Every doctor has a brand.  But when I mention this, people throw things at me.  Because everybody knows a brand is for potato chips and toilet paper.

This has nothing do with promotion or commercials.

Your brand is what people think about you.  It’s what comes to mind when your name is mentioned.  It’s a tattoo on the brain that’s been created by your clinical deeds and actions.

• He’s the surgeon who answers within 30 seconds of being paged.
• She’s the ID doctor who’s dress is as impeccable as her penmanship.
• He’s the vascular surgeon known for his rough bedside manner and compulsive attention to operative detail.
• She’s the softspoken pediatrician who takes lots of time no matter how far behind she is.

Even that quirky anatomy professor with the 7 dry erase markers has a brand.

Now enter the age of democratized media where every doctor with a smart phone is a publisher.  Our public persona reinforces, or even shapes, our identity.  Tell me that Wendy Swanson, ZDoggMD don’t have brands.  Wendy is defined by her passion, energy, voice and transparency.  ZDoggMD is defined by his unique delivery of health information.

Sure you can portray yourself in any way you like.  But doctors don’t need to sell or pitch anything to have a brand.  All they have to do is show up.  Their patients and peers watching will do the rest.