Our entrepreneurs: Patrice Baptiste

In our latest #OurEntrepreneurs profile we meet cohort 7 Clinical Entrepreneur Patrice Baptiste, GP.

Tell us a bit about yourself 

I work as a portfolio GP which means that I spend a proportion of my time working as a GP and pursuing other careers and interests. Some of these include (both past and present roles): reviewing and interpreting blood results at The London Medical Laboratory, designing educational content as a MSc programme lead and lecturer at The College of Medicine and Dentistry, teaching and examining medical students, writing such as articles for GP Online, work with Scion publishing (currently working on a book about GP portfolio careers) and research most recently focusing on medical education in line with my work at Medschool Xtra.

Why did you apply to the programme and what are you looking forward to?

I found out about the programme through a current NHS clinical entrepreneur who encouraged me to apply. Although I have only just enrolled onto the programme, it is already helping me to build the confidence to continue with my work at MX. It has also helped to increase my social network and I look forward to having access to further opportunities, I would not otherwise have had access to.

Tell us about your innovation  

Medschool Xtra (MX) is a centralised place for medical students and early career doctors to be supported primarily with the non-clinical aspects of working life as a doctor. We cover areas not formally taught at medical school which we feel are crucial to adequate career planning, development and ultimately career success. In addition, we hope to address issues such as staff pay, contracts, rotas, mental health, patient care and improve the recruitment and retention crisis.

The idea started from speaking to medical students via my YouTube channel (Dr. P. Baptiste), social media and from my own personal experience as a medical student, trainee and now GP. After conducting a market research survey I gained a better idea of what medics needed help with and how I could go about supporting them further, on a much larger scale.

I hope that Medschool Xtra can:

1. Help adequately prepare us as medics in areas that are not formally taught at medical school or even informally covered with colleagues and peers.
2. Enable more medics to stay within the medical profession, having long prosperous and fulfilling careers.
3. Patients receive the best care possible by doctors who are truly happy, healthy, and fulfilled in their careers.

What motivates you? 

My desire to help others motivates me, especially my fellow colleagues because I know that this will then filter down to the patients we serve.

What are your ambitions for the next year?

My ambitions moving forward are to continue our research which will hopefully demonstrate the impact of our career readiness programme and highlight further areas we can improve on. We also hope to recruit more members, to support the current team members we have and to scale MX which includes increasing the number of users, partners, gaining funding and sponsors.

Why do you think innovation is important in healthcare?

Like career development, healthcare is not static. We are changing as individuals and so are the wider environments and populations. Therefore, we always need to look at existing solutions (or lack thereof) and see how these can be improved and/or find new solutions. Ultimately, our aim is to provide the best care possible for our patients. Thinking outside the box or innovating is therefore imperative.

How can we find out more?

Please visit the Medschool Xtra website for more information.