Utilizing your Medical Degree outside of Clinical Practice

I often speak with physicians who have come to a point in their career were they feel the practice of clinical medicine is not their life’s career path.
They struggling to deal with this, to deal with the emotions of having obtained so much training and then feeling like their career is not what they thought it would be.
Well, there are lots of ways to use a Medical Degree outside of the practice of traditional clinical medicine and it is shame alterative career are not spoken about in most medical school. Many times an alternative career path can allow you to effect more patients, transform the way entire populations are treated, pioneer new treatments, have a better work/life integration or save more lives than would have ever been possible “practicing” medicine.

Over the years I have referred a number of physicians to a book that speaks to this struggle; Leaving the Bedside….
(Leaving the Bedside: The Search for a Nonclinical Medical Career)
https://catalog.ama-assn.org/Catalog/product/product_detail.jsp?productId=OP392096?checkXwho=done

Many have told me they found the book helpful if nothing else than it make them feel not so alone. I am hoping to share this on a broader platform to encourage physicians to find a career that they are passionate it about.

Please feel free to share your thoughts or experiences……..

Musical Chairs Pharma Style

Well, back to were I started my Blog a few short weeks ago, focusing on the talented folks who understanding drug development; the people who are key to moving forward the pipeline inside of Mega Pharma.....

As Mr Carroll outlines below the game of musical chairs has begun:

Genentech Execs hit the door as Roche takes over
By John Carroll
The game of musical chairs at the newly-acquired Genentech has begun. And it's starting at the top.
Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson (photo) has been handed the role of chairman of a new board of directors, which will be drawn from Roche's executive ranks and also include outside directors. And Susan Desmond-Hellmann (photo), the highly-lauded president of development at Genentech and a key player in the advancement of a slate of cancer blockbusters, will stay on until the middle of the year and then hand over the assignment to someone else. She will take an advisory role and join Genentech's scientific resource board.
Richard Scheller, now the executive vice president with Genentech Research, will lead an independent center that will pursue the biotech's research and early development activities. Roche had said at the time it forged the $47 billion deal to buy the outstanding shares of Genentech that it would keep that work separate from Roche's other development work.
Pascal Soriot has been named chief executive at Genentech North America, which will combine Roche Pharma North America and Genentech. Genentech CFO David Ebersman and Steve Juelsgaard, chief compliance officer, are leaving the company.
Investors have been paying close attention to Roche's absorption of Genentech, saying that it's critical for the pharma company to keep the top talent at Genentech in order to get full value for the acquisition. But these executives have been made rich in the buyout and many seem content to move out of their day-to-day roles as Roche takes the reins.
"By and large, the Genentech leadership will move on, staying as long as their golden handcuffs require them to," venture capitalist Steven Burrill told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. "The spirit of entrepreneurship won't be the same. People who were excited by entrepreneurship will find new homes and those that are comfortable with a large corporate structure will stay."

Goodman Fills FDA's Chief Scientist position.....

Goodman Fills FDA's Chief Scientist Position......
Acting FDA Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein named former CBER Director Jesse Goodman as the agency's new acting chief scientist, expanding Goodman's role within the FDA. "Goodman will be a key advisor to the commissioner on scientific, medical and public health issues," Sharfstein says in a memorandum sent to FDA staff. "He knows our agency well - having served since 2001 first as the Deputy Director and later the Director of CBER."

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Working to create a Better Healthcare setting…..

Good new Book: “Why Hospitals Should Fly: The Ultimate Flight Plan to Patient Safety and Quality Care “

This book speaks of moving the Healthcare industry forward and it does not blaming all the troubles in healthcare on Big Pharma or the insurance companies.
It speaks about the need to reform the whole system, the need to move hospitals forward into the technology age. With only 1.5% of hospitals fully electronic our health systems lags sorely behind our industry. We more than 260 people dying per from medical mistakes to need for change should be clear.
We need to start to look at healthcare and how to improve the system.

Please feel free to share your thoughts…..

Career Management in 2009

Below is a link to a timely article from Fortune Magazine titled: How to get a Job.

It speaks of the need to be proactive if you do have a job even one you really enjoy; you should build a network in your field and develop a relationship with 'headhunter' in your space.
It also pointed out that in according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while 2.5 million people were laid off in January 2009, 4.4 million new workers were hired (numbers not often mentioned on CNN or CNBC)
David Perry of the executive search firm Perry-Martel International cautioned people to remember that in a recession many companies go stealth when it comes to hiring, that vast amount of positions maybe even as high as 90% are in a hidden job market.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/27/news/economy/yang_jobhunters.fortune/index.htm

Please feel free to share your views....