Tag: doximity

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The Doximity IPO: What To Do With A Small Windfall As A Radiology Resident?

windfall

Last week many residents throughout the country had the foresight and were lucky enough to get involved with the Doximity initial public offering for stock. It was a rarity because, unlike most IPOs, only doctors could get in on the initial public offering (IPO) action instead of the finance guys. Physicians were able to purchase up to 250 shares. In a few short hours, what was initially an investment of up to 26 dollars a share (6500 dollars), climbed to 55.98 dollars. On that one day alone, you could have made ((55.98-26)*250 or 7495 dollars. That would represent a 115% profit in one day. Not all bought the maximum number. Regardless, although not life-altering, for a resident, that means a significant sum of money compared to a typical resident salary. You could call it a sort of windfall.

Sure, there is lots of information out there about windfalls for physicians. Check out some of the articles on the white coat investor- My Experience With A Windfall. Or, you can read about What To Do With A Windfall.

But, most are not specific to your situation. Some may tell you might plunge that money back into the market. Others say take it and pay off your credit card debt. (Those folks should probably not have done the Doximity IPO in the first place!) And, others may decide to repay some more interest on your student loans. But what is the right place for you to plug that money in as a radiology resident? Are the considerations different for a radiology resident than other types of physicians?

Personal Finance Is Personal- What Is Right For You Might Not Be Right For Everyone (Except For Credit Card Debt!)

First of all, anyone with credit card debt should probably remove that debt immediately from your life. That is a no-brainer. Of course, that simple tenet is not just for the radiology resident. But, it is indeed a personal situation. Anyone paying interest over 10-15 percent is slowly getting their financial life sucked away like a Hoover.

But let’s assume that you are without credit card debt and have a decent amount of student loans. Currently, most of you have loans that are accruing very little interest because of the low-interest-rate environment and all the deferments from the pandemic. So, it is reasonable not to plug all the money back into the student loans. On the other hand, debt can be burdensome and a proverbial noose around the neck for others. What to do next depends on your tolerance for debt and your financial situation.

Where Should The Windfall Go If Not Student Loans (Think Roth!)

If some of the windfall is not going back into student loan debt, where should it go?. To answer this question, if you haven’t done so already, it is time to get a head-start on investing. You are already behind the eight-ball as a physician. So, filling a Roth IRA with an index fund would probably not be a bad start for most of you. One of the best financial decisions I made many years ago was to start a Roth IRA when I was in residency. A small amount has significantly increased in value over time. So, with this small windfall, consider taking some of the money and adding it to a Roth IRA.

Reasons For Radiology Residents In Particular To Choose The Roth IRA

How does being a radiology resident change the equation about where to put the money? Well, because you are more likely to make a higher salary than your pediatrician and internal medicine colleagues, you may want to consider putting more into investments than loans.

In particular, for two reasons, the Roth IRA even makes more sense for the radiology resident. First of all, your salary will be higher as a radiologist, so you will have to pay more taxes on the amount of post-tax money you put in than your lower-salaried colleagues. So, now is even a better time to take advantage of your low tax situation.

Second, you can afford to be a little bit more aggressive than other specialties. More future dollars allow you to put more into stocks because you can afford more risk. So, putting more away into investments can make more sense.

A Small Windfall And Investing For The Radiology Resident

Opportunities arise from time to time, and you may find new money, such as the Doximity IPO. As a radiology resident, your situation may differ slightly from other physicians. So, based on your risk profile, consider taking a bit more of your windfall and investing in a Roth IRA. That’s what I would do if I had a few extra dollars and were still a radiology resident!

 

 

 

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The Gestalt Versus Segmental Approach For Radiology Residents (Doximity Article)

gestalt

Ever watched an expert radiologist read a CT scan or an MRI? They gaze at a scan, digest the information in one fell swoop, and spit out impressive findings and differentials with the single Gestalt.

If the world’s greatest radiologists can do it this way, why can’t you?

Well, what if I was to tell you to avoid this expert radiologist’s approach? You might think I was crazy, even though it may be hazardous to your career! But this “Gestalt approach” is most likely the wrong one for you.

But why? Why does this Gestalt approach to films, used by expert radiologists, not work well for the neophyte radiologist? To answer this question, we will define Gestalt and explain why this approach can be dangerous for early radiologists. Then, instead, we will tackle why and how radiology residents should read films using the “segmental approach.”

Defining Gestalt

Let’s start by defining the principles of Gestalt. According to Wikipedia, these are “the idea that natural systems and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts.”

Radiologists use the Gestalt approach when they sense the findings and diagnosis without processing the individual steps. I like to think of the Gestalt approach like The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan. He can naturally sense the overall picture of a dog that others cannot. With this sixth sense, he can train dogs to do whatever he wants while mere mortals struggle to figure out exactly how to do what he does.

Why Avoid the Gestalt Approach When Starting?

Since you have not been practicing radiology for long, you will miss half the findings in the film. You don’t know what you don’t know. And, if you don’t look for a finding, you won’t mention it or find it. So, if you read a chest film and don’t know to look at the pulmonary arteries, you won’t find that case of pulmonary hypertension. The Gestalt approach does not allow for evaluating each of the individual sectors of the film to ensure you have looked at it.

How long have you been practicing radiology? At most, for residents, three or four years. Rarely is that enough time to build a network in your brain allowing you to look at a film rapidly once and then create a framework for arriving at a final impression of the study. You have not trained your eyes to search everything in the image in a short period. And, therefore, you will not catch everything.

Take it from me; the Gestalt approach is a fast way for a resident to look like a fool. When you review a case with another clinician, they will catch things you missed. What could be more embarrassing?

What Approach Should You Use?

Instead of the Gestalt approach, the beginner radiologist should utilize a segmental approach. What do I mean by that? The segmental system divides the film into individual parts. You then review the entire image until you have completed your search pattern. In essence, it is a glorified checklist.

In addition, the segmental approach can vary for each reader based on personal preference. For some, you may divide the chest film into quadrants. For others, on the chest film, you may look at the technique, the heart, the soft tissues, the bones, and the lungs. Whatever the pattern, it usually doesn’t matter except that you cover all bases. As a beginning radiologist, this approach will prevent you from missing critical findings. And you will look much more intelligent than the new radiologist that uses a Gestalt approach.

The Bottom Line About the Gestalt Versus Segmental Approach

The Gestalt approach does not work well for beginning radiologists unless they have a tremendous gift. Most learners cannot look at the whole to identify the abnormalities in each part. Instead, the new learner is more adept at looking at all the pieces to determine what went wrong with the whole. Therefore, until you have the experience to identify abnormalities with a glance rapidly, the Gestalt approach is a recipe for disaster.

So, create a great, all-inclusive search pattern to avoid missing individual findings. Who knows? Maybe someday you will become that great radiologist who uses that Gestalt approach!

 

 

 

Want to see the original Doximity version? Click on the following link!

Link to the Doximity Website Version