Why you should not be a physician entrepreneur

Judging by the headlines on their LinkedIn profile and their presence on social media, more and more MD/DOs are innovators, coaches, entrepreneurs and non-clinical consultants. Many are starting or working with biomedical and clinical startups, including a group of medical school graduates, who don't do a residency or starting their own company.

Nurses, phamacists, advanced practice and public health professionals are also throwing their hats into the innovation and entrepreneurship ring. So are engineers.

A doctoral student in chemical and biological engineering took first place on April 10 in the University at Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC) for a patient-specific cell therapy that can be used as an alternative to a liver transplant.

Ogechi Ogoke, who is one of UB’s 2018-19 Western New York Prosperity Fellows, will receive $25,000 in startup capital and in-kind services valued at $27,000 for his company, Livandala.

The provisional patent process uses a patient’s own stem cells to repair and regenerate specific types of liver damage. In addition to eliminating the need for a liver donor, the therapy costs about $50,000—a fraction of the $800,000 a transplant would cost. It also takes far less time. In addition, the technology has the potential to provide faster recovery times for patients with chronic liver damage..

It also seems that some medical students and residents have the bug and are either not doing or dropping out of a residency to do something that is non-clinical. But, it's called physician entrepreneur for a reason

But:

1. They are not trained to do so
2. Entrepreneurship in the US has been in a downward spiral in the US for the past 40 years.
3. Most startups will fail
4. Most startups don't have money to pay people
5. There is an innovation bubble.
6. Job security is low
7. You have to deal with people who have?entrepreneurial psychopathologies?are simply untrustworthy.
8. Students loan burdens are rising
9. Many are not in it for the long run
10. There are unrealistic expectations on both the consultant/employee and employer side.
11. Most MD/MBA programs should be terminated
12. Innovation theater is pervasive.

What is physician entrepreneurship??Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity under volatile, uncertain, complex and ambibuous conditions (VUCA).. The goal of physician entrepreneurs, is to create user defined value through the deployment of innovation?using a VAST business model?to accomplish?the quintuple aim.?There are?many ways to do that other than creating a company.

Are doctors wasting their time on entrepreneurship?

Here are some reasons why you should think twice about being a physician entrepreneur:

1. You are not ready to innovate
2. You do not have the courage to innovate
3. You do not have the mindset to innovate
4. You think that your clinical mindset and your medical degree and training is enough to succeed
5. You are not in a financial position to take the risk
6. You are doing it to get away from someone of some job instead of towards something that is a better fit
7. You do not have a career transition strategy
8. You or your family are not willing to pay the price of successive failure
9. You are unwilling to come down off the mountain
10. It's not personal
11. You are not ready to quit your day job
12. If you decide to create a company, or work for one, making money for the company is not that important to you.
13. You don't have the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies to add value to a business
14. You don't have entrepreneurial DNA
15. You don't have a big enough network or how to manage it?as part of?building your personal brand
16. You don't know how to sell things
17. You are a problem solver, not a problem seeker.
18. You grew up in a culture of conformity, not creativity
19. You don't know how to herd cats
20. You don't know how to be a compensated connector
21. Your personal finances are a mess
22. Your spouse or partner in not supportive
23. You are not a good communicator
24. You haven't considered the downside of entrepreneurship by necessity
25. You think getting an MBA is enough

Here are some more considerations before making a career transition.

Think twice about telling someone to take your white coat and shove it.?You will save yourself and lots of other people heartburn and other people's time, effort, and money.

Arlen Meyers, MD. MBA is the President and CEO of the?Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship