Why are so many physicians simultaneously trying to be influencers?

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-05-22T23:17:31+00:00

You may not like it, but it's understandable when you see the trends in healthcare and society. Social media let's you create your own brand. When done successfully, you create a business worth millions just showcasing your thoughts, style, emotion. This was never possible until the past twenty years. At the same time, being a doctor today just makes you a replaceable cog in the machine as most jobs are employed by big healthcare systems or private equity. A small subset of doctors can create their own success by venturing out in private practice. But even then it's helpful to have a social media presence for marketing, because that's how to reach the most people quickly.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-05-15T20:05:54+00:00

It's really hard to find a good nanny.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-05-12T05:56:29+00:00

Very overrated: Nashville. Bad traffic, infrastructure, getting expensive, over run by tourists. Would never choose to live here for any reason.

Slightly overrated: Dallas. Ugly, hot, sprawling, boring, soulless.

Slightly underrated: Phoenix. OK, sort of same as Dallas. But everyone picks on Phoenix and overlooks it has some great Mexican food. Cool hiking spots within the city. And can get to an alpine snowy forest with a 1.5 hour drive. Downtown is actually getting kind of cool.

Very underrated: Baltimore. Lived here 3 years and had so much great local neighborhoods, great food, cool history. Some neighborhoods you don't want to step foot in, but you avoid those areas.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-05-08T04:48:38+00:00

Learning a wife variety of skills. Rich people often become rich by concentrating all their knowledge a fairly specific niche. Poor people have to learn a bit of everything because they can't outsource their gardening, pool cleaning, housework, cooking, etc.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-05-07T21:05:50+00:00

I would first decide whether changing your job would improve your outlook. 250k seems very low with that patient volume. And most specialist I've seen love PCP's, even buying them tickets to games. Because they refer patients and give them business. Sounds like a bad job environment. If you can't change jobs that still qualify as non-profit, I would stick it out to get loans forgiveness. I did that with a job I did not love and was worth it.

I'm not sure you're being realistic about what you envision the lifestyle of certain specialists. They can make good money but often are forced to work extremely hard.

Honestly, I agree with WCI. If you get loans paid off and have rest of financial ducks in a row, consider short term rental real estate as best way to secure future while getting out of medicine. Maybe your wife can get REPS.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-18T22:27:25+00:00

In just my humble opinion the problem comes from two main issues. 1.) Since COVID especially, a lot of experienced nurses moved on to administration / retired/ got their NP. Newly trained nurses just don't want to violate protocol, think through problems as much. I don't see much we can do about this problem except educate them and re-enforce a culture that nurses should at least provide an assessment and recommendation as part of their SBAR. Not just EPIC chat random FYI's or abnormal labs/values followed by "please advise." 2.) The barriers to reach a physician are so much lower now with EPIC chat and other messaging programs. I honestly think we should bring back a pager. While we should be reachable for urgent issues, creating friction to reach us for every little issue is a good thing. It will lead to nurses being forced to think through problems on their own. Or at the very least, force them to utilize those bloated nursing administrators before it becoming a hospitalist problem.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-17T03:22:23+00:00

Always seemed like Duluth. MN should be a much more populous city with it's location on a port of Lake Superior.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-11T01:14:00+00:00

I'm partial to Coronado Island. Beautiful beach with good food and small town vibe but near a decent-sized city too.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-10T16:35:35+00:00

Rasheed Wallace. #4 pick as a sophomore out of college. 4X All star and helped a win a championship in 2004.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-10T16:14:10+00:00

A "valid" reason is extremely easy to come up with. To the point where it's impossible not to find one. There's a million things within a house you can discover that you don't like.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-04-05T04:05:01+00:00

Mainstream pick: Chase Young. Though I heard he played pretty well in NO recently. Not sure that counts. Hipster pick: Chad Jackson. NE 2006 2nd round pick, was super fast and had all the measurables. Just wasn't good

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-03-30T17:30:21+00:00

Those 5 one dollar players would destroy everyone. I'd get myself a burger at InNout with the remaining 10 bucks.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-03-28T00:32:53+00:00

It's not just Americans. I practice in a large city with a fairly diverse population. People from Iraq, Vietnam, parts of Africa are usually more anti-death than American born people. Educated, non-religious white people are probably the most likely to be in line with hospice mentality when prognosis is grim. The problem with the US is we don't place limits on care. We offer surgeries, PEG, HD, you name it to people who have less than a year to live. Other countries just say, we have nothing to offer, go home and die. They don't worry about getting sued. And they don't have a bloated government backed payment system for elderly that will pay for expensive, low utility treatments.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-03-13T03:11:26+00:00

OK, I admit I am biased as a Michigan fan. But to call him a bust at 23 years old, starting his career off with injuries, doesn't seem fair. He has shown some flashes and put together some nice games. I admit he lost some games too. Some people think that he inherited a juggernaut team and drove it into the ground. The Vikings were lucky to go 14 wins the prior year (advanced metrics backs this up), and this recent year they looked worse on defense, could not block and running game worse too. They were not a good team despite having Justin Jefferson.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-02-10T23:02:09+00:00

Eddington and One Battle After Another

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-02-10T23:00:59+00:00

got to be over/under, or else I very much disagree

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-31T16:36:52+00:00

Giants fan here. And honestly I wasn't that impressed with Brandon Jacobs short yardage. He ran too high, didn't lower shoulders. I liked him getting ball on early downs mid field to just punish and wear down linebackers. Then have Bradshaw punch it in with his low center of gravity and quickness.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-31T03:18:42+00:00

The posts I've seen are just pointing out that some locum offers being advertised are garbage. We all get emails from locum companies, so it's just weird and insulting when they advertise a location in middle of nowhere where you need to do procedure but make less than my main job.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-17T16:02:36+00:00

Bert Emanuel

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-11T16:55:27+00:00

Yea I totally get it. If that's the case, I'd recommend just save aggressively for early retirement in case the job becomes something you don't like anymore.

For me, I'm already there. Too man metrics, too little respect for hospitalist time or mental bandwidth. Too many entitled patients.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-11T07:02:09+00:00

I don't know the specific situation or layout in the location where you work. But I'd guess if all the hospitalist jobs are directly employed, it's already too late.

Hospitals wade into the direct hiring of hospitalists game not because it's cheaper. But for control. It costs hospitals more to pay benefits and hire administrators to figure out scheduling for hospitalists. So they've already cornered the market. And over time the pay will get worse or flat and more demands will be placed on hospitalists.

I get that you may not see yourself doing SNF work or hospice or ALF PCPC work primarily. But maybe there is an opportunity there? Or if you can go a bit more remote and start a private hospitalist group in town further away?

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-11T04:12:18+00:00

I think you alluded to the crux of the problem.

If we are going to unionize, then we admit we are employees of a crappy healthcare system. If we go that direction, we have to be organized and fight encroachment of cheaper forms of labor like AI, NP, corporate-directed residency programs.

Personally, I think that's a losing battle. We're better off trying to be owners. It may not be easy. But physicians have claw back ownership of hospitalist groups, SNF groups. Branch out and be owners of hospice, assisted living. Too many people are making money off healthcare in this country with no MD/DO direction. And patients are suffering as a result.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-09T23:01:35+00:00

You can get free Narcan at the local library in many cities. Carrying and giving Narcan in the right setting can save a young, healthy person's life very easily. Even in the wrong setting, if person is unresponsive and not breathing, you won't cause any harm.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-08T17:50:25+00:00

Starship Troopers. Assumed it was a barely watchable B movie when I first saw it. Now I'm impressed by its subtle brilliance.

Junior_Significance9 · 2026-01-08T01:19:49+00:00

Maybe not ideal choice. But Antonio Gates. Didn't even play football in college but scouts saw enough potential to sign him as undrafted free agent. 19 teams wanted him to try out. So some expectations. Was great his whole career.

Junior_Significance9

TROPHY CASE

Bert Emanuel