SEAK’s Consulting Training for Physicians is now available on DVD. Please click here.
SEAK can teach you how to substantially supplement your clinical income through consulting.
There are many advantages for you as a consultant, including:
- Lucrative-You will now have the opportunity to be paid what you are actually worth instead of what some reimbursement schedule says you can charge for your knowledge, effort, training, experience and results.
- Intellectually Challenging-You will have the opportunity to work with smart, highly motivated individuals who value results and will reward you accordingly.
- Low Overhead-One of the many great benefits of consulting is that the overhead is extremely low so that well over 90% of your income is net to you.
- Low Risk-Consulting is extremely low risk as compared to clinical medicine.
- Control-You control the assignments accepted, set the fees, and can normally perform almost all of the work out of your home office. You will be able to spend as much or as little time as you have available consulting.
- No License Needed-There is often no need for board certification, an active medical license or an active clinical practice to be a successful consultant.
- Transition-Consulting is often an excellent way to position yourself to eventually reduce or leave your clinical practice if and when you are ready to do so.
FREE WHITEPAPER – 65 Sample Consulting Niches for Physicians Click here
SEAK offers a highly acclaimed two day, CME interactive training program for physician consultants, How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Consulting Practice. We show you how to:
• Identify a lucrative niche in which to offer consulting services
• Create an action plan for landing your first few clients
• Utilize proven techniques to build a superior consulting brand
• Make sure you are fully and fairly compensated for your expertise
• Exceed client expectations and excel at consulting
• Capitalize on emerging consulting opportunities
• Negotiate a premium consulting fee
• Navigate ethical issues that physician consultants face
For our current schedule of training programs for physicians, please click here.
Frequently Asked Questions about Serving as a Physician Consultant.
Q. What should I consult in/what will be my consulting niche?
A. Many successful physician consultants select a consulting niche to practice in. Any area that you bring value and help solve the problems of the clients can be your consulting niche. There are hundreds of consulting niches and many physicians actually develop new niches for themselves.
Physicians traditionally select their niche based on one or more of the following factors:
* What are they really good at
* A niche that is aligned with their clinical expertise but also their non-medical interests, experience and expertise (e.g. hobbies,)
* An area that they are passionate about
* A niche that helps businesses, companies, and individuals deal with/solve their problems
* Problems that clients are willing to pay money for physicians to help solve
* A niche in which you can get repeat business and referrals
* A niche which permits you to meet and in some cases exceed the expectations of the client
Physicians who initially do not “know their niche” should not be discouraged from pursuing consulting. With some reflection, research, and training most physicians can find an enjoyable, successful and lucrative niche to practice in. In fact many physicians start looking at problems they encounter in their workplace as opportunities to come up with excellent niches they truly enjoy practicing in.
Q. How will I get paid?
A. By the job or the hour. Your fee will be 100% based upon what you negotiate with the client and will not be set by the government or an insurance company. In other words, you will be paid what you are worth.
Q. What are the startup costs?
A. Startup costs are negligible. Some business cards, a web site, and if you choose, errors and omissions liability insurance. Being able to work from home without employees or equipment beyond a computer and cell phone makes consulting a very low barrier to entry endeavor.
Q. If the consulting takes off, can I give up clinical practice all together and just do the consulting?
A. Yes, as long as your niche does not require current clinical skills.
Q. How much money can I make?
A. Physician consultants often earn more through consulting than they do through practicing as a physician. Remember that the overhead for consulting is extremely low and you are not artificially limited in charging for what you are actually worth.
Q. What is the biggest challenges facing physician consultants?
A. To be successful you need to select the right niche or niches and then be a self-starter who can go out and promote yourself and earn business. You will then need to do an excellent job to obtain repeat assignments.
Q. Can serving as a physician consultant help me transition to a full time non-clinical career?
A. Yes. The skills you learn consulting make you more valuable to employers. In addition, consulting is an excellent low risk way to test the waters in a field before taking the plunge and leaving the practice of medicine all together.
Q. Do I need an active clinical practice?
A. No, not unless your niche requires current clinical skills.
Q. Do I need to be board certified?
A. No, not unless your niche requires specialized clinical expertise.
Q. Do I need an active medical license?
A. No, unless for some reason your clients would require this.
Here’s What Your Colleagues Have to Say about SEAK’s Consulting Training Program for Physicians:
“The course was just absolutely spectacular. I am still stunned by the incredibly positive nature of the experience.”
“Great course. I’m already gearing up.”
“Dear Steve and Julia, Yours was definitely the best conference I have ever attended. It’s the first time I sat through a conference that was actually ALL ABOUT ME! Thank you for an incredibly productive weekend.”
“Awesome. A lot of information to go home and digest.”
“Excellent. provided all the tools.”
“Incredible. I really appreciate how you used every single second and packed it full of information.”
“Inspiring.”
“This has given me more information in 1 day about how to build my consulting business than the many hours I have spent talking and networking with colleagues for the past year.”
“Very good. helped me figure out my niche.”
“Very helpful. My goal was to learn more about what consulting entails and the process. This was excellent.”
“Well organized, thorough coverage of topics.”
“Excellent job – stories and examples great – Julia’s practical info very valuable.”
“Excellent job! thank you for this life-changing experience.”
“Extremely informative and well presented.”
“I appreciate your time and willingness to share this valuable information. Also, thank you in advance for being available to us via accountability “homework” we are to provide within next few months. Thank you!”
“It was awesome.”
“Thank you for a wealth of information.”
“Thank you for the excellent information.”
“I attended the SEAK conference, ” How to Start, Build and Run a Successful Consulting Practice,” in Clearwater in February, 2014. Steve Babitsky helped me realize that my best shot would be to become a consultant for inventors of medical devices. I then started a consulting business, “Medical Inventor Consulting.” I highly recommend SEAK’s conferences as they help you focus on non-clinical career opportunities and, in my case, on how to start a consulting business”
“I found the [consulting] conference to be very valuable, particularly because I recognize now that consulting does not require direct clinical interaction found in Doctor – Patient consultation. My consulting business is therefore informed by my extensive clinical experience, but allows me to explore a host of other opportunities which may ultimately be very valuable.”
“I was so inspired and encouraged after your SEAK Conference on Medical Consulting for Physicians last week in Florida.”
“I am very glad that I attended the conference, which I actually put off for a year. The most valuable aspect for me was the clear differentiation between consulting and clinical work.”
“It was a pleasure attending the conference and acquiring this valuable knowledge on consulting.”
“You’re good, Steve, very good!”
“Helpful, eye opening”
“Broad but informative”
“Very impressed”
“Great”
“Inspiring, thank you!”
“Very useful, lots of pointers especially things to avoid.”
“Steve and Julia are good combination. Julia’s feedback about physician perspective appreciated. Both have great business acumen – that is much appreciated.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to email you for supplementary info and review of action plan”
“Vivid case examples”
“The negotiating exercise was very eye-opening sounds easy when you talk about it, in practice, not so much.”
“The dust is still settling in my head from all the ideas stirred up by the writing course! Many thanks for a great and inspiring two days.”
“Extremely helpful in pointing me in the right direction.”
“After attending the [2016 consulting] seminar I did as instructed and submitted to you my action plan for establishing a consulting business…I reached out to some colleagues.. Bingo my first client. Next while telling another colleague I had left [my employer]. Bingo my second client. I now have a very successful full-time consulting practice and am making more money than ever. I am confident that your seminar and support were the impetus to me taking the risk and… stepping off the ledge!!”
“Dear Steve- I wanted to say thank you for a very instructive course that you and Julia presented in Clearwater. I am impressed by the amount of hard work that you must have invested in order to give such a thorough presentation. Truly you practice what you preach by stating to deliver more than what was promised and to do a good job! Thanks a bunch!”
“A very thorough presentation on consulting”
“Excellent, lots of practical advice, actionable items, not just theoretical information”
“Excellent, well done, well organized”
“Great, inspiring, relevant, empowering, witty”
“Great, much practical advice, great resource, check lists, sample contracts – awesome”
“Professional and practical”
“Excellent faculty, fun, engaging”
“Excellent job, light style, honest, NOT preachy”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and certainly walked away with a fresh view of my career options…I know this is not my last experience with SEAK! Look forward to working with your company in the future.”
“Great course!”
“Thank you for everything. This was one of the most useful courses I have attended and I will be referring to the comprehensive handbook quite often in the future.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and thought that you really put together a class act presentation. Good value for the money spent.”
“I am a former SEAK seminar attendee (consulting development seminar) and I completely trust Steve Babitsky 100%. Best course I ever took, most fascinating, interesting, and motivating public speaker I’ve ever witnessed.”
“The knowledge I gained from the conference was tremendous. I now feel like I have a foundation upon which I can begin the next phase of my career. Thank you for your insight and encouragement.”
“Excellent – received volumes more information than what I was expecting. And best of all – all of it is useful.”
“Excellent presentation start to finish. It has given me many ideas to consider.”
“Has given me a good idea of how to develop a niche and how to get started”
“This course was a catalyst for implementing my consulting services”
“Well organized and inspirational”
“Lively, thought provoking – kept my attention from beginning to end”
“Dynamic presenters”
“Very informative”
“Excellent and practical; applicable to almost any consulting idea”
“Awesome”
“I found it fascinating”
“Thanks to you and to Jim for your great conference earlier this month on Starting, Building, and Running a Successful Consulting Practice. You gave focus and direction to a few vague ideas that I brought with me, and lit a bit of a fire. Your ending the conference by urging participants not to procrastinate was exactly what was needed.”
“Babitsky – remarkable teacher, inspirational.”
“Excellent – exceeded my expectations. This is my 3rd SEAK conference with Steven Babitsky. I continue to refer people as they have all been outstanding. Talk about a great ROI. Worth every penny.”
“Well done, knew what they were doing.”
“Excellent. Energizing. Great takeaways.”
“Excellent. Steve is gifted and uncommon.”
“Opened my eyes to entirely new avenue of possibilities.”
“Best SEAK seminar.”
“The conferences for consultants was wonderful. I learned so much and have about 20 pending actions on my new action plan to move forward.”
“I wanted to take a moment out of our busy day to personally thank you for all you do for the physician community. Your company SEAK has single handedly changed my life as a physician practicing in the traditional healthcare setting. As a young physician I once had hopes and dreams for my career path that I thought would always remain a fantasy. I stopped believing in my dreams until a SEAK flyer landed in my mail one day. Through your course offerings ‘Non clinical careers in medicine’ and now ‘How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Consulting Practice,’ I learned how to turn my dream into a reality. I came to your consulting course in Tampa last month and absorbed everything you taught us. It was a crash course in business consulting for me. I had never been to a course like yours as a purely clinical physician who spends most of her time at medical conferences. I immediately started implementing what you taught us and my business dreams are about to take off as we speak. And I credit you and your company SEAK for giving me the courage and knowledge to push myself into my dream ‘non traditional’ career path. Words cannot thank you enough. My contact information is below. Please let me know what I can do to help you and SEAK’s mission for the physician community. I am so grateful. I truly believe if someone like me, a traditionally educated and trained physician, can break into a non clinical career path than ANYONE can. It just takes courage and SEAK.”
“The course exceeded my expectations of SEAK, which are absurdly high based on tons of positive past experience with your organization. The kindness, smartness and collegiality of SEAK have been a huge contributor to my effectiveness at learning, networking and taking actions (including negotiating).”
“Steve, what a great course! I completely enjoyed it, the content will be immensely useful to me. I will keep you posted on my progress if I hit a home run. My goal is to start doing program development consulting for new and existing Bariatric programs. There is a huge need…..I already do this and don’t get paid, that is going to change real soon!!”
“Absolutely excellent!”
“Detailed and specific”
“Excellent. Especially the business, legal, negotiating parts.”
“Excellent, inspiring”
“Excellent. Very practical. Gave me confidence I could start a consulting business”
“Fantastic – will recommend to docs”
“Inspiring”
“Superb: helped give context and guardrails to my thinking.”
“Very professional”
“Very well done”
“Excellent speakers. Enjoyed style and delivery.”
“Your presentations were inspiring.”
