How To Become a Famous Doctor

Fame is a great thing in any profession; it means more clients or customers, which equates to more money. More money will increase one’s satisfaction and will allow you to concentrate on other things, which will likely improve your reputation even further. It’s a cycle that is far from vicious. The only downside is the constant demand and high expectations from, in this case, your patients. What is a doctor if not his reputation? Your patients do not know how good your grades were in college or anything about the brilliant doctors you may have worked with. Patients don’t understand the complicated articles and research you’ve published either. A patient will hear about a good doctor and will go see them just because of that. It’s up to you whether or not their expectations are met.

There are many examples of how fame has resulted in a booming business. If you ask anyone what the best car brand on the market is, they’re probably going to mention one of three or four names despite there being over fifteen car brands out there today. Do you think 80% of people who drive cars understand anything about them? The answer is no. “I had the money, so I went out and got a car from the best brand on the market. What makes this the best car brand? The general consensus. I’m no car expert, and the entire world couldn’t have gotten it wrong.” That’s how a patient thinks when they decide to visit a popular doctor. Forgive me if the car brand analogy has offended you, but what both of you have in common is your reputation, and your reputation will determine your success. Let’s take a look at how to become a famous doctor.

First of all, let’s make it perfectly clear that you need to be at the very least a competent doctor. No one wants an infamous doctor; you don’t want to become famous and have dozens of patients visit you only to find out you’re not that good. Some doctors have made it solely on competence. Word of mouth is very important as well, especially in small communities and crowded areas. Competence includes being a good clinician and having the most updated knowledge. This will require constant training and the will to learn until your very last breath, or until you retire. You will need to spend hours every week updating your knowledge according to the most recent guidelines of your specialty.

Another major factor that may cover up for a little lack of knowledge is your relationship with your patients. A patient won’t recommend you to someone because of all the fancy medical words you know, but because of how comfortable they felt during their visit to your office. Make sure your patients feel comfortable with you and that they can trust you. Be sure to listen to any questions or concerns they have and address them. These simple things may be the difference between you and other doctors who are as good clinically. Two doctors might write the same prescription and get the same results, but one will become that patient’s doctor for life and one will never be seen again. If your patients trust you, without a doubt, they will spread the word, causing a domino effect as more patients talk about you, leading to more new patients and so on.

Your role in your community will also be a key factor when it comes to your reputation. Do people see you doing everyday things, such as grocery shopping? These acts show patients you’re one of them and will reinforce the idea that you care about them. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should just show up at a supermarket. Patients will often walk up to you and say, “Hi,” on their own. It all depends on how you respond; you could be warm and friendly, or you could be distant and come off as arrogant. You may not feel close to these people, because, after all, you’ve shared nothing personal with them. It’s not the same for them, however, because they’ve shared the most private details of their life with you. You know their age, occupation, habits, and illnesses. Sure, you don’t know what their favorite movie is, but the things you do know are far more personal and intimate. Keep that in mind before acting cold when you run into patients outside your office. They’ll also love it if you participate in the same things they do. Imagine how much they would enjoy it if you coached the kids’ soccer team, for instance, or if they saw you at a parent-teacher conference. You may even have a booth at a community fundraiser where you answer medical questions and give people lifestyle advice. These are things that take some effort and time, but will mean the world to the people around you and bring them closer to you.

Your fame among your peers is also vital. This can be increased by working hard to publish articles that are of significance in your field. This will definitely help you gain respect and fame within your specialty, as well as outside of it. Doctors will start to recognize you’re a hardworking doctor who is not just satisfied with clinical work and who pursues new knowledge; you’re not just a passive user of medicine, but an active contributor. This will lead to referrals for hard cases and, of course, conference invitations. Being at conferences gains you popularity all over the globe, as most are international and are attended by doctors who are leaders in their specialties in their own countries and who have come to gain more knowledge. You could even obtain the contact information of some of these doctors and keep in touch, which can open the way to future cooperation or even job opportunities. Speaking at these conferences is a major plus as well, and you’ll definitely be asked to speak if your publications are significant and important. Instead of seeking doctors, everyone will be focused on you and looking forward to talking to you after your speech. This is a natural consequence of competence and hard work. The recognition at a conference shouldn’t be the goal you’re working for, but rather just an additional perk.

Appearing on television is another major way to gain popularity. How to become a famous doctor? Well, it’s simple: go on television. Imagine if Dr. House was a real doctor; he’d put a quarter of the doctors in the United States out of business. People would fly from all over the country to see this doctor who solves the toughest cases. If Dr. Doug (George Clooney) from “ER” was a doctor, he’d be the richest pediatrician to walk the face of the earth. Appearing in awareness campaigns on television can really boost your popularity.

You can also guest on talk shows to provide the public with important information. These talk shows could be local, national, or even international, such as giving updates on the swine flu or Ebola on CNN, for instance. This will also make your patients and community members proud; they’ll not only feel like their doctor is competent enough to talk on television, but they’ll also see one of their own becoming famous. This will boost your popularity in your community as well as with other people who are watching you. Just be sure that you know what you’re talking about and that you’ve done your research before going on TV. Nothing’s more embarrassing than being asked a question you don’t know the answer to or saying the wrong information. That will do you more harm than good and will shake the confidence people have in you.

Charities are one of the best methods to boost your public image. Being seen at fundraisers, for example, shows you’re giving back to the community. It erases the image people might have of you that all you do is sit in your office waiting for patients so you can get paid. Giving back to the community is what it’s all about. It will bring you closer to the people who surround you and who feel like you’re one of them, rather than a smart person just looking to do their due-diligence without concerning themselves with the needs of their community. In fact, at some point in your career, and with enough connections and popularity, you might even start a hospital built on people’s donations. That way you’re not just giving to charity, you’re actually running one. A free hospital that runs on donations is an incredible achievement and not an everyday act. Of course, this isn’t something you should expect to do early on in your career; you’ll need to be an established physician with worldwide fame and tons of connections to be able to accomplish a feat as great as this.

These are all ways to become a famous doctor, and they aren’t difficult to achieve. All will require competence and hard work, of course. Let’s take a look at some of the most famous doctors throughout history.

Who is more famous than the father of western medicine? Hippocrates is probably the one doctor everyone around the globe has heard of in some form or another. Regardless of what language you speak or where you graduated medical school, you were required to recite the Hippocratic Oath. Hippocrates was the first to collect and sum up the medical knowledge of previous schools. He was also the first to believe that diseases were caused by environmental and personal factors, rather than supernatural causes. He was the first to identify clubbing of the fingers and the first to form categories of diseases, such as epidemic, endemic, chronic, acute, relapse, resolution, paroxysm, and many more terms that are now used in everyday medicine.

Rudolf Ludwig Virchow is another famous physician who lived between 1821 and 1902. If Hippocrates is the father of western medicine, Virchow is called the father of modern pathology; he was the first to identify leukemia. Virchow’s triad, however, was not suggested by him; the triad was proposed years after his death.

Ben Carson is a physician who gained even more popularity due to his participation in politics. He is retired now, but was one of the best neurosurgeons as well as the first to successfully separate twins who were joined at the head. Previous attempts at this had been made, but always resulted in the death of one or both babies. He succeeded in preserving the lives of both twins. Besides being a world-renowned neurosurgeon, he is also the author of multiple bestsellers. To attribute his fame to politics would be an injustice to his capabilities. His run to be the Republican candidate in the 2016 United States presidential election definitely boosted his popularity, especially to those outside the medical field.

One of the world’s leading cardiac surgeons is Magdi Yacoub. Born in Egypt, he studied medicine at Cairo University, then left for the United Kingdom. There, he achieved fame through his successful surgeries and innovations in myocardial regeneration, transplant immunology, and tissue engineering. He has written about 1,000 articles and several books on heart surgery. He was also a professor at the Imperial College in London, helping to teach young doctors. He founded the charity Chain of Hope to help children in underdeveloped countries receive cardiac care. He also founded the Aswan Heart Center, located in southern Egypt, which is a heart center that treats sick children for free and receives funding through donations from both inside and outside Egypt. In 1992, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his work in medicine. In 1980, he performed a heart transplant on a patient who went on to become the longest-surviving heart transplant patient. Derrick Morris lived for twenty-five years after undergoing the transplant.

Becoming a famous physician isn’t difficult, but will require some effort, like everything else. As demonstrated by the examples given, most of these doctors were some of the best in their fields. They were respected and competent, and, ultimately, became famous. Some became famous after their death; surely Hippocrates didn’t expect to be this famous! He didn’t even know a western hemisphere existed, and now, every medical graduate on that side of the world repeats his oath at graduation. Dr. Ben Carson gained fame through his success and excellence as a neurosurgeon, as well as through his best-selling books. Later on, after retirement, he became famous as a politician and presidential candidate. Dr. Magdi Yacoub is popular and respected among peers due to being one of the greatest in his field. He also gained fame through teaching in the United States and United Kingdom, then through his charities.

Whether it’s through word of mouth, charities, television, or any other method, becoming famous will definitely do wonders for your practice. At some point, you may not find time for all the patients trying to set up appointments at your office. Fame should not be your main concern as a physician, but something to keep in mind and to strive for if an opportunity presents itself. If it doesn’t, then work hard and you’ll achieve popularity through your work, as many great and brilliant doctors have. Work with diligence, put your heart and soul into your work, and, with a little intelligence, you will achieve what you want.