Advice for New Doctors in a Medical Practice

New doctors bring tremendous energy into their roles within a medical practice. In this post, I share the behaviors which will help you maximize your success with the people on the team.

Understand the Jobs of the Medical Assistants

Your work will depend on the medical assistants day in and day out. Knowing what they do and what they struggle with will be instrumental in diagnosing your clinics and optimizing your flow.

Here are some tips

• Take some time to observe them at work
• Ask them why they do certain things
• Ask them for their ideas on how to improve flow
• Ask them what obstacles exist to optimal performance

Huddle with Your Team Daily 

A daily huddle gives you a chance to accomplish all of the tips in this article. It's your time to check in, share knowledge, get feedback, ask for help or set the daily priority.

You can use the huddle to help build team camaraderie, as well. Ask them to share fun facts about themselves so they can get to know each other. Some ideas:

• "What's your favorite coffee order?"
• "What TV show or movie recommendations do you have?"
• "What is a compliment you can give to the person to your left?"
• "Share your favorite toy as a child."
• "Share your ideal vacation destination."

Huddles are a powerful way to create connection and establish communication. Don't pass up this opportunity. In most cases, this behavior alone will help you stand out as unique compared to your peers as a physician.

Show Appreciation Constantly

This tip can be classified under "things you can do to ensure the best medical assistants want to work with you."

Appreciating others is something you can do to make the work culture on your team amazing. This will have lots of beneficial outcomes for you.

Tell your team members what they did right, what you appreciate, and how important they are to your team. You literally cannot do this enough. You can 10x your appreciation before you reach diminishing returns, I promise you.

Some of the benefits of appreciation:

• More people will want to work with you
• They will work harder for you
• You'll get their ideas and discretionary effort
• The staff will tell patients how amazing you are
• The administrative leaders will appreciate that you help minimize conflict and keep the morale high
• Because you TELL them what you appreciate, they will know exactly what to do and how you like it done -- and they'll WANT to keep doing it that way

Give the WHY When You Make a Request

In a classic research study, people who gave a reason when asking to cut to the front of a long line were WAY more likely get permission to cut in than those who gave no reason at all. Giving a reason gets results.

This makes total sense -- human beings want to know why they're being asked to do something. They love information and they hate just being given an order with no context.

Bottom line - Give the "why" when you make a request.

Share Your Knowledge

Medical technicians/assistants want to have insight into your diagnosis and treatment choices. Or, the best ones do, anyway. And you want the best staff on your team, right?

The employees who are most effective will be curious to know why you selected certain diagnoses or treatments. They will be interested to hear about the interesting cases you've dealt with and how you handled them. This will help them grow and it will motivate them to want to work with you more and more.

Everyone wants to learn and grow. In fact, Clint Pulver, the so-called "undercover millennial," says that what young team members want the most is to have a mentor who'll help them grow in their careers. You can be that person because believe me, there is an extreme shortage of mentors in the working world today.

Make Friends with the Practice Administrator

Find the practice admin for your group and get to know them. Ask how you can help. Ask what challenges they're having. Ask for their feedback. Keep the communication lines open or else you're likely to find out, months later, that you are their so-called "problem child."

It makes sense to ask for their support and give your support back. Being a new physician in a practice is a major change for you -- but also for the group you've joined. This is a major disruption -- even if you are amazing (which, of course, you are). Respect the change that's been created and create communication channels and touch points with the leaders in your team.

Conclusion

Congratulations on being a new physician in a medical group, hospital, or practice. If you follow these tips, you can build the support you'll need to stand out compared to your peers and achieve optimal patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Want my top leadership tips for healthcare leaders? Click here to get my 8 page pdf.

Mike Lyons is an HR professional and consultant in the Austin, TX area. He can be found at TXHRGuy.com and on LinkedIn. 

The views expressed in this post and blog are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer.