I had a conversation earlier this week with Suzanne Falter-Barnes, the terrific media and branding expert of Get Known Now, who helped me establish my identity as The Entrepreneurial MD. Our chat reminded me of the power of having a well-thought out and consistent brand.

The Entrepreneurial MD's October monthly newsletter article addresses a core premise of a business or medical practice - the reason for its existence! Also known as its Mission.

What does it say about our healthcare system that young physicians, many not more than 5 or 7 years out of residency, are experiencing burn-out and disappointment and shame - and dropping out of medicine?

It's one of medicine's dirty little secrets.

One physician client of mine is highly motivated to upgrade her exisiting solo practice from "ho-hum" to an efficient, joy-producing business. Another is eager to leave her unwieldy OB-Gyn group practice with its indifferent management, and take the reins for herself as a solo women's health practitioner.

How many emails are currently in your Inbox? Under 50? Over 300?

A recent blog post at Kristi T's Home Business Blog stimulated me to think about how I handle my cyber-correspondence.

As a harried physician and a scrambling business person, you are probably inundated with emails daily, with no time to get out from under the deluge. That's not counting the spam. And heaven forbid you should go away for a few days!

I received an e-mail from a reader recently and spent some time scratching my head as to how to respond best to his obvious dilemma (please note that some of the details are obscured to protect his identity):

For the small-budget marketing plan, blogging is a near-miracle. Costing little more than your time, you can leverage the extraordinary power of the Internet and search engines to communicate your message to the world - or at least your target market!

Consider this -- a few days ago, a physician in Hungary accessed my website and downloaded the "Crack the Code" report. How amazing is that! 

It is a rare entrepreneurial physician, or any wannabe entrepreneur, who does not encounter a period of feeling completely bogged down. Stuck in the morass of doubt, lack of knowledge, or overwhelm.

For someone who is accustomed to feeling confident and knowledgeable about his or her work activities, this can be a scary experience. And the discomfort can be enough to halt the aspiring entrepreneur's efforts and send him or her scuttling right back to a satin-lined coffin job.

Being an entrepreneurial physician is not always about dreaming up new products or services. It may simply be in executing with excellence what you already do, and getting great results for your clients.... or this case, patients. And thereby setting yourself apart from the competition. 

Most physicians claim to be risk-averse and offer up this trait as a reason to stay put and avoid changing their situation.

Surprisingly, many of those same physicians are engaging in risky behavior! I know this because I was one of them.

When I went into medical practice in 1988, I had no idea what a business plan was. And even if I had, it would never have occurred to me that I needed one. After all, I was a family physician, not a business person. I was just going into practice - like every doctor had done before me.