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PODCAST

Startup Physicians

Alison Curfman, M.D.

StartUp Physicians is the podcast for doctors who dare to think beyond the clinic and hospital walls. Hosted by Dr. Alison Curfman, a practicing pediatric emergency physician and successful healthcare startup founder, this series empowers physicians to explore dynamic career opportunities in the healthcare startup world.Dr. Alison Curfman brings a wealth of experience to the mic, having founded and grown a healthcare company that served over 25,000 patients and achieved a nine-figure valuation in

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

32:19

From Clinical Practice to Founding VirtuCare with Dr....

Startup Physicians ·

2026/10/07

In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, host Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Dr. Joe Pazona, board-certified urologist and founder and CEO of VirtuCare, to explore his unconventional journey from traditional clinical practice to healthcare entrepreneurship. After experiencing burnout, frustrating healthcare systems, and significant gaps in specialty care, Joe decided to take a different path. He founded VirtuCare to rethink how urology services are delivered through telemedicine,...

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27:22

Why Physicians Belong in Healthcare Innovation with...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/09/30

Description: Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Dr. Stephen Garber, a board-certified anesthesiologist with more than 35 years of clinical experience, and Dr. Amar Patel, an orthopedic surgeon, to explore what it looks like when physicians step beyond traditional clinical roles and become active participants in healthcare innovation. Dr. Garber shares the story of how his experience in anesthesiology and years of seeing airway obstruction, hypoventilation, and airway-management challenge...

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32:01

From Orthopedic Surgeon to VR Startup Founder with...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/09/09

Orthopedic surgeon and physician founder Dr. Danny Goel went from identifying gaps in surgical training to co-founding PrecisionOS, a virtual reality and AI-powered platform designed to help surgeons practice skills and judgment in a risk-free environment. In this conversation, Danny joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about what that path looked like: starting with no intention of building a company, finding technical co-founders outside of medicine, validating the idea with other physicians,...

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24:28

Starting, Scaling, and Selling a Healthcare Startup...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/09/02

Oncologist and physician founder Dr. Jose Barreau went from identifying a communication problem inside the hospital to building Doc Halo, growing it into Halo Health, raising venture capital, and ultimately selling the company in 2021. In this conversation, Jose joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about what that path actually looked like: starting with zero business or development experience, finding the right technical partners, deciding when to reduce clinical work, creating financial ...

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25:08

From Orthopedic Surgeon to AI Founder: Building...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/08/19

In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with orthopedic surgeon and physician founder Dr. Justin Smith to talk about his path from clinical medicine to entrepreneurship, private practice, and building an AI-powered platform designed to reduce the administrative burden of running a medical practice. Justin shares how his entrepreneurial journey started with Morning Rounds Coffee and expanded into medical products, private practice, and ultimately ...

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9:27

3 Things Physician Founders Must Know Before...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/08/05

In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman shares one of the most common mistakes she sees physician entrepreneurs make: spending months (and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars) building a product before identifying who will actually buy it. Drawing from conversations with dozens of physician founders, Alison explains why building an MVP is still the right instinct, but why customer discovery and stakeholder validation must happen before you invest heavily in development. She breaks down the...

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14:02

5 Truths Every Visionary Founder Needs to Know

Startup Physicians ·

2026/07/29

Do you constantly see better ways to solve problems? Do new ideas come naturally, but execution sometimes feels overwhelming? In this episode, Alison Curfman explores what it really means to be a visionary entrepreneur. She shares the five biggest lessons she's learned about visionary thinking from recognizing opportunities others miss to understanding why traditional environments can feel limiting. Drawing from her experience building a healthcare startup that reached a nine-figure valuation...

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15:12

Could Your Healthcare Idea Become a $100 Million...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/07/15

Many physicians recognize problems in healthcare that deserve better solutions. But how do you know if an idea has the potential to become a real company? In this solo episode, Dr. Alison Curfman walks through the framework Startup Physicians uses to help physician founders evaluate and expand their ideas into venture-backable businesses. She introduces the free Concept Pitch Builder, an AI-powered resource designed to guide physicians through the key questions investors ask before funding a ...

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32:50

Physician Side Hustles in Startup Advisory and Health...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/07/08

Dr. Mary Parman spent more than 20 years practicing OB/GYN before building a second path in health tech consulting and startup advisory work. In this episode, she joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about how physicians can use their clinical expertise with startups without necessarily leaving medicine or starting a company themselves. They discuss how Mary began meeting health tech founders, how she built a pipeline of advisory opportunities, how physicians can think about compensation, and why...

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23:55

Re-release: So You Want to Advise Startups? Here’s...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/06/24

Many physicians know they have valuable clinical insight, but they struggle to name where that value fits outside traditional clinical practice. In this re-release episode, Dr. Alison Curfman walks through five common barriers physicians face when exploring startup advising, consulting, and industry work — from “I don’t have anything unique to offer” to “I’m just a doctor. I don’t know business.” Your clinical experience already opens more doors than you may realize. This episode helps you st...

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24:11

Re-release: From Function to Value: Why Startups Pay...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/06/10

Why would a healthcare startup pay for physician expertise? In this re-release episode of the Startup Physicians podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman breaks down the three ways physicians create measurable business value for startups: helping companies grow revenue, reduce costs, and mitigate risk. This episode is for physicians who know they have value outside of clinical practice but need a clearer way to explain that value in startup language. Chapters: 00:00 Why startups pay for physician e...

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29:31

From Supply Closet Prototype to Medical Device...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/06/03

Dr. Hilary Gallin is an obstetric anesthesiologist, medical device founder, and startup advisor who has built companies from problems she saw in clinical practice. In this episode of Startup Physicians, Dr. Gallin joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about the path from physician to founder, including how she started Fastline, a medical device company focused on making central line placement safer and easier. The first version was not polished. It was built from supply closet materials, a glue gu...

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30:53

Why Physician Founders Outperform in Healthcare...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/05/27

What happens when physicians bring clinical insight into the startup world? In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with dermatologist, founder, and author Dr. David Lortscher, co-founder of a teledermatology company that scaled to hundreds of employees, served 5 million patients, and reached a billion-dollar valuation. They discuss why physicians are uniquely positioned to identify real healthcare problems, what makes doctor-led startups so powerful, a...

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31:05

Why Physicians Belong at the Strategy Table with Dr....

Startup Physicians ·

2026/05/20

In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman talks with Dr. Sarah Matt about building a nonlinear physician career and why doctors make powerful startup strategists. Dr. Matt shares her journey from burn surgery to healthcare strategy, startups, Oracle, remote robotic surgery, consulting, and authoring The Borderless Healthcare Revolution. Together, they explore how physicians can bring clinical insight into product development, go-to-market strategy, commercializatio...

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39:43

The Growth Strategy Most Physicians Miss with Venture...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/05/13

How do you know if your healthcare idea could become a scalable startup? In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman talks with Tomasz Rudolf, entrepreneur, venture builder, digital health founder, and Startup Physicians advisor, about how physicians can validate ideas, identify who will pay, avoid building too soon, and choose between a lifestyle business and a venture-backed startup. They also discuss why physicians are uniquely positioned to build tech-enabled service models that subtract work fro...

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13:47

Startup vs. Small Business for Physician Founders

Startup Physicians ·

2026/05/06

What’s the difference between a healthcare startup and a physician-owned small business? In this solo episode, Alison Curfman breaks down how physician founders can choose the right path before they build. She explains why startups and small businesses differ from day one in their growth strategy, funding needs, ownership structure, scalability, and long-term outcomes. Alison shares lessons from her own founder journey, including how a healthcare concept can move from a small clinical practic...

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46:10

The Startup Playbook Physicians Don’t Learn in...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/04/29

Physicians are trained to solve complex problems, but most are never taught how to turn a clinical insight into a scalable company. In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Startup & Venture Advisor Kim Sharp to talk about the startup playbook physicians don’t learn in medical school. They discuss what physician founders need before they pitch, build, raise capital, or launch — including financial models, MVPs, data rooms, cap tables, product st...

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24:52

Becoming a Founder Without Putting Your Finances at Risk

Startup Physicians ·

2026/04/22

If you’ve ever felt called to build something beyond clinical medicine—but stopped yourself because of financial fear—this episode reframes everything. In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman breaks down one of the biggest misconceptions holding physicians back: the idea that a W-2 job is the only “safe” path. This conversation walks through a practical, structured approach to transitioning into entrepreneurship without putting your finances at risk. From income diversification to personal financ...

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30:10

[Re-Release] The 7 Startup Functions Physicians Can...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/04/15

In this episode, I talk about how physicians can add real value to startups without leaving clinical practice. I break down seven core functions where we already have a competitive edge: product design, marketing, business development, clinical research, user insight, policy advocacy, and strategic advisory. Each of these roles taps into what we already know and do as physicians. You don’t need a new degree. You need a framework to translate your clinical expertise into startup value. This ep...

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24:55

Physician Entrepreneurship in Residency: Building a...

Startup Physicians ·

2026/04/08

Many physicians don’t fully understand the contracts they sign when starting their careers. In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman speaks with Dr. Daniella Dennis, an emergency medicine resident at the University of Connecticut and founder of Payscope MD, an AI platform designed to help physicians better understand employment contracts and salary benchmarks. Daniella started building her company during intern year of residency after realizing how complex physici...

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