In the words of The Entrepreneurial MD's clients...

Not even the slickest sales person can persuade an interested person as effectively as satisfied customers. So I have chosen to leave it to some of The Entrepreneurial MD clients, who have been very generous with their comments.

For privacy reasons, most of the clients have chosen to remain anonymous - as I am sure you might understand!

'When I began coaching, I needed some direction, some forward momentum. And I needed help organizing all of my "great ideas" into an action plan. I needed to be aligned with someone who'd been there and done it successfully and happily too.

I've gone from a non-networker to a very productive networker. I've created a resume that I like and that I'm comfortable with. I have a plan. I have "challenges" to work on after each session including everything from adjusting my attitude about certain things, to redirecting the "gremlins" that try to get in my way (no I'm not crazy- you'll find out what your gremlins are and how to turn them right around!), to drafting letters, to creating action in my career transition. Oh - and most important of all, I've figured out what my passion in life is and now I'm happily and eagerly and productively moving towards it!

Coaching is a lot of work. I remember reading in our coaching agreement that Philippa would only work with me if I was ready to be at my best and put in the effort and I see why she insists on that. It's a lot of work. But it's fun work. It's energizing and exciting. I haven't really felt this enthusiastic about my professional life since the day way back when, when I received my acceptance letter to medical school.

If you are considering engaging a coach, do it. It's totally worth your time and money to infuse your career and professional life with a new direction and new qualities that suit you and inspire you. It's life changing really. And I don't mean to be dramatic but the weight of my dissatisfaction in my clinical career was overwhelming, and my life is now changing so positively just moving towards a better place, I can hardly imagine how nice it will be when I get there.

Working with Philippa has been great for me. She's extremely professional and knowledgeable and has an endless supply of tools to help you, but she's also very understanding and compassionate and understands the highs and lows of this process. It's been a wonderful experience for me to work with Philippa and I would encourage anyone with even the slightest inclination to look into a coach, to give her a call or listen in on one of her free monthly teleclasses and you'll see what I mean.'

RW , family physician, Vermont.

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'As a consultant with my own business, I needed marketing expertise and mentoring. During my coaching with Philippa, I completely restructured the manner in which I did business. I moved from a sales approach to an educational marketing approach.

What I was looking for is exactly what I got: expertise. In working with Philippa, I was provided with marketing expertise to immediately address issues I was working on and I was able to learn how to apply those and other marketing principles to future business situations.

In response to whether I would hire a coach, I'd be hesitant because there are a lot of them out there and I have been wholly unimpressed with almost all of them. Philippa, however, is the real deal. You get genuine expertise and our focus is always on results.'

John Roulet, Management Consultant, Roulet Performance Systems and author of "The Supervision Solution: Manage Performance  -- Not People", North Carolina

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'I'm an internist who didn't want to be trapped only practicing medicine for the rest of my professional life. I had an idea for a business that I had started some time before I began coaching. When I got into coaching, I was stuck trying to figure out how to run my company, make it grow, and still have a life.
  
My biggest accomplishments have been to grow ExtraMD to the point where I have an assistant that basically runs it, and to write a business plan that I look at almost daily.

In my experience, a coach provides you with a sounding board, guidance and cheerleader.  Philippa is very knowledgeable, understanding and has a vast amount of experience.  She uses this to help you and your business go in the direction you want it to go.  She also helps along the way with the inevitable personal problems (?crises?) that come your way.

I chose Philippa because she is a physician like me, and has undergone similar experiences.  I would suggest that different phases in life and business would call for different types of coaching.  I suggest you find a coach that has experience in the area and with the problems you are encountering.'

Marica Pook MD, founder and President ExtraMD, Colorado.

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I wanted a coach because I knew there was more that I wanted to do with my talents and education. I felt a coach could effectively and efficiently help me clarify a vision for my career and life.

Since working with Philippa, I have been able to confidently pursue new passions that have led me to become a film producer while still maintaining my medical clinical and teaching skills through more traditional medical work. One project I am working on is a feature length documentary film that I am very passionate about, that will be in post-production this summer!  I have also been able to achieve personal goals in my family life that may have taken longer to realize without coaching. And probably most importantly, I have been able to free myself of feeling "stuck," feel positive about my future career path and feel confident to take on any task.

 My experience with coaching was an eye opening and life transforming one.  Philippa specifically made me feel completely comfortable and heard, and served as a keenly perceptive mirror and guide in my journey.

So I would say to anyone asking: Do not hesitate to engage a coach.

DF , family physician, CA

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'My biggest reason for engaging a coach was that I had tried to leave medicine several times before without the help of a coach, and I always failed. The high wages possible in medicine always brought me back, in spite of the fact that I began to dislike it as far back as my internship. Intuitively, I knew it was the wrong profession for me, but I had put so much time, effort, energy, and money into it that I couldn't make myself leave.

During coaching, I began to explore other career options. I am interested in writing both non-fiction and fiction. I have worked a lot in this area in the past year and have enjoyed it immensely.

I enjoyed the coaching experience. I felt I could talk openly to Philippa about almost everything. I also felt she would be honest with me if something was out of her field or she didn't know the answers. I knew I could contact her fairly quickly, especially when things were really challenging during a bad lawsuit. I felt like she was my supporter and my advocate in a world that seemed to have gone mad with hate and spite. She never had some sort of agenda for me. Instead, she encouraged me to explore and find my own answers. I did explore, and even made some mistakes in my exploration, but she always remained supportive.

Anyone considering changing their career from medicine to something else, or even retiring, would benefit from a coaching experience. Most physician colleagues have swallowed the medical myth of the profession's sometimes self-destructive and self-sacrificing behavior. They aren't interested in listening to anyone who has decided to quit practicing medicine. They can't be objective.

Philippa had left medicine. I knew talking to her was safe. I knew she wasn't going to try to convince me to stay or to just change my practice. She talked about a balanced life with a variety of activities and taking care of myself in a healthy way. She knew what she was saying. She gave me assignments and challenged me to find solutions: new, more healthy ways of living. She also enabled me to return to my core values. I also liked the fact that she wasn't American. I thought that being from another country might make her more open to doing things differently than we do in the US and I was correct!'

SJ, former internist from Alaska now living abroad

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I am an ob/gyn who has been in private practice since 2000. I was referred to Philippa in 2006 when I realized how unhappy I was in my practice. I was tired of the day to day routine as the stress was unbelievable. “Dread” is the word I used to describe how I felt each morning.  I was definitely at a crossroad in my career.  I loved women’s health and didn’t want to give it up completely.  I took advantage of an offer of complimentary coaching and that’s how I met Philippa.

I knew that I was unhappy, but I didn’t know why. And I was disappointed that I had spent so much time training to become a board-certified ob/gyn only to discover that I hated what I was doing. Philippa was instrumental in helping me determine why I was so unhappy and what I could do about it.

As a result of my coaching, I left my practice and decided to start my own gynecology practice.  I’m in transition currently, but plan to have my own office. Philippa helped me to see that I wanted freedom and flexibility in my own practice, something that was missing from the previous practice. She also gave me permission to feel okay about giving up obstetrics.

Working with Philippa has been a very rewarding experience. She’s very personable, yet firm. She keeps you “on task”. She’s your cheerleader and the nudge you need to move forward. Philippa is also a great source of information. I highly recommend coaching with her as I’ve been very pleased with the work we’ve done.

LT, OB-Gyn, GA