Podcast Episode 19 – “How to Fix Your Career and Your Money in the Wake of COVID-19” with Dr. Cory Fawcett

Episode 19 – Let’s face it, most physicians were either unhappy with their career or struggling with their personal finances (or both!) BEFORE the COVID-19 craziness hit us! You’re not imagining the difficulty we’ve been facing, but maybe you were already struggling with challenges of your own even before the shutdown happened. Fortunately, Dr. Cory Fawcett has some phenomenal tips to share with all of us to help us build the career and financial success we deserve!
He has written five books which are self-help guidebooks for physicians on a variety of important subjects. He appeared on the podcast this week to share some of his wisdom that he learned over a multi-decade careers as a private practice surgeon. Be careful listening to this episode, as you may be in danger of having your life changed! It’s an amazingly inspiring and highly practical conversation for anyone interested in having the career of their dreams and not being bogged down by financial insecurity.
“You’ll be happiest when you match an opportunity with something you like to do.”
– Dr. Cory Fawcett
Listen to the episode and leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Meet Dr. Cory Fawcett
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett devoted 23 years as a private practice general surgeon in rural Southern Oregon before repurposing his career to help physicians navigate the world of personal finance and became The Financial Success MD. Since repurposing, he has published numerous books in his award winning/best-selling Doctors Guide series, delivered a weekly blog, has been interviewed on many podcasts, coached numerous physicians in his financial makeover program, and appeared on stages to improve the financial knowledge and habits of his fellow physicians. Dr. Fawcett’s website is found at FinancialSuccessMD.com and you can reach him by email at MD@FinancialSuccessMD.com.
Contact Dr. Fawcett:
- Web page: www.FinancialSuccessMD.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialsuccessmd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinancialSuccessMD/
- Twitter: @Fin_SuccessMD
- YouTube: Financial Success MD
- Pinterest: financialsuccessmd
- Instagram: financialsuccessmd
Buy the books!
The Doctor’s Guide to Thriving in Locum Tenens
If you’re thinking about starting a locum tenens job or you feel like you’re not getting the most out of your current locum tenens job, this course is for you! Check out this awesome course from Dr. Cory Fawcett, “The Doctor’s Guide to Thriving in Locum Tenens.” Dr. Fawcett has decades of experience in medicine, including in locum tenens, and he put together an amazing course to help you succeed. It might seem expensive, but you’ll more than make it up when you employ his strategies to find the best jobs, negotiate the best contracts, and wisely invest the money.
Free Resource: Application/Interview Toolkit
Application and interview season can be overwhelming. It’s increasingly difficult to stand out in a competitive field. You need a great résumé/CV and an outstanding interview. This free guide will help you write your best résumé/CV so that you land your dream job/school.
Featured Online Community: Physician Online Course Creators
Join the Business and Personal Finance for Physicians and Dentists Facebook Group!
Most physicians and dentists come out of training programs with a huge amount of personal debt and little to no idea of how to actually run a clinical practice. This Facebook community is for anyone who wants to learn more about how to manage their business more successfully and master their personal finances.
One-on-one personal finance and business coaching
If you need a little more individualized help figuring out:
- How to build and implement a successful long-term finance strategy
- How to budget effectively without going crazy
- What to do in order to get you and your spouse on the same page with your finances
- Writing a resume
- How to find the right practice to join
- Or anything else related to business or personal finance
I’d love to help you so you can have the successful career and financial freedom you deserve. Just click here and email me to set up a free consultation to determine if one-on-one coaching is right for you.
I’ve coached hundreds of families to eliminate millions of dollars in debt and get their finances on track, and I’d love to help you do the same so you feel safe knowing your career and personal finances are as strong as you want them to be.
Click here and email me to set up a free consultation today!
FREE disability insurance quotes from Pattern: www.thescopeofpractice.com/pattern

Pattern Financial has an amazing platform for helping doctors easily navigate the world of disability insurance. They can find you true “own-occupation” disability insurance in minutes, and it’s completely free to get the quotes!
Unlike other companies, they are a true independent insurance broker, and one of very few that I trust to take care of physicians when they need it most.
Use this link to get the disability insurance quotes for free! Even if you’re not ready to buy disability insurance today, you can still get the free quotes so you’ll know how much to budget for it.
Show times
- 00:00 – Introduction to the episode
- 01:32 – Subscribe to the podcast, and please leave a review!
- 02:04 – Join the “Business and Personal Finance for Physicians and Dentists Facebook Group”
- 02:34 – Get free disability insurance quotes from Pattern Financial.
- 03:50 – Introduction to Dr. Cory Fawcett.
- 04:37 – Dr. Fawcett shares his work, including multiple books and a very popular blog/website.
- 05:39 – Is it worth it to own your own practice? Dr. Cory Fawcett thinks so, but he says that it totally depends on where you live.
- 07:21 – What are the pros and cons of being a private practice owner
- 07:54 – Pros of owning your own practice: better profitability, more choices, higher levels of autonomy. You also get to establish some equity. Taxes are better for business owners. Retirement plans are better. You can go on vacation whenever you want.
- 09:31 – Cons of owning your own practice: You have to pay your own overhead expenses. You don’t get paid if you’re on vacation. Managing the practice is up to you, although you can hire a manager to help.
- 10:37 – For Dr. Cory Fawcett, it was totally worth it to own his own practice.
- 11:37 – Selling your practice to a hospital or a private equity group might be a viable option, but the COVID-19 pandemic has massively changed the style of practice. Dr. Fawcett thinks that hospitals may not have enough money to be able to buy practices.
- 13:46 – Financial security is an illusion!!!! Even doctors and dentists aren’t immune to the challenges of losing their practice or seeing a major cut in revenue.
- 15:07 – Private practice may make a comeback in the wake of COVID-19
- 16:14 – Take a lot of time and study to pick your first job, because it’s a huge expense to switch jobs.
- 17:59 – Dr. Fawcett argues that salary shouldn’t be a consideration at all when picking which job you want to take.
- 19:31 – Consider proximity to your hobbies and family, as well as the length of your commute when looking for your next job.
- 21:26 – When selecting your next job, consider the quality of the people you’ll be working with. It’s like a marriage. This is going to be an extremely long-term relationship.
- 24:54 – When selecting a new job, talk to the last person who was hired and the last person who left. The last person hired can tell you how they’ve been treated since being hired. The last person who left can give you an idea of what toxicities or problems they encountered with the practice that made them leave.
- 26:09 – If you’re a practice owner, make sure the people you’re hiring know exactly what they’re getting when they join you. You want to create an environment where people love it and want to stay.
- 28:09 – Pay attention to generational differences between physicians. Younger docs tend to be more tech-savvy and place a greater emphasis on work/life balance.
- 32:45 – You need to address differences in expectations directly in order to prevent conflict between partners.
- 34:24 – The typical physician has “debt-abetic neuropathy” and are essentially numb to the idea of debt. You HAVE to recognize this as a physician and fight against the urge to embrace debt.
- 37:34 – There’s no such thing as “good debt.” You need to decide that debt is a problem and that you need to get it out of your life!!!
- 40:54 – As Dr. Cory Fawcett observes, there is still a great deal of insufficient financial literacy among physicians, although there are a lot more resources than there used to be.
- 42:57 – Don’t ask, “Which side hustle or alternative career do I want to do?” Instead, ask yourself, “What do I want to do?”
- 45:14 – Locum tenens can be a great alternative career, but there are some negative aspects as well. It’s most challenging for someone who has family at home.
- 47:19 – “The Doctors Guide to Thriving in Locum Tenens is a great online course produced by Dr. Cory Fawcett to help physicians learn what they need to know to succeed in a locum tenens job.
- 50:44 – Dr. Fawcett shares his parting advice. He says, “Live below your means and pay off your debt!”
- 52:25 – Summary of the episode
- 53:58 – This week’s free resource: “Application/Interview Toolkit”
- 55:14 – Featured online community, “Physician Online Course Creators”
- 58:48 – signing off
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business, debt, dentist, entrepreneur, financial independence, personal finance, physician, practice management