Docs Outside The Box
Hosts Dr. Nii (Ghanaian) and Dr. Renee (Haitian) are first-generation physicians who paid off $662,000 in student loans in 3 years - while figuring out contracts, career moves, and money management that their colleagues learned at home.
Every episode covers what first-gen docs need to know:
- Contract negotiation and career decisions
- Paying off debt without family financial guidance
- Building wealth from scratch
- The questions you don't know to ask (but your colleagues already knew)
Real strategies from doctors who had to figure it out on their own.
Subscribe and build your blueprint with us.
Download: The First-Gen Doctor Blueprint
Docs Outside The Box
What Happens When Doctors Make MORE Money on TikTok Than in Hospitals. #469 Part 3
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE!!! Let Drs. Nii & Renee know what you think about the show!
Send us a Voice Message - https://www.speakpipe.com/docsoutsidethebox
Have a question for the podcast?
Text us at 833-230-2860
The medical profession is facing a significant shift as doctors are increasingly finding more lucrative opportunities on social media than in clinical practice. While some doctors manage to balance both worlds, the trend points toward a future where medical knowledge is increasingly monetized online rather than applied in hospitals and clinics.
FREE DOWNLOAD - 7 Considerations Before Starting Locum Tenens - https://darkos.lpages.co/7-considerations-before-locums
WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE!
Instagram: @docsoutsidethebox
Email: team@drniidarko.com
Twitter: @drniidarko
Merch: https://docs-outside-the-box.creator-spring.com
This episode is sponsored by
Locumstory. Learn how locum tenens helps doctors make more and have the lifestyle they deserve!. Check them out HERE!
All right , guys . We just talked about how essentially the medical profession is going to get spanked by the big beautiful bill , as well as the getting rid of or pausing of the student loan forgiveness program . If you missed that in the last segment , go back . But now we're going to be talking about getting paid on TikTok as a doc instead of going to work and hitting that clock . Hey .
Speaker 2Hey , hey , hey , hey , Don't rap please .
Speaker 1I thought that was pretty good .
Speaker 2I have some raps Hold on .
Speaker 1No , please don't rap . Let me share some raps with you . Don't rap
Making Money on TikTok as a Doctor
Speaker 1. Just go into making money on TikTok as a doctor . We're going to talk about this .
Speaker 2So you know which ? I went back , I listened to the tape and I was like man . I was him With less liability .
Speaker 1I was him and Han about it and I was like yo , I need to make a point . She's got less liability than delivering babies . Hold on a second .
Speaker 2Hold on a second . I want to share something with you . What delivering babies ? Hold on a second . Hold on a second . I want to share something with you .
Speaker 1What .
Speaker 2Please don't rap . Hold on , man , I need to rap , hold on . Well , anyway , I can't find it , but I do want to say this . The universe loves me , the thing that I didn't present , so we talked about it , right , but I didn't say specifically what my issue is with this .
Speaker 1Okay , what's your issue ?
Speaker 2My issue with this is it's not her , it's the actual system that yo like , the fact that you can and she's not dancing on TikTok , but in essence she could be dancing for TikTok . Well , there was a doctor who was dancing on TikTok at one particular point in time , but the fact that she's on TikTok and she's making more than what it takes to , in essence , work with someone or take care of , bring new life .
Speaker 2Work with an actual human being . Be in a hospital . She's getting paid more to make a 30 second video okay than to take care of someone . That's a that to me , that's an indictment on our health care system , you know why , because um why , I think it's a problem . What's the best way I could say , without coming off too like I don't like ? You know me , aaron , I don't like to be polarizing .
Speaker 1Don't choose your words wisely . Go ahead be polarizing . Go ahead , Go ahead .
Speaker 2Do it . The more you have , the more that you make it easier for people to make money outside of what you really need people to do , which is take care of people and so forth . So , for example , the fact that she can make more money on TikTok like she's just it's a symptom , right ? More and more people are going to be like , well , I'm not . Why would I want to go practice medicine when I can fake practice online and make a lot more money , Right ? So what I'm saying is is that this is basically you're just attracting more and more people to literally be doctors on social media , which , to me , is not as useful as someone being a doctor in real life at this point .
Speaker 1That's how I feel Right .
Speaker 2So you already have like a bunch of people . Like I've looked at on YouTube and stuff like that . There's a bunch of people who are quote unquote like med school doctor , influencers who have left medicine .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2They don't want to finish school because they're realizing that they're making more money doing YouTube and so forth . That's not I don't
Doctors Choosing Social Media Over Practice
Speaker 2know if that's in essence identifies the essence of the real issue . They probably just see dollar signs and like , look , I'm just better off as a as a creator than as a med school . But I'm talking about someone who's's gone through residency , has taken care of people , have gone through the whole process of getting credentialed and certified and then all of a sudden just like , yeah , I don't want to do this .
Speaker 1She still practices .
Speaker 2She still practices .
Speaker 1Let's be clear on that that she is not somebody who doesn't practice medicine .
Speaker 2Correct .
Speaker 1She is still practicing , so we're not talking about her specifically . We're talking about the ability for someone to be able .
Speaker 2I'm talking about the system . I'm talking about the system . The fact that that could occur is a problem , right ? And I think that what you'll see is you'll see more and more people a significant amount of people online instead of in the hospital .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2That's what I get nervous about . I think that's what society should be concerned about Well society is not concerned about that .
Speaker 1Because if society were concerned about that , then they would actually be doing things to help doctors be lucrative in their lives as clinicians , which our society has said that they don't want people to be subsidized . Right , they don't want doctors to be subsidized . Well , they got to be subsidized because they X , y and Z , blah , blah , blah . So at that point it's a free-for-all , right , it's a free-for-all to say , listen , if we live in a capitalistic society , then I can make money doing whatever I want , no matter what my education is right . And so we see this in the profession of law . Right , we see this in the profession of law . So you know , lawyers aren't always litigating . Lawyers aren't always . You know the ones . You know making sure that people are advocated for . You know doing contracts and all these kinds of things . You know lawyers work in lots of different you know in lots of different ways . And so now the medical profession has finally caught up and said , listen , we don't just need to be in the clinics .
Speaker 2We don't just need to be in the clinics , we can take care .
Speaker 1We can still take care of people right to some degree without necessarily having to put our hands on them or seeing them in you know some clinical fashion .
Speaker 2They're already saying that . I agree with you there . Basically , what I'm saying is the traditional way in which we in general not me and you as doctors , but we in general look at doctors . That's going to change significantly . Oh , of course Right Because expecting a doctor to be attached to a clinic or attached to a pager or a patient or to be .
Speaker 2That's what I was about to say . Yo , you had it . You hit it right on the point . That's what I was about to say . To be attached to you , right ? Even though they take oaths and all these different things , they're not attached to you anymore , right ? This is a lot to do with the state of our healthcare system . I think that's a problem . You have corporatization of healthcare . You're going to see a lot of doctors , or there are a lot of doctors who are just like . You know I'll just get paid for my knowledge . You know I'll just get paid for my knowledge Without the liability , my clinical acumen , Without the liability .
Speaker 2So , for example , what's that lady's name , what's her name ? Dr Casey Means or something like that ? We never even talked about that . This is the lady who she went to Stanford for . She's like in charge I think it was , she was . She was being . What's the word ? She was being ? I got to look , no , no , no , no . She was being nominated for a position in , and I think , the Department of Health , ok , or Department of Human Sciences , oh I know who you're talking about , she's the one who'd never finished residency .
Speaker 1Yes , she didn't finish residency , she went to Stanford . Yes , yes , yes and so forth .
Speaker 2And then she's going to be in charge of policy and it's like wait , hold on a second . Like this is a major problem , right , like I can understand if she went afterwards and was doing all this public policy work . She's not Right . She's just going on podcasts and talking about how the health care system is failing people and it's like well , if you're not participating in it , aren't you part of the failure ? You're part of the problem . The failure , you're part of the problem . Right , you're part of the problem that's how .
Speaker 1That's why she
Student Loans and Healthcare's Future
Speaker 1qualified , because she know she's part of the problem .
Speaker 2No , no , like this is different , like I could understand . If you're doing stuff actively to change it , all you're doing is podcasting , right ?
Speaker 1about . She's creating the problem , so she knows what the problem is but that's another issue .
Speaker 2It's like okay , but you're this lady , she couldn't , lady , she couldn't . In essence , she couldn't hack it . Right , right , she couldn't hack it and she said it . She couldn't hack it . She couldn't hack it in residency . She doesn't know how residency goes , right , then she's not practicing .
Speaker 2So she doesn't know what it's like working with insurance companies , working with patients having a clinic or not having a clinic , working in a hospital , you know , not getting reimbursed . And then , like now , you're saying , well , the problem with the healthcare system is we don't know about nutrition and all these different things . It's like , wait what ? Slow down , right . That's the part that I have . Like it's like we're creating a system of like people who are experts but they're not really experts , right ?
Speaker 1So that's the things like when you live in this type of society , right ? Listen , society makes your society makes its own rules , right , and each society can be , you know , very different . It has different values and different principles and a different vision , right ? And so the people who run your society , the people who run your country , for example , people who run your society , the people who run your country , for example , are the people who determine what that vision is , what those values are , regardless of whether or not there are people within the society who have different values . It doesn't matter because , at the end of the day , the only people's visions and values and principles that actually get executed are the people who run your country , the people who run your society right .
Speaker 1And everything else is just a little silo . Right , everything else is just a little silo . So you might have a little community here . Oh , this is what we value and this is what it don't matter , because you live in a society , you live in a country where your values actually don't matter . So , within your little community's cute , and that might work for you for a little bit , but that's not going to be as long lasting as if you were actually running your society .
Speaker 1So right now , we live in a place where you know experience doesn't matter yeah , experience doesn't matter , you know it doesn't matter .
Speaker 2Is health care going to be able to attract like the best and brightest in like 10 years ?
Speaker 1Clearly it doesn't mean you got Linda McMahon , you got freaking RFK Jr , you got this what's her name ?
Speaker 2And then folks are folks are . It don't matter , cause now and then , you know , you throw on top of this the student loan issue . You'll have people who are just saying like , well , why am I going into this field , right , I'm not going to be able to afford it . Why am I going into this field ? Right , I'm not going to be able to afford it . I'm going to have to go into a lot of student loan debt . Um , that student loan debt , I'm going to have to be begging off a lot of people , right , it's not even just debt to like a federal , a federal debt . It's going to be private loan debt . It might even be some hard money that you have to get from people , right , there's a lot of disillusionment that's going on , and I think that people are good . More and more people are going to go to bigger and brighter . You know , if you see something that's bigger and brighter , something that's fancier , I'm out .
Speaker 1I think that , that , that is true , but that's what .
Speaker 2That's the . These are the things that I think I wanted to talk more about last week that I think we skipped over . So I was listening to the game tape because I think it's important . You know me , I don't listen to game tape , but now I've been listening to game tape because I think it's important . You know me , I don't listen to game tape , but now I've been listening to game tape more and I'm like I could have done a better job of making our point right there .
Speaker 1So yeah , I think that that is true . Um , you know that people are going to look to other either professions , or they're going to look to other means of making income . Um , and I think it's going to work for them . I mean , frankly , I think it's going to work for them . I mean frankly , I think it's going to work for them because it's working . You know , it's working for people right now . What I , you know , my concern is always that , especially when it comes to the medical profession , there are people who are very , very , very impassioned by the possibilities of the impacts that they can make in different communities through medicine . Right , and I was talking to a mentee about this yesterday , and I think it's going to seem strange that I'm transitioning to this , but there's a reason .
Speaker 2I hope you're not trying to get serious on this yeah , this is serious .
Speaker 1So I was talking to my mentee about this yesterday and it was in a different context , but I find that it applies here is that there are a lot of people who are really passionate about being in medicine , and when they can't be in medicine , like you said , they get very you know , they get very disillusioned , right ? Or if they do get in medicine , they get very disillusioned as well , right . What I think
The Hero Complex in Medicine
Speaker 1we need to also be careful about , especially as we have pre-meds medical students , residents , you know , watching and listening is that don't set yourself up to really have a mindset that you are going to save the world by becoming a doctor .
Speaker 2Mm . Okay , that's what I'm talking about . Like , speak on that man .
Speaker 1I feel like you're like . I have a dream speech . You're not , You're not .
Speaker 2That's what I'm talking about .
Speaker 1Say something You're not going to you . You yeah , you finished . Yes , go ahead . You're not going to save the world by becoming a doctor .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1Right , you're probably not even going to save your entire community by becoming a doctor . Right , you are going to , you know , give value to some people's lives in terms of their health care . You are , you might actually save some lives . We save you , obviously , as a trauma surgeon , you know , right , I actually am the one who's saving lives up in this mug Well , but you also lose a lot of people .
Speaker 2So no , I don't . Actually it's give and take . No , I don't . The percentage is low .
Speaker 1Yeah , because those people don't make it to you .
Speaker 2The percentage is low . Okay , what are you talking about ?
Speaker 1So those people don't make it to you .
Speaker 2Listen , you do not have .
Speaker 1You're damn right . I don't want to go to the ICU . Why do I want to go here ? You do not have the position to critique me . Why , why do I want to go to the ICU ? For what reason ? Come on now .
Speaker 2Don't even step into that room .
Speaker 1Okay , Anyway , anyway .
Speaker 2You over here making fun of people . Oh my God , let me finish . Know how to replace potassium .
Speaker 1I replace potassium .
Speaker 2Need bart oh yeah , trying to tell me about people who live and die .
Speaker 1Listen listen , listen , so save you . Most of us , as doctors are not saving lives . Most of us , okay , many of us , probably most of us are helping people to maintain their health , if we're lucky and they listen to us . Otherwise they go to tiktok and they listen to doctors and maybe they will take those doctors more seriously so that when they do and those doctors be having an agenda .
Speaker 2They can A lot of them have an agenda .
Speaker 1But maybe that will help them . Maybe that will help our patients , especially if the information is good . Maybe that will help our patients to take us seriously , because you know how it is Sometimes you got to hear another party say something before you believe the party who you actually hired or you invested in .
Speaker 1I think you're going to have to wrap it up so anyway , the point being that I think we need to and this goes into what we talked about before we need to kind of get rid of that hero complex . You know that we're all we're going to save the world . We're going to do this , we're going to do this , we're going to do that . Listen , you're going to do as much as the healthcare system is going to allow you to do , and you don't control that . You don't control that . So you have to control your mindset and understand that you are not here to save the world . And so if you can't get into medicine , if you can't get through medicine , it is not the end of the world . There are other things that you can do . It is not the end of the world . It is not a reason to go off the deep end .
Speaker 2Okay , all right , we got you on that one . That's all I want to say . Guys , if you guys are interested in what we have to say , if you have an opinion on what we got to say , go to the show notes . You can leave us a text message . You can even hit us up on Instagram at Docs Outside the Box . Is it a podcast or just Docs Outside the Box ?
Speaker 1On Instagram . Yeah , just Docs Outside the Box .
Speaker 2Docs Outside the Box . All that stuff is in the show notes . Listen , we got so much to talk about , but we're going to have to put that on another episode . I got another meeting . I got to get to . We love you guys .
Speaker 1And the algorithm . We catch you guys on the next one , y'all . Well , now that we're doing segments , I think they do listen to the end . Peace , I love y'all . Bye .
