The Life of a Practice Manager

18/02/2026

How many hats do you wear? 🎩

I don’t have a job.
I have a costume change.

In one morning I’ve been:

👩‍💼 Practice Manager
📊 Accountant (but without accountant pay)
📋 HR Manager
🩺 Compliance Officer
📞 Complaints Department
💻 “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” IT Support
📢 Marketing Team
🧯 Crisis Manager
🧠 Therapist
☕ Barista
📦 Delivery coordinator
📅 Appointment Tetris Champion

And that’s before 10am.

Some days I feel like LinkedIn says:
“Be strategic.”

Meanwhile I’m unclogging a printer, chasing unpaid invoices, explaining Medicare item numbers, and mediating a disagreement about who took the last yoghurt from the staff fridge.

Corporate:
“That’s outside my scope.”

General Practice:
“That’s me. I’m the scope.”

And then I go home and unlock the bonus level:
🏠 Mum
💍 Wife
🛒 Chief Grocery Negotiator
🧺 Laundry Operations Director

Honestly, if there was an Olympic event for multitasking, Practice Managers would podium.

So tell me…

How many hats are you wearing today?
And which one is currently on fire? 🔥😂

07/02/2026

Check on your Practice Manager 🚨

Behind every “smooth running clinic” is a PM who has:

📞 answered 83 calls
📅 rebuilt the roster twice
💸 fixed 6 billing mistakes
😤 handled one complaint, one meltdown, one “urgent script”
🧠 solved problems nobody else even noticed
☕ reheated the same coffee 4 times
🐶 and still said “all good!”

All before lunch.

We’re not managers.
We’re basically air traffic control for healthcare.

If you see a Practice Manager smiling…
just know there’s probably:
• 47 tabs open
• 3 compliance deadlines
• a doctor asking “quick question”
• and Cubiko judging us quietly in the background 😂

Honestly?
If PMs stopped for one day…
the whole building would collapse.

So here’s your reminder:

👉 Tag a Practice Manager who deserves a medal (or a week off).

You’re not “just admin.”
You’re the reason the clinic survives.

06/02/2026

Things people think Practice Managers do on Fridays:
• finish early
• plan next week
• “wind down”
• maybe leave at 4pm

Cute.

Things we actually do:
• fix 17 problems that magically appeared at 4:52pm
• chase unpaid invoices from 2021
• redo the roster (for the 6th time)
• manage a staff meltdown in the tea room
• explain Medicare like we’re teaching a masterclass
• handle “I just need something quick” (it’s never quick)
• reset 12 passwords
• process payroll
• stop a complaint becoming a lawsuit
• play IT support
• play therapist
• cancel lunch
• google “how to buy a farm and disappear”

All before 3pm.

But yeah…
“just admin” 😂

Meanwhile it’s 5:58pm and I’m refreshing Cubiko + Best Practice like it’s the stock market trying to make the numbers behave.

The doctors have gone home.
The lights are off.
And I’m still here arguing with Medicare.

Welcome to Friday in General Practice.

If you know, you know.

👉 Come sit with us at Skool — where all the exhausted, slightly unhinged Practice Managers hang out together. https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

A supportive space for practice managers and healthcare leaders to get tools, clarity, confidence, and real-world support.

05/02/2026

Things I say as a Practice Manager that make ZERO sense outside healthcare

Me, 8:32am:
“Who put the vaccines in the sandwich fridge?!”

Me, 9:10am:
“No, we can’t bulk bill your cosmetic consult.”

Me, 9:42am:
“Yes, the doctor needs an appointment to give you a script.”

Me, 10:15am:
“No, we can’t backdate Medicare.”

Me, 10:47am:
“No, we don’t have your results because pathology isn’t psychic.”

Me, 11:03am:
“Please stop yelling at my 19-year-old receptionist. She doesn’t control Medicare.”

Me, 12:26pm (still no lunch):
“Why are there THREE ‘urgent’ meetings about the same thing?”

Me, 1:55pm:
“Who changed the billing again?!”

Me, 2:40pm:
“No, we can’t squeeze you in ‘for something quick’… quick is never quick.”

Me, 3:10pm:
“Yes, we have policies.”
“No, no one reads them.”

Me, 4:30pm:
“I’m just going to finish ONE thing before I leave…”
(finishes nothing)

Me, 5:58pm walking to the car:
“I should’ve been a florist.”

If this sounds like your day, welcome to the club 😂

Come suffer — I mean network — with us:
👉 The Life of a Practice Manager

https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

04/02/2026

Things people think Practice Managers do:
• answer phones
• order stationery

Things we actually do:
• stop lawsuits
• manage doctors’ egos
• decode Medicare
• handle staff drama
• calm angry patients
• negotiate leases
• fix IT
• recruit
• payroll
• compliance
• accreditation
• cry in the car (sometimes)

All before lunch.

But yeah… “just admin” 😂

If you’ve ever wanted to quit at 9:07am but stayed because the practice would literally collapse without you… this post is for you.

Welcome to the club.

If you know, you know.

And if you’re tired of feeling like you’re the only one dealing with this chaos…

Come sit with us.

I built a space just for Practice Managers to share workflows, templates, rants, wins, and real-life support (not corporate fluff).

👉 Join us here:
https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

You don’t have to do this job alone 🤍

03/02/2026

Not every difficult team member is reception.

Sometimes… it’s the doctor.

The one who ignores processes.
Dismisses policies.
Rolls their eyes at systems.
And leaves everyone else cleaning up the chaos.

This one nearly broke me as a PM.

I shared the full story inside the community.

If you’ve ever managed someone who thought the rules didn’t apply to them…

You’ll feel this in your soul.

Read it here 👇

https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

02/02/2026

This morning I pulled into the practice car park…

Turned the engine off.

Looked at the building.

And genuinely thought:

“What if I just… don’t?”

Like not sick.
Not annual leave.
Not dramatic.

Just quietly reverse the car
and disappear into the sunrise like a retired cowboy.

No staff dramas.
No doctor “quick chats.”
No patients yelling about fees.
No compliance emails.
No 47 unread “URGENT” messages that are absolutely not urgent.

Just me.
Driving off.
Starting a new life somewhere as a barista with zero responsibility.

Because tell me why being a Practice Manager feels like:

• therapist
• accountant
• HR
• IT
• complaint department
• punching bag
• and emotional support human

All before 9:12am.

And somehow…

When anything goes wrong?

“Where’s the PM?”

Oh I don’t know ….. probably under the desk questioning her life choices.

Some days the burnout hits so hard you don’t need a holiday.

You need a personality transplant and a small island.

But here’s the toxic trait…

We still walk in.

Unlock the doors.
Smile at everyone.
Fix everything.
Save the day.

Like absolute clowns with leadership skills

Because apparently we care too much.

So if you’ve ever sat in your car thinking:

“If I drive away right now they’ll figure it out… right??”

Congratulations.

You’re a real Practice Manager.

Drop a 🚗 if you’ve had a “drive away and start a new life” moment this year.

Misery loves company 😂

Join us ⬇️

https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

A supportive space for practice managers and healthcare leaders to get tools, clarity, confidence, and real-world support.

30/01/2026

I don’t care what the research says.
Healthcare people know.

Full moon = chaos.

Every. Single. Time.

More walk-ins.
More “urgent” scripts at 4:59pm.
More patients crying at the desk.
More doctors running late.
More staff snapping.
More “the system just crashed” energy.

And somehow…

• 3 staff call in sick
• Medicare rejects everything
• The printer dies
• And someone wants FIVE referrals for the same issue

All before lunch.

Science says there’s “no correlation.”

Cool.

Explain why every Practice Manager in Australia quietly checks the moon calendar when the day goes feral.

We don’t need astrology.

We have lived experience.

If you work in healthcare and today feels cursed…

Just look up 🌕

It’s probably glowing at you.

Tell me I’m wrong.

27/01/2026

If Practice Managers vanished for 48 hours, most clinics wouldn’t just struggle. They’d descend into absolute chaos.

No Medicare claims.
No rosters.
No idea who’s working.
No idea how much money is coming in.
No idea why the internet is down.
No idea why everyone is angry.

Just vibes. And panic. And doctors asking,
“Can you just fix it?”

We are:

• The human firewall
• The emotional punching bag
• The walking policy manual
• The crisis containment unit
• The reason the doors are still open

We stop:
• Staff wars
• Doctor wars
• Patient wars
• And occasionally actual legal disasters

And yet somehow we’re still:
“Just admin.”
“Overhead.”
“Not clinical.”

Let’s be honest:

A scary number of practices are one Practice Manager resignation away from absolute operational collapse.

👀 Your turn:

👉 What’s the ONE thing that would immediately catch fire if you took a week off?

And if you’re a PM who’s tired of holding everything together alone…

👉 Come join us inside the Life of a Practice Manager Skool community.
Real PMs. Real systems. Real talk. No corporate fluff.

https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

A supportive space for practice managers and healthcare leaders to get tools, clarity, confidence, and real-world support.

25/01/2026

In 36 hours, I’m posting one of the wildest PM Real Stories yet.

The kind of staff member who:
• plays everyone against each other
• poisons the culture
• steals money
• and somehow keeps management on their side

This story nearly destroyed a whole practice.

And yes — it’s 100% real.

🔥 Full story drops in Skool.

If you’re not in there, you won’t see it:

👉 https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

21/01/2026

Some days in general practice don’t end when you go home.

Some days in practice management don’t just exhaust you.
They sit in your chest.
They follow you home.
They steal your sleep.

You carry:
• patients
• staff
• doctors
• complaints
• systems
• pressure
• responsibility
• and everyone else’s emotions

And no one teaches you what to do with that load.

So I built something different inside The Life of a Practice Manager.

Not a course.
Not theory.
A real support space for when the day is too heavy.

Inside the new “Before You Burn Out” section you’ll find things like:

🫁 3-Minute Reset Between Appointments
🧠 How to Discharge a Bad Interaction
📱 The Bad Day Protocol
🪑 Grounding After Conflict or Aggression
🛑 How to Stop Taking Work Home in Your Head

This is nervous-system first aid for Practice Managers.

If you’ve ever:
• cried in your car
• gone home exhausted but wired
• felt emotionally full but still had to keep going
• or thought “I can’t keep doing this forever like this”

This space is for you.

Join us today!

https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

20/01/2026

Real PM Stories — #2

Thrown Under the Bus

(Shared anonymously, posted with permission)

I knew something was wrong the moment I walked into the meeting room.

No small talk. No “how’s your morning?” No eye contact. The room felt rehearsed.

They started with words like culture, alignment, communication. Long sentences that meant nothing and everything at the same time.

Then someone said:

“There have been some concerns raised by staff.”

My stomach dropped.

For more Real PM Stories (and the full versions), join us here:
https://www.skool.com/the-life-of-a-practice-manager-8877/about?ref=6723555814e8454cb3453fbcfbd1bd8a

This is where Practice Managers share the stories we don’t usually say out loud.

A supportive space for practice managers and healthcare leaders to get tools, clarity, confidence, and real-world support.