How to Actually Build a Consulting Career After Medicine | Part 2

In this follow-up episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei and Colin continue their conversation about Frances Mei's transition from clinical medicine into consulting, and get much more practical about what happened once she actually made the leap.

Frances Mei explains how her first consulting opportunity started as a loose, low-commitment engagement and evolved into a formal role, why physicians should consider “dating before they get married” when evaluating new jobs, and how she learned to create a role around her skills instead of waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

From there, she went on to a director-level physician engagement and strategy role, built a network that generated new consulting opportunities, and eventually became a chief medical officer at a healthcare tech startup.

The big lesson? The best opportunities for physicians leaving medicine often aren't posted on LinkedIn.

In this episode:

• How to get your first consulting opportunity after medicine
• Why small projects can be better than committing to a new career immediately
• How to create a job that doesn't exist yet
• The skills physicians can translate into consulting
• Why clinical expertise alone isn't enough
• How networking and referrals create a consulting “flywheel”
• How to prove your value before asking for a bigger role
• How Frances Mei went from leaving medicine to a director-level role within a year
• How she ultimately became a chief medical officer at a healthcare tech startup
• Why physicians need to stop asking, “What jobs can I get as a doctor?”
• How to figure out what you're actually good at and what you actually want to do

For physicians considering leaving clinical medicine, consulting, healthcare startups, marketing, strategy, or other careers outside medicine, this episode offers a candid look at what the transition actually looks like.

The conversation also gets into something physicians don't hear enough: you don't necessarily have to follow another prescribed career ladder after leaving medicine.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

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