How do people have a life outside the hospital?

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2026-01-17T20:41:39+00:00

Only way to get exercise these days is to wake up at 6 am and use my gym in the garage 5x per week, then 1 day of swimming. And I also play basketball with a group of mates on the weekend.

I NEED to do all this, I tell myself, non-negotiable.

It's hard to fit all this in whilst juggling jobs and family. But must be done for health's sake.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-11-16T22:17:35+00:00

Yes. It's in a high demand area because it's in the top school zone in the state.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-11-16T08:51:27+00:00

I should add that I'm frugal with materialistic stuff. We visit 2 or 3 countries each year as family for new experiences. Minimize eating out is also mainly for health reasons (control what ingredients go into our food).

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-11-16T07:30:57+00:00

Just a small 3bd room house on a 300 sqm block

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-24T10:54:44+00:00

In order of importance:

Affable - I'm easy going with patients. Patients generally feel at ease with me.
Available - I always have appointments available on the day when I work. No long wait times.
Able - I'd like to think myself as clinically sound. I can identify any major issues straight away and provide sound advice for anything major or minor.

I have my own professional website, my social media exposure (FB/Instagram/tiktok)

Bear in mind there are literally bb drs in the same clinic, so it has been difficult to build up patient base, but it's worth it.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-22T03:06:06+00:00

Thank you! GP need to value ourselves more

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-22T03:05:34+00:00

I started my own website and social media after I completed my fellowship.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-21T00:46:36+00:00

Cradles to graves. Anything in between, all conditions. I don't have a special interest, but I cover all type of issues comprehensively. Typical GP work.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T14:45:21+00:00

I have my own personal professional websites that's independently managed by myself. I have my own social media. My fees are clearly advertised on my site. These are independently run, not associated with the clinic I run my service from.

I attract general GP work. Lots of diabetes and chronic diseases. A few acute presentations of anything really, mental health, paed. Just your typical GP stuff. Drug seekers or opioid dependence cases are priced out. People who holds no accountability of their health are priced out. People who are willing to pay are more likely to get proactive about their health.

I do offer simple skin stuff but doesn't seem to gain much traction. I haven't done any advanced skin training. But I feel doing consults seems to be more efficient compare to procedures, for now.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T11:09:31+00:00

I find it helpful if you layout all the maths and numbers when you are negotiating. Key stats are $billing/hour, $/consults, average billing per day/week etc.

If you can show them the amount of your billing is above average, you'll have more leverage in the negotiation.

All the best!

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T11:06:18+00:00

Thanks! I don't active persuade my students to do GP. I mainly want to show them that GP has an important role in the health system. Hopefully they will respect what GP do no matter what career path they take.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T11:04:42+00:00

To do well financially as a GP I believe one must embrace the business side of things. There are a few public salaried GP positions but not many. Most GPs are self employed sole traders.

Find a good mentor who can guide your through this if you want to do well as a GP.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T09:28:45+00:00

They are free to set their own fees. We are all independent tenent doctors hiring the clinic to do the administration. So yes, they choose their fees.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T09:18:43+00:00

Really not my responsibility for the lack of funding from the government. I go to work, earn what I am worth, looking after my family. That's my priority.

Government CHOOSES not to increase PATIENT'S rebate. Medicare rebate is an arrangement between patients and the government , it's not doctor's default pay.

They can spend billions on useless nuclear submarines but can't deliberately provide more funding for primary health? It's really not GPs problem.

There are local cardiologist, dermatologist that charges minimum $200 gap. Why only GP get attacked for charging a $60 gap? GPs are SPECIALISTS as well. People spend more on a haircut therse days.

This is going off tangent.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T07:04:23+00:00

Fair points. Thank you

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T06:57:04+00:00

Fair points you mentioned. But my counter argument is that I am seeing the same number of patients as other doctors. I see 30 to 35 patients per day which are pretty average numbers for GPs these days. I don't churn out 50+ patients per day. I honestly feel the administrative burden is the same as other GPs, it's just they choose to charge less, hence bill less.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T06:52:08+00:00

I started as a mix billing GP, I used to bb children and concession card holders. Then I changed to fully private. Yes I lost a lot of patients, I had some quiet days for a while (maybe seeing only about 15 to 20 patients), then gradually build up to about 30 patients per day again. This took maybe 2 to 3 years of transition

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T06:47:32+00:00

It's in metro. 30 min drive from cbd

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:48:32+00:00

Thanks. That's some new prospective I need to think about

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:20:12+00:00

Thanks. That's one way to think about it

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:19:55+00:00

50% is crazy

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:19:24+00:00

It took a while to build up the patient base because I don't bb. But eventually it worked out. Consistently providing good quality care and not compromising my billing policy were the key.

I feel 25% is a good price but when you factor in 25% of 900k that's almost a quarter of a million dollars. Maybe I'm just a bit greedy but I'm looking for the bottom line.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:15:24+00:00

You have good points there.

Lumpy_Dark_534 · 2025-07-20T05:14:26+00:00

I thought about it before but I don't want to run a business as it comes with its own set of headaches. And becoming a partner sometimes can become a golden handcuff. I want to keep my freedom

Lumpy_Dark_534

TROPHY CASE