This episode of "Physician, Interrupted” examines the “career riptide” phenomenon that occurs via unfair use of licensing,  credentialing and "clinical privileges" power that can abuse physicians’ rights with impunity. We begin to explore what you can - and must - do to protect your rights as a physician against unwarranted career disruption.

Imagine that you're walking along the beach enjoying yourself calmly strolling and you see a little puddle and you step in the puddle not aware that it's actually part of a receding tidal pool. And that tidal pool suddenly pulls your feet out from under you and you are swept out to sea in a riptide. Those who know about riptides know that a person's first response if caught in one would be to try to keep your head above water and then  turn around and swim directly back to shore. This is invariably futile as it exhausts the swimmer because you don’t have the strength to swim against that powerful tide, so you get exhausted and then drown.

There are various dangerous riptides in physicians’ careers. Malpractice suits are the type that most physicians would identify with. However, one many physicians are not aware of is the riptide driven by an unseen medical regulatory complex which has life-and-death power over your career. That complex consisting of state medical licensing boards, state physician health programs (or PHPs), institution-based peer review committees and departmental performance appraisals are each immensely powerful entities which generally work in sync and whose non-overseen and non-accountable deliberations can irreparably destroy a physician’s career and deprive them of their license and livelihood. 

We cover 3 immediate action steps you must take to protect your career. In the next podcast, we cover the “10 Commandments” for survival in these matters.