Top 10 Things We’ve Learned While Teaching Future Ketamine Clinic Owners

We physicians are facing a new and interesting future. With the rise of burnout and increasing profitization of healthcare, physicians are looking for alternatives. And some are looking to start ketamine infusions clinics as an option. We have had the honor and pleasure of teaching fellow physicians how to make this leap from physician to ketamine entrepreneur for about a year now and we have learned so much. Physicians are a resilient, intelligent and stubborn group of people. Whether it's the training or the type of person that goes into medicine, we (or perhaps you the reader) know how to get things done. But we are like any other type of profession, human. As we have taught, we have learned or rather observed 10 things about physicians starting a ketamine infusion clinic.

Every aspiring ketamine clinic owner has a shared set of struggles that other aspiring ketamine clinic owners can also relate to.

Learning #1: A lot of doctors are afraid of change.

People are afraid of change and doctors are people. Whether it's changes in who is running the hospital they are working at, or the need to pivot or change the way they practice, they can get nervous. Starting a ketamine infusion clinic is a change, in fact, it’s a big change, especially for a physician who thought they would never be an entrepreneur or go into private practice. Many physicians believed that they would be happily treating patients working for a hospital where they had a level of authority, autonomy and respect. But the sad reality for many is that it’s not the case. So trying out something new like starting a ketamine clinic is scary and the fear has further heightened the barrier of entry into this space.  

Learning #2: Most physicians have been selected for their ability to follow rules and work for others.

Blame it on the system if you will or recognize that this is true for yourself, this one can be a bit of a tough pill to swallow. Both of us, probably like you, did well and excelled at school. But doing well in school means you played by the rules, did the homework and played the game. You learned to read the room, and sacrifice what you really want for doing what you needed to do. You worked hard just to get the letters of recommendations or to have your professors like you. The medical education system and the education system leading up to it promotes good worker bees. And worker bees often have a hard time transitioning to becoming entrepreneurs.

Learning #3: They get excited initially but don’t follow through because of overwhelm from clinical work.

This has been true for us and what we have seen in many of those starting out. You see the potential and believe you can make the leap to starting your ketamine clinic but then you are bogged down with all the regular work. We’ve been there, perhaps that’s why it initially took us some time to start our clinic. You have a sure thing working in your current clinical job. Sure you may feel frustrated by the administrators and the poor compensation, but it’s a “known evil.” You’re probably too busy finishing up your charting to figure out how you are going to get out of this situation and start your ketamine clinic. But let us tell you something, this was true for us and for our students too…eventually you get inspired or burned enough and the pain is too much to stay. That discomfort is enough to motivate you past the overwhelm and busyness. 

Learning #4: A lot are afraid of what other colleagues think about them.

This is true whether you are a physician or not. But it’s especially true for physicians! Perhaps it’s because we’ve been conditioned this way by the whole medical education system. The system has “trained” us to get better test scores, letters of recommendations, and good peer reviews. Deep down, we all want to be loved and thought well of, and a quick way to receive the opposite of that is doing the opposite of what your colleagues are doing. “What will people think?” You have worked so hard to become a physician, essentially working hard to join a special exclusive club only to be ridiculed by fellow club members when you decide to quit complaining about your job and start your own clinic. So yeah it’s a legitimate fear. We’ve been there, but once you realize how much better your life is going your own way, this fear quickly goes away.

Learning #5: The golden handcuffs are very seductive.

The “great” paycheck and amazing benefits can hold you back from starting a ketamine clinic. These two things all go away when you first start out. So does the medical staff Christmas party with the open bar, the paid vacation days, and quarterly bonuses. Unfortunately these niceties easily cloud physicians' feelings of burnout. They can easily get sucked into the trap of being in an environment that they’re actually not happy and fulfilled in anymore. 

Learning #6: It takes a special doctor to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

What did we mean by “special”? They are (and perhaps you) are willing to take a risk to pivot their career after so many years and dollars invested in becoming a doctor. They are willing to not care about what their colleagues think. They dare to follow their heart and gut. They are willing to learn something new outside of medicine, like how to run a business and market a clinic. They are willing to ask for help. The list can go on and on but you get the idea. Those who are willing to go the above and beyond are those who have opened a ketamine clinic or ion the path to starting one.

Learning #7: Sometimes, it seems easier to just do what you’re doing rather than make a change.

It’s easier to complain about the awful reimbursement and convoluted road to partnership and still work at your same clinical job than to risk failing at something new. What we’ve seen hold people back from getting started is this comfort with what they know coupled with the unknown of the logistics of getting their clinic up and running. Humans are, by nature, comfort-loving and dare we say, lazy. So many of us would rather take the easy route and end up suffering the consequences later. 

Learning #8: It’s all about small baby steps.

How did we and other physicians open our own ketamine clinics? One step at a time and some of those steps were baby steps. No doubt it’s a balance. You have to keep your eyes on the prize. Sometimes this can simply mean standing in your ketamine clinic seeing your first patient. It also involves trying not to get overwhelmed by all the steps to make this vision a reality. It could really get your head spinning. All you need to do is take a small step toward that goal while holding the vision of accomplishing the goal. Easier said than done right? Yes and no. Yes if you allow yourself to spiral in ruminating thoughts of how you are going to do this. No if you truly tell yourself that this is definitely doable.  Imagine this, becoming a doctor and going through residency is vastly harder than starting a business! You have grit and determination. And just as you took the baby steps to become the doctor you are today, you can do the same for your clinic.

Learning #9: Self-promotion can be really hard for doctors. 

You might be thinking of the exceptions to rules for this. Sure there are plenty of your colleagues who love promoting themselves. Not to mention all the doctors on social media. But the vast majority of doctors became doctors to help people and to do an excellent and honorable job at it. Plus for many, there was no need to develop the self promoting skill throughout their training and years of working. If a patient was sick, they came to your ER. Or you had to perform a surgery simply because you were on call in the OR. Or perhaps you were their only option because of their type of insurance. All that goes away when you start your ketamine clinic. Patients get to choose and how they choose is by knowing who you are. 

Learning #10: We are not taught the necessary business skills throughout our medical training to start a private practice.

Even if we were taught business principles in our training, the more important medical knowledge would greatly overshadow it. But let’s face the facts. All the time we’ve spent acquiring medical knowledge and experience was at the expense of learning how to start your clinic or why you should incorporate or how to even do it. While you may be a medical expert, you are a business novice. And that’s OK! Acceptance of that fact is the first step. The second step is to dive into learning how to open and run a clinic with the focus and intensity of the that medical expert that you are!

Despite our different backgrounds, we all have a shared understanding when it comes to the struggles and learnings of opening a ketamine clinic.

We’re All On this Journey Together

These lessons have not only been things we have seen in our students but also things we have experienced ourselves. We understand that everyone has their own unique journey to starting a ketamine clinic. But essentially, we are all entrepreneurs trying to figure everything out along the way. We have been able to help fellow physicians ease their journey into ketamine entrepreneurship because we have personally dealt with each of these. We’ve been there!

We’d love to help you start your own ketamine clinic! Join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.

We have had the honor of coaching multiple aspiring ketamine clinic owners. We’ve seen their struggles and their learnings. And from our experiences in teaching them, we too have become students in this journey and we talk about these lessons in this blog post.

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