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Doctorpreneurs of Doctology is pleased this week to interview Dr Tal Rapke.
Tal believes healthcare can deliver improved outcomes at a fraction of the current cost of care by being more patient centric.
Tal is a trained physician with 20+ years of health experience as a strategist, a digital health player, an entrepreneur, and a pharmaceutical industry expert.
He spent 5 years in NYC in digital health and strategic consulting, and the last 8 years at Sanofi as their Medical Director and most recently the Director of Innovation.
He has been building ScalaMed for the last 2 years - dedicated to changing the future of healthcare.
What organisation / startup did you found?
ScalaMed - check it out at https://www.scalamed.com/
What is its noble purpose?
To re-orient healthcare towards the consumer - to create a world where patients own their data, and leverage that data for better health outcomes.
Tell us about the first 10 years of your life?
Nuclear family, incredibly studious at school, Melbourne, lucky upbringing, one of 5 kids, always grew up surrounded by friends and community.
What age were you when you had your first paying job?
At 15 I became a swimming teacher. But before that at the age of 13 when I received money for my bar mitzvah, I decided to invest.
I called 20 of the top stock brokering houses in the country and boldly asked them for a prospectus for how to invest significant money in a mixture of blue chip and speculative stocks. Only half asked me how much ($5,000) and then offered me phone advice, the others sent me detailed proposals.
I then tallied the best suggestions, and found a cheap broker and invested - that money put me through medical school and allowed me to travel every summer for 6 years!
What made you want to be a Doctor and what speciality did you choose?
Truthfully with my grades I thought about just medicine, law or a combination - but really wasn't passionate about any of them.
What made you want to be an Entrepreneur? When exactly did you decide?
I have always like the contrarian path and have always tried to find new ways forward and see problems differently than others. I always wanted to do my own thing, but became comfortable in paying jobs, and it took ages until I really felt like I was prepared to take the risk and trust in myself and my abilities.
Are you still practicing as a Doctor now? If yes do you intend to stop if your organisation takes off?
Not at the moment.
Why do you think traditionally many Doctors struggle with entrepreneurship?
Because medicine teaches us to think algorithmically and in an evidence based way - I think when we see the power moving more to patients, we will see doctors being forced to think more creatively in how we think about the practice of medicine.
What is your favourite quote?
Don't ask for permission - ask for forgiveness.
What would you do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse?
Jump on a boat with my family and enjoy the big blue seas.
Are you a Doctorpreneur? Do you know of one? If yes then get in touch us and you could appear on Doctorpreneurs of Doctology. Just email terry@doctology.com.au today.
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