One of the challenges I see for physicians who take the ABOM exam is what to do next. And I get it! Very few of us had the opportunity to actually see obesity medicine in practice. I was lucky enough to know I wanted to practice obesity medicine during my family medicine residency and did several rotations that allowed me to get real-life clinical experience. The exam process prepares you well with knowledge about obesity pathophysiology and treatment. However, many physicians have reached out to me over the years wondering HOW to actually practice obesity medicine.
My first tip is to just jump in and do it! Start with something you feel comfortable with, like medications or nutrition, and start layering on treatment strategies from there. Frequent follow-ups help patients be more successful and help you fine-tune advice based on their responses. You will learn so much from your patients.
Second, create some structure for your obesity visits. An intake form is a great place to start. Having a standard approach to an initial visit versus a follow-up visit versus a maintenance appointment will make your life a lot easier and your patient care more effective.
Finally, if you feel like you need more support, get it! After ten years of treating patients, opening my own clinic as well as many one-on-one conversations, and even having physicians shadow me, I decided I was in the perfect spot to help show people how to do what I’ve been doing. That’s the primary reason I created my course. I even include many mock patient videos so you can see what these conversations look like. My goal is that you feel like you have spent a week hanging out with me in my clinic after taking the course.
My course also includes more than 60 pages of handouts and forms I have developed over the last 10 years, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can edit the forms to fit your style and your patient population. My goal is to really jumpstart you into using the fantastic skill set from the ABOM exam and start helping your patients right away!
So, if you’ve been struggling with how to put it all together and start treating patients, check out The Obesity Medicine Start-Up Course and Toolkit at www.helpyourpatientsloseweight.com.
Note: Dr. Francavilla also produces a free podcast (found here) that can be a great resource for patients but can also be an excellent resource for those getting into obesity medicine.
Be on the lookout! A live GLP-1 course was recorded on September 14th, and an on-demand course will be available soon!
