My story from practicing medicine to health tech for doctors who are considering a change

When I was 19, I became the proud owner of 2 things: my first e-mail account and cell phone.

I had just moved from my parents' place and started med school. It was the late nineties, and I smelled freedom in the air. I could write and call my new friends from class any time from anywhere. No more leaving messages and waiting for a callback. No more (ok, less) sending letters requiring stamps and going to a mailbox. It still blows my mind that you can talk to someone on the other side of the world in real-time, and both just need a cell phone.

Yet, little "tech change" happened in healthcare during my time in med school.

From the era of stamps to the age of screens: my journey through med school and the tech revolution.

I wanted the same "smell of freedom" in my daily practice of medicine. Don't get me wrong; things in healthcare equally blow my mind to this day. Thinking of the early discoveries like antibiotics or the latest developments in gene therapy. But when going through my daily work in the hospital, I was challenged with far less mind-blowing acts. Printing lab results or case reports and faxing those to the department next door.

In the following years, the world was changing rapidly around me, driven by technology. My cell phone became smart, and my e-mail inbox was first spammed and then spam-filtered. It was clear: tech, or software, will eat the world [nods to Marc Andreessen]. I wanted to be part of the "eating" and not the "starving". I needed to change to be part of the solution. I decided to leave practicing medicine as a surgeon, learn new skills, adapt to a new professional environment, and start over. I was convinced this was all worth it to bring better healthcare to more patients. More scale. More impact.

Navigating the tech tide: leaving the surgeon's table for software to redefine healthcare scale and impact.

I joined one of the very first health tech disruptors in New York (shout out to the Zocdoc gang) and never looked back. And I'm still at it. I love the game. It's certainly not for everyone, but the change for me opened so many doors I couldn't even imagine before. Do I miss surgery sometimes? 100%. It's deeply fulfilling to help patients hands-on. But so is the feeling I get when I picture the good I can do with the help of software and tech.

That's my story. More to come. I will share more insights in the future. Who else in healthcare feels ripe for a change? Who else thinks healthcare can still benefit from some tech revolution? Join me in exploring different corners and crossroads of innovation, technology, and insights in healthcare! I'll continue to document my journey here and elsewhere.

From med school's simple tech joys to pushing the boundaries of healthcare with software, my journey has been about adapting, innovating, and envisioning a tech-empowered future for all patients!

Take care,

Andre