Thriving in Urology: Dr. Kaplan on how he divides clinical and nonclinical time

“Thriving in Urology” is a new video series hosted by urologist Amy M. Pearlman, MD, of the Prime Institute in Coral Gables, Florida. Each video will contain conversations on combating burnout by cultivating balance within one's work life. In this installment, Pearlman speaks with Steven A. Kaplan, MD, a professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine and director of the Men’s Wellness Program at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, about what a typical week is like for him.

Transcription:

Pearlman: Is there a typical week for you, or is every week a little bit different?

Kaplan: The past couple of months has been a little weird because of the AUA annual meeting and the EAU Congress. In general, I work 3 days a week, 3 weeks a month. On Monday, I'm seeing patients. Tuesday, I do procedures in the office in the morning, and then see patients in the afternoon. And Wednesday is my surgical day. I'm also the chair of research for the AUA, so on Thursday I have lot of those meetings; it's interspersed. I have a lot of my business meetings then. Friday is more of catching up on some of this stuff, but it's interspersed. Right now, I'm in Florida, and I've had a combination of video visits, financial meetings, speaking to Wall Street, speaking to a regulatory group because our new product that we're going to be launching is a medication. I just got off the phone with our team meeting for another company I founded for men's health. That's just this week. Next week, I'm more back in the office, but the first 3 days are more similar, and then the other days, I'll be meeting with the SEC and getting their feedback on the company. It's not like every Thursday and Friday are the same. And the week that I'm away, sometimes I'll be on vacation and really "go away." Unfortunately, you're never "away," because it's very hard for me to be away. But it's different. It's the creating of things for me that drives me. Even my wife tells me, "You are most happy when you're creating new things."

Pearlman: What do a typical Saturday and Sunday look like for you?

Kaplan: I do a lot of family stuff. I'm a cyclist, so I like cycling. People ask me to play golf. I used to play more golf. I just don't have the bandwidth right now. I mean, I can hack a ball and I won't kill anybody, but sometimes I'll miss, which is fine. In the fall, on Sundays, I'm going to be at the Jets game because we have season tickets. I travel a lot, so that's fun, and it's busy. I'm most anxious when I'm doing nothing. I love pandemonium. I love when things are busy, that's when I'm most calm. I'm very calm when people are nervous. It's weird. It's just settling things down, and maybe my obsessive-compulsive nature of having everything neat, I like to put order to things. This weekend is one of my granddaughter's birthday parties, so I'll meet family there and some friends. So it kind of varies, but I make sure to have downtime. It's not always a business thing. I'm not that obsessed with it; I try toseparate things. But I think it's going to be harder and harder for me to be clinical, frankly, because there are just so many things. The AUA has asked me to build out this Innovation Nexus, so folks like you, the next generation of smart people, can create new things. That will take some of my time. And what I don't want to do is do things half assed, frankly. I think that creates angst. If I can't really deliver when I'm there 100% of myself, I don't want to do that. I think that's the next step. And I've already done it. I'm kind-of sort-of part time-ish, but maybe give up the clinical care and just focus on teaching in medical school, so stuff like that. There's no manual. I've spoken to people older than me. I've spoken to people younger than me. There's no "right" way. Everybody's got to figure it out for themselves, and that's okay. I don't think that there's a problem with that. I do know that I don't want to be the doddering old person sitting in grand rounds...I'm not going be that person. Joe DiMaggio, the great player for the Yankees many, many years ago retired at the top of his game. He was the Lebron of his age. People asked him, "why, at a young age, did you retire?" And he said words to the effect of, "I'd rather leave a year too early than a year too late." And that's how I feel. I'd rather go out of my terms...as opposed to hanging on. I think that also creates angst for people, for themselves and for their families. We can't do this forever. I'm in the third period of my life. Hopefully, the game goes into overtime. I just want to enjoy my life, whatever's left of it, and do fun things.

This transcription was edited for clarity.