Whilst having fun was my number one priority, I couldn't help acknowledging the several business lessons I gained from my equestrian experience. And it was a very fun metaphor to work with!

The six horsey lessons I learned (along with their business translations for physician business owners) are:

• It’s all about balance
• It’s all in the hips
• It’s all about ease
• It’s all about knowing who’s Boss
• It’s all about communication
• It’s all about trust

Read the whole article here ... (and I'd love to hear your life lessons learned if you're a rider, in the Comment section!)

And yes, that is me in my cowgirl hat :-)

I have decided that I could easily become addicted to techie toys and tools. To play with, mind you, not to build or create!

This fun page from PC World suggests all kinds of useful apps for your smart phone, be it an Android phone, Blackberry or iPhone. The ones I have found most useful are:

• Evernote (my favorite app of all)
• Jott Assistant (probably my second favorite app)
• Dropbox for managing files and data across several computers, and now your phone as well
• Google Voice
• Mint for managing personal finance and budgets
• WeatherBug
• NPR News
• Hootsuite for all your social media updates
• Google Maps (mine becomes an amazingly accurate talking GPS in my Android phone)
• Pandora (keep my kid occupied and quiet in the car!)
• Shazam - what an ingenious idea!

Looking forward to playing with Bump and Doodle Jump!

Titled "Revive your Resume" (by Emily Hughey Quinn), it hints at the death of the traditional paper resume. In its place is the digital resume you create on sites such as LinkedIn and VisualCV.

Take special note - if you're a physician seeking a non-clinical non-academic career as a physician executive, a medical director or even in another field, your CV is history! Gone is the document laden with degrees, credentials, lengthy education sections and reams of publications and presentations. This stuff doesn't matter!

Back to the resume.

Advantages of the digital resume:

• consistent format -- the reader of your resume knows what to find where, and what to look for
• access to people on LinkedIn who may be great contacts, your next boss, or excellent networking resources
• built-in networking and job-searching opportunities within the same site
• multi-sensory appeal, if you're willing engage your creativity and add video, images and even audio (check out the Fortune 500-type guy and the Sassy Creative one -- both generate instant impressions)
• accompanying testimonials and recommendations, visible to all prospective hiring folks

One caveat: Maintain a highly professional public persona online. Clean up your act - check your Facebook privacy settings to ensure that your prospective employer can't see those drunken 40th birthday party pictures or shut down your Twitter account if there's anything you wouldn't the interviewing team across the table to be asking about.

And back to the moribund traditional resume.

The job of your cover letter is to get your resume read.

The job of your resume is to get you an interview.

The job of your interview(s) is to get you the job!

Your resume is all about your job-related achievements. What you did, and what results you (or the company/department) got.

This is very intimidating for many physicians who look blank when asked what they have accomplished. "All I ever did was practice medicine" they tell me. But that is another story ... for another day.

Traditional resume (and digital resume) tips:

• Drop the "Objective" starter paragraph. Replace it with a concise Summary of your strengths and experience related to the job you are interested in, or the direction you are pursuing
• Show how your experience and skills will address the future needs of the employing organization or business
  This takes research and imagination on your part - do this well and you are already ahead of 90% of the candidates!
• Keep "personal and hobbies" information brief and relevant to the position you are applying for. If  your hobbies highlight functional skills that could add value to the position, go for it. Otherwise, skip them
• Be truthful!!
• Reverse chronological ordering is best, with Company Name, Job Title, Dates of Employment, a sentence about the company and/or your role, and bulleted points highlighting your achievements and results
• Two pages is plenty, no more than the last 20 years (some say 10!). If you  have had a long career to date (>10 years), 3 pages is fine
• Picture the poor person who might be glancing over their 41st resume by the time they get to yours. Be that sigh of relief!

For years, I've been a lurker member and occasional contributor to a number of physician networking sites such as MomMD, The Heart of Medicine (formerly Finding Meaning in Medicine) and Sermo.

As I read the often painful and conflicted contributions, especially those of women physician members, it occurs to me we're confronting a tragic situation.

Not just the frustration and disillusionment of so many unhappy doctors. That I've been aware of for some time.

It occurs to me we're confronting an epidemic of WASTE.

Many female physicians, from medical school onwards, are having children. And a certain percentage of mommy docs are quitting medical practice in order to stay home and raise their kids. Some women physicians are forced to quit medical practice simply because they are confronting the challenge of caring for ill parents or family members. And some are burned out.

"Some" includes me. I'm a woman physician-turned-mommy doc who, once I gave birth, chose to transition to a new physician career by building a business that didn't require me to leave the house at 7 AM.

It's apparent from the discussion boards that these decisions don't come easily. They are fraught with guilt, concern over loss of identity, altered financial status (how do you repay a $200,00 medical school loan with no income?). Even boredom. I know that watching "Cinderella" for the 4th time or hanging out at the park with toddlers and their moms can be tedious at times.

I'm appalled to think of all that talent, education and experience "going to waste" simply because we haven't come up with the decent work-from-home or work-part-time options these intelligent, highly-schooled women deserve.

I don't know many professional women who are now stay-at-home moms who don't want anything to do with using their training and expertise, for the next 15 to 25 years.

To that end, I have started a new project at Women Leaving Medicine. Because I don't have all the answers and still don't have all the information, I am deliberately making this blog available to anyone who wants to add her story and/or her personal solutions. I want to explore this topic long before proposing solutions.

In time, I hope to have a strong dynamic community so that our voices can be heard by those who are interested in tapping into your physician skills and education for the betterment of society, while letting you get on with parenting, care-taking or home-making.

Will you help me?

Hop on over and check us out. Or let your female physician colleagues know about us. Thanks a lot!

Does this sound painfully familiar?

Maybe you are put off by the idea of having to sell vitamins or skin creams to make a few extra bucks. Perhaps you are having a hard time coming up with viable ideas for new sources of income for your medical practice that don't involve major configurations of the practice.

Kevin Ketels of KMED Research may just have the answer you've been seeking.

In this 22-minute podcast interview, Kevin shares his insights into starting a clinical research medical practice:

• what this is
• who this helps
• how this works
• what is needed to get started
• how your practice can get sponsors for the research
• what resources are available to explore and participate in this potentially useful and interesting medical practice opportunity.

The information Kevin shares is both surprising and useful, born as it is of his personal experience and acquisition of kowledge needed to set up his internist mother's successful clinical research medical practice.

When you have finished listening to the podcast, I invite you to add your thoughts or questions, and check Kevin's website out at KMED Research.

Now isn't that an entrepreneurial idea for a physician practice?

These clients have shared feelings of:

• shame
• despair
• depression
• loss of self-worth
• disillusionment
• confusion
• hurt
• defeat

Oddly enough, one of the least common feelings they're able to get in touch with is anger.

Maybe it's because my clients are self-selected, and many tend to be goal-oriented strivers with a perfectionistic streak. They were, as was I, accustomed to the elitism and derision from senior doctors that medical training often encourages. They've been brow-beaten into thinking of themselves as "failures" long before they're able to see how the System has failed them!

These are not belligerent ranters and ravers who throw scalpels across the room and sarcastic barbs at nurses.

Pop psychology aside, what can you do when you receive notice of an intended law suit, or an audit, or just a bile-filled nasty letter from a disgruntled patient?

• Pause a moment ... and take a deep breath.
  This act encourages you to become aware of your inner feelings and to begin self-managing your thoughts.
  
  
• Recognize that you are entering a difficult period.
  Most of your feelings will stem from grief and loss. Loss of the good feeling you had about your patient, or about practice, loss of self-esteem, grief about how hurt and betrayed you feel. And, as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross taught us, grief resolves slowly and in fairly predictable stages.
  
  Even the most difficult periods come to an end, but that offers no reassurance at the moment of impact! However, being able to tell yourself that this is likely to be a shitty time, but that you will eventually get through it, will provide you with a dose of reality.
  
  
• Know that your Gremlins are going to have a field day.
  "Gremlins" is a coaching term for the stern and judgmental Inner Critic that feeds on this kind of drama.
  Being a striver and somewhat perfectionistic goes hand in hand with self-criticism. And self-criticism is manna for the Inner Critic. There's little one can do to forcefully undo this habit. Instead, awareness of what is likely to happen will sharpen your ability to manage your thinking.
  
  
• Play the Reality Game.
  Byron Katie, of The Work offers a marvelous 4-step "simple yet powerful process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question the thoughts that cause all the suffering in the world. It’s a way to understand what’s hurting you, and to address the cause of your problems with clarity." (from her website).
  
  I encourage you to familiarize yourself with her techniques, for immediate relief of your suffering. The steps may sound woo-woo and easy to dismiss for many sceptical, hard-on-themselves physicians, but I promise you that with practice, you will discover how powerful this tool can be.
  
  
• Pay attention to Depression.
  Depressed or sad feelings are normal, in the face of a distressing situation. However, prolonged depression is NOT normal, and needs help.
  
  Check your feelings a little more deeply. Where is your anger? Who are you mad with?
  
  If you did something truly foolish, anger directed at yourself is appropriate unless it's excessive. Feeling stupid is normal too!
  
  Often, depression is anger that has been turned inward, in the face of feeling powerless or helpless. Finding an appropriate outlet for your anger seems impossible or dangerous.
  
  If this describes you, it is time to get professional help!
  
  
• Leak your anger constructively.
  Productive ways to release anger include hiring an attorney to go to bat for you, putting yourself through really tough workout, writing a letter expressing all your feelings ... and then burning it 24 hours later.
  
  Avoid rash responses, verbal attacks on the spouse or staff, and actions that you will later regret.
  
  
• Line up your support stars.
  As ashamed as you may be feeling, you need the folks who have got your back. This is no time to isolate yourself and hunker down. Pick that one person who will not judge you or make light of your feelings. Open up ... trust.
  
  Please don't tell yourself that no-one wants you to burden them with your hassles. True friends feel honored that you trust them enough to ask for support.
  
  
• Be kind to yourself AND your supporters.
  Neither of you is going to get this right, perfectly. You're going to let yourself down even if you are following all that I've suggested. And your supporters will offer too much advice, interfere to much, minimize what you are going through, and more. However, they will love you. And that is worth everything.

Being a physician is a demanding job. It's not for the faint of heart. And yes, you will get past this traumatic event. It will just take time.

I'd love to hear what's worked for you when the world has suddenly become a disappointing place.

Life getting you down from time to time?

Feeling the flicker of physician burnout?

Or perhaps you need validation for the passion and feelings that burn you up inside and make you feel so different from all the Eeyores around you.

Calling all unhappy physicians, surgeons, doctors...

Look no further than this collection of inspirational interview clips with Will Smith to brighten up your day and put some spine in your back. The video is just shy of a very worthy 10 minutes.

As I watched and listened, I was struck by three attributes he displays:

Passion

What are you passionate about? What would you be willing to die (or perhaps just take a strong stand) for)?

My response - I'm passionate about helping those around me (and myself) living one's boldest most regret-free life. That life may look quiet or ordinary to outsiders, but it is the one you have actively chosen and fully embraced as yours.

Conviction

What do you believe in?

I believe we are gifted with Choice. We can choose to change, we can choose to stay right where we are because it is working for us, we can choose our responses, our thoughts and our actions. And if we have gotten out of the habit of choosing, we can choose to relearn!

Belief in himself

What do you believe about yourself?

Self-confidence looks tricky. You can be opinionated, bombastic or self-centered and these traits can be confused with self-confidence. A big turn-off for most of us.

True self-confidence is much quieter.

Self-confidence can be calm or jovial. Outrageous or unspectacular. Gregarious or introverted.

This belief in self is rooted in self-awareness, being able to let go of the unproductive thinking that characterizes so much of our thinking, and an acceptance of both our magnificence and our limitations.

It's a special kind of knowingness. 

And I believe that if Will Smith can know this about himself, you can too.

Wake up, guys - What's your greatness all about? What are you ready to own and take charge of?

(Thanks @Mike Woo-Ming for making me aware of this video!)

Ryan Flesher, physician movie maker

In September 2007, I spoke to Ryan about the documentary film he had recently started making.

Four dedicated, slogging, persevering years after coming up with the concept, his film "The Vanishing Oath" is finally ready for its audience.

In the 22-minute interview with Dr Ryan Flesher, we hear what kept him going, what his challenges have been and will be in future, and how he pursued his creative entrepreneurial dream.

And for the record, here's a snippet from his bio:

Ryan S. Flesher, MD, is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine physician, screenwriter, director and producer who recently moved from Boston back to his birthplace in West Virginia. His most recent work, The Vanishing Oath, is a feature length documentary: a view of health care from the inside.

Listen to our conversation now and then watch brief clips from the movie below -- I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[remember to click the grey "Pod" button next to the title on The Entrepreneurial MD Podcast page to play the interview]

Physicians -- want your blood to boil? Just listen to a teeny piece of what patients think of us!!

Read what businessman and author, Tony Schwartz, has to offer as a solution to our endless time wasting and procrastination. It's an amazingly simple, non-tech solution that aligns beautifully with our body's innate physiology.

I've discovered that my brain's tolerance is about 80 minutes. If I exceed that limit, I catch myself jumping from website to website, abandoning half-written emails, rummaging in my nuts and dried fruit drawer, and squirming in my chair.

By using this one technique in the disciplined, "no excuses", focused way that professionals (versus amateurs!) overcome their Resistance and approach their work, you may just realize that you have unearthed an extra 3 or 4 hours a week.

Wouldn't that be something?

We celebrated with some of each at the Hollywood Bowl's Fireworks Spectacular, which was a splendid success. I had to refrain from marching in my seat.

I have a few miscellaneous tidbits and morsels of news for you today. These are mostly focused on ways to increase your productivity as an entrepreneurial physician or medical practice business owner.

Especially as we have now entered the second half of 2010 -- in case I had to remind you!

1. Top 25 Android apps for healthcare professionals.
   
   This may sound like sacrilege to all you iPhone users, but I love my Android phone and appreciated Kelly Davis of A Hearty Blog sending me this list recently.
   The categories are Medical Reference, Diagnosis, Medications and Patient Care, and the apps range from free to paid.
   
   
2. Physician Website Secrets
   
   This is my other blog, and last week, I created a 5-part series on how to increase your website's "stickiness". Here is Part 5 of "How to entice visitors to stay longer on your medical practice website", with links to the prior 4 posts included.
   
   
3. Top Medical apps for the iPhone
   Okay - I give in. The fairness gene in me is insisting I share this with you.
   
   
4. RescueTime time tracking and time management software
   How often do you catch yourself idling time away with your web-surfing habits? Are you interested in knowing just how much time you spend on various activities on your computer? And better still, how to manage that time productively?
   
   RescueTime is a very cool tool that works in the background of your PC or Macintosh, watching and noting what you are doing (it doesn't nag!). You do not have to enter any data.
   You are then able to run reports that show how much time you spent doing what kind of activity, and decide if this was the best use of your time.
   
   Sounds gimmicky until you try to answer the questions that I am so often asked. Such as "Is it worth my time blogging?" and "How much time should I spend on Facebook/Twitter/social media marketing?
   
   I can now accurately say how much time my key marketing activities, blogging, tweeting, adding Facebook and LinkedIn updates and comments, and writing my monthly newsletter, take.
   
   Here is a quick summary, via the RescueTime FAQ page..
   
   And it is still all very much worth my investment of time!