What Does It Take To Start A Ketamine Clinic?
What is the most important thing you need to start a ketamine infusion clinic?
At first you may think that it is a physical clinic location, ketamine administration experience, a certain license, medical supplies, and/or medical malpractice insurance.
These things are all critical but what takes precedent is COURAGE.
According to Merriam-Webster, courage is defined as: “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”
Why is courage the most important thing to have in starting a ketamine clinic?
The magic happens when you step out of your comfort zone. It can be uncomfortable, but exciting.
STEPPING OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Starting a ketamine clinic means you will be stepping outside of your comfort zone. And all growth happens outside of your comfort zone. By definition, stepping outside of the comfort zone is uncomfortable. This can be both exciting and scary.
However, the big secret about courage is that it can only exist when fear is present.
Do you have any “what ifs” that come to mind when starting a ketamine clinic? Are you afraid you might fail?
YOU MIGHT FAIL
When I began thinking about opening a ketamine clinic, it was daunting. I asked myself, “What if no one comes to the clinic after I open the doors? What if I fail? What if I waste my savings?”
And many more “What ifs” came to mind.
When you put skin in the game in the form of signing a lease, depositing your money into a business checking account, or hanging your shingle, this takes a tremendous amount of courage.
Taking action to create a ketamine clinic while knowing that failure could be a possibility takes someone with a brave heart.
Incidentally, this definitely makes life more interesting.
There is a story about a man who died and thought he went to heaven. He awoke to an amazing Las Vegas-like world and every game that he played, he would win. Any person he would ask for a date, they would say, “Yes”. Every risk he took was guaranteed to be a success. After a few weeks of this, it got to be very dull and tedious for him. So he goes to speak to the manager of this world and asks, “What kind of heaven is this?”
The manager responded, “Who ever said you were in heaven?”
If we know with 100% certainty that we would never fail in any endeavour, it would make life incredibly boring. The possibility of failing actually turns our life into an adventure!
As a physician, it can be quite tempting to stay employed because of the stability of high hourly compensation. But COVID-19 has shown us this isn’t always the case.
THE GOLDEN HANDCUFFS
According to an American Medical Association survey in 2018, 47.4% of all physicians were employees and 45.9% of physicians were owners of their own practice. This means that physicians were more likely to work for someone else rather than themselves. Of note, emergency physicians were least likely to be in a physician-owned practice - only 26.2% were owners. (Article Link)
In an ideal world, we would like someone else to manage the administrative burden, while just focusing on the clinical aspect of being a physician. Frequently, doctors believe it’s much easier to work for a hospital or large corporation.
But in reality, working for someone else will impact your life and even the way you practice medicine. It may be the electronic medial record (EMR) software the administrators choose, the push to see more patients, the mandatory meetings you have to attend on your off time, or even something as nitpicky as the color of your scrubs.
The tradeoff is a regular salary which may be a high hourly compensation.
Voila! There you have it - the golden handcuffs. This can take quite a bit of courage to step away from.
However, COVID-19 has shown us that the regular physician salary may not be as stable as we once thought. Physicians are being furloughed, having bonuses withheld, and up to 62% of U.S. doctors stating their income has dropped during the pandemic.
“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.”
~Nassim Taleb
Ketamine is still not widely accepted in the medical space. So be prepared to face criticism from your colleagues when starting your own ketamine clinic.
CRITICISM FROM OTHERS
When you start a ketamine clinic, be prepared to face some criticism from your colleagues. Medicine is slow to change and there are quite a few practitioners who are not aware or simply ignore the latest evidence-based medicine (EBM) supporting ketamine treatments.
Believe it or not, there was a point in history when doctors did not believe in handwashing.
In the 1800s, the rate of puerperal fever amongst women who had their babies delivered by doctors (that had just finished dissecting cadavers) was much higher compared to those delivered by midwives.
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis looked at the data and implemented mandatory handwashing for the doctors at the Vienna General Hospital. There was an immediate reduction in puerperal fever. So, he tried to convince his colleagues that if they simply washed their hands, it could dramatically decrease the mortality and morbidity of the laboring women.
Unfortunately, the majority of his colleagues criticized him and ignored the data. It took nearly 50 years for medicine to change. Some say that medicine changes ONE FUNERAL AT A TIME.
As you can see, it takes an incredible amount of courage to do something new in an old school culture that values conformity.
“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
– Aristotle
Do you have the courage to face all the changes when starting your own ketamine clinic?
ARE YOU COURAGEOUS ENOUGH?
Let’s face it. Starting anything new is challenging and takes a tremendous amount of courage. But think of what you have already done: your first champagne lumbar puncture, putting in that chest tube solo, or maybe even going for that emergency cricothyroidotomy in a failed airway.
You are already incredibly courageous. If something is calling you to take a leap into starting up a ketamine clinic, I know you already have the courage within you.
“The regret that comes from not trying is a lot more painful than the instant rejection of not going for it.”
If you simply need some extra support with the logistics and details, then join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.
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