Paper presented at a workshop for Final Year students of Kaduna State University , Kaduna Nigeria

1. Skills Acquisition and
Entrepreneurship in Medical
Practice
-Presented @ The 21st Century Skills and
Students Creativity & Mindset Workshop.
KASU
Dr. Stephen B Bature
Associate Professor & Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist
Kaduna state University & Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna
Deputy Provost, College of Medicine KASU
stephen.bature@kasu.edu.ng

2. Outline of Presentation
 Introduction
 Definition of terms
 Skill acquisition in medicine
 The Doctor as an entrepreneur
 Conclusion
 References
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3. Introduction
 The economic fortunes and misfortunes of states and
nations of the world are largely tied to the
entrepreneurial skills and knowledge of their populace.
 The concept of entrepreneurship was first established in
the 1700s, and the meaning has evolved ever since
 Many simply equate it with starting one’s own business.
However, it is much more than that
 To some, an entrepreneur is one who is willing to bear
the risk of a new venture if there is a significant chance
for profit
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4. Introduction-2
 Others emphasize the entrepreneur’s role as an
innovator who markets his innovation
 Still others say that entrepreneurs develop new
goods or processes that the market demands and
are not currently being supplied
 Entrepreneur can also be viewed as a person that
wants to works for himself; it is sometimes
synonymous with self-employment
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5. Who is an entrepreneur?
A person who organizes a venture to benefit from an
opportunity
or
who risks capital to make profit.
Key role in economies
Develop skills and initiative necessary to anticipate
current and future needs and bring good new ideas to
market: Uber, Amazon, Apple, Air bnb
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6. Entrepreneurship skills
 Entrepreneurial skill acquisition is the ability of an individual to exploit an
idea and create and enterprise (small or big) not only for personal gains but
also for social and developmental gains
 A great entrepreneur must be able to effectively communicate, sell, focus,
learn, and strategize. An ability to continuously learn is not just a key
entrepreneurial skill, but also a very valuable life skill. Growing a business
requires a sound strategy based on inherent business sense and skills.
 Entrepreneurial skills centres around attitudes (soft skills), such as
persistence, networking and self-confidence on the one hand and enabling
skills (hard skills) on the other hand, including basic start- up knowledge,
business planning, financial literacy and managerial skills.
 By developing these essential skills – leadership, financial literacy,
adaptability, networking, communication, problem-solving, time
management, marketing and sales, emotional intelligence, and resilience –
entrepreneurs can enhance their capabilities and increase their chances of
building a successful and sustainable enterprise
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7. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition
 Clinical skills are abilities health care professionals use when
assessing, diagnosing and caring for patients. Clinical skills also
describe applied medical knowledge, such as assessing a patient.
 The term 'clinical skills' involves history-taking, physical examination,
clinical investigations, using diagnostic reasoning, procedural
perfection, effective communication, team work and professionalism.
 This skills are mostly technical therefore a Doctor should prioritize the
following :
• Prescribing medication correctly
• Physically administering treatments including basic life saving and
common surgical operations
• Interpreting laboratory results
• Assessing symptoms
• Diagnosing conditions
• Providing follow-up care
• Staying up to date on medical research
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8. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition-2
Problem-solving and critical thinking skills that
help doctors include:
 Analytical thinking
 Creative thinking
 Solution-oriented thinking
 Ability to ask questions
 Open-mindedness
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9. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition-3
Doctors and other health worker require important
communication skills in order to become good medical
entrepreneurs, these communication skills include:
 Verbal communication
 Written communication
 Body language
 Clarity of language
 Ability to give feedback
 Active listening 4/30/2024 9

10. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition-4
Doctors should focus on building interpersonal skills
like these:
 Empathy
 Dependability
 Patience
 Compassion
 Sensitivity
 Flexibility
 Conflict resolution
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11. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition-5
These skills are the basis for doctors' excellent
attention to detail:
 Observation
 Organization
 Focus
 Time management
 Delegation
 Attentiveness
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12. Medical (clinical) skills acquisition-6
Here are a few relevant skills that can help doctors
remain professional throughout their careers:
 Respect
 Cultural awareness
 Positive attitude
 Deescalation
 Levelheadedness
 Integrity
 Reassurance
 Discipline
 Responsibility
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13. The Doctor as an Entrepreneur
 Why do doctors find it difficult to become entrepreneurs?
• Einstellung Effect
• Outdated Curriculum even at Post Graduate Level, this underscores the
importance of medical and allied health students taking entrepreneurship and
management sciences courses as electives during their preclinical years in the
University.
• Afraid of what other colleagues will say when venturing into a non medical field
 Who can become an entrepreneur- Anyone
• It is not a personality trait
• No special chromosomes are needed
• It is a process- Can be learnt
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14. The Doctor as an Entrepreneur-2
Why are we not maximizing the opportunities?
 We are still looking up to government for employment
 We are not taking cognizance of the changes around us -
especially affecting healthcare delivery
Healthcare has become a business and not only social
service (e.g. Cuba, Medical tourism etc)
I. Budget, P&L
II. Technology : social media, Telemedicine
III. Global village
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15. The Doctor as an Entrepreneur-3
Characteristic of an Entrepreneur
 Innovation: think and do things differently, know your industry
inside out and use your knowledge to create new opportunities.
 Self motivated: will take knocks on the way. Will also need to
motivate others.
 Risk taking (calculated risks): must not be afraid of failure but see
as learning and growing opportunities.
 Share ideas freely (No petty jealousy)
 Strive for distinction through excellence (dislike mediocrity)
 Highly optimistic
 Long suffering (helped by the fact that they love what they are
doing.)
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16. More things the Medical Entrepreneur should
know-Branding and Advertisement
 One need to build up brand and brand name to get a
following of customers in order to patronize his goods or
services
 Create a logo that can help people easily identify your brand,
and be consistent in using it across all of your platforms, like
website, letter head and etc.
 Engage in promotion and advertisement to make target
customers be aware of your product and service
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17. Sales and Growth
 The business's future depends on revenue and sales
 Sales is important for generating revenue and hence break even and
profits
 Next is growth, and there are many ways to grow
 Growth is possible with effective marketing using all available and
relevant platforms
 Provision of qualitative product and service at reasonable price
based on customers capacity is another strategy for growth
 Availability of wide range of products and services is another
important strategy for growth
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18. Know your Boundaries
 Recognize expertise in a certain area so as to complement
your effort
 Don’t play the medical expert in your startup and handle
the responsibilities of a marketer, accountant, logistic
officer, and all specialist at the same time
 If possible Involve the right person for the right job and
sometimes delegate, as you cannot have full control of
everything
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19. Challenges Likely to Face
 Low affordability of proficient healthcare
 The poor and the rural populations have troubles in
accessing proper health care due to the low income
 If you want to cover this gap, you will have to deal with
the challenge of breaking even or low profit
 Collaborating with government or Development Partners
with research, prevention, and curative measure programs
may help you reach your financial and social goals at the
same time
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20. Final advise to future medical
Entrepreneurs
 Manage time and stress appropriately
 Be patient and dedicated
 Be current on government policies
 Be current on market dynamics and global practices
 Network with a community of professionals and like minds
 (Doctorpreneurs - The Community for Medical Entrepreneurs
www.doctorpreneurs.com)
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21. Conclusion
 Medical Entrepreneurship has been recorgnized as an
important Economic activity that is involved in
providing unique products and services
 It has been generating employment , wealth creation
and poverty alleviation among others.
 The health sector is what it is because many doctors are
not entrepreneurs.
 To be a successful medical entrepreneur, one needs to
posses the sterling qualities of an entrepreneur as well
as follow the necessary steps
 The easiest/cheapest way to be an entrepreneur is to
work with/ work for one.
 The opportunities are limitless and sky is the beginning
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23. References
 https://unevoc.unesco.org/home/Skills+Acquisition+and+Entrepreneurship+Development
+Sensitization+Workshop+in+Nigeria/country=Nigeria
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8368672/
 Medical entrepreneurship: where to start and develop
http//:www.mustaphamuktar.blogspot.com
 The doctor as an entrepreneur presented @ the 16th annul scientific conference
(All fellows congress) Eko Hotel and Suites by Dr. Abayomi Ajayi 10th August 2022
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