Doctor and entrepreneur: Dr. med. Daniela L. Gut on the early days of her practice
Published on 28/10/2024
Interview with Dr. Daniela L. Gut, FMH ENT specialist
Opening or taking over a medical practice requires an entrepreneurial spirit and involves financial risks. Despite this, many doctors find the prospect of opening their own practice attractive, as it gives them greater autonomy and greater scope for development. Dr Daniela L. Gut, an FMH specialist in ENT, made this decision many years ago when she went independent in Zurich, taking over the practice of her predecessor, Prof. Gustav von Schulthess.
In this interview, Dr Gut looks back on her early days as an independent practitioner and shares her advice for young doctors considering setting up or taking over a practice.
Taking over a practice against all the odds
Initially, Dr. Gut was still working at the Triemli Hospital. Although she enjoyed her work, she felt that there was a lack of opportunities for her to develop fully. Then an offer changed everything:
“My boss at the time offered me a 50% job in his firm (my current firm!). I obviously didn’t pass up the opportunity and accepted. But when the owner of the practice subsequently left – it was quite a turbulent time – the opportunity arose for me to take over the practice entirely. At first, I never thought that my professional future would be decided here.”
Taking over a medical practice is like running a business
But once taken over, a practice doesn’t run itself. Dr Gut is well aware of this. The specialist explains:
“First and foremost, it’s important to find competent staff. Back then, we still advertised, but today prasxistellen.ch is the best-known platform for finding medical staff. Unfortunately, in my experience, it’s fundamentally more difficult to find good staff today. (…) Secondly, when taking over or setting up a medical practice, it’s important to always keep an eye on costs and to realise, for example, that costs that are too high for the practice premises will have an impact in the long term, as these are fixed costs.
Insurance is another important point. I’d advise everyone to enlist the services of an insurance broker right from the start! I didn’t have any support at the time, which I very much regretted, because it meant I had to pay for a lot of things out of my own pocket. It’s also a good idea to outsource the accounting, as well as the firm’s website. Working with external experts is very useful.”
Successful practice owners never stop developing their practice
To this day, Dr Gut continues to demonstrate her entrepreneurial spirit and is constantly developing her practice: from completely overhauled IT systems to a new website and new online appointment booking facilities for patients. The ENT specialist keeps a close eye on the market and the healthcare sector, and is aware of patients’ changing needs:
“Since August 2021, I’ve been offering online appointment booking via OneDoc in my practice. Patients now want to be able to book their appointments flexibly – outside normal opening hours. It’s important to me to meet patients’ needs.”
For Dr Daniela Gut, the step towards independence was well worth it, even if it meant taking on a number of management tasks. Would you also like to open your own practice? Take a look at our guide to drawing up a complete business plan.
