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advertisement from the managementconsulting giant McKinsey & Company . The firm was increasingly working with pharmaceutical and biomedical companies and was recruiting MDs and PhDs who , according to the ad , “ liked problemsolving .” On a whim , I decided to go through their interview process , which I found to be intellectually challenging .
I read about business and decided that , by combining newfound operational and strategic skills with those I had garnered in my decade of experience as a physician-scientist , I could make a difference through this alternative route to basic research .
I was offered the job and accepted it , making the riskiest , yet most refreshing , move in my career . After a few years , though , I found that the jobs I had wanted were not coming my way , so I again switched paths to private equity , and from there to banking .
How did your life change after you made that initial transition out of the world of medicine ? It has changed in many ways . First of all , the stakes are different : At the end of the day , medicine is about life and death ; business is about paper and money . An emergency in medicine is a code ; an emergency in business is rushing to a board meeting .
Medicine is also a more “ local ” profession . Many clinician-scientists work close to home , and interact with colleagues and patients who live nearby . Business can be more global . I have traveled extensively and interact with a variety of individuals ( biotech and pharmaceutical senior executives , entrepreneurs , lawyers , consultants , fellow bankers , research-and-development heads , investors , journalists , and analysts , to name a few ) from all over the world . I also am now a member of Global Services on United Airlines and at the Diamond or Platinum level with many hotel chains – that ’ s not something I could have imagined for myself as a practicing clinician or basic-science researcher .
Of course , compensation also is different : In clinical medicine , compensation tends to be process-based ( i . e ., reimbursement for a service provided to patients and / or education to trainees ), but in the business world , compensation is more product-based ( i . e ., based on performance outcomes ). Failing to generate revenue can result in the proverbial pink slip . Furthermore , those in business are more subject to externalities like market conditions . When the banking crisis hit in 2009 and 2010 , many of my peers lost jobs and life savings . Medicine is generally immune from this , as there is more of a fixed demand for health care .
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What are your proudest accomplishments during your time in medicine ? In business ? When I accepted the position at McKinsey & Company , I was one of the first trained doctors who swept into the business realm . I think that I provided a roadmap for many others to follow – some of whom have greatly surpassed me in achievements .
As an investor and an investment banker , where one of my tasks is to evaluate new drugs from biotechnology start-up companies , I have been peripherally instrumental to the development of some key innovations in medicine . That includes recombinant factors VIII and IX Fc fusion proteins while I was a board observer for Syntonix , and abiraterone , a drug that created a new paradigm in castration-resistant prostate cancer , while I consulted with Cougar Biotechnology ( later acquired by Johnson & Johnson ). With the latter , I worked closely with Cougar CEO Alan H . Auerbach in positioning the drug to buyers who brought it to the market – and , eventually , to the patients who needed it .
I am also proud of my time in clinical medicine and research , and the contributions I have continued to make there . I still write academic articles and give talks on trial design , data interpretation , and drug economics .
Have you had any major disappointments in your career – either in medicine or in industry ? If so , how have you handled them ? I work in investment banking , so , of course there have been many disappointments . Investment banking involves selling your own and your firm ’ s capabilities , in terms of mergers and acquisitions and raising capital . I try to do so with ethics and deep substance – analogous to a builder who becomes a real-estate agent . Despite my valiant efforts and all the assistance already provided to the clients , they will sometimes choose my competitors over me .
I handle it by not letting these disappointments deter me . Coping requires a thick skin , which I developed by keeping perspective on the important things in life and maintaining the ability to laugh at myself . My medical training taught me about the fragility of human life , and the events of September 11 , 2001 , made the lesson
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ineffaceable . I was supposed to be at One World Trade Center that morning , but fortunately , I was asked last-minute to give heme / onc grand rounds at Weill Cornell . Yes , it ’ s true – grand rounds actually saved my life .
What lessons has your work life taught you ? Is there any advice you ’ ve gleaned from traversing different careers that you would pass on to younger colleagues ? Risk aversity prevented me from doing more in my professional life , so I would advise people to avoid the “ wouldacoulda-shouldas .”
Mark Twain once said , “ Twenty years from now , you will be more disappointed by the things you didn ’ t do than by the ones you did do . So , throw off the bowlines . Sail away from the safe harbor .”
As a corollary , I would offer , “ Follow your passion .” But I ’ d also add the buffer , “ Be realistic .”
As the writer Calvin Trillin said about the burden of promise , “ You have a knapsack , and all the time you ’ re growing up they keep stuffing promise into the knapsack . Pretty soon , it ’ s just too heavy to carry . You have to unpack .” You might be
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Dr . Glassman on vacation on the island of Korcula in Croatia .
talented in a certain area , but even among childhood prodigies and superstars , few truly make a monumental difference in the world . So , find where you can make the most difference . Unload that knapsack to avoid being unsatisfied with anything less than stellar . ●
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