Hospitals

Are doctors fit to be good entrepreneurs?

Many physicians are exploring new, different business opportunities by stepping into the entrepreneurial arena. While […]

Many physicians are exploring new, different business opportunities by stepping into the entrepreneurial arena. While they offer a very specific and dynamic perspective clinically, the transition might not be as easy as one might think.

Arlen Meyers, Co-Founder, President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, shared his point of view on the subject recently in a blog post titled “Don’t Throw Away Your White Coat.” While he clearly has a strong association with the transition, he does find that there are some distinctions concerning why this isn’t always a good idea.

Here are his ten reasons why the doctor turn entrepreneur might have some additional challenges (beyond the usual hurdles anyone comes across in the world of startups).

1. Most doctors don’t have an entrepreneurial mindset.

2. Doctors are trained to be risk averse.

3. Doctors are more interested in being problem solvers than problem seekers.

4. Doctors tend to be unidimentional, unwilling to expand their networks beyond an inner circle.

5. The culture of academic medicine, where almost all doctors are trained, tends to be anti-entrepreneurial and sees “money as dirty”

6. The ethics of medicine frequently are at odds with the perceived ethics of business.

7. While things are changing, most doctors are independently minded and not team players.

8. Some are “know it alls” who are not receptive to new ideas

9. Doctors spend a lot of time, money and effort becoming doctors. The opportunity costs or leaving clinical medicine to pursue an entrepreneurial venture is high.

10. The cost to society of losing a clinician at a time when there is a predicted doctors shortage is high.

Some of these points are vague, but in general they seem to be well thought out. Everyone is different, and some physicians surely have a real grasp on business. In fact, some physicians might even be better suited for business than practicing medicine. But maybe clinical training can detrimentally affect the way a person approaches the entrepreneurial environment. Worth considering and evaluating before taking off the white coat, indeed.

 

 

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