Many of these attributes are especially useful for business owners.  So if doctors decide to take a shot at being entrepreneurs, the methodology that served them well as clinicians provides them with an effective advantage that increases the chances of success for their newly launched companies.

Here are four distinctive proficiencies that all skilled doctors possess, along with four noteworthy 'doctorpreneurs' who leverage them in their business pursuits:

1. Doctors seek diverse inflows of information to make the best medical decisions

When formulating a diagnosis, doctors will gather input from a variety of sources – including dialogues with patients, patient medical histories, discussions/collaborations with fellow doctors, medical texts/studies, medical multimedia sources (videos, podcasts), and more.  The goal is to formulate an effective solution to a patient’s health challenges.

The same openness to input provides doctorpreneurs with a leg up in their business building pursuits.

“I think a lot of us who get into medical school are by nature mission-driven and focused, but part of the answer is to stay open to other areas and ideas – stay multidisciplinary to some degree while still getting depth in becoming a good doctor,” says Dr. Daniliel Kraft, Founder & Chair of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores the convergence of fast-moving technologies in the reinvention and future of health and medicine.  “Diverse interests will help make you a better physician and innovator.”

Entrepreneurs should embrace the receptiveness to fresh ideas that doctors utilise.  Don’t limit your sources to a static group of employees, friends, or executive team members.  And don’t rely on the same unchanging knowledge bases for your explorations.  By welcoming an elastic flow of advice, inspiration, and direction, you’ll maintain your pioneering spirit and upgrade the quality of your decisions.

2. Doctors understand the importance of listening to, understanding, and responding to the needs of their patients

In healthcare, patients are the customers of a doctor’s specialised services.  And if a doctor isn’t attuned to the unique conditions and literal pain points of his/her patients, then a faulty diagnosis, flawed treatment, and diminished patient health can be the result.

Doctors who can accurately ascertain their patients’ health challenges and convert them into effective treatment plans will deliver the best outcomes for their “buyers”.  This success will enhance a doctor’s reputation, build his/her practice, and boost marketplace demand for his/her skills.

“For me, being a frontline clinician and understanding the journey of the patient first hand helped to develop our product with both of those elements in mind,” says Dr. Krishan Ramdoo, the CEO and Founder of Tympa Health, a London-based startup that has created a smartphone-enabled tool capable of aural micro-suction, screening audiometry, and otoscopy.  “It enabled me to build something that was beneficial to the end user as well as the recipient. Without this knowledge, we wouldn’t have created a system that is both intuitive for the user and safe for the patient.”

Business owners who endeavour to reflect their customers’ needs with the consistent delivery of excellent products/services will always prosper.  By looking to their buyers as an essential source of knowledge that will support, inform, and improve their organisations’ offerings, entrepreneurs can better position themselves for ongoing success.

3. Doctors who become entrepreneurs devise business ideas and pursue business opportunities that are in line with their expertise and that they know would resonate in the marketplace

Inventive doctors endeavour to find new ways to sharpen the efficiency of their work and the effectiveness of their treatment regimens.  If such options don’t exist, they strive to adapt, refine, and transform their approaches to better serve their patients.

“As a training surgeon, I wanted to see if we could create a technology solution that could empower surgeons to virtually and practically interact with each other from anywhere in the world, and share expertise at scale that could help to save lives,” says Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram FRCS, Head of Clinical Innovation at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and founder of Proximie, which is a technology platform that shares the world’s best clinical practice. “Proxime allows surgeons to virtually transport themselves into any clinical setting to interact in a live situation, regardless of geographical location. It’s deployed in more than 50 hospitals around the globe, completing more than 300 surgeries each month, in 30 countries.”

Entrepreneurs ramp up the chances of prosperity for their companies if they’re intimately familiar with the industries, competitors, and customer/client needs within the domains in which they wish to operate.  Rather than thinking of this “stay in your lane” approach as limiting, it should instead be regarded as advantageous and savvy.

4. Doctors incorporate deep data and research into their treatment strategies 

When formulating a treatment plan for their patients, doctors first order a battery of lab tests to be performed.  They then study the results of these tests and try to find red flags that may indicate the root cause of a health problem.  Once all the data has been fully reviewed, doctors then can determine a viable and appropriate medical solution that will alleviate the health issue(s) in question.

This methodical utilisation of data to help guide their treatment decisions is an indispensable component of a doctor’s training.  It also gives doctors who become business owners a valuable edge.

“When we launched our health education platform Osmosis,org, we grounded it on principles of ‘evidence-based education’ and built in ways to measure data points that would lead to actionable insights,” says Shiv Gaglani, who completed undergraduate and MBA degrees at Harvard and then studied medicine at Johns Hopkins (currently on leave).  “In business as in medicine, it's important to instill proper techniques to review your data and then base your decisions on this evidence.”

Entrepreneurs have a wealth of data that they can evaluate when seeking courses of action that will ensure the continued health of their companies - including sales reports, customer feedback/surveys, production and logistical models, competitive analyses, and more.  By combining this evidence-based data with instinct, experience, and common sense, entrepreneurs will be able to make informed choices so they can wisely lead their organisations.

While business owners may not follow the precise analytical roadmap that doctors use in their daily work as healers (and doctorpreneurs), it’s possible for their diagnostic techniques to be studied and borrowed by non-medical professionals.  Experimenting with such systems will allow entrepreneurs in any industry to expand their strategic options, elevate their critical thinking skills, and make better business decisions.