Hear From Physicians Who’ve Been Where You Are

 If you’ve been reading about the MDVIP model and thinking seriously about whether it might be right for you, there are probably a few specific concerns still sitting in the back of your mind.

That’s exactly where the physicians below were. Each of them describes a hesitation that felt, at the time, like it might be the reason not to move forward. Each of them is now on the other side of it.

Their words are their own.

“I was afraid of the financial risk — and afraid patients wouldn’t come.”

Dr. Carmen Teague was, by her own account, one of the best-paid physicians at her organization. She had spent 14 years as Director of Internal Medicine and had full visibility into physician compensation. She knew exactly what she was walking away from. The financial fear was real, and so was the fear that patients simply wouldn’t follow.

     “My biggest hesitation to affiliating with MDVIP was believing that you could truly practice medicine in the way that they said you could. I was afraid financially that we couldn’t make it. I was afraid patients wouldn’t come. I was afraid I would fail.”

— Carmen Teague, MD, MC, internist, Charlotte, NC

She was able to overcome her fears. Fourteen months into her practice, she was already back to her prior level of financial stability, caring for a fraction of the patients, with none of the institutional constraints, all because she followed best practices.

     “I have time back with patients, it will be worth it. And 14 months into practicing, I’m already back to that level of financial stability that I was before. And I thought that would never happen. That was a fear I was able to address.”

— Carmen Teague, MD, MC

She was also afraid the model was too good to be true. Afraid she would fail. She describes all of those fears as fears she no longer has — not because she talked herself out of them, but because she overcame them.

     “It turned out to be the best decision of my entire career. My only regret is not doing it sooner.”

— Carmen Teague, MD, MC

“I didn’t think this kind of practice was even an option for me.”

Dr. Keisha Ellis describes spending years without ever fully questioning whether there was another way to practice. The path into volume-driven medicine felt less like a choice and more like a current — something physicians are swept into before they fully understand what they’re agreeing to.

     “A lot of times what we as doctors experience when you leave training and go into actual practice is you’re kind of funneled into the corporate healthcare system and you don’t really see outside. It’s sort of given like a boogeyman vibe to be your own solo practitioner. It’s very much like, why would you do that when someone can take care of you and you’re salaried?”

— Keisha Ellis, MD, internist and endocrinologist, Alpharetta, GA

What finally broke through was a friend who persisted through the resistance; who kept raising the possibility until Ellis was ready to actually hear it. Once she did, the fear dissolved quickly.

     “There was a lot of nervousness because it was unknown. But now that I know, I would have told her to do it sooner. Listen to that first phone call, not the third phone call.”

— Keisha Ellis, MD

What Actually Helped Most

Both physicians describe the same turning point: not a spreadsheet or a sales conversation, but the realization that other physicians — physicians who had been exactly where they were — had made this move and were genuinely happy.

     “I thought every doctor on the planet was just as miserable as everyone I was working with. And then I found MDVIP, and I realized that there are physicians doing what they love, what they are passionate about, and they’re happy. I realized I was not alone. There are other people who have truly found the joy in practicing medicine again.”

— Carmen Teague, MD, MC

That conversation, with physicians who had already been through it, is exactly what’s available to you now.

The Next Step

The physicians above didn’t eliminate their hesitations by thinking harder about them. They moved past them by having a real conversation — with other physicians who had been through it, and with someone at MDVIP who could address their specific questions directly.

If the hesitations you’re carrying feel familiar, that conversation is the right next step. It’s confidential, there’s no commitment involved, and the purpose is simply to give you an accurate picture of what the process actually looks like for someone in your situation.