During his UCLA Masters in Public Health Program, Gregory (Greg) Dorn MD MPH was drawn to many different sectors of the healthcare industry. He also knew that it was up to him to figure out which one best matched his interests and skills.

He set out to do some informational interviewing and serious networking to land his ideal job. And he accomplished this!

What made my conversation with Dr. Dorn so remarkable is that he is one of the few physicians I know who executed a perfect career-finding plan.

Most career guidance coaches and counselors recognize that the most satisfying jobs are not found through Monster.com or some other job board, or even a recruiter. Instead, they are obtained through a careful and highly strategic search process that targets ideal companies, jobs or industries and lays the groundwork for being invited to become a member of the team.

Listen to Dr. Dorn's story (28.5 minutes) in this week's podcast as I explore with him how he turned a very deliberate, intentional search for a fulfilling career into an exciting, entrepreneurial physician opportunity that has allowed him to help grow a small clinical decision support company, Zynx Health, into a clinical business large and important enough to be acquired and then maintained by Hearst Corporation. 

Pay close attention to his job search strategy - this informational interviewing works equally well for physicians with an idea for a business who want to check with potential customers if there is a real need for their product or service.

And then please come back to The Entrepreneurial MD to add your comments and browse!

The photograph on the cover of this month's issue of California Academy of Family Physicians magazine reminded me of a wonderful interview I conducted a while back with Dr Leonard (Lenny) Fromer in my Conversations with Trailblazers series. The time is right to air it for this week's podcast!

I've known Lenny since my days in clinical practice when we were colleagues in Santa Monica, and I am both awed and inspired by his significant accomplishments as a business owner (healthcare consultant) and healthcare politician (past President of the CAFP and current candidate for the American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors).

Lenny is a highly articulate advocate for improving the physician-patient experience and in this podcast, he shares not only his thoughts as an entrepreneur but also those as a physician dedicated to healthcare reform empowering us as physicians.

Listen to this 31-minute interview and come away inspired by Dr. Fromer's energy and passion for both entrepreneurship and healthcare politics.

When you have to catch a physician for a few minutes on a Sunday morning for an interview, you suspect he's a busy guy.

When he's a full-time clinical practitioner, prominent thought leader and a serial entrepreneur, you're not surprised.

Dr. Garrison Bliss is one such man.

As one of the former founders of Seattle Medical Associates and the current new founder, President and CMO of Qliance, Dr. Bliss has been pushing the envelope for patient-financed business models for years.

What the term "patient-financed business model" simply means is that, instead of relying on insurance as a way to pay for patient care, the providers at Qliance charge a very low monthly "membership" fee of all their patients. And I'm talking LOW! In the order of between $39 and $74 a month, depending on the patient's age.

For this fee, they provide all primary care services, as well as some basic testing (plain X-rays, EKGs, simple lab tests etc).

Critics have gone from scorn at viewing Seattle Medical Associates (Dr Garrison's earlier group that was the second group in the country to test a monthly fee membership model) as yet another concierge practice, to incredulity and doubt that Qliance can survive charging such a small monthly membership fee. Hearing the passion, conviction and clarity of Dr Bliss's thinking may make you believe otherwise!

Let Dr Bliss share his remarkable ideas and story as you listen to this week's podcast conversation with an entrepreneurial physician trailblazer. The interview is 36 minutes long - a little longer than my typical call - but I promise you it is worth your time. What Dr. Garrison is doing for health care is both revolutionary and laudable!

And then over come and join the conversation at The Entrepreneurial MD Blog.