Podcast Episode 28 – “Exploring Physician Leadership and Non-Clinical Careers” with Dr. John Jurica

Episode 28 – Over 50% of physicians report plans to go part-time or get out of a medical career entirely. If you’re one of those physicians, then today’s conversation will encourage and equip you to make some changes! Dr. John Jurica is a family medicine physician who has been blogging and podcasting for years about physician non-clinical careers. He joins us on the podcast today to discuss transitions away from clinical medicine.
Most physicians don’t necessarily have to retire early, but many choose to (and that’s ok!). Dr. Jurica helps coach busy physicians through the process of getting out of clinical medicine and into healthcare leadership or non-clinical careers altogether. The episode this week is split between these two incredibly valuable topics, and you’re going to get a lot of value out of this episode.
It’s not too late to make changes in your career, whether you’ve been in practice for 3 months or 3 decades. Don’t miss an opportunity for a fresh start! Listen to this episode with Dr. Jurica to learn how easy it is to move into positions of leadership and non-clinical careers.
“Our healthcare system needs more physicians in leadership positions.”
– Dr. John Jurica
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Meet Dr. John Jurica
Dr. Jurica is a board certified family physician, with a background in public health. He has worked in many clinical settings including family medicine, occupational medicine and urgent care. He has owned and operated several practices.
He writes his blog as a way to share his experiences with emerging physician leaders. He is especially interested in encouraging young physicians to take on leadership roles in hospitals.
When not working or writing, He enjoys playing bluegrass guitar. He also competes in Regional and National Senior Games and the USA Track and Field events in the 100- and 200-meter dash.
He lives south of Chicago with his wife, Kay.

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Show times
- 00:00 – Introduction to episode 28 of The Scope of Practice Podcast.
- 01:42 – Subscribe to the podcast, and please leave a review!
- 03:35 – Introduction to Dr. John Jurica.
- 04:18 – Welcome to Dr. John Jurica. He shares how he transitioned from family medicine to physician leadership roles, to full-time side hustle guru.
- 06:34 – Dr. Jurica started a podcast to teach physicians about non-clinical careers.
- 07:12 – Making the transition from physician to administrator was challenging. Dr. John Jurica was able to gain some credibility with both the administrators and physicians and be a liaison between the business and medical sides of the hospital.
- 09:51 – Dr. Jurica proposes that physicians are natural leaders, but many people don’t naturally seek leadership positions. We explore that dichotomy.
- 12:43 – Joining committees and boards is a great way to get your foot in the door if you’re looking to get started in leadership.
- 13:55 – Don’t say yes to everything, but you want to be a physician leader then it’s a good idea to say yes to some things.
- 14:33 – Get on a committee and try it out for a year or two. If you prove your dedication and competence, you will probably have an opportunity to serve as the committee chair.
- 15:14 – A good way to stand out is to pick up a committee assignment is to pick up a committee role that others don’t want and excel at it!
- 16:27 – Train for the job you want not the job you have. Work at learning the job or leadership role that you want. When there’s an opportunity to promote you into that role, you’ll be the natural choice.
- 17:26 – By accepting these leadership roles, you will be placed in proximity to the people who can help you continue to climb the ladder of leadership and experiences.
- 18:54 – How do you get to be on the board of a non-profit organization? Dr. John Jurica shares his thoughts.
- 21:20 – Most nonprofit boards are comprised of volunteers. Even if you’re not getting paid, you can still get valuable experience.
- 21:53 – Dr. John Jurica has been podcasting for three years and has enjoyed talking about non-clinical careers.
- 24:51 – Physicians don’t really have a lobby. We don’t get a lot of sympathy from people, and there’s a really a lot of physicians struggling with burnout and career satisfaction.
- 27:24 – Before embarking on a non-clinical career, question what it is about your current career that you don’t like and that is making you think about getting out of medicine. Then, if you decide to get on into a non-clinical career, pick a medium, and then get a mentor.
- 29:18 – Dr. John Jurica says that any physician from any specialty can have a very successful non-clinical career.
- 32:30 – Dr. Jurica shares some surprises he has had in the last few years with doing the podcast.
- 35:04 – If you want to have a non-clinical business, you have to just stick it out! If you want to succeed, you’ll have to be consistent and just determine that you’re going to keep going and outlast everyone else.
- 38:25 – Dr. Jurica shares his thoughts on the natural career path for physicians and how the trend towards non-clinical careers isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
- 41:04 – Finding balance in life doesn’t mean spending an equal amount of time on all aspects of your life, but rather spending as much time as you want or need on each aspect of your life without regard to equality of time.
- 42:16 – If you’re in medical school, it’s ok to know about non-clinical careers, but you would have to give up on education of clinical medicine to do it. It’s not worth it.
- 43:24 – Dr. John Jurica shares his parting advice.
- 45:13- Summary of the episode.
- 45:55 – This week’s free resource: How to Crush Your Student Loans.
- 47:00 – signing off
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