Entering private practice requires one to stand out from the crowd in order to be the doctor of first choice for patients. — AMITA SEVELLARAJAUnlike government service where there is always an overflow of patients, in the private sector, you will have to compete for your patients.At medical school, you were never taught about the economics of medicine nor marketing for patients.“You go into medicine because you want to help people, not to make money” – that is society’s expectation of doctors.
“In the Council’s opinion, self-advertisement is not only incompatible with the principles, which should govern relations between members of a profession, but could be a source of danger to the public. Although hospitals have their own guidelines on advertisements, the laws for them are more relaxed compared to those for medical practitioners.If a medical practitioner breaks the law, he may get a suspension or his name may be struck off the MMC register.Currently, there are more private hospitals than government hospitals in Malaysia, and more are coming up.For a private hospital to succeed, it first must have the necessary facilities to entice patients.
If you want to buy a car, you search online to get information about models, prices, quality, etc, and read blogs on other peoples’ opinions about cars.If you have an illness and you want to find the best doctor to deal with your condition, what do you do? They meet every week to discuss each of their businesses and help one another in improving their networking, as well as assisting each other through cross-referrals.
In any case, most private doctors do not do research or publish journal articles as they are too busy working.One last point to consider is whether actively marketing yourself on social media is considered a violation of the Medical Act 1971 , which governs the practice of medical professionals.