As a physician, you are no stranger to injuries or illnesses. In fact, you deal with them on a regular basis, helping others to heal from them.
What about when you fall ill or get injured? How do you fair in that instance? Are you better at caring for others than you are at caring for yourself?
You will want to take measures to prevent any tragedies to befall you. If you have already been injured or have fallen ill, you need to protect yourself from any further damage.
Here’s how:
Follow Your Own Advice
As a doctor, you provide guidelines for your patients to follow to help them recover. It’s important that you use your knowledge as a medical professional to make the best decisions for your own health.
If you would normally tell your patients that they should rest and recover, be sure to do the same. If your expert advice would be to stay away from certain types of activities, follow your own advice.
Many times it is difficult to be on the other side of the examination table but if you want to get better and back to your old self, you’ve got to follow the doctor’s (your) orders!
Related reading: Common Injuries Caused By Slips And Falls
Wear Your PPE
Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is especially important now, as the effects of COVID-19 are still evident.
Each piece of your PPE can save you from potential injury or illness.
Of course, your mask is a part of this protection. You not only protect against spreading diseases to other patients but you can filter any from reaching your mouth and nose.
Wearing and replacing gloves with each patient helps to protect you from touching any germs, viruses, or bacteria.
Wearing a pair of good slip-resistant shoes that provide plenty of support can prevent you from sustaining any injury from falls or lack of support.
Report Your Injury or Illness to Your Supervisor
If your injury happened at work, you should always tell your supervisor right away. Don’t wait until the end of the day. Don’t wait until your break. Tell them now.
When you tell them that you hurt yourself, tell them in detail how, when, and where it happened. Include who was there to witness the accident and what you were doing directly before it happened.
No detail is irrelevant. You should even take pictures of the injury and the scene of the accident. Why all this information, you ask?
Read why in the next heading.
File the Proper Paperwork
If you were injured at your place of employment, you will need to file an incident report. This report will document any of the information you shared with your employer above.
You will then need to file a claim with your employer’s insurance company to help pay for any medical expenses or loss of work that results from this accident.
Related reading: Can You Get Injured Having A Vaccine?
See a Doctor Right Away
It’s time to put yourself in the patient’s chair and allow another medical professional to examine your illness or injury.
As a physician yourself, you may be tempted to self-treat. While this may be possible in minor cases, if your injury or illness is serious, you don’t want to leave anything to chance.
Another set of eyes to check on your condition would be very beneficial.
If your injury happened while at work, you have to go see a doctor. The treating doctor in a worker’s compensation case plays a crucial role in determining how much you are entitled to or your case is flat out denied.
You will want to make it a point to set appointments and make each one during a worker’s compensation investigation. Comply with everything your doctor tells you and be very detailed in your description of your injury.
Protect Your Income
One way to protect yourself in the event of injury or illness is to make sure that you still have a way to pay your bills if you become unable to work.
To do this, you need to have a good disability insurance policy in place before any injury or illness befalls you.
You can be sure that your investment in this insurance payment is well worth it. However, not every disability insurance policy is worth the money.
You need to be sure that the policy you purchase will protect your income no matter what. This can be hard to determine on your own since insurance policies are by nature complex and difficult to understand.
Physicians Thrive prides themselves in helping physicians just like you find the perfect disability insurance policy to meet their needs.
Seek Legal Representation
There may come a point that you would benefit from legal representation. If you were injured on the job but your employer’s insurance doesn’t want to pay you for your damages, it’s time to call a lawyer.
They can get you the help you need and are legally entitled to.
Conclusion
A physician needs to be healthy in order to continue providing the necessary care for their patients.
Keeping yourself safe from injury or illness to the best of your ability is key but understandably, there is only so much you can do.
If you do happen to fall ill, protect yourself from any further damage by following the guidelines above.