Time management and splitting resources between personal and professional responsibilities is a balancing act for many physicians.
Organization, management and communication of schedules is crucial for surgeons to be available for both patients as well as their families.
Nicole Montero Lopez, MD, who is chief of orthopedic hand surgery at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., recently connected with Becker’s to share how she tackled her biggest challenge.
Ask Orthopedic Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to orthopedic surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting orthopedic care. Becker’s invites all orthopedic surgeon and specialist responses.
Next question: What has been your biggest win of 2025?
Please send responses to Cameron Cortigiano at ccortigiano@beckershealthcare.com by 5 p.m. CST on Dec. 29.
Editor’s note: This response has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What was your toughest challenge this year, and how did you overcome it?
Dr. Nicole Montero Lopez: This year brought tremendous growth in my career. With growth in one department comes the balance of how to reallocate time. I have a phenomenal husband and two amazing daughters, and I also have the benefit of having a thriving career as a hand surgeon. Learning how to manage the reallocation of time that was required this year was my greatest challenge.
We never compromise on patient care, but energy is a finite resource. My family is a gift that I treasure and want to be an active participant in. Unfortunately, there are times when I cannot be there for things because of work demands. Learning how to manage my schedule so that I could prioritize both family and work commitments took trial and error and a lot of discussion with my support system, namely my husband.
I am also very open with my staff about why I may need to shuffle my schedule at times in order to be available for my family. My daughters are often disappointed when I am not available for all their activities, especially when I am on call, but I tell them how I am choosing to miss something like a practice dance session so that I can be at their competitions and recitals.
Communication and careful organization/management of my schedule were really the two things I learned the most in 2025 and have helped curb the challenge of not being able to be present everywhere all at once.
