Sunlit Path - 2022

Grand Teton National Park, WY

 How to Make Solid Progress on Your Path

Your career transition is one of the most significant events of your lifetime that marks the beginning of the next phase of our life.

Most often, joy of anticipation is part of the experience but may be accompanied by some apprehension. Whether you are looking forward to it or not, the creation and execution of plans is essential to your success.

As you work to envision and create your new lifestyle, you’ll probably find that it’s well worth it.

Challenges and Opportunities

My personal experience, as well as consulting, has reaffirmed certain challenges that must be recognized and managed effectively through proactive, timely planning. This goes a long way to banish the stress of the unknown and help make the process a much more positive experience.

What are these challenges and related questions?

What Seem First Should Not Always Be

The first thing that most physicians naturally try to ...

The Teton Range - 2022

Grand Teton National Park

 When to Create Your Strategy and How to Execute the Tactics

Your future career transition is an event about which it’s natural to experience feelings of excitement as well as some concerns.

As the time nears, your concerns may become more prevalent. A major reason is the recognition that this is an unfamiliar process, yet you know it’s necessary to begin to plan.

But how do you know when is the right time to start planning, let alone what end date is possible? The reality is that it’s very difficult to determine when to begin to prepare when the necessary scope and duration of preparation is unknown.

In order to address that, it’s essential to consider significant personal, professional and practice matters. As you do so, it’s necessary to answer other preliminary questions to determine what it will take to prepare: 

• What is the nature of your career transition? 
• Are you planning a classic succession or outright sale? 
• Do you
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Proud Peony - 2020

Nevada

Honor Mom…from me to mine, from you to yours.

I am confident that each of us has reasons to be grateful. Beyond life itself, there’s our world of people that each of us can think of that warm our hearts and cause us to smile.

We have been graced by the benevolence of others. We recognize it and quietly think kindly of them. 

Sometimes, we want to thank them personally, in the manner that we were taught when we were growing up. To express our heartfelt gratitude. To do so brings joy to those who have given of themselves for our benefit, as well as satisfaction to ourselves.

I know that many of our blessings are divinely ordained. 

Another source is fellow human beings.  We know them as family, friends and acquaintances. Then there are those we do not know, but know who we are. They manifest their goodwill toward us even as we are unaware. 

Each has their unique version of love and goodwill that benefits each of us.

Grace and Goodwill

It’s rewarding to...

Freedom to Fly - 2012

Kenai Fjords National Park, AK

The Right Decisions Manifest Freedom

Your end of career is approaching. 

Your vision of this new phase of your life is becoming more clear. 

You’re growing more confident that the dreams born of your imagination will become a reality. 

Your smile reflects joy of anticipation. 

You take a deep, deep breath that parallels the satisfaction you feel for what you’ve accomplished in life.

You feel deeply the conviction that you have earned the life that your aspire to live…and it really feels awesome! 

Well earned, well deserved!

As I wrote these words, they seemed to flow easily. They describe my own life experience and that of others. 

A Time for You and New Feelings

This is your time for dreaming, planning, executing and experiencing the emerging reality of it all. Amidst the excitement, it’s also the time to apply the skills and wisdom you’ve developed over the course of your career to this very special time of your life.

Dahlia - 2020

Nevada

Choice vs. Necessity

You have been in solo practice for many years and the time is approaching when you will stop practicing. You remember, reflect and feel a sense of pride and achievement for what you have accomplished in the service of your patients. 

Those sentiments are probably accompanied by your awareness that you need to decide what to do about your practice. You wonder: Do I sell or close it? That core question is the basis for many others that you must address.

The question is straightforward, but the answer is not. For some of you, it’s a daunting obstacle. For others, it’s just another challenge. Why?

Much of the answer lies in the origin and nature of major transitions and how we manage them.

Developmental Transition 

Typically, there’s a change that occurs that triggers the beginning of your end of career transition. 

The first type occurs when you recognize that the time is close at hand and you’re motivated to begin to prepare. This change...

Manifest Splendor - 2006

USA

Laying the Foundation of Success

The introduction of a new plastic surgeon to your practice involves the creation and execution of three plans that lead to its preparedness. 

I’ve previously written about the first two of these plans, which address the enhancement of the functions of your practice. The second plan focuses on optimizing profitability and thus its value.

These two plans lead to the third one, which is the actual preparation to introduce a new plastic surgeon.

The model for this discussion is that of a solo practitioner in private practice who is planning for a traditional succession but is also open to an institutional purchase.

First Things First 

At this point it’s essential for you to have considered some things such as:

• How long you will practice
• Whether to stop practicing gradually or completely 
• Your role as leader of your transition 
• Your role as leader and mentor to a younger surgeon 
• Your thoughts on the expectations y
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Industry with Elegance - 2014

Idaho

First Steps

Like any grand goal, its accomplishment depends on completing tasks that are part of a plan designed to achieve your objective.

When it comes to transitioning from your practice, the first items to address are to prepare yourself personally and professionally. These include the creation of lifestyle and financial plans to determine whether your current assets will support your desired lifestyle. 

Once completed, it is prudent to undertake a thorough, objective review of the current condition of your practice. The purpose is to ensure that it's functioning properly. This is the subject of a previous article.

Next: Optimize the Value of Your Practice

The next  step in preparation is one that will benefit you in the near term as well as at the time of sale. That’s to optimize profitability and thus its value, to you as well as a prospective buyer.

The methodology of this endeavor is the Practice Value Optimization Plan. 

As is commo...

Western Azalea - 2004

Yosemite National Park

Preparation: the Beginning

The preparation of your practice for a sale begins with optimizing its current functions and performance. Subsequent preparations will focus specifically on the sale to a future associate or institutional buyer and will be addressed in future articles.

For an overview of the process, see this article.

The Personal Experience

If you’re considering transitioning and selling your practice, you’re very likely to view your practice as an entity you have created and worked hard to develop over the course of your career. It has provided for you, your family, staff and the care of your patients.

You probably feel a sense of pride for what you’ve accomplished and want for it to continue to endure in the hands of a capable, new plastic surgeon…and properly so.

With these considerations in mind, you may think that your practice is functioning just fine. You know there are some some tweaks needed, like the ones you’ve ...

Mt. Rose - 2023

Sierra Nevada, NV

Essentials for Success

When you’re preparing your medical practice for a sale, it’s essential to optimize its current performance, profitability and make it ready for a future associate or institutional buyer.

For many physicians who wish to sell their practice, whether though a traditional succession or private equity transaction, the initial focus is often the goal…the succession or actual sale.

While it’s a good thing to “begin with the end in mind,” it's critical to know what needs to be done in the way and order of preparation to achieve and optimize your goals.

The “what” can be summarized in one word…preparation.

Preliminary Achievements

Your path to success is paved with certain accomplishments that you should achieve en route to your destination. 

I have previously discussed the very first steps that I advise you should take. These are to prepare yourself personally and professionally, including the creation of lifestyle and financial...

Late Winter Tetons Storm - May, 2010

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Change and Transition: How They Can Affect You

Change and transition are words that are often used interchangeably. However, they differ in meaning and how their occurrence can affect you.

My personal experience with change and transition illustrates this point.

My Journey’s Lessons

Years ago, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and then developed other medical problems. Together they created a change that ended my Plastic Surgery career and triggered my end of career transition. Thankfully, years later I’m cured, renewed and fulfilled in my new career. 

My successful transition did not occur spontaneously. It was the result of sustained, focused and deliberate effort over a period of time.  That effort was directed at a particular envisioned outcome: to experience renewal and fulfillment. The means for achieving that outcome was the the transition process itself.

This illustrates the very purpose of a transition:...