MD Preferred Blog

When most people talk about “social purpose strategy” they usually mention some of the companies that have been most successful to making it part of their branding and marketing.  Patagonia is one of the first to come to mind—their constant commitment to environmental matters and to a manufacturing process that pays fair wages to workers shows concern for working environments and addresses sustainability and global concerns.

Their angle is to emphasize the social benefits their mission (i.e. social purpose strategy) brings to consumers and the world at large.  Patagonia has built this message into every aspect of their product line and image.  It’s a key element of developing a strong customer relationship, to develop and maintain a strong brand loyalty.

Recently I was speaking with a physician friend who regaled me with a wonderful story about volunteer work he did annualy deep in the Central American jungle.  These trips were part of the only annual visit to this remote region made by doctors in his specialty, and there would be long lines awaiting the opening of their mobile clinic every morning they were there.  Treating dozens of patients every day, of all ages, was clearly one of the things he looked forward to every single year. 

Two years ago I fielded a call from a surgeon I knew of but had not met.  Raised locally, she had left the state for undergraduate school, returning to Texas for med school and North Texas for her fellowship.  Heavily recruited, she wanted to stay close to home and her family, and accepted a position with a group of surgeons practicing at one of the area’s stellar hospitals.

But she wasn’t happy, two years into a three year employment agreement.  In fact, she was angry, frustrated, worried, and greatly concerned about her future.  

What had started out as a warm and fuzzy relationship with her group had gone decidedly in the wrong direction.  

The genesis of her story is almost a cliché in the physician recruitment environment.  In the last year of her fellowship, she suddenly started receiving inquiries from established practices or hospital employed groups, pitching a great future, good salary, moving expenses, and even a signing bonus.   Two visits to her soon-to-be employer focused on where to live, meetings with all of the group members, a hospital administrator or two (representing her surgical sites), and a real estate agent to look at homes.  Everybody seemed nice and she liked what she was shown.  Money was discussed, and a contract arrived shortly after the second visit.  She asked for a recommendation on a lawyer to handle the latter. 

For 2017, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an addition of 300,000 healthcare jobs in 2017, despite all the worry and confusion over where the ACA would be heading under the Trump Administration. 

Hospital based jobs were on the decline compared to 2016 (36% lower) but still managed to add 76,000 jobs.  


Graph provided by Becker's Hospital Review 

Full story - news.aamc.org/press-releases/article/applicant-enrollment-2017/ 

Submitted by Cyndi Carer, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

How is your State sharing in the migration of the American people?  Are people moving into your state or out of your state?  If you are looking to sell, these questions could impact your asking price.  Ask a residential sales and marketing technician about this factor. Make sure your marketing representative is an expert in the local market trends of your neighborhood. It will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. 

By Chris Stoner, CFP®, Measured Wealth Private Client Group

1. Debt Reduction
As a result of your extensive medical education, you’ve likely incurred significant debt in the form of loans. The average medical school loan debt balance in the United States is approximately $190,000. Over a 30 year period at a 7% interest rate, this equates to a total cost of $455,048 and a $1,264 monthly payment, which can be a significant drag on your financial well being. While there is no easy solution, the best way to ease this burden is to simply allocate more per month to the loan that is owed. By increasing your monthly payment by just $200 from $1,264 to $1,464 you could reduce your loan duration by 10 years. Debt reduction is a critical step in attaining financial security and starting to build wealth. 

Interesting infographic sent over to us by Cyndi Carver.

 

Image Credit: www.forrent.com

This list comes via Medical Economics and Doximity.  We take no credit for the data or how it was collected.  Please click their respective links to learn more.

According to Medical Economics:

"The Doximity study evaluated how many open physician positions were advertised on the company’s network in large U.S. metropolitan areas in 2016 and 2017. It found that physician job postings have grown significantly year-over-year in many of the largest metropolitan areas." 

Doctor Loan, Physician Mortgage, Home loans for Doctors, 100% Doctor Mortgage, No Money down for Doctors…
 
They can be referred to by many names but they all have one thing in common: these special loans are out there specifically for doctors to buy homes. There are several banks that offer this mortgage and the common theme is little to no down payment and no mortgage insurance. These banks realized there was a need to create a product to assist new doctors that are fresh out of school because most of them are burdened with student loans and have no down payment. What the new doctors do have though is high income potential and very good job security so the odds of them defaulting on their mortgage are very low. 

By Josh Mettle, Fairway Physician Home Loans

Down payment grants are currently available in conjunction with one of our physician home loan programs in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.  Not all counties in each state are covered; please reach out to us for additional questions and program specifics.  

Depending on the county in which you are buying, the down payment assistance equals between 3.5% and 7% of the loan amount. For example, if you buy a $300k home and your loan amount is $291k (less required down payment), your down payment assistance would be between $10,185 and $20,370 depending on the county you buy in.