How to Become a Doctor for Celebrities (Something to Aim For After Med School?)

Becoming a doctor for celebrities is dependent on four things; qualifying, becoming an expert, providing great service and gaining recommendations. Powerful marketing helps too of course but most of the time celebrities, especially those who know each other, will refer their doctors to one another. So word of mouth is another important factor.

I talk a lot on this site about how to become a doctor in the face of a lot of obstacles; being bad at math, not being smart, not being great at physics etc, but not much from the other side; specifically what kind of doctor you could be. A doctor working exclusively with celebrities? Could be a lucrative option to consider!

Let’s take a closer look at how this could become a reality and some of the possible challenges involved…

How to Become a Doctor for Celebrities

First things first; why would you want to become a doctor for celebrities? Here are a couple of answers that might tempt you:

  • Lucrative: celebrities are generally rich and can afford to pay for more expensive types of treatment (provided you offer them)
  • Interesting: if the celebrity is someone who you admire (or works in a field that interests you), providing treatment for them could be an interesting experience (especially if they’re open and don’t mind sharing personal anecdotes)
  • Great marketing: if the media documents celebrities receiving treatment from you or your clinic you could expect a surge in client interest. Many people trust celebrities’ judgement more than direct marketing efforts.

As for how to become a doctor to the stars? All it takes is landing that first client. Chances are, if you provide a service they’re happy with and they’re well connected, they’ll help land you other celebrity clients moving forward.

To get the ball rolling you could also consider reaching out to influencers and offering them discounted or free treatment. Do this in exchange for a testimonial from them, like you see tons of stars doing on their Instagram accounts, and you’ve got an effective low-cost marketing campaign on your hands.

A great example of this is hair transplant surgeons and footballers (soccer players).

Do Celebrities Go to the Doctor?

Obviously celebrities go to the doctor. Otherwise how would they get treatment? They’re humans afterall.

Where celebrities might differ in terms of their healthcare, is quality. As they’re generally more wealthy than the average person, they can afford to pay for premium healthcare services. This often ensures they get treated faster than others.

In addition to speed, celebrity patients might get better aftercare too. This could mean private hospital rooms, better all-round care, access to more effective treatments and other perks that average patients might struggle to afford.

It might not be fair but that’s the capitalist model that private healthcare systems employ.

Of course there are plenty of celebrities who rely on public healthcare similarly to everyone else. Just look at the stories of British celebrities (including the Prime Minister Boris Johnson) recovering from covid for example. The choice could be a personal one rather than financial.

How Do Celebrities Find the Best Doctor?

There is little difference between how celebrities find the best doctors compared to the general public. Both tend to use the web to search for doctors specializing in particular treatments. Or ask people in their network of friends and family for recommendations.

One important thing to consider: celebrities don’t necessarily get the best of care. The searches they make or the recommendations they receive? By no means guarantee they’ll get the best doctors in the business. Measuring a doctors capability is largely objective too. What works for one person doesn’t always work for the crowd.

In some cases a celebrity’s money or status can also complicate the care they recieve. Look at cases like Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith. It could be argued that their doctors difficulty to say no in these cases is partly the cause of their deaths.

A lot of the time, due to habit and lifestyle, celebrities want to maintain control in the patient-doctor relationship. This can make providing the best care complicated.

What’s it Like to Be the Doctor of a Celebrity?

It’s not easy to find reports of what it’s like to be the doctor of a celebrity because of patient-doctor confidentality. Doctors aren’t allowed, because of ethics, to disclose who their clients are or what kind of treatment they provide for them. The only way to know who’s treating who is if the patient directly talks about it.

This response on Quora is interesting and highlights some of the challenges involved in being a doctor to a celebrity. Here’s a brief summary of those difficulties:

  • Famous patients guard their privacy. They must be assured of doctor-patient confidentality.
  • Doctors must resist giving famous patients any unfair priority at the detriment of other patients.
  • Doctors should avoid the beauty, wealth or fame of celebrity patients clouding their judgement.

So it’s most likely not easy being a doctor to the stars. There’s possibly even more pressure involved ensuring they do their jobs professionally.

One big mistake could even add to the public’s hatred of doctors too.

How Does One Become a World-Renowned Doctor?

Doctors get to the top of their game by developing their professional experience, avoiding confict and maintaining an air of expertise and confidence.

Related: How to Insult a Doctor

To do that they have to have a strong work ethic, keep interested in the field and learn other skills outside of medicine such as business development and public relations.

There’s also the idea of developing a social presence too. Doctors active on blogs or social media (especially LinkedIn), who tangibly add value to the industry and help others, generally gain more traction than those who don’t.

In short; there are many ways. But a lot of it revolves around international visibility and marketing.

Summary

Becoming a doctor for celebrities can be an interesting path but it won’t come without following the more conventional steps first.

Going to med school, finding success and actively working on building your career are all critical factors that could help you achieve that.

Check out my article How to Succeed In Medical School if that’s something that strikes a chord!

Image Credit – @jeshoots at Unsplash