The "Drop Out Club" Was Created to Help Doctors Network In This Challenging Environment

In 1999, A group of six former medical school classmates began to meet routinely to catch up over drinks. The catch was that each of them had left medicine to pursue alternate careers. Fast forward 16 years and that group has expanded to include over 23,000 members in 102 countries. The group is called The Drop Out Club. This platform allows doctors to stay in touch while also providing tools to be successful outside of practicing medicine.

Rael Mazansky cofounded a website to allow the group to stay in touch. The group has become diverse to include medical students to physicians who have been practicing for years. We've reported for a while now that the "doc shortage" is very real and practicing physicians are not sure where healthcare will be in the next three to five years. 

The Physicians Foundation surveyed over 13,000 doctors and the results were stunning: 

• Over 84 percent of physicians agree that the medical profession is in decline. 
• The majority of physicians – 57.9 percent -- would not recommend medicine as a career to their children or other young people. 
• Over one third of physicians would not choose medicine if they had their careers to do over. 
• Over 82 percent of physicians believe doctors have little ability to change the healthcare system. 
• Close to 92 percent of physicians are unsure where the health system will be or how they will fit into it three to five years from now. 

The numbers above tell a discouraging story.  Back in 2009, the Drop Out Club also evolved into a job posting site, said Mazansky. CNN reports that Although membership is free, the Drop Out Club charges companies $500 to post a job. To date, 500 employers -- including law firms, hedge funds and biotech startups -- have used the platform for hiring.

Why is the Drop Out Club so popular? "There's growing dissatisfaction among physicians," Mazansky said. On top of that, he said doctors are buckling under the cost of malpractice insurance.

Mazansky also brings a unique perspective because he is one of the few doctors that also has an MBA to go with his doctorate. This trend is also beginning to change as doctors see the need to enhance their business skills as healthcare continues to change.

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To read more from the Physicians Foundation's survey click here