Part 3 "The Path to Corporate"

After deep reflection it was clear that I desired a career in corporate America. I recalled an email exchange during my time in medical school with Ross Jaffe after I sent him a cold inquiry about his career path. His feedback stuck with me throughout the years and helped shape the career I have today. 10 years later I had my ah-ha moment and decided to make the transition. However, as most of us know, the path from clinical medicine to corporate America is not a linear one. Before we discuss how to begin the transition I want to share they why and the what.

Why admin and/or corporate:

1. Continual growth, learning and development (climb the ladder)
2. Ability to work across several departments and collaborate with individuals of various backgrounds
3. Macro and system wide impact to positively impact care for patients and healthcare providers
4. Improved compensation (this varies greatly on what you do and your current specialty but generally speaking most providers salaries remain stagnant maybe increasing with inflation)

What are some non-clinical roles

1. Hospital Administration
2. Provider mgmt.
3. Entrepreneurship
4. Investing: Equity research, PE, VC
5. Payer
6. Pharma
7. CMO or data analytics role

I am sure there are additional roles but the list above is a good example of the various career paths one could take.

Next steps

1. Share your goals: It is tempting to go about this road on your own. Sharing your desire to change your career requires a degree of vulnerability and humility. The risk of failure is high. Do not do this in a silo. Tell your family and friends your desires. Share it with your colleagues. It keeps you accountable and it may lead to referrals.
2. Informational interviews: Reach out to individuals in your network and ask to learn about the work they do, the problems they are trying to solve and what they enjoy about their work. Do not ask for a job, a resume review or even advice. This is informational to learn, if asked you can share.
3. Network like its your job: Most of us do not look the idea of networking. You have to put yourself out there and engage in what feels like a forced conversation. Reposition the narrative to network like you it is your job and your next paycheck depends on it. Tips on how to network coming soon.
4. Update your CV and LinkedIn: I have seen hundreds of resumes from physicians applying to corporate roles. The best ones are less than 2 pages and emulate a business resume. The worst one I saw was 97 pages and listed every publication they were a part of over a career of 40 years.
5. Start applying for roles: Applying online for a role is easy, having your application reviewed is not. I am not convinced applying online without an internal referral has much chance. Leverage your network and connect with someone at the company so they can help your resume get looked at.
6. Become an advisor: there are tons of early stage companies in healthcare that would value a clinical opinion. You may not receive any compensation but you will meet great people, learn about problems people are trying to solve, and it may lead to interesting opportunities. The start up community is a great one to be plugged into
7. Consider an advanced degree: I do not recommend a degree lightly as they are costly both in time and money. However, if after steps 1-5 you are finding gaps in your skill-set that a degree will fill then consider a degree. But do not expect anything in return outside of a paper certificate, additional debt and of course the value of education. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in MBA school but I was taken aback at how little influence it carried when applying for jobs.