Pranay Reddy

Pranay Reddy is a second year Internal Medicine resident physician in Philadelphia, PA.
He attended Hampden Sydney College where he majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry and Spanish. After graduating with honors, magna cum laude, he decided to pursue a career in medicine.

Pranay attended St George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies and completed core clinical rotations in Brooklyn, New York during his 3rd and 4th year of medical school. Pranay also completed research in gastroenterology before pursuing his Master of Public Health with focus on Preventative Medicine. He is currently completing an Internal Medicine residency in Philadelphia, PA with plans for a Gastroenterology fellowship following graduation.

Where did the idea for your career come from?

The inspiration to pursue a medical career stemmed from my love of science and desire to help people through medicine.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My typical day in the life of an internal medicine resident starts off by waking up around 4:30am to get ready for work. During my rotations on the general medicine service, we meet at 6:00 am in the residents’ call room for “sign-out.” During sign-out, the night team will brief us on any major overnight events or updates regarding our patients. They will also inform us of any new patients that were admitted overnight. I will then start to look at labs on the computer for about 30 minutes before starting my personal rounds. During this process, I will go see every patient on our team’s list. I will then write daily progress notes before my attending physician arrives to complete formal rounds. After formal rounds with our attending physician and the rest of the team, we will break for lunch and afternoon conference. The remaining part of the afternoon is reserved for discharging patients, calling families as well as admitting any new patients to the service. We then finally meet at sign-out at 6:00 pm to again discuss any major events or new patients with the arriving night team.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I bring ideas to life by trying them firsthand in my daily life. The best way for me to test out new ideas is to implement them directly each day during work. I will quickly learn if these new ideas are effective or need further development to transcend into something that may make my workday easier.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I think the trend that excites me the most is technology in healthcare. With the advent of apps, our access to healthcare information has become nearly limitless. We currently live in an age of technology and apps allow us to place healthcare resources in the hand of every person with a cell phone.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

My habit of being very determined at work is what makes me a good physician. I am very dedicated to my patients and determined to help them achieve their absolute greatest potential in life but also the greatest potential within their health.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to always make sure your family and friends are a top priority. More importantly, to keep these friends and family as a top priority, you must first ensure your own mental and physical health.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

That there is no secret to productivity. Self-motivation and setting the appropriate goals are what set you up for long-term success.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

One thing that I do over and over is continue my education within my occupation. By staying up to date on current guidelines and medical literature, I ensure that I am always practicing evidence-based medicine. This allows me to deliver the best quality of healthcare to my patients.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

One strategy that has helped me achieve success in the medical field during my residency thus far is quite simply to stay humble. A residency is a fundamental learning experience in the life of every physician. To gain the most knowledge and benefit, it is imperative that one remains humble and teachable throughout the entire process.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

One failure that I had as an internal medicine resident was trying to take on too many responsibilities at work. I quickly learned that by attempting all these responsibilities, I was spreading myself thin and was subsequently less available to my colleagues and patients. I learned a valuable lesson that it is important to delegate other responsibilities to members of your team so that the daily workload is distributed evenly.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

One business idea that I have for readers is a medical app that serves as a patient’s personal encyclopedia of their entire health record. This app can then be scanned at any medical institution and instantly delivers the patient’s complete and thorough medical history. This will prevent hours from being spent on locating medical records so that time is better spent directly caring for the patient.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The best $100 I have spent recently is for a subscription for the American Journal of Gastroenterology. This also allows me to listen directly to podcasts which discuss all current evidence based medical guidelines which I then implement in my daily practice firsthand.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

The best piece of software I use on a daily basis at work is called UpToDate. This is a medical encyclopedia of all evidence-based medicine literature. It discusses all diseases from diagnosis to treatment and clearly portrays evidence-based guidelines within all facets of medicine. It allows me to quickly research diseases, management, and medications on the fly so that I am accurately treating patients in the hospital.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The book I would recommend to readers is called “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. This book tells the moving stories of patients dealing with severe illness and approaching death. It urges physicians to implement a different perspective when caring for these patients, a perspective that focuses on increasing quality of life and enabling well-being instead of focusing on survival.

What is your favorite quote?

My favorite quote is by Mahatma Gandhi: “Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.

Key Learnings:

• The best way to develop ideas in a work setting is to test them out firsthand. I frequently use this practice within the healthcare setting to increase efficiency and organization at work.
• Technology is the greatest trend in healthcare. Apps today allow for infinite access to healthcare resources. Increasing health literacy is the best way to promote patient’s health.
• It is important to delegate responsibilities at work because if you spread yourself thin, you are less productive and less available to the people who depend on you most. Work, especially in the health care setting, is quite simply a team sport.
• Work life balance is important to achieving success. This balance is important to maintain your physical, and more importantly, mental health. It is also important in order to keep your friends and family as a top priority in life.