In a clinic setting with two neurologists, the division of labor and scheduling can be strategically managed to maximize efficiency and patient care. Each neurologist would handle 12-15 patients per day, with new patient appointments allocated 60 minutes and follow-ups 30 minutes. This setup allows both specialists to delve deeply into complex cases and maintain thorough follow-up care.
Given that 70% of their time is dedicated to the clinic and 30% to hospital duties, the neurologists could alternate their schedules to ensure that one is always available in the clinic while the other attends to inpatient responsibilities in the hospital’s 15-bed ICU. For example, while one neurologist manages clinic patients from 8 AM to 3 PM, the other could spend the morning in the ICU, ensuring continuous patient coverage. The average daily census in the ICU ranges from 4-7, allowing manageable patient loads for hospital rounds.
The clinic is well-equipped with three exam rooms, two procedure rooms, and one private office, facilitating an environment where both neurologists can conduct examinations and procedures such as EEGs and EMGs efficiently but these are not required. The neurologists could schedule these specialized tests—two EMGs and 2-3 EEGs per day—around their other duties, ensuring that resources such as procedure rooms and equipment are used effectively without overlap.
A typical day might look like this:
- Neurologist 1: Clinic from 8 AM to 1 PM, then administrative tasks or additional patient follow-ups.
- Neurologist 2: ICU rounds from 8 AM to 11 AM, then clinic from 11:30 AM to 4 PM.
This model not only ensures that both neurologists engage in a variety of clinical and hospital tasks but also provides flexibility to build their schedules post the initial income guarantee period, allowing for personalized work-life balance.