In medical school, future doctors learn how to set a broken bone, diagnose the flu and find a vein to start an intravenous infusion.

They do not, however, learn how to abide by employment law, read a contract or navigate electronic health records.

Thats why about 80 medical residents and fellows, who soon will finish their training and enter the workforce, spent the better part of Saturday getting a whirlwind introduction to everything they need know to join a medical practice or strike out on their own.

If Im going to be up at night, I dont want it to have to be for, Oh, did I code that wrong? Am I going to get audited? Am I going to get paid for my time? Am I going to be able to afford my daughters wedding? said Dr. John Bodkin III, a University at Buffalo urology resident.

And that is the reason many young doctors join large practices, he said. They just want to care for their patients.

Medical groups are small businesses, but young doctors begin their careers with little exposure to the financial, regulatory and customer-service challenges they will confront.

You have zero experience with any of this, said Dr. Kassondra Grzankowski, a gynecologic oncology fellow at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, who attended the Understanding the Business of Medicine conference in Roswell Parks Research Studies Center. Its very overwhelming and terrifying.

They also are entering a rapidly changing medical field, with veteran doctors grumbling about the burdens of federal health care regulations, the high cost of malpractice insurance and shrinking payments for the procedures they perform.

Whats more, their patients can get a second opinion from WebMD or vent their complaints on online review sites.

But theres a growing need for primary care physicians and specialists, particularly in Western and upstate New York, and Saturdays conference was meant to give fledgling doctors the guidance they need to succeed. Some veteran doctors wish they had had this advice when they began practicing.

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Young doctors go to business school for a day