Table of Contents
Status
Published
Video
Video
Ready to Publish
Ready to Publish
Publish Date
Mar 30, 2021
Target
Long Form
Blog Ideas
Design
Drafted
Graphics
Graphics
Type
YouTube
Video Recording
Physician, Entrepreneur, Educator... My Journey to Financial Freedom... Join me!
After medical school, residency, and two fellowships i.e. 15 years of training being a physician seems more like a corporate gig with more paper-pushing rather than passion that I used to feel. It has nothing to do with the higher calling and the empathy of patient care that was the true calling of the noble profession. Rather the burnout and moral injury that is institutionalized in the US healthcare disease care system. Unfortunately, the feeling is shared among many. Physicians in particular and clinicians, in general, have had an epidemic of Burnout even prior to the pandemic (1). Of Course like any inequality pandemic has unearthed the waste and greed that is the termite rotting away the very foundation of patient care.
The journey of a Physician to a provider was all but in my opinion important, especially in a subspecialty of Neurocritical Care and Stroke. What I am not able to morally accept is taking care of “consumers” rather than “patients”.
Luckily, I was prepared financially and skillfully. Financial freedom was more important to me than working for a paycheck. Don't get me wrong, I still like to take my Tesla Model Y for a drive after a hard day's work of TeleNeurology from the discomfort of my own home (Lol!). My journey here is not to pounce, but to ponder!
Being rich is a matter of perspective. Wealth is a concept and is defined differently. A wealthy person has the “time” to “spend” not just money. “Money buys you freedom. Freedom is gaining your time back. When you have your time back, you become a secret billionaire (without the Lambo).”
For me, wealth is to have time. The time that I can define myself. So I started researching, saved, and prepared. I took an inventory of my strengths and weaknesses. I learned basic coding and am good with technology. I have been a professional teacher and have won awards and lastly, I love to be a physician (not just a provider ;)
Step 1: By providing more efficient, targeted care via Telestroke I realized my expertise is better served. I have been providing care via telemedicine throughout my career as a physician. I quickly realized that given the shortage of Neurologists and the aging population telemedicine in Neurology is the future if not the present. So I pivoted my neurological career towards telemedicine and understood underlying technology, contracts, legislation, and other business aspects and finally, I was recognized by the start-up and now work as Vice President of Clinical Strategy at VeeMed.
Step 2: What is next? Telemedicine is just a gateway to a bigger revolution in healthcare. Its Transformation from analog to digital health. The technology that will define this coming revolution in healthcare is Artificial Intelligence. I learned enough technical knowledge to understand AI in healthcare and its application in clinical medicine specifically in the field of neurology. Now I do consulting for companies to implement AI in healthcare and be a bridge between engineers and medicine.
Step 3: Reuse your talent. I poured through papers, books, lectures, and videos and learned a few more skills in the process. Why not teach? With the advent of the attention economy, content is king. I started making education lectures on YouTube in the field of AI, Telehealth, and Neurology. This was recognized by leaders in the community and I was invited to speak at conferences that led me to more consultation, networking, and learning opportunities.
Step 4: Financial literacy. I took time to understand how to make myself financially independent. Now I understand what true wealth is; “Time”. Passive income is a myth but there is a difference between selling time for money or selling your time+money for more money.
Evidence-Based Investing - A Clinician's Guide to Financial Freedom (2/2)
Any problem first needs to be defined and like anything in medicine you need to define your primary and secondary outcomes. I decided to have financial independence defined as 8K per month with the least amount of effort by age of 50 with my primary residence paid off (primary outcome). Have some extra savings for my kids' education (secondary outcome). With the help of my wife; we agreed to simplify and reuse our savings in a more effective and efficient manner.
✍ TL;DR version
⚠️Devaluation/Inflation Inevitable
⚠️ $5 Trillion dollars PRINTED!
💸 Decrease your tax burden
✅ I moved to Texas to decrease state taxes
✅ I moved majority of income via my own S-Crop
📜 Strategy & Patience
❌ If you fail to plan, you plan to Fail
🔑 Patience is the key
✍🏻 Create and stick to a strategy
💵 45% Real Estate, 45% Stocks and 10% Moonshots
⚖️ Diversify and risk-stratify
✅ Diversify; between and inside assets classes
👀 Approach
✅ Just like evidence-based medicine
✅ Find evidence and apply it to your particular situation
I explain all this in great detail in the video. Feel free to send me suggestions, comments, and especially learning opportunities!
Subscribe to my Newsletter; to have links to my Google Sheets explained in the Video
Grateful for your time!
Endnotes
"Physician burnout declared a public health crisis – Harvard Gazette." 22 Jan. 2019, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/newsplus/physician-burnout-declared-a-public-health-crisis/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2021.
"Waste in the US Health Care System: Estimated ... - JAMA Network." 7 Oct. 2019, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2752664. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.
"This Hospital Cost $52 Million. It Treated 79 Virus Patients. - The ...." 21 Jul. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/nyregion/coronavirus-hospital-usta-queens.html. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.
"Patient or consumer? 9 thoughts on healthcare semantics." 28 Jun. 2017, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/patient-or-consumer-9-thoughts-on-healthcare-semantics.html. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.
"This Is What My Friends Who Have More Freedom than Me Do with ...." 9 Mar. 2021, https://medium.com/the-ascent/this-is-what-my-friends-who-have-more-freedom-than-me-do-with-their-money-c531ba8085ae. Accessed 12 Mar. 2021.
"Why Passive Income Is a Myth. Don't believe the hype | by Ben Le ...."
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CEO | Founder | President NeuroCare.AI - Advancing Digital Health Ecosystem in Emerging Countries!