We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mitzi Joi Williams, MD, FAAN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mitzi Joi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
I was not a Doctor who always wanted to start their own practice. I always envisioned myself working for a University and teaching until the end of my career, but once I moved back home to Atlanta and began working in a group practice, I like some of the autonomy that private practice provided in terms of scheduling and engaging in consulting and advising. As I began to grow my work as a Speaker, Lecturer and Researcher, it became more difficult for me to work on the activities outside of direct patient care that were important to me and maintain a full schedule. Unfortunately there was not a part time option for me at my place of work, so I decided to go out on my own to create the balance between patient care, advocacy work and family that I desired.
It was not an easy process as my medical training did not include much business training, but I had many mentors and friends who were willing to give me advice and guidance throughout the process. Challenges included finding a location, deciding working hours and employing staff.
The advise I would give a young professional who is considering starting their own practice is to do your research and have a solid plan in place. Most importantly, believe in yourself. There may be challenges getting started, but just like it takes patience and resilience to complete your training, those same qualities will help you to get your practice off the ground. You can do it!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a Board Certified Neurologist and Fellowship Trained Multiple Sclerosis Specialist. I have always been interested in the brain and how it interacts with our environment to make us who we are. I became interested in Neurology because I have always loved mysteries and detective stories and being a Neurologist is like being a detective. We see a problem on the outside like numbness, weakness or headaches and we have to follow the clues to find the cause or source of the problem.
Throughout my practice I have had a passion for educating and raising awareness which led me to the arena of public speaking and advocacy to help my patients and their families participate in the healthcare process and understand their plan.
My brand is really about engaging, educating and empowering patients and their families to be active parts of their healthcare team.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Absolutely! It was either this or be a Broadway singer lol. I have a true passion for the brain and I was right in my assumption that there would be a great deal of progress in how we treat and approach Neurologic disease during the course of my career.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Empathy. You have to generally be concerned about peoples well being to stay engaged when they have chronic conditions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joilifefoundation.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenerdyneurologist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNerdyNeurologist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmitzijoimd/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NerdyNeuroMD
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK_o_n0Py5VlZuPeT1bG6Og/featured
Image Credits
Nina Sutherland Photography