Physicians in the Startup World

This week had the privilege of attending the health.tech 2024 conference in Münich. As a physician-entrepreneur myself, I was impressed by how many of my fellow MDs have left clinical practice to pursue opportunities in the financial industry or to launch their own healthtech startups.

Many sources have noted the trend, which began well before COVID. Between pitches, I conducted an informal poll of some of these physicians on their top reasons for leaving medicine. A few common themes emerged:

• Frustration with the inefficiencies plaguing our current healthcare system (it seems no healthcare system has it quite right yet)
• Burnout from long hours and demanding schedules with limited work-life balance, particularly after COVID
• Administrative burden - as one doc put it, "I didn't go to medical school to be a data processor for the EMR"
• "Work out of work" - many complained about excessive "pajama time" spent entering patient notes from home after a long day of seeing patients
• Less and less time for meaningful patient interaction and delivering hands-on care, as protocols expand and patient volumes increase, limiting the "art of medicine"
• For those who started their own companies, the opportunity to be an innovator in an exciting field they are personally passionate about
• Several intimated that their move to the financial sector was also a way to earn a competitive salary commensurate with their expertise, complaining that practicing medicine in many healthcare systems is not sufficiently rewarded

Despite the growing concerns about a growing shortage of physicians, I'm encouraged to see so many medical minds applying their talents to improving our healthcare systems through technology and innovation. I'd be curious to hear from you if you have left medical practice for entrepreneurship - what drove your decision?

#healthtech #healthcareinnovation #pharma #diagnostics #medicaldevices

More resources:

https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/sustainability/40-doctors-eye-exits-what-can-organizations-do-keep-them

https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/the-consequences-of-administrative-burdens-doctors-in-private-practice-continues-to-dwindle

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3558904/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/reason-why-doctors-leaving-permanent-practice-xeg3c