Outtakes! Vlog Episodes 1-4

Enjoy!

5 Most Annoying Clinical Personalities

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Episode 4 - one of my FUN vlog episodes - on the topic of the worst and most annoying clinical personalities we "get" to... Sorry, sorry. "Have the privilege of" work with. This is the last of the first four episodes where I binge filmed... that is until my son woke up from his nap. Speaking of whom, Nathan will be joining us for.......!

The 5 Most Annoying Clinical Personalities

They are!

1. The Holier Than Thou

2. The Always Skeptic, Always Right

3. The Mystic

4. The Kumbaya-er

5. The Complicated Problems Person 

Honorable mentions:

-Mr. Experience

-Mrs. Degree

-Uncle Credentials 

-and, the Queen Bee

PS! Don't forget about these outtakes!

The MBA: Now that it's done...

Just in case you're new to this blog, for the last three years, I've dedicated my life to juggling family, finances, and finishing a Master's of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing at the University of Michigan, Dearborn campus. The program was 100% online with strong focal points in international business, supply chain operations, digital business, marketing and communications, and remote collaborative models. After all, it was online, right? Made sense; so I went for it!

Well, during this time I changed many jobs, several health insurances, bit my nails at my dwindling bank account, had our baby boy... but, most importantly, I had the support of my endearing, adoring, and perfectly awesome wife. Add that, with the support of family and friends (you included!), I finally graduated with honors this past Sunday, April 26th, 2015.

But, how did I come to this? Who get's a DPT and turns around to head in the direction of business? What were my motivations? What were my take away experiences? And, what are my goals?

PS. I've got a few questions on why my face was all reddish/beat-up, especially that mark on my right eye. "That's normal! LOL...". No. Actually, that was from a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training session earlier in the day. =P

The MBA: Now that it's done...

LOL! So... I (kinda) lied, in that I decided to take out the script. It was just easier to do it this way.

To sum it up, I learned anything from the MBA, I learned that knowledge isn't precisely equal to power. And, while the MBA taught me much knowledge; more interestingly it taught me HOW TO USE IT. That was the greatest challenge in the program was when marketing and strategy professors jumped in on threads to discuss with us, not only the finer details, but some of the out-of-the-box applications one could derive -- truly mind blowing stuff.

I learned a lot of skill sets surrounding numbers, business models, optimization frameworks, and strategic planning... but, all in all, I learned also that the practice of business requires a steady , organized, and intentional discipline in continually becoming better than you were yesterday.

So, what am I going to do now? Well, despite how fun it is serving as a consultant, it's a tough living getting paid case by case -- especially as a single practitioner versus an established firm. You know the saying, "feast or famine." And, when it comes to supporting a family, it can be tough doing it this way. My wife and son deserve more. So, I've been perusing opportunities as well as sifting through the very regular head hunting calls. It's actually crazy how much more frequently I've been head hunted since posting my MBA credential.

Well... I think that's it! Thanks for watching and for sharing in my thoughts and life. I'm looking forward to your feedback as I'm organically figure out this world of Vlogging.

By popular demand, me... and, me.

Whoa! Anyone seeing double?! #solvePT #CSM2013 @sharphealthcare @sharpcareers pic.twitter.com/F7wcbMQN

— Ben Fung (@DrBenFung) January 22, 2013

I'm Ben Fung. And, until next time, I remain yours in service. Take care!

5 Tips For Choosing A School

I found this topic request to be a little bit ironic, because, most of the time we don't get to "choose" the school we get into. However, we do get a choice as to which schools we apply for, and hence, the programs to which we give our futures to. After giving it some thought, I realized, there's actually a lot to think about. The school market is much like the job market; firms (schools, and believe you me, it is a business, though the professors/educators themselves are likely to be more authentic than that) are looking for strong candidates to sustain themselves while applicants are hoping to get the best bang per buck.

Therefore, after some careful thought, I felt that these five tips serves to build a strong foundation to which you can make a strategic choice in dedicating the next 4-8 years of your lives.

Here are........!!!

5 Tips For Choosing A School

Just so we're all together here: In the fly of the moment, I decided to record this as a vlog as well. So, here is the vlog and I'll keep the transcriptish-written-content below for your perusal. Enjoy!

1. What's their network?

A school is a brand experience. When you go to a school and get a degree, or even apply for internships from, what you are saying is that you bring the brand promise of that school's brand image to whatever you're trying to sell yourself to. Big names like Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, USC, Stanford, Michigan, NYU, etc. These names have very strong brand equities, and by extension, you as a student there, get to benefit from that image. This is the beginning aspects of a school's network.

As the network expands, you need to discern what their affiliations are, what are the available internships, rotations, and extra curricular opportunities. Who attends their job fairs? How active are the alumni?  

What are their networks? (Affiliations, internships, rotations, opportunities, job fairs, etc)

2. What's their brand equity?

Since I mentioned it in Tip #1, I'll reiterate that the brand equity of any given school is most definitely important. HOWEVER, it is only important if the brand is well known. Basically, no one really cares as an employer or receiving clinical affiliation site unless your school is well known and/or top tier. Does this means that the school's brand is all you should consider? NO! It means that if this is the last step of schooling you're going to have, make sure that its a good one - AND - make sure that if the name isn't well known, that their Tip#1 NETWORKS give access to brand experiences that are.

"What's in a name?" A LOT!

3. Where is it?
Location. Location. Location. Location is a big deal, no matter what we're talking about. Such is the case because of housing costs, safety, lifestyle, geopolitical-cultural considerations, etc. It's ALWAYS important to consider the location of the school. How close or far it is to home, friends, and extended family can very well play a crucial role in your support system while away at school.

4. What is the cost?

Debt is a big deal; student debt follows you forever. Now, while I don't believe in only considering the academic experience as a pure dollar for dollar ROI calculation, one would be a fool not to think on the earning potential AFTER school given the costs of completing it. If one were to go into $200k of debt and only be able to make $50k/year, paying that off in 30 years would you'd also ANOTHER $200k in interest! So yeah... what's the real cost?

5. Who is teaching you?

The professors at any school can be a big deal when it comes to the outgoing value of your education. After all, it's part of the brand. If one of your professors, even just one is renown in their field and you get to brag that they were your professor... that's a fun and powerful thing during a job interview. Also, the general venerability of the professors at any given institution also lends to the perceived quality of education. Sadly, the most famous of professors rarely make the best instructors; however, they offer you their brand by extension. Yet, the less well known professors tend to be quite accomplished and can be amazing teachers to which you'll not only learn a lot, you'll learn how to apply that knowledge and sharpen your mind for any future task that comes your way. In any and all cases, consider who will be teaching you.

Healthcare, the Mechanic's Dilemma, and the Tragedy of the Commons

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first combined blog and vlog episode. In this, and the next four vlog episodes, we'll be sharing some time together where sadly, I'll be wearing the exact same shirt since I recorded as many thoughts as I could during the time of my son's nap. He'll be joining us in Episode 4. It'll be fun ;)

In any case, thank you all in advance for the support in starting this video blog add on. I've decided to keep things casual. I, personally, used #casversation (casual conversation) in a happenstance since I don't plan on editing anything really. To which, I'm working on a hashtag. Brooke McIntosh already started using the #drbenfung hashtag... ugh, LOL! It's just weird for your name to become a hashtag (if that's what the people want, I'm all for it). But.... yeah. If you can come up with a good hashtag for my vlog so I can answer questions, address concerns, talk about the stuff you want to hear about... just let me know!

So, without further ado!

Healthcare, the Mechanics Dilemma, and the Tragedy of the Commons

• The Mechanic's Dilemma occurs when a mechanic is paid by the service and not by the long term results of how well your car runs. As such, a mechanic tends to worry about doing too good of a job, that business will suffer in the short run.
• This relates to healthcare as most providers are paid by each service but NOT by the long term health results of their patients.
• The Tragedy of the Commons is a popular allegory taught in business school and environmental studies to cover the disastrous effects on common resources when people don't work together; without a cooperative force, the entire land is decimated with all natural resources depleted.
• The Solution:  Judge and pay healthcare providers by the long term results of their patient populations. Forge a unity between provider, patient, and payers such that the interest and greatest value of generation is done so considering the greatest long term value in concert in promoting sustainability.