Xcellerant Ventures

About the Show

Successful physicians have many of the same skills they need to become a successful entrepreneur; often, they simply lack any business training. Each week join John, one of the nation’s leading medical entrepreneurs, as he interviews other physicians who have successfully started a business that has helped them secure their future by creating alternative sources of income and opportunities. If you’re ready to capitalize on your medical background to achieve your entrepreneurial vision this is the podcast for you, Entrepreneur Rx with John Shufeldt.

Recent Episodes

RX67: Matt Lashey, CEO of Treatment Technologies & Insights

RX66: Casey Grage, Founder & CEO at Hubly Surgical

RX65: Rachel Mertensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Rivia Health

Meet The Host

JOHN SHUFELDT

MD, JD, MBA, FACEP

John Shufeldt MD, JD, MBA, FACEP

John received his BA from Drake and his MD from the Rosalind Franklin. He completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at Christ Hospital where he was Chief Resident. John received his MBA in 1995, and his JD in 2005, both from ASU. In 2015, he completed his Six Sigma Black Belt from the Fulton School of Engineering. In 2019 he completed a certificate program in Artificial Intelligence at MIT. He founded NextCare Inc. in 1993 as well as numerous other health and non-health care businesses. He is the business manager and one of the founding partners of Empower Emergency Physicians and continues to practice emergency medicine. In 2010, John founded MeMD. MeMD is used by more than 500 providers in 50 states to virtually treat patients on-demand. MeMD sold to Walmart in June, 2021. In 2015, John founded Tribal EM, an emergency medicine staffing and management company dedicated to improving the delivery of healthcare for Indigenous People. He has authored 12 books on business, personal growth, leadership, and urgent care medicine and management.

Entrepreneur Rx

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We publish WEEKLY on WEDNESDAY at 9:00AM EST

Be Our Guest?

Barbara Wirostko

M.D. FARVO

Dr. Barbara Wirostko, a serial entrepreneur, is the Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Qlaris Bio. Dr. Wirostko is a board-certified practicing glaucoma specialist holding a Clinical Adjunct Professor position at the University of Utah, in Ophthalmology at Moran Eye Center and in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering. She was previously the Chief Medical Officer of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals following its acquisition of Jade Therapeutics where Dr. Wirostko was Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer spearheading the strategy and operations for the preclinical and clinical development of the unique hyaluronic acid, Ocular Bandage Gel (OBG), for human use. For Jade Therapeutics, Dr Wirostko received upwards of 3 M in SBIR funding as the Principle Investigator for the OBG polymer from the Dept of Defense and National Science Foundation. Prior to Jade, she served as the Chief Medical Officer of Altheos, a glaucoma startup company, and held leadership positions in medical and clinical development at Pfizer in Ophthalmology, overseeing the global medical responsibilities for the Xalatan franchise as Senior Medical Director. She sits on various editorial boards including the prestigious Ophthalmology Glaucoma and Journal of Glaucoma, has published and written hundreds of peer reviewed papers, books, serves on numerous advisory boards, grant review committees, and holds fellowship positions with The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

She has been invited globally to lecture on her area of clinical research expertise, exfoliation glaucoma. Dr. Wirostko received her MD from and completed her residency at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, NY, and holds a BA with distinction in Microbiology from Cornell University.

Following the death of their oldest son, Dr. Wirostko with her husband Dr. Joseph Morelli founded a nonprofit for young students with learning challenges. Started in 2014, under Dr. Wirostko’s directorship, the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation is now a nationally recognized 501c3, having awarded 100s of students’ scholarships around the country, to help recognize and advocate for dyslexia. Her outreach and advocacy have included a TedX talk in April 2019 on the story of Joseph. Dr. Wirostko currently lives in Park City, Utah with her husband and children, enjoying skiing and the outdoors.