More and more, doctors at all stages of their education or career path are looking for opportunities to work with biomedical and clinical companies in all stages of development, ranging from startups to large, mature public companies. Consequently, we have seen a plethora of online “dating services” matching the two and announcements about high profile hires.

In theory, such collaborations promise to increase the success of new products and services. However, due to the fact that most doctors, scientists and engineers will not be taught how to create, launch and deploy a technology, product, service or business in their formal training and that many startup non-sick care entrepreneurs lack domain expertise or experience working with health professionals, the present system has flaws. The results are predictable-bad relationships, hurt feelings and failed products…in short, lots of bad dates.

The Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (SOPE) is a global, non-profit open biomedical and clinical innovation and entrepreneurship network established in 2011. Our mission is to fill the gaps needed to help members get their ideas to patients or help another member who is trying to do so. Primarily through our international chapter network, and other meetings and conferences, we provide education, resources, networks, mentors, access to experiential learning and career opportunities and peer to peer support.

Attending SoPE School will teach you:

1. Non-clinical career development and how to find a job
2. Fundamentals of bioinnovation and entrepreneurship
3. The business of biomedicine
4. Personal development, building your personal brand and emotional intelligence skills
5. How to succeed as a physician who owns a small to medium size business(private practice), a technopreneur, an intrapreneur (an employed physician trying to create user defined value), a social entrepreneur, a physician investor or other type of service provider.
6. Providing you with the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies you will need to create value for yourself or your client or employer
7. How to decide which role is a good fit, be it an advisor, a chief medical officer, a member of an advisory board or a member of the board of directors
8. The pros and cons of different compensation schemes for your services
9. Your liability working with companies
10. How to build your internal and external networks
11. How to be a mentee or mentor
12. Where to go for peer to peer support
13. Leaderpreneurship
14. Intrapreneurship
15. How to overcome the barriers to technology clinical dissemination and implementation
16. The life science innovation roadmap
17. Digital health entrepreneurship
18. Intrapreneurship survival skills
19. How to change your innovator’s DNA expression
20. The difference between a clinical mindset and an entrepreneurial mindset
21. The difference between a C corp and an S corp.
22. How digital health products and services are regulated by the FDA
23. What to do next with your idea
24. How to avoid these fundraising mistakes
25. Business model canvas rookie mistakes

Here is the recommended reading for the courses.

Perhaps, one day, those physician entrepreneurs who have the necessary education, qualifications and experience will be awarded a CHIP-Certified Health Innovation Professional. But since chipping people sounds creepy, I’d suggest just learning what you need to learn to create user defined value through the deployment of biomedical and clinical innovation.