Astute Physician

For a long time the Bank of America Doctor Loan was the best and, in some cases, the only option available as financing for doctors and medical residents who wanted to buy a home. On April 1, 2009, Bank of America indefinitely suspended their Doctor Loan Program due to the economy and the impending restrictions on risky lending practices. This has made finding financing for the purchase of a new home very difficult for young physicians, especially those still in residency. There are other programs available, but they are often hard to find and nearly always limited to specific geographical areas. If you can find a lender who offers Doctor Loans in your area, then it is worth checking out because the advantages of owning your own home can often make it more affordable than you think.

by Relief Jones, III, M.D.
Founder & CEO, Astute Physician

(Astute Physician) — I am always surprised to hear of physicians who are willing to work for a fraction of what they should be earning. This is probably a more common occurrence in larger, more competitive cities like New York or San Francisco. But recently, I’ve started hearing of physicians being severely underpaid in somewhat smaller cities and rural regions of the country. I recall a conversation with my healthcare attorney not long ago. She said that she had seen physicians accept employment contracts offering them less than some nurses and physician’s assistants had been offered. This really got my mind going, and I started to wonder why physicians were so apt to severely undervalue themselves in the healthcare marketplace?

Healthcare was previously viewed as a recession-proof industry. Physicians believed that illness would continue to present despite the economic woes of the country. A recent BusinessWeek article echoed these thoughts by stating that “folks could opt for mortgage payments over health insurance.” It seems that as money grows short in the home, people tend to delay preventive healthcare and fail to pay for care already received. With the population becoming older and obesity becoming rampant, this combination could spell disaster for healthcare professionals.

Astute Physician is interested in helping ALL physicians obtain success. This includes graduates of medical schools outside the United States. In this article, we ask the question, “How can a foreign medical graduate (FMG) increase their chance of obtaining a residency position in the United States?” To answer this question, we sought an accomplished FMG who successfully obtained a U.S. residency. In our search, we found Felipe Fernandez, M.D., a young physician from Medellin, Colombia. The following list includes Dr. Fernandez’s Top 10 Insights for Foreign Medical Graduates Trying to Obtaining a U.S. Residency:

Astute Physician is striving to become the #1 site online for physicians to find information pertaining to business and legal issues, lifestyle concerns, and all things that contribute to happiness and success in today’s practice environment.  Residency and fellowship training can be tough, but making the transition into the “real world” can be even tougher.  There aren’t many books and sources of information to turn to when facing these new challenges.  That is the sole reason Astute Physician was created.  We want to eliminate the unnecessary stress faced by physicians by helping them to get the information they need to solve the toughest problems.