From Reluctant to Realized: My Journey from Corporate Medicine to DPC

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Let’s be clear. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. Long before I heard about direct primary care, my sister-in-law would often nudge me to open my practice.  “You would be so good at it…” she would say. “No way!” I would tell her.  “My passion is medicine, not business.”

The idea of running a practice, dealing with finances, and managing the logistics of a business seemed far removed from my goals of helping patients and making a difference in their lives. Academic and corporate medicine, with its structure and stability, offered a clear path, and I followed it without hesitation. But over time, the reality of corporate medicine began to sink in. Like many DPC doctors, I had to reach rock bottom – the point when the pain of staying put exceeded my fear of leaving – before I would even consider entrepreneurship. Some of you never needed to be scorned to know that it was better to join the DPC movement (like those starting right out of residency).  To you all, I say congratulations and nicely done.  To those like me, keep reading. 

The high patient volumes, the never-ending paperwork, and the constant pressure to meet metrics slowly eroded my will to push through.  The overwhelming task of navigating bureaucratic hurdles rather than caring for patients stole my energy for my home and personal life.  I could no longer see my purpose being reflected in my work.  

Despite this growing dissatisfaction, I initially hesitated to leap into Direct Primary Care. The fear of the unknown, the comfort of a steady paycheck, and the daunting prospect of running a business kept me tethered to the corporate world. What if I failed? What if I couldn’t manage the demands of being a doctor and a business owner? What if I hate it?  These questions haunted me.

My resentment for corporate medicine had been slowly building for at least five years before my departure, but it reached a crescendo during my final “Provider Meeting”.  Edicts were being handed down from corporate for us to bill patients for acute/problem-based visits on top of wellness/preventive visits if they brought up ANYTHING outside of preventative care OR if we (“providers”) addressed any chronic conditions.  This boiled over into some of my partners complaining about patients wanting to spend time discussing issues outside of a routine annual physical.  I all but lost my cool and unceremoniously announced that “this is ridiculous” and that I would be resigning. 

Behind the scenes, I had already laid the groundwork to leave, but this event sealed the deal.  To my surprise, the challenges I feared have become growth opportunities I look forward to tackling.  Navigating the financial and operational aspects of running a business has filled intellectual voids that I didn’t know existed.  I often find myself wishing I had taken this leap of faith much sooner. Furthermore, the freedom to spend more time with each patient and decide based on what’s best for them—not a corporation’s bottom line—has rekindled my passion for medicine. The journey from reluctant entrepreneur to enthusiastic practice owner wasn’t easy, but it’s been more rewarding than I imagined.

If you’re hesitating, like I did, know that the leap might be daunting, but the rewards likely far outweigh the risks. Sometimes, the very thing we fear is exactly what we need to find true fulfillment.

About Angela Andrews, MD

Dr. Angela Andrews is a board-certified Internal Medicine and Pediatrics physician, health coach, wife, mom, and lifelong athlete. When not spending time with her family or caring for her patients, she is training for her next competition. Dr. Andrews graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Biomedical Engineering and worked at General Electric Healthcare Wisconsin for nearly five years before returning to her dream of becoming a doctor. She received her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She completed her Med-Peds residency at the Detroit Medical Center & Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, MI. After 8 years in the system, Dr. Andrews opened Seeds of Health Direct Primary Care in Grand Rapids, MI in February 2014. Her personal journey with fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine training was a key factor in her decision. She spent years trying to figure out how to incorporate this experience into a “standard” clinical practice, before finding a natural fit within Direct Primary Care. Dr. Andrews is passionate about helping patients address the root cause of their mental and physical conditions and guiding them to cultivate healthy habits around exercise, good nutrition, and mental well-being. Dr. Andrews lives in Byron Center, Michigan, with her husband and exercise companion, Joseph VanEss, their son, Myles, and her two bonus children, Griffen and Quinne. She engages in various fitness activities (CrossFit, running, swimming, yoga, and bodybuilding) and enjoys gardening, tackling projects around the house, and building things out of wood.