The following post is part of a series on physician contracts
Non-competes are restrictive clauses that are found within many physician contracts. Unfortunately, they can drastically impact where a doctor is able to work and how they practice medicine. Before you sign any contract, look to see if it contains a non-compete clause and make sure you understand all the nuances around it.
What are non-compete clauses? Non competes are stipulations in contracts that prevent you from “competing” with your current employer by working for one of their competitors if you were to leave your job. They prevent you from working for a competing organization or health system within a certain radius for a particular time frame to prevent you from taking away any business form your current employer. For example, if you are a psychiatrist who decides to work for a large health system, the non-compete clause in your contract may state that if you leave your current job then you cannot practice psychiatry within a 20-mile radius of that employer for the first 2 years after you leave.
Why do they exist? Non-competes exist because employers have discovered that many patients like their doctors. In fact, patients tend to be more attached to their doctor than to the health center or clinic that they go to. Because of this, if patients find out that their doctor is leaving the current practice or hospital to work at another location nearby, the patient may follow the doctor to his or her new location. Health centers and hospitals don’t want to lose patients, so many of them put terms in place, like a non-compete clause, to prevent doctors from leaving the practice, taking patients with them, and becoming their direct competitors.
Why don’t doctors like them? It is rare for a doctor to work at one place for the entirety of their career. They may want to switch jobs for an increase in pay, more work/life balance, a change in family priorities, a job promotion, etc. Non-compete clauses restrict this. If a physician is already settled in a city that they love, non-competes clauses may require them to move to an entirely different location in order to continue to practice their specialty. If a non-compete states they can’t work within a certain radius for a certain length of a time, then a physician may not be able to take a better job in the same city and may be forced to move away or have a long work commute in order to avoid being sued for violating this clause. Many doctors feel as though non-compete clauses keep them stuck in jobs they may not like, getting paid less than they are worth.
What can doctors do to change it? Many doctors have encouraged others to refuse to sign contracts that contain non-compete clauses. They argue that no other profession tends to have this sort of restrictive language in its contracts and believe if physicians collectively refused to sign contracts with these clauses then the clauses would be removed entirely. Other doctors disagree. They feel as though trying to eliminate noncompete clauses altogether is a lost cause and instead encourage doctors to negotiate better terms. They suggest shortening the length of time in the non-competes, lessening the radius, or having the clause eliminated altogether for doctors who have not yet built up their patient practice or who have worked for their employer for a certain length of time.
My point? Be aware that non-competes clauses exist and try to eliminate them out of your future contract. If you cannot remove the non-compete clause, then be sure to negotiate more favorable terms.
6 Steps To Redesign Your Career
Many of us have goals and dreams. We may even know our purpose in life or have a side project or business idea that we are passionate about. Instead of letting this go by the wayside or telling yourself that now isn’t the time, find ways to bring these ideas to life. Be bold and use the combination of your skills, talents, passions, and values to redesign your career. Bestselling author and current talk show host Elaine Welteroth talks about this in her new masterclass. Several other young professionals have emphasized similar thoughts. Instead of going to work unfulfilled, use the steps below to redesign your career.
Step 1: Make note of your skills, passions, and talents. The first part of redesigning your career is to make note of things you are good at and pinpoint things that bring you joy. If you aren’t sure, ask your closest friends what they think your strengths are. Are there things that other people struggle with, but you do with ease? Is there something you are highly educated in or have tons of experience with that has made you an expert of sorts? Is there a certain topic that people often ask for your advice on? Maybe it’s politics or finance or being a mother or starting a non-traditional career or opening a business. Take some time to write down your skills, passions, and talents. You will use this information to redesign your career.
Step 2: Create a vision of what you’d like your career to look like. Once you have your list of skills, passions, and talents, use it to gather ideas and create a vision of what you’d like your career to be. Think of creative ways you could use your skills in your current job. Are there talents that you can monetize? Do you want to create a business centered around your passion? If you’re not sure, get some ideas from others. Find celebrities, entrepreneurs, politicians, or colleagues you want to model your career after. Pinpoint aspects of your job, or their job, that you find fascinating. Dream about what your ideal career would look like. What do you want to spend your time doing every day? Create a vision of what you want.
Step 3: Make time in your schedule to work on this vision. Once you have a list of the things you are good at and take the time to visualize what you want your career to look like, the next step is to start working on it. Begin by figuring out how to go from where you are now to where you’d like to be. Is there something else you need to learn about your craft that you don’t yet know? Read a book, listen to a podcast, or take an online course to increase your knowledge.
Perhaps you know a lot about the kind of career you want but you don’t know marketing? You can write the best book or develop the most amazing product in the world but if no one knows it exists then what good is that? Learn how to market yourself. Get better at social media. Write pitches to programs, jobs, and companies who can help you gain experience. Take an entry level job to learn the ropes. Shadow people to get more insight on the industry you want to enter. My point? Now is your time to grind it out. Invest time learning more about the things you don’t know.
Step 4: Incorporate these elements into your day job to gain experience. Once you have a vision for your career and have learned more about your craft and how to market yourself, find ways to use these skills to gain experience. Leverage your expertise at your current job (or get a new one) to get even better. I know you may want to branch out on your own. Perhaps you are tired of the bureaucracy at your current job or maybe you’re just bored? Resist the urge to move too quickly. This may be a prime opportunity for you to test out your ideas before you make the big plunge to start a business.
If you love photography, volunteer to take some company photos at the next outing. If you like website design, offer to upgrade the current website or assist your colleagues in getting websites of their own. If you like physical fitness, start a fitness challenge at your job or offer free workout courses. My point? Find a creative way to test out your ideas in the safe environment of an employed job. You may discover that you don’t know something as well as you thought. Perhaps you have a weakness you didn’t realize before. Now is the chance to hone crafts, further develop skills, and test out ideas. You get to make mistakes and learn what works or doesn’t work while still having a paycheck come in each month. Take advantage of this safety net.
Step 5: Discover ways to monetize your skills and passions. With the previous stage you basically started a hobby and found better, more efficient ways to carry out that hobby. Once you get good, gain the necessary experience, and figure out what ideas work and don’t work, your next step is to turn this hobby into a legitimate side hustle. How? By finding ways to monetize it. Once you’re good at something or gain invaluable experience others don’t have, you should figure out how to monetize it. Even the most altruistic person has to find a way to make a living.
If you feel bad about charging money for services, ask yourself if you’d rather spend 40+ hours per week at a job you find less than fulfilling or if you’d rather spend that time doing something you love. You have to make a living somehow. You might as well do something you love. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be an entrepreneur. Owning a business isn’t everyone’s dream and it’s perfectly fine if it isn’t yours. Either you will monetize your hobby yourself by turning it into a side hustle or you will work at a company who does that for you. My point? You need to make a living so it would be great if you found a way to make a living doing the thing you enjoy.
Step 6: Turn your side hustle into a business – and make it your career. This may seem like a no-brainer, but believe it or not, many people never make it to this step. It can be terrifying to leave the safety net of an employed job to venture out on your own. It can also be quite daunting to ask for a promotion at work or leave your current job for a better, more fulfilling job at a new company. Trust me, I get it. But there are certain times in life that we have to be brave and take a chance. Apply for your dream job. If you get it, great! If you don’t, ask for feedback to learn how you can be an even better candidate next time. Find ways to excel at your job and move up in the company until you are doing what you love.
If your goal is to own your business realize that going from side hustle to full-time entrepreneur will require a unique set of skills. Do you have the correct business structure? Do you keep good records? Do you need to hire help? Are you ready to manage others? Do you have the financial stability needed to stay in business as you are getting things off the ground? Discover what you need and work on those things. Make sure you have a financial cushion for unexpected costs and events. When you have your foundation in place, take the plunge. Redesigning your life is about having enough confidence in your ability to succeed and a large enough desire to pursue your passions that you overcome the doubt and fear that inevitably exists and decide to go for it. You can do it.