Getting Started as a Physician Entrepreneur

Medic-ALL (01-18-2016) FEATURED POST
By Arlen Myers MD, Edited by Kayode Kuku

Medicine and entrepreneurship are not two words you will commonly find in the same sentence, but whether we like it or not Medicine and Healthcare are essential fields of human existence and hence should call for "good business" for stakeholders. This featured post highlights tips that can make a successful Physician Entrepreneur out of most. 

Physician entrepreneurship has thankfully gone mainstream, to the benefit of patients, physician employers and other innovation stakeholders. While most physicians lack an entrepreneurial mindset, several are realizing their innerpreneur and want to take the next steps.But, like having a good idea, they don't know what to do next. Here are 10 tips that can help you on your journey:

1. Connections are Everything:  Connect to the right people and organizations in the nearest innovation ecosystem and begin to research potential areas of interest and opportunities. Seek partnerships at every stage of your career, they will come in handy in the future 

2. Build a Brand:  Start a personal branding campaign using social media and communication tools to make people aware of your interests and skills so they can find you. You have to be known for something. Doctors specialize for a reason 

3. Acquire Knowledge: Arm yourself with the education, resources, networks, mentors and experiential learning you will need to advance your entrepreneurial career

4. Be a Business-man: Set yourself up as a business entity and separate your personal finances from your business finances and activities

5.  Small Beginnings: Don't be scared to start right where you are. 

6. New ways: Seek new and more efficient ways.  There are many ways to practice physician entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship, so take a high level view. Create user defined values not companies.

7. Consult with networks:  Engage others who are like minded in your region to develop a community of interest. Talk to business schools, medical associations, economic development professionals,venture or angel networks,  industry associations or patient groups interested in advancing biomedical and clinical innovation and entrepreneurship

8. Mentoring: Those who have gone ahead and succeeded, do have a lot to share. Find a mentors or probable sponsors.

9. Learn the Ropes: There are always more brain cells to engage. Get as much business "clinical" experience as possible, realizing that the initials after your name really do not mean much. Start to come down off the mountain.

10. Pass it forward: Train others 

Don't expect everyone to welcome you with open arms. People WILL FEAR YOU OR HATE YOU.

So, may feel threatened , but as long as that little voice in your head whispering entrepreneurial sweet nothings seems to be getting louder and louder, take the next steps and enjoy the journey. With any luck, it will be a lengthy and successful one.


Edited by Kayode Kuku, MD,  CEO Medic-ALL blog 

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs at www.sopenet.org 

Medic-ALL Inc. 2016

Pioneering Surgery gives man world's first 'bionic' penis

Medic-ALL (08;26;2015) IN THE NEWS! From engadget

When Edinburgh, Scotland resident Mohammed Abad was six years old, he was involved in a horrific car accident. He was struck by a vehicle and then dragged nearly 600 feet (180 meters), tearing his tallywhacker (and left testicle) clean off. But thanks to advances in modern medicine, and a dedicated team at the University of London, Abad will soon have a bionic penis that puts Steve Austin's junk to shame.

The University of London team has spent more than three years crafting a new, 8-inch wang out of skin grafts culled from Abad's forearm and becomes erect by mechanically pumping fluid into it. This pump is activated by a button located near his remaining testicle. "When you want a bit of action you press the 'on' button," Abad told The Sun. "When you are finished you press another button. It takes seconds. Doctors have told me to keep practising." He'd already undergone two surgeries before the recent 11-hour marathon installation surgery. Doctors on the team report that the prosthesis should be sufficient for Abad to start a family, if he so chooses.

This marks the first time that such a device has been successfully implanted. However, in March, a 21-year-old South African man received the world's first natural penial transplant.

MedicALL. Inc

Choosing A Medical Specialty

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE LEAVING MEDICAL SCHOOL Episode II

Some medical students know exactly what kind of doctor they want to be long before applying or resuming medical school. For others, it takes years of lectures, coursework and clinical rotations for them to decide on what specialty they fancy the most. Even so, many more still have a hard time making up their minds long after graduation.

The decision could well prove to be a task! Asking one's self certain questions (starting with the questions in a first episode of the sequel ; "What You Must Know Before Leaving Med School") could help narrow down the choices.

The very first question to consider at this point involves your Personality.

1. What kind of Person am I?

Are you a people person? Do you genuinely enjoy listening to people? Are you interested in having a lot of patient contact? Or do you prefer as little as possible patient contact? There are certain specialties such as Family Medicine, Psychiatry and aspects of Internal Medicine offer a lot of patient contact while others like Radiology and Pathology offer less patient contact. You may also want to consider your personality type in terms of your love for routine or preference for variety as the case may be. You don't want to be bored in your choice of specialty!  SO IT BASICALLY STARTS WITH KNOWING YOURSELF!

The next 2 really important questions you want to consider have do with your Time.

2. How much Time do I want to have for myself and my family down the years? & How many years would I like to put into training?

These are really crucial questions that may well determine how happy you would be in your choice of specialty. Even though you would love to be the "Benjamin Carson" of your generation, the time it will take you to go through a Neurosurgical residency in any part of the world and practice as a Neurosurgeon is worth considering, especially if raising a family with a working wife (perhaps an equally ambitious medical graduate also considering a surgical residency!) is important to you. You definitely have to be clear on how much time you want to give to the profession. COUNT THE COSTS!..

Along the same line as the previous 2 points involves considering the sort of lifestyle you wish to have outside the hospital doors!

3.  What type of lifestyle do I want?...........

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL VERSION!!!!

National Doctor's Day! Lets Celebrate the Profession!

Medic-ALL (03:30:2015) PROFESSION

Its National Doctors Day today, the 30th of March in the U.S and there truly is a lot to celebrate about the profession that makes it absolutely necessary to have a day set aside Doctors to reflect on the evolution of medicine and appreciate the quality of physician care today.

Doctors have come a long way from the ancient healers they once were thousands of years ago. The profession has survived many transformations with the unfailing commitment to maintaining and improving human health.

The U.S. Senate and House officially declared March 30 as National Doctor’s Day in 1990, however, it’s been celebrated for decades longer, according to the National Doctor’s Day website. In 1933, Dr. Charles B. Almond’s wife Eudora recognized the dedication, discipline, and aptitude that was required of her husband and his colleagues every day in their practice.


The Wonders You Call Doctors

When you feel sick or in pain, whether it's the body or mind, you seek doctors to restore you back to health. Doctors improve the quality and length of life through helping to manage and defeat the many diseases and conditions that plague people all over the world. Doctors reassure and empathize with the "sickest" of patients and comfort those in the most broken conditions. It has to be one of the most difficult jobs anywhere in the world. 


There are challenges facing the world of medicine and particularly doctors today especially as It concerns certain medical conditions with no known cure, but such challenges can only demand more of medicine.It has taken thousands of years to accumulate the knowledgd doctors have today, and modern medicine will continue to improve and ensure a better living and healthier future. 

Ref:Medical Daily

The Reason Future Doctors are choosing Medicine have Changed

Medic-ALL (16:12:2014)

By an Anonymous American Medical Student

Why would anyone want to become a doctor?  Seriously.  Think about it, because this is a very important question for the future of healthcare in our country.

The future of medicine is somewhat unclear in this age of healthcare reform, but we do know a few things. Physician compensation is currently falling while lawsuits and malpractice premiums are rising.  Doctors must see many more patients in a day to maintain their salary, all while dealing with more paperwork in their limited time.  The hours are often long and the training is challenging.  Students must attend four years of medical school after college plus an extra three to seven years of residency depending on their chosen specialty.  So, why on earth would the best and the brightest young minds want to pursue a career in medicine, especially when they’ll be expected to pay in upwards of $200,000 for their education?

As a second year medical student I’m proud to report that the reasons our future doctors are choosing medicine have changed.  The decision is no longer made because of prestige or money, as it commonly was in the past.  Some of our nation’s best students are choosing medicine primarily because they care about others.   I’m not saying that older physicians don’t care about others, but they entered medicine under much different circumstances than what we face today.  Ask any pre-med student who’s shadowed a doctor and the majority will tell you that they were encouraged to choose a different career path.  There are plenty of kind and compassionate doctors out there, but there are also many who went into medicine for the money and recognition.  Personally, I was told that I should become a plumber, “because it pays better and medicine isn’t what it used to be.”

Yet, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the number of applicants to medical school has been steadily increasing for the past ten years, and students are choosing medicine despite all the challenges.  They see the challenges that our healthcare system faces and they’re excited to start working on solutions.  As of 2010, there were over 47,000 medical student members of the American Medical Association (AMA), showing their interest in shaping the future of healthcare policy.

So what does all this mean for the future of healthcare?  Overall, we’re going to see more and more doctors who are compassionate and who chose medicine for the right reasons.  These doctors will understand the challenges that are facing them and they will be prepared to fight for the interests of their patients, whether their opponent is an insurance company or a congressman.  That is why I’m optimistic about the future of healthcare.

Courtesy: Kevinmd

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE LEAVING MED SCHOOL!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - Hosea 4v6 (Bible)

How ironic is it that after spending nearly a decade in the fore walls of medical school, medical graduates leave school and yet remain bereft of information that are crucial to them succeeding in the real world.

The truth remains that there are as many reasons people enter into medical school to study medicine as there are to choose whether or not to practice the profession following graduation. 

Read on HERE

NEW!!!.Practising in Australia!!!

Why Not Australia... 

By Dr. Kayode Kuku

A vast majority of medical graduates from developing countries such as ours, these days, continue to seek opportunities for residency training abroad. While the United States , United Kingdom and Canada seem to be the choicest of locations amongst many, for reasons best summed up in their desire to follow the more familiar paths , a few have caught wind of the level of medical training in the equally organized and sophisticated , though relatively far continent of Oceania (the continent housing Australia and New Zealand).

Read more HERE

WELCOME TO MEDIC-ALL!

Hello! Dear Medical World, Medic-All Inc. Born today into the world of Medicine , but has being living in the mind of the blogger for years! So it's Hurray.

Medic-All seeks to create a platform for 1.Medical professionals all over the world to come together , interact and discuss topical issues that affect the profession and practice.

2. Networking amongst medical professionals including students and aspiring students! (Doctors are born not made)

3. Exchange of Information on Career options available to doctors and medical professionals at every level: including information on licensing examinations in the U.S, U.K , Canada, Australia.e.t.c , Masters programs, Research fellowships, Observerships, Externships, Internships , Electives .e.t.c

4. Medical Job opportunities everywhere and anywhere via our sole social network partner (MedJobs) and other facilities.

5. Ensuring every medical profession makes the best of the profession as well to ensure a terrain that is conducive and fulfilling for every stakeholder.

6.  Educating the public on medical conditions and sharing views and perspectives on pressing issues within the health sector.