where to start

Starting a new venture can always be a little bit scary, because you are leaving the known and well trodden path to pursue the unknown. Yet, you can create a bridge between the two.

Where will I start? I'm going to start with what I know... engineering and health.

There are three information markets that sell well; (1) money, (2) health, and (3) relationships. And if you could combine all three, even better. Since I have a PhD in health, what better place to start than that.

Have you ever noticed that when you visit a doctor, at one point, they will start talking gibberish? The other day, I took my mom to the pain clinic for a consult. After listening to my mom for 2 minutes, the doctor started talking about cranial nerves, cervical disks, spinal chord reflexes, ganglions, etc. Sitting there, I understood every word he said, but I could see questions on my mom's face. She was relying on me to understand what the doctor was saying. Afterwards, I explained to her in layman's terms what the doctor had said. She had a pinched nerve in her neck that the doctor was going to fix with an injection.

Then a week later, one of my students complained about the fact that his mom had been to the doctor, but she couldn't tell him what the doctor had told her because she didn't understand anything.

All of this got me thinking about how we could educate the average person about their health.

Site like WebMD and MayoClinic are great sources of information. But every time I go on there, I get scared when I'm reading about the causes of my symptoms. It's so easy to self-diagnose incorrectly. If people simply knew what I knew they'd be able to cut through half the crap to get at what they actually needed to know and understand.

The other things I realized was that people love to watch Doctor Oz. Why? Because he explains medical conditions in simple terms that people can understand. This is what I want to do, but in an accessible manner.

The conclusion, I'm going to develop and launch my own information material about health conditions.

Next time... the elephant.