Non Clinical Careers [Part 3]: Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship for Clinicians
Have you ever thought there might be more to a career in medicine than clinical practice? If so, you are not alone in seeking a nonclinical career.
In the first two articles in this series of ours, we discuss teaching, writing, speaking, sales, and market research panels as ways of earning non-clinical income.
Today, we'll explore entrepreneurship for clinicians as a non clinical career option.
Healthcare Professionals Leaving Clinical Practice
Why would a clinician choose to leave the bedside (or, let's be honest, the EMR-side)?
A healthcare professional might feel like leaving clinical practice for any number of reasons. A desire to do something different. Burnout. Maybe it turns out medicine just wasn't for you. There are as many reasons are there are clinicians. Moreover, these are all good reasons, and we should support, rather than judge, our colleagues when they make this decision.
Many healthcare professionals who want to leave medicine feel they can't. Many are under the mistaken impression that their skills are not transferable beyond their clinical role. Some clinicians think they are not cut out for entrepreneurship.
However, this cannot be farther from the truth. At its core, business is about solving a problem. Our jobs as clinicians are, at their core, about solving a problem. And as we all know, there are an abundance of problems in the healthcare system.
Therefore, this translates into opportunities for entrepreneurial clinicians who want to make the system a better place for everyone, including themselves.
Once you've made the decision to leave medicine, you need to create your exit strategy. How does one do transition into a nonclinical career?
Physician Entrepreneurs
Physicians are often inherently entrepreneurial. Before the days of giant healthcare systems, most physicians were in business for themselves and answered only to their patients. Depending on who you ask, these were the ‘good old days' of medicine.
Despite these days being so good, and for reasons beyond our comprehension, healthcare was infiltrated with folks with no clinical training. It has been tolerated for a long time, but many healthcare professionals have just about had it.
Thus, we have seen a recent uptick in entrepreneurial ventures and calls from physicians and other healthcare professionals in response. So much so, in fact, that physician entrepreneurship is downright mainstream now.
The aptly named Society of Physician Entrepreneurs is one organization dedicated to physician and other healthcare professional entrepreneurs, with several state-level chapters across the US.
Furthermore, the American Medical Association launched its Physician Innovation Network in 2017 to connect physicians with digital health companies and other entrepreneurs.
With all these exciting developments, here are some physician entrepreneurs you will want to know.
1. Medical Education
2. Non Clinical Career Facilitation
Derek DuBois – DOC Jobs
Sylvie Stacy – Look for Zebras
John Jurica – Physician Non Clinical Careers Podcast
PA & NP Entrepreneurs
Physicians aren't the only ones in healthcare who have gone on to start successful businesses. The drive is just as strong among today's PA and NP entrepreneurs. Here are a few.
1. Medical Writing
Churchill Medical Communications is a boutique medical communications agency offering a variety of services. Founded by Frank Rodino, PA, this firm specializes in medical writing and outcomes research.
Their outcomes research takes everything that extra step further. In fact, that is one of their many attributes setting them apart from the competition.
Medical writing is a lucrative, and therefore, popular non-clinical option for good reason.
Learn more about getting into this industry yourself here.
2. Medical Publishing
Several clinicians have made a habit out of sharing their knowledge with the world. A select few have managed to turn it into a (quite helpful) business. Here are a couple:
Bob Blumm and Roberto Kusminsky
More to come…
3. Correctional Medicine
Conmed Healthcare Management provides correctional healthcare services to county and municipal detention centers. It was founded by Ron Grubman, a New York PA.
Business Ideas for the Entrepreneurial Nurse Practitioner, PA, Physician, Pharmacist, etc...
Build an app, even if you don't have coding skills. What apps do you wish existed? Why wait for someone else to build it? And if you need help with content, we're here to help.
Create an online course that showcases your expertise and sells.
Start a revenue-generating website. If you don't have any experience, here's how to launch a website in a weekend.
Learn some basic business skills in a weekend and open a Direct Primary Care (DPC) practice. But, you know, take your time before investing huge sums of money.
Get started in Telemedicine so you can work from home and continue to practice.
Use your skills to become a freelancer and earn money in your spare time.
Resources for Clinician Entrepreneurs
Because we know you are all about increasing your level of knowledge, we put together some helpful resources here.
Learn about easing into a nonclinical role with medical-legal consulting.
There is an organization called SEAK that has a guidebook on all the non-clinical careers you could imagine. It was written for physicians, but in my view, can apply to all healthcare professionals.
Lastly, because we knew you'd ask, you can take a course on entrepreneurship to learn more. Here's one from the Wharton School of Business you can take online.
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Further Reading
A Quandary: Is it Telemedicine or Telehealth?
I sincerely hope that it will not require knowledge of Quantum theory to establish a differentiation between telemedicine and telehealth
Burnout and Entrepreneurship in Medicine
Last Updated: 27 December 2018 This post contains affiliate links. That means we may earn a commission (at no extra
