Through my 15 years of experience working together with doctors, surprisingly, I have realized that they find it hard to talk about and understand money, especially if you are working in the government hospitals. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are few.

Those who have come out to private hospitals and set up their own medical clinic will have a slightly better grasp at this because they have to calculate their costs and expenses in rental, hiring and paying for medical equipment as they are no longer protected by the big institution. But they still struggle over time, with other issues.

Here are 3 main reasons why doctors avoid conversations around money.

As a doctor, you should be dispensing medical advice and a treatment plan to the patient. Being trained in the government medical fraternity, you always put patient care as your priority. Any discussion of the financial implications usually is dealt with by another department within the hospital. There are also other issues such as subsidies and government support that may not be in your purview.

Most doctors fall into the vulnerable group, as they fall prey to many people who are looking into their deeper pockets due to their income ability. Doctors are the target of scams and deals that can go bad as well. They usually turn to their peers who are doctors for financial advice, who may not necessarily be better versed or trained than themselves. And they are deemed to be “smart” enough to know the difference between a scam and a real investment but no one is there to understand their real struggle.

Doctors have a lack of formal education around money. There is no formal course in business or financial management in medical school or residency. They spend decades learning about the science and the anatomy of the body and how it works but have no time left to learning about money management, so whey they first received their first paycheck, the first initial instinct is to finally splurge it or keep it under the carpet for they do not know better.

If you are a doctor and would like to receive some form of on-going education and pick the brains of an ethical trusted source, with experience and wisdom, you can always sign up and attend our webinars on education on financial planning for doctors. It is purely educational, specifically for doctors only.