Handling The Troubling Realities With Care
Outsiders from the industry consider doctors as God in the human form. They may be right but sometimes even God’s plan doesn’t look very convincing. With the kind of stress and the hectic work-life that they have, there are chances of personal and professional crises that can take a cumulative toll on practitioners. Sometimes this ideal profession’s lofty purpose and privileged status come masked with troubling realities.
Doctors have to pay dearly for the relentless stress of patient care, a plight compounded by mounting change in the healthcare industry. The price doctors pay depends on the person and the situation they are in. But it can be tallied in many areas, from personal health and wellness to family or professional instability.
There are risks attached to all professions. Nevertheless, you can at least create a safety net for some certainties.
Let’s discuss the bare essentials you, as a doctor, must cover no matter what!
- Life Insurance
Not just a mere policy, but a sum insured that will take care of all your family’s financial needs in your absence is critical. A Pure Term plan is the best option to go for. Lately, incidents of doctors being physically assaulted have also become frequent.
A survey done by the Indian Medical Association indicates that 75 per cent of the doctors have been at the receiving end of verbal abuse, of which 12 per cent have been physically abused. In June, doctors across India went on a strike after a junior doctor was brutally assaulted in West Bengal, by the relatives of a deceased patient. Life comes with all uncertainties and nobody can deny 
losing it.
- Health Insurance
Any illness or hospitalization can wipe off your savings big time. Medical insurance for all your family members is essential and the sum insured should be of a considerable amount. Family Floater is best to go with, and a super top-up can be looked at for ensuring higher coverage.
- Accidental Plan along with temporary and permanent disability
Doctors must insure themselves against accidental injuries and disabilities as they always have to be in their pink of health before treating anybody else. An individual personal accident insurance cover of Rs 1 crore would cost around Rs 10,000. Once you have your set-up practice and even if there is a glitch where you can not continue working for even a few months that such a situation should also not affect you much at least financially.
- Critical Insurance
It saves you against specific life-threatening diseases. Treating such critical illnesses may require multiple visits to the hospital over a long period. Which means that in addition to the hospitalization cost, there will be other costs like doctor visits, medical expenses, etc. It pays a lump sum amount that can be used to cover these high expenses.
- Asset & Professional liability Insurance
Generally, doctors seldom take insurance for their major assets like property and profession. Taking Asset and Professional liability insurance can save you from losses due to fire, riots, aircraft damage, natural disaster, burglary, etc. Nobody can overlook the significance of public liability in this profession.
The policies – life cover, professional indemnity, personal accident, property, and public liability – put together would cost a doctor very less compared to the risk of loss they come with. Securing these pieces will enable you to face-off life’s uncertainties and that eventually will help you to focus on your goals.
As a doctor, you must make sure you keep aside funds to cover the uncertainties of life by opting for various insurances –health, life, critical, and asset & professional liability. At the same time, it is absolutely essential that doctors must protect themselves from accidents and unforeseen situations that can hamper not just your finances but also your clinical practice.