Lifestyle

More medical schools are publishing literary magazines and artistic journals that encourage doctors, nurses and patients to express their feelings through artistic endeavors, such as painting, writing and photography. Not surprisingly, the field of art therapy is rapidly expanding in physician practices.

The market appears to be shifting from a more bearish to possible bullish scenario, after an impressive rally back above the lows of the major market plunges in early May. We'll be looking for an encouraging sign that institutional investors are bringing more cash inflows into the market.

Doctors need to start thinking seriously about insurance company ratings and rankings, as our incomes and status will increasingly become hostage to them. History shows that attempting to bring incentives to bear on physicians to reduce costs or improve care often carries a high risk of backfiring.

Life sciences stocks rocketed to stellar gains in the first three months of the year, only to crash back to earth in the second quarter. Here's a rundown of the first-half's winners and losers, and a look ahead to the third quarter.

Harvard Medical School imposed strict new rules for physicians on staff that include restrictions on gifts, travel and meals, speaker fees, and income from board memberships. Is there any way Harvard doctors can earn money on the side? Turns out, there's more than just a bit of wiggle room in the rules.

Edward Jones and RBC Wealth Management are tops in investor satisfaction, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey. Overall, investors were more satisfied with their investment advisors, but increasingly feel like investment firms are more interested in profits than customer service.

These days, stock market watchers are in search of two types of crosses: the death cross and the golden cross -- Wall Street jargon for indicators in the stock market that suggest its direction, up or down. This type of sign is especially important in a volatile market such as the one we're in now.

With managed care and the rising cost of running a medical practice continuing to eat away at physician incomes, it would be easy to assume that the gap between compensation in academic practices versus private practices would have narrowed. That assumption would be wrong. A recent survey shows compensation in academic practices continues to lag that of private practices.

Putting a tax strategy in place is essential for physicians given the massive federal deficits and an administration determined to repeal the Bush era tax cuts. Three specific tax strategies pertinent to doctors include redeeming stock in a medical practice, Roth IRA conversions, and charitable remainder trusts.

Forbes magazine counts down the "Worst Paying Jobs for Doctors" this week, and for many physicians in training the numbers are disquieting. The No. 1 worst-paying doctor job? No surprise here: Family practice, where physicians earned an average of $175,000 last year.

"Old Spice Guy," the mother of all viral media ad campaigns, has already sparked imitators, including a very clever -- and equally funny -- parody by student employees and video staff at Brigham Young University that uses humor to urge students to use the library.

Under new federal rules, copays, deductibles, and coinsurance payments will be eliminated preventive care, such as immunizations, blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol tests, certain cancer screenings, and counseling services for smoking, alcohol, depression, and obesity.

Online Ponzi schemes known as high-yield investment programs (HYIPs) that claim to offer returns of up to 100 percent or more -- per day -- are a growing threat to investors, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority warned this week.

Physicians routinely screen patients for a variety of physical ailments, but a recent pilot project is asking doctors to screen patients for evidence of financial fraud and to identify patients who might be at risk.

Although the negotiating aspect of selling a used car hasn't changed, the actual process is a whole different ballgame. It's worth exploring how to approach a used-car sale, because those of you who figure the benefits of a dealer trade-in outweigh the hassles of selling a car yourself are paying dearly for the privilege.

The biggest healthcare-recruiting challenge is finding, screening and qualifying the best candidates in a sea of applicants, and then attracting the right people. Some steps to take your recruiting approach to the next level.

It's tempting to ignore a minor car accident, rather than face the premium hikes that may follow if you tell your auto-insurance company. But there are risks to not reporting an accident -- here are some considerations.