Touching Hundreds Versus Millions

Over the past two days, I have met two lovely women who received scholarships from Republican Women’s Clubs. I love that Republican Women’s Clubs do that for kids.

Both of these women want to enter the medical field, which is admirable. One wants to be a nurse. One a doctor.

I was immersed in the startup world for 20 years. I have seen some super cool and dramatic stuff, and innovation isn’t slowing down.

I want to put a bug in anyone’s ear who is their age, or in college now, and wants to enter the medical profession. This is not for everyone, but if you get enough people to run down the following path, our quality of life will be changed forever.

Think about touching hundreds of people versus millions of people.

As a medical professional, you certainly will be able to make the lives of hundreds of people better. It’s profoundly satisfying work. My friend is a plastic surgeon. He said the most gratifying procedure he engages in is with breast cancer patients who need reconstructive surgery. He says that it gives them their humanity back.

How can you touch millions? Entrepreneurship. Ten years ago, the University of Illinois started a brand new medical school. Its focus was not only on teaching students traditional medical school subjects, but also on entrepreneurship.

The doctors are encouraged and instructed on how to build a startup company.

There is going to be so much innovation in medicine in the next fifty years. The intersection of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robots, the map of the human genome, and plenty of other innovations will create incredibly meaningful opportunities to build companies that help humans.

If you are in medicine and build a startup, you will touch millions of people around the world if you are successful. Just think about the doctor who discovered penicillin. How many people’s lives were saved because of him?

With technology and innovation, you can save more.