Profile and evaluation of entrepreneurial behavioral skills in Brazilian family doctors owners of clinics and offices

Abstract

Introduction: Brazilian Family Doctors, until recently, were restricted to the public health system as the only job market. In the last decade, they are being increasingly required in the supplementary private system. Their experiences as professionals directly linked to the assistance and as managers have led some to open their own businesses in the form of clinics and offices. There is a set of competencies that characterize entrepreneurial behavior, called Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies in the literature. Objective: To understand how these Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies are present in these pioneering Family Doctors, their demographic and socioeconomic profile, and what past influences encouraged them to accept the risk and invest. Methods: Mixed study with exploratory-descriptive qualitative and quantitative design with Family Doctors that already have their own businesses. The instrument for quantifying Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies created by Lenzi and another one with questions of sociodemographic and contextual characterization were applied. Results: The researchers invited 16 entrepreneur physicians working in the Brazilian territory found through digital social networks. Only 11 answered both questionnaires: 6 men and 5 women from 8 different cities, most of them state capitals with more than 1 million inhabitants, 90.9% graduated from public universities, 63.6% between 30 and 40 years old, all with previous experience in the public sector. Most businesses have less than 1 year (45.5%), yield less than U$ 1,100.00 American dollars per month (45.5%) and most of the interviewees still work in other services such as the public sector (90.9%). The most present Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies were "Commitment" (90.9%), "Information Seeking" (81.8%), "Persistence" (72.7%) and "Taking Calculated Risks" (72.7%). The least present were “Independence and Self-confidence” (27.3%) and “Goal Setting” (45.4%). Conclusions: Although by convenience, it is possible that the sample in this study represent a significant portion of the Family Doctors who have risked themselves in the competitive private health market. Its characteristics: young, with a balanced gender, with long experience in the public sector and a recent start in the private market, still very afraid of investing and little formal training in the field of entrepreneurship, are probably a reliable portrait of the current moment. The profile of the developed Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies corroborated with the literature and served to warn about the lack of focus on planning, pointing out that bringing Family Medicine to the Brazilian private market is an innovative idea, but only good ideas are not enough to produce stability and sustainability for business.