THROWBACK (from 2020!!!) Building The IndustryMDCoach … A Passion Project

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

-Oprah Winfrey

My father is a serial entrepreneur (since writing this blog in 2020, my father died of Parkinson’s Disease… he taught me MANY lessons and I loved him – I’ll let this re-posting serve as a memorial to him). When I reflect back on his career, his businesses were always based on first, seeing a need, and then, filling it.  He definitely shared the entrepreneur genes with me, as I too see needs that should be filled and consider ways to accomplish just that. 

Seeing need is exactly how The IndustryMDCoach began. In fact, there are multiple needs that drove me to create this coaching and consulting business.  

The first need is one I witness each day – 

the need for more physicians working in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry (I’ll often refer to “the industry” moving forward)  

Why is this need evident to me? 

Because I’ve lived it for 15 years in my career in the industry.

Two of the most obvious experiences providing the evidence for this need include:

Outreach from recruiters AND experience trying to hire physicians for my own teams. 

The outreach from recruiters is usually an email, a phone call or a LinkedIn message asking if I could refer a physician for a position.  The positions are varied and might include Medical Affairs, Clinical Development or Safety, and also vary in title from Associate Director to Vice President.  I’ve always made it my practice to take recruiters calls and this practice has proven to be an important part of my network.  I’ve encountered colleagues throughout my career that did not want to speak with a recruiter unless they were looking for a new job.  In my opinion, helping a recruiter with a referral or suggestion is helpful not only to the recruiter, but also to the person(s) you’ve referred AND to my own brand.  

Now, you might read that and think, “oh, she’s really just trying to help herself” 

– No. That’s not correct.  

By helping others, I build a brand of being someone that is helpful and provides insightful feedback.  When a recruiter is thinking of roles that might be appropriate for me, she is more likely to reach out to me because I’ve helped her in the past and she remembers me.  I’m a part of her network.  Similarly, if I need a recruiter to recruit a job I’m hiring for, an impressive conversation with a recruiter will be something I remember and I’m more likely to reach out to that recruiter than another.  It’s a Win-Win situation! Everyone builds relationships and their network expands.

My experience trying to hire physicians for my own teams also speaks to the need for more MDs.  Some roles in the pharma/biotech industry do not require the use of external recruiters because of the supply of people that could fill such a role; roles for physicians (clinical development, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance are examples) do not fit into that category! 

I always add budget for a recruiter’s fee when I’m hiring for a role that includes “MD” in the job description.  

The other need is that of physicians.  

The practice of medicine has unfortunately become onerous for some.  Not all – many physicians are content with their clinical practice and we should celebrate their success.  However, there are physicians that are unable to make independent medical decisions that would be best for their individual patients, they are swimming in student loan debt, and they have a lack of control over their own schedules that leaves them unsatisfied with clinical medicine as a career choice.  

We see evidence of this dis-satisfaction from physician groups that have formed to support one another through meditation, yoga, coaching, side-gigs, financial training, etc.  

Physicians looking for transitions. 

Yet, we as MDs are wholly unprepared from our training (medical school, residency and/or fellowship) to understand the breadth of career opportunities available to physicians because we are not exposed to the numerous career opportunities during our training.  In fact, for industry, often we are taught it is “the dark side”.  How often have you heard that term when someone in medicine refers to the pharma/biotech industry?!

Let me address this misleading stereotype: From scientists in the lab screening drug candidates to the executive management teams, people in “the industry” are passionate about helping patients.  As a physician in pharma/biotech, I have the opportunity to impact many lives by helping to bring new therapies to patients.

 I remember preparing to tell my two fellowship mentors that I would be leaving academic medicine to join a biotech company.  Nervous is an understatement!  I was worried they would be disappointed in me, angry with me for “defecting”.  Lucky for me, they are amazing female physicians that supported me and proved my concern that they would reject me wrong.  

The IndustryMDCoach was also spurred by Covid-19.  Seeing my physician colleagues continue to struggle, amplified by Covid-19, which clearly hit physicians hard – from lack of PPE, to ongoing risk of exposure, to furloughs, gave me further inspiration to create something to help doctors that have decided to explore and pursue other fruitful ways to utilize their degrees and intellect.

Thus, The IndustryMDCoach.

Coaching for physicians that are interested in exploring a career in pharma/biotech. The pharma/biotech industry does not, should not, be a mystery to physicians.

My passion is helping people – part of the DNA of any physician. 

The IndustryMDCoach was born out of seeing need.

~ seeing that the pharma/biotech industry needs more physicians 

~ seeing that physicians need guidance to understand the pharma/biotech industry as a potential career path

~ seeing that I sit in a privileged position that allows me to bridge these two groups

The passion to help fill the needs inspired me to create The IndustryMDCoach.

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Ready to make a career transition to pharma/biotech… want to explore a way to use your medical training and knowledge in a fulfilling way without nights and weekends call or charting. Watch this webinar on Getting Past the Three Major Hurdles to a Career in the Pharma Industry HERE.