Physician Relocation—What You Need to Consider When Relocating

Physician relocation involves all the usual considerations plus a particular concern. “What are the three key success factors for a restaurant?” The answer applies with even greater force to a doctor who is moving: location, location, and location.

Physician relocation requires consideration of real estate values, schools for your children, back yard to play or entertainment, a community where your family fits in, religious involvement, property taxes, even parking (viz., New York city), etc.

But a doctor has a special problem—not unique in type, but certainly unique in scope. Persons with commercial or political authority often have more demands on their time than there are hours in the workday. Thus, by that logic, a doctor has more time demands in a day than their alotted twenty-four hours.

Physician relocation forces you to ask: Will I be there for my husband or wife? Can I get to my child’s soccer game? How can I make myself available for my patients when they need me? How many dinner dates will I miss or cut short because of a patient emergency? How will I find time to exercise? Is there such a thing as time for me?!

Reality is this. You cannot expect to see your child play soccer in between patients. Your marriage will suffer if your spouse always comes last. You will become overweight and unhealthy if you don’t exercise. And of course, you cannot say, “Call me in the morning,” to a patient with chest pain.

If you carry a beeper, your time is not your own.

What does this have to do with physician relocation? Answer: the one factor over which you have control is wasted time, especially travel.

Physician relocation requires you to find a place to live that minimizes the various (wasted) travel times, not only from home to work but from home to exercise or from work to child’s school or other activity. This may require negotiation with your spouse. The key is explaining how your location choice can benefit him or her.

Which lifestyle do you want? That’s the real question. 

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Elliot Health System is located in beautiful New Hampshire where the recreational opportunities are incredible. Would you like to learn more about them? If so, please download our free guide.