A Gastroenterologist’s Journey to Innovation and Entrepreneurship with Tom Shehab, MD

In this podcast episode, Tom Shehab, MD, managing partner at Arboretum Ventures, discusses supporting “doctorpreneurs”, alternative career paths for physicians and more.

• Intro :59
• Welcome to this episode of Gut Talk 1:23
• The interview/about Shehab 1:30
• Where did you grow up and who were your early influences? 2:02
• Can you give us some examples of your parents’ sacrifices that made your career possible? 3:19
• What did you learn from being an athlete and your time playing football at Bowling Green State University? 4:38
• Tell us about your education.6:21
• How did you make the move from an academic career to venture capitalist? 7:03
• What can you teach our audience about paving this path? 10:55
• Is it better to thoughtfully consider major career decisions and changes, or just leap before you look? 12:45
• What other advice would you give budding “doctorpreneurs”? 14:35
• How are GI and liver a space for venture investment? 18:01
• Outside of endoscopy, why is there a dearth of information in the GI specialty from a venture perspective? 21:36
• Do you see this changing in the right direction toward GI specialists paying more attention on what needs attention and expertise, or are macroeconomic incentives preventing us from taking that perspective? 24:37
• What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about an alternative career pathway? 33:08
• What is the next step or time commitment for aspiring “doctorpreneurs” with ideas? 37:26
• What about the venture world? How should physicians go about funding and investing in their ideas? 41:33
• What are some of the upcoming macroeconomic trends that will impact GI in the short- and long-term? 46:47
• Thank you, Tom 52:02
• Thanks for listening 52:55

Tom Shehab, MD, practiced medicine for 15 years as a gastroenterologist serving as chair of medicine at Integrated Health Associates (IHA), and as chief of staff at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for more than 1,000 physicians. Shehab currently serves as a board director for Avation Medical, Boomerang Medical, Fifth Eye, Motif Neurotech, SonarMD and Virtual Incision and led Arboretum’s investment in nVision Medical, which was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2018. Shehab also serves as a board member for several health care innovation initiatives, including the Cleveland Clinic Medical Device Advisory. He is also on the board of trustees for Bowling Green State University.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Shehab, follow him on X @TomShehabMD.