BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Dr. Deepak Patil is a physician and management consultant who holds a wealth of experience informing a long career in consulting and providing insights into the field of life science and medicine. As a consultant, he helps several life sciences companies address strategic challenges across the drug development continuum. A trusted advisor to senior executives in the life sciences and health technology industry, Dr. Patil is called upon to provide insight into decisions like those regarding clinical trial testing, new strategy optimization, acquisitions, and mergers.
As the Pharmaceuticals industry faces issues in drug production and marketing leading to high costs, consultants with an understanding of both medical science and business have proven indispensable in finding solutions moving forward. As expenses are passed on to patients, likewise, the general public is in need of a voice representing their interests in taking approaches to lower costs.
Well known in the life-sciences industry for thought leadership around R&D strategy challenges like costs of clinical trials, digital strategies, patient-centric design innovation, and counterfeit drugs, Dr. Patil has been featured in notable publications like Bloomberg, MarketWatch, and Yahoo Finance. His journey from practicing as a physician in India to becoming a Health Tech executive in the US has been fascinating. He inspires the next generation of physicians to seek leadership roles in healthcare management to expand their impact beyond their clinics. He entered the life-sciences industry as a medical advisor to Sun Pharmaceuticals, where he led medical affairs for infertility and urology portfolios. After several years of providing strategic consulting services to Life-Sciences companies, Dr. Patil joined IBM Watson Health (Merative)’s leadership team as a real-world data expert looking to transform the way data is used to drive clinical research.
Advice to young physicians
When asked about the reasons for leaving clinical medicine, he said, “I thoroughly enjoyed working as a primary care physician. It was a tough decision – I decided to follow my passion and took some risks by switching gears from clinical medicine to joining the pharmaceutical industry”. Does he miss it? “Sometimes I miss working one on one with patients, but knowing that the work I do helps thousands of patients globally is extremely gratifying”
Did he face any challenges? He acknowledged that students learn very little about finance, accounting, strategy, technology, etc in medical school. To truly impact the life-sciences business, it is absolutely critical to maintain patient care as a core value, broaden your knowledge of business administration, and expand your thinking to encompass all stakeholders including providers, payers, investors, etc.
He advises young physicians to consciously increase business acumen, and financial literacy, and to network with physicians and other executives in the life-sciences industry to expand their understanding of opportunities in the industry. He mentors students seeking to enter the pharmaceutical industry. On asked what drives him, he said, “As physicians, we have a unique set of skills and knowledge to bring to the industry. Intellectual curiosity, consciously identifying and filling gaps in knowledge, and willingness to learn on the job is all you need to succeed!”
