Now available A practical prescription for life in medicine Explore the book
THE BOOK MEDICAL SCHOOL DIDN'T ASSIGN

Build a medical career that works for your life.

You learned how to care for patients. What about choosing a career, managing money, understanding risk, and making room for everything else?

The New Physician's Handbook is a practical guide to the decisions that shape a physician's career—and the life outside it.

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By Stuart C. King, MD, MBA Published 2026
Front cover of The New Physician's Handbook by Stuart C. King, featuring a stethoscope on a textured white background.
YOUR CAREER.YOUR TERMS.
INDEPENDENT EDITORIAL REVIEW OCTOBER 2026

“Exceptionally well written”

Midwest Book Review recommends The New Physician's Handbook for aspiring and practicing physicians, as well as medical and university libraries, noting that it “should be required reading” for those entering the medical profession.

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THE UNWRITTEN CURRICULUM

Medicine prepares you to save lives.
It doesn't always prepare you to live yours.

Clinical training is rigorous. The education around careers, contracts, malpractice, financial decisions, and work-life boundaries is often far less structured. That gap can become costly—in more ways than one.

01 / CAREER

Choose with perspective.

Look beyond prestige and training to the practical realities of specialty, schedule, and professional fit.

02 / FINANCES

Understand the economics.

Know how money moves through medicine—and the financial decisions that matter along the way.

03 / LIFE

Protect what matters.

Set boundaries and define success in a way that leaves room for health, relationships, and fulfillment.

INSIDE THE BOOK

The questions that don't appear on the medical boards.

No formulas for an easy career. No grand promises. Just a candid look at decisions every physician will face.

A medical career should support a fulfilling life—not replace one.
THE GUIDING IDEA BEHIND THE BOOK
01

Choosing a specialty

Training demands, compensation, call schedules, and the long view of professional satisfaction.

02

Making sense of healthcare money

How economics shape physician careers, and why financial literacy changes your options.

03

Understanding malpractice risk

Liability, insurance decisions, tail coverage, and avoiding preventable surprises.

04

Recognizing the limits of bandwidth

Burnout, boundaries, and maintaining the capacity to care well—for patients and yourself.

05

Defining your own version of success

Aligning professional ambition with relationships, personal priorities, and long-term freedom.

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WHO IT'S FOR

For every stage
of the journey.

Wherever you are in medicine, the choices outside the exam room deserve as much attention as the work inside it.

01

Medical students

Approach specialty selection and early career choices with a clearer understanding of the road ahead.

BEFORE THE FIRST CONTRACT
02

Residents & fellows

Make sense of compensation, employment options, financial obligations, and the transition to practice.

AS YOUR OPTIONS EXPAND
03

Practicing physicians

Reassess boundaries, professional risk, financial goals, and what a sustainable career looks like now.

AT EVERY CAREER CROSSROAD
Author Stuart C. King, MD, MBA, smiling in a suit and glasses.
THE AUTHOR

MEET THE AUTHOR

Experience from both sides of the table.

Stuart C. King, MD, MBA

Stuart C. King is a board-certified physician whose career has spanned more than three decades in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and academic leadership.

His work has included private practice, medical education, and service on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Those experiences shaped his perspective on the business of medicine, the personal costs of professional decisions, and what it means to build a career on your own terms.

Now retired from full-time practice, he wrote The New Physician's Handbook to share practical lessons he believes physicians deserve to learn earlier.

Connect with Stuart on LinkedIn

FOR MEDICAL SCHOOLS & RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

Bring the conversation into training.

The business and personal realities of medicine deserve a place alongside clinical education. Considering the book for medical students, an incoming resident class, or a physician development program?

Discuss program use

A FEW DETAILS

Good questions.
Straight answers.

Useful information before you decide whether this belongs on your bookshelf.

Is this a medical textbook?

No. It focuses on the decisions outside clinical training: career planning, healthcare economics, malpractice risk, financial choices, boundaries, and personal fulfillment.

Who should read it?

Medical students, residents, fellows, and practicing physicians who want more perspective on the career and life decisions that accompany practicing medicine.

Is it available in print?

Paperback and hardcover editions are listed by booksellers. Format and inventory options can vary by retailer; the Amazon link is the easiest place to check the current choices.

How can a training program get in touch?

Use the LinkedIn contact link above to inquire about group adoption or opportunities for a conversation with the author.

THE NEW PHYSICIAN'S HANDBOOK

You worked hard to become a physician.
Make the career work for you.

A practical prescription for medical, financial, and personal fulfillment.

Find the book on Amazon By Stuart C. King, MD, MBA