Like so many of your colleagues, you might be looking for a non-clinical job to supplement or replace your clinical one. But, what are the steps you need to take to get one? Do you really need an MBA? How do you get paid? Where and how do you find these gigs?
If you are thinking about advising, consulting or assuming a medical director or officer role for a sickcare company or being on a board of directors, here are the steps to follow to decide whether it's a go or no-go:
- Follow the 6Rs of physician career transitioning
. Go to CMO School.
- Pick your E-spot i.e. and industry and segment where you want to play
- Build your personal brand to attract and find offers
- Determine whether the product the company is making is marketable,
that there is an attractive and large enough target market, and that the company makes something that is unique and differentiated
- Decide whether the company has a VAST business model
that either needs to be or has been validated
- Assess whether the leadership team can deliver. John Mullins, in his book "The New Business Road Test"
, describes three domains: 1) Does the opportunity fit the team's business mission, personal aspirations and risk propensity, 2) does the team have the industry know-how and experience to achieve the next critical success factors, and 3) is the team well connected up, down and across the specific industry value chain?
- Negotiate the terms and conditions of your potential engagement.
What are the costs to you in terms of time and effort and what are the tangible and intangible benefits?
- Make a go or no-go decision
- Once you get a job, have a plan for what to do next
- Since most of these jobs are time limited, wash, rinse, repeat and ladder your portfolio
Be sure you have a short, intermediate and long term career development strategy.
Take advantage of the time value of experience. Sometime you work to learn and other times you work to earn or both.
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs
