My Research
EQ: How do doctors start their own medical practice's, and are there any special steps that need to be taken?
I selected this as my question, because I want to become a dermatologist and eventually own my own practice. Skin care became a passion of mine when I had to make my first trip to the dermatologist in the sixth grade for my battle with acne. Ever since then I have been researching and looking into factors that affect acne. However, I can learn more about the topic in medical school, but what I need to know is what goes into opening a medical practice. I know much more goes into opening a practice then just finding an office and becoming a doctor. What excites me most about the answer is that it will help me be more successful in the future by knowing what needs to be done in order for me to fully operate my own practice. Most doctors do not acquire any sort of business knowledge when in school, that's why I want to learn as much as I can about it before beginning my journey towards a doctorate.
I know that when going through medical school there are no business classes that prepare you for opening your own practice. Many doctors struggle when beginning to open their own business, and if they’re like me and wanting to reach their fullest potential then opening a practice is the next step. I am assuming that there are many laws and regulations regarding opening up a facility that will provide medical services. I also assume there are many decisions to be made regarding the equipment that will be used for the office.
I began my research in a database called galileo, which is where I was able to collect all my information. When looking for my information, I not only looked into specifically opening a medical practice, but I looked into opening any sort of business to see different opinions on what is the most important factor. The research that was specific to medical business speaked more of the equipment rather than the business fundamentals that others talked about. For the most part, all the articles were very similar and spoke of the same qualities in a business. By conducting an interview with my mentor I was able to gain another perspective on what is most important when owning and operating your own business, and I found her views to be similar to the other views I found when researching. The graphic organizers helped me to analyze each source and decipher whether or not it was relevant to my research. Many of the writers of the articles I chose had a PhD which added to validity of the article. An important factor was that the article was written within the past 10 years to be sure that it was up-to-date especially since I was looking into medical laws and regulations. All my sources showed to be valid and reliable, and also proved to have answer to my essential question.
I was pleasantly surprised with my research findings, because they seemed to be very close to the assumptions I had made. Opening a medical practice is very similar to opening any sort of business in many ways. From my interview with my mentor I learned that customer service can be a very important factor when trying to successfully operate and grow a business. If a customer felt well treated then they are more likely to return and to recommend the business to their friends. Another important factor that comes with opening any business is location, and how to choose it. Many of the articles spoke of offices that were in a highly visible, heavily trafficked area doing well just by being visible. Although a office can gain patients just by being visible, it can also gain patients by coming up with an marketing strategy. In my mentorship I was able to practice this and one of my campaigns was actually put into place. A popular marketing strategy for medical practices is often times getting involved in the community, and making introductions. When people feel like they know you or you know them, that is when they will trust you to be their doctor. There will be times when you have to say “no,” because it can be tempting to grant favors, but you must stay consistent with your policies. Getting a malpractice insurance is very important to medical offices as well, because having good rated insurance is important for your protection. Also for your protection, you should hire a good attorney, and that goes for any business dealing with contracts. Having an attorney can also help you to know the rules and stay up to code. Overall, there are many factors that go into opening your own medical practice and it is not something that is taught in medical school, which is why it’s good to learn about it and start thinking about it now.