Physician Disability: Work With Disability
Keep Working Despite Your Disability
If you are a doctor in the United States and suffer a disabling injury that prevents you from practicing medicine in your specialty, you may feel like your career is over and your financial and time investment in your education has all been lost. But don’t jump to conclusions!
Not being able to continue in your own specialty—due to a disabling event—doesn’t mean that your working life is over. Your career choices are still abundant, and your years of education and actual work may make you extraordinarily marketable.
Options for Disabled Doctors
The world of medicine is wide open now, and employers are desperate for people with specialized skills. Jobs as medical consultants for businesses, associations and government are opening as people and officials nationwide consider how to handle healthcare reform laws. The development of accountable care organizations and the increased needs of insurance companies and brokerages are making prior work in medicine almost a necessity. There are jobs as medical directors and in other managerial roles, along with positions in IT, research, media, academia and pharmaceuticals.
If you have own-occupation disability insurance, you should be able to take a new job and, if it pays less than what you were making before you became disabled, receive the difference in income from your insurer. That is an enhancement to a standard disability policy and one that every doctor should consider.
Improvements in Accommodations
The last 20 years have brought many improvements in technology for the disabled. Everything from mobility to communications has been developed. If you become disabled, take advantage of this new era of healthcare reform and the demand for experienced medical professionals. To make sure you have the safety net of income protection or to buy disability insurance, speak to a professional advisor.