career transition. We also discuss flexibility from job descriptions, going back to school, building your resume, making yourself more attractive to employers, end running HR, demonstrating interest, mentoring, and how to identify potential employers.

Selling Yourself and Leveraging Your Medical Degree and Experience - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

You will learn specific techniques (with examples) on how to persuasively and confidently articulate how your skills, education, and experience as medical doctors should be characterized as talents that any employer would seek. Attendees are provided with an extensive set of “talking points” that they can use to help articulate their transferable skills and why an employer should hire them. Examples are provided.

How to Define Your Personal Brand and Express it on Your Resume - Mandy Armitage, MD

Dr. Armitage explains what a personal brand is and how a personal brand should be used to distinguish yourself from the competition. She presents a methodology for determining your personal brand and shows attendees how to best express that brand on your resume. Dr. Armitage will provide practical, proven suggestions for drafting a more attractive resume. Sample nonclinical physician resumes are provided.

Networking - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

Networking is the #1 most effective way for professionals to find and land jobs. The faculty discusses how to start networking, the process to utilize, getting people to talk to you and help you, the questions to ask during your contact, and the methods to use for follow-up. Most importantly, you will learn that networking should be fun, and that at its heart it is about helping people, not asking for help.

How Physicians Can Leverage LinkedIn and ChatGPT to Turbocharge Their Networking - Ryan Bayley, MD

Many physicians seeking career change routinely overinvest in trivial aspects of the job hunt (ex: submitting resumes) while underestimating that which is truly important — networking and putting yourself in proximity of people doing the work. While an uncomfortable and nebulous idea for most of us, networking effectively is the single greatest predictor of career change success. Fortunately, technologies like LinkedIn and ChatGPT now make it easier than ever to take this vague yet essential concept and make it into a solvable problem. In this talk, Dr. Bayley will walk you through his step-wise approach for the “networking naive” and show you how to leverage technology to focus and systematize your networking to greatly increase your chance of career change success.

Excelling at Your Job Interview - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

Practical advice on how to prepare for an nail your job interview for a non clinical position and make the prospective employer love you. Included is research, anticipation, Q statements, and learning how to answer difficult interview questions. Numerous examples are provided.

Your Action Plan to Land Your First Non-Clinical Job - Steven Babitsky, Esq.

An action plan is a one-page document detailing how you are going to find your new job. Numerous sample action plans will be reviewed. You will then be encouraged to draft and follow your own action plan to help defeat inertia and get your career transition moving.