My Story - Medical Marketing Coach

My Story – From Burnout To Strength And Clarity

How I became the Medical Marketing Coach…

“… The next words he said made me lose my breath and got my head spinning as if I had just been hit by a truck. ‘We found a tumor’… “

My Name is Samija Kirberg and This is My Story

My heart beat was ringing in my ears as I was laying in the back barely able to stay conscious. I could feel the sections and cracks of the pavement while the car sped on the road as if there were no stop signs or traffic lights. They had to get me to the hospital as fast as they could, they knew I might not make it much longer.

The pain had gotten almost unbearable to a point that even breathing hurt. When I inhaled I felt a harsh stinging in my shoulders as if someone pushed daggers into them. And when I breathed out my abdomen felt like it was on fire.

It was a summer night in late July, just a few months after I had turned eighteen. Just a few weeks earlier the terms had started and I was back to studying. I had been a young and healthy teenager, loving the outdoors and sports, until that night changed everything.

Hi, my name is Samija Kirberg and I am the Medical Marketing Coach. I am so happy you are here!! And I have a confession to make – I had not planned to go into the biomedical field.

Really ^^

While Biology was one of my majors, I loved languages and arts and thought I’d go that route. But that one night change me.

Today I help surgeons and surgical specialists get more patients and scale their clinic to businesses with multiple locations.

So how did I become the medical marketing coach? Read on to find out.

When we arrived at the hospital they already had two people waiting and getting straight to work on me. I looked yellowish pale and was in so much pain that I could barely understand all the questions they asked me.

Before I knew it I was laying in a hospital bed as they rolled me down a long hallway. They taped sensors around my chest to check my heart beat and injected me with something. The next moment I felt as if I was sinking into the bed my eyelids got heavy.

Two days later I was rolled into the OR for surgery. After countless exams and tests they had found a rupture in my spleen that was bleeding into my entire abdomen. That explained why my skin was yellowish and why my belly was all swollen as if I was expecting. It left a few other questions open though.

A Twenty Percent Chance to Make it Through

I am not sure how long after the surgery I regained consciousness. I think I must have woken up in the recovery room but ever since the day I got to the hospital everything had pretty much been a blur.

The first thing I do remember after surgery was being in my bed in a room, and my family sitting at my bed. Some time later the surgeon and his team came to check on me and talk to my parents.

What happened next I could have never been prepared for.

When the surgeon came back in with my mom they both had a very serious expression on their face.

“You had a lot of blood in your abdomen.”, the surgeon explained. “We were just in time with the procedure.”

His voice was still very serious. The surgery was done, they found a rupture on my spleen. What else could there be now that surgery had been completed?

The next words he said made me lose my breath and got my head spinning as if I had just been hit by a truck.

“We found a tumor…”

As hard as it was for me to grasp that, I could tell the doctor was just as shaken to bring this news to me.

During surgery they had found a mass on my spleen that appeared to be a Haemangiosarcoma, a very rare type of tumor that is highly aggressive and with poor prognosis for patients.

They had removed the tumor and part of my spleen and afterwards had submitted the tissue for analysis to the lab. If the analysis would confirm the malignant cancer they would first have to open me up again and remove more tissue from surrounding organs.

After that chemotherapy and other measures would be needed.

The Most Transformative 7 Days

I don’t remember all the details of the conversation any more, but I do remember the kindness of the surgeon and my mom taking me in her arms when I teared up. It all felt surreal.

The next 7 days of waiting on the results of the detailed tissue analysis were the strangest of my life.

Mind you, I say strangest, and NOT saddest days, because they brought an interesting perspective to the table. What if these actually were the last 7 days of normal life for me?

The last 7 days without more pain from surgeries, and the last 7 days without chemotherapy and cancer treatments.

Admitted, on the first day I was a total mess, teary-eyed, and resentful about the situation and how it was not fair.

But then I realized that I could either be miserable the whole 7 days or I could just wait on the lab result and make the best out of my time.

And I did.

I got all kinds of food delivered although I was supposed to stay on a restricted hospital diet. But with cancer, did it really matter?

I had friends take me to the park outside to be in the sun. Or had them visit me late after visiting hours.

The hospital staff let me get away with it all. Many of them teared up when they came in to change my infusion, give me meds, or just examine me. Even more so when I smiled and gave them the kindest compliments.

“How can she be so happy when she may get the worst news in a few days?”, they might have thought to themselves.

How could I not?

Why should I worry about rain when the sun was still shining and the skies were still bright and blue?

The Result that Changed my Life Forever

A few days later we got the results from the tissue analysis. I held my breath when the surgeon came in, and so did my mom. Never before had I been more attentive to any news I had received. And as he went through the results on the clipboard in his hand my eyes got bigger and my heart almost skipped a beat.

Non-malignant.

Despite the initial prognosis and fears it turned out the tumor they found on my spleen was a growth but not a cancerous one. There had been a 20 percent chance I’d make it through this. And here I was.

I was the 20 percent.

Less than a week later I got out of the hospital. I still had to get lots of rest to heal from the surgery but the worry was in the past.

My friends and family welcomed me back cheerfully, and said “You must be so glad the days of worrying are over.”

I was, and then again I wasn’t. The 7 days of waiting had become the most profound and insightful moment of my young life.

Our health was the most important asset we could ever possess in our life. Yet most of us failed to recognize the blessing we had.

And I did.

From Bench to Bedside – Translating Medicine

Over the next few years I started studying biology and medicine, delved into the wonders of life, how cells formed the building blocks of life, and how a trillion cells formed the human body in all its amazing facets.

While lecture material and books were my constant companion in learning it all, my heart got even more excited when I was in the lab or in the clinic.

I studied stem cells of the body’s different organs and how they could be a cure for many diseases but still bear the risk of inflammation and cancer. Soon I became a course instructor and even taught modules for medical students and grad students. My first steps as medical marketing coach, just without any of the marketing… 😉

When in the clinic I discovered the power of peptides on and in our body that exerted antimicrobial activity that could be harnessed for therapies and medication to protect us from injury.

From bench to bedside I studied neurodegenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the devastating impact it has on the body, and possible ways of treatment we could use for therapeutic approaches.

Through all of the cases the medical condition or disease severely impaired the patients quality of life and survival. Successful therapies in turn profoundly improved the patients well being and even saved their lives.

But who was caring for those who help the patients?

While clinicians and biomedical professionals spent a crazy amount of hours saving the lives of others day in day out their own well being was almost ignored.

In fact physician burnout and healthcare worker suicide have grown to an all time high due to the overwhelming conditions in universities and hospitals.

But running your own private medical practice is not less stressful. In addition to dealing with regulations and insurances you will also need to brand yourself to attract new patients. And with the landscape of local medical services and corporate clinics pushing into the local market this is becoming ever more difficult.

Ending Up With Burnout in the Clinic

Throughout my work in academia and in the hospital I more and more felt the overwhelm and the ever growing restrictions.

And the worse it got the more I felt like my 18 year old self being told she had a tumor and may not make it through the next weeks and months.

Suffocating.

And then I remembered my 7 days of waiting on the test results. I wasn’t fearful or surrendering to a possible faith that had not happened yet. I made the best out of the situation and searched for a happier way to deal with it.

Then I did the same with my profession.

During my time at Yale I had done education and public speaking. Even so far that I consulted businesses as well as health and aesthetics professionals on how to market to specific types of people searching for healthcare and aesthetics services. It was my actual first endeavor as medical marketing coach, you could say.

Through the education and the public speaking engagements I had delved into marketing consulting and branding and the more I learned the more I got fascinated with it. There was a winning strategy and process to doing it when done the right way.

At first I had learned web design, SEO, and Google optimization to get people not just come to your website but actually also do what you want them to – Purchase your medical product or medical service.

I had easily spent a couple thousand dollars on courses and seminars to learn as much as I could. And as I started sharing me knowledge, the concept of the medical marketing coach took shape.

At first I helped people in my circle with their Websites or SEO needs for free, to get experience and to make sure what I did got results. But at some point I was told “You should charge for this. Companies get paid thousands of dollars.”

And I did.

And I realized there was an actual need in the market. At first I offered my services as a freelancer to all kinds of businesses. But very quickly I realized that my medical community was where I really wanted to focus my support. The medical marketing coach was born.

The Moment I Started Asking Beyond

I learned more marketing skills such as Facebook ads, viral Instagram growth, and advanced brand growth strategies. From more courses bought, to marketing conferences, and hiring a coach I spent upper 5 to 6 figures in my personal and business growth over the next few years.

Through it all one question was constantly on my mind. How can clinics scale a transformative patient experience without insurances and regulations restricting their workflow and focus on patient satisfaction? And as I asked all those questions the idea of the medical marketing coach grew beyond running advertisements or building websites for doctors.

Most Clinics needed help with developing an effective workflow to attract and serve new patients consistently. If you ever ran Facebook or Google ads you know that a lead is not yet a patient. I developed workflows that allowed medical offices to simply confirm booked appointments of new patients. It was a game changer. And soon the medical marketing coach became a clinic optimization coach.

Working with clinics has been truly amazing.

Most people think growing a clinic is just about running some ads to get patients. Yet there are so many more elements to growing and scaling a clinic effectively. You really have to understand where your patients are in their health journey and how you can best address them.

It is far more about strategy and data driven systems to reverse engineer what your patients truly want and need for their success than just slashing a website together based on your gust.

I started my medical marketing agency We Ask Beyond, got more work, and needed to build my team as my company grew.

As my work grew I realized the importance of empowering medical professionals. The same as physicians empower patients to practice healthy habits daily for better health, I in turn started empowering doctors to practice healthy business habits for better business health of their medical office or local clinic.

The 18 year old who was waiting on her results for the tumor found on her spleen, she is still here. She knows that life always bears a great amount of uncertainty and challenges, but she never lets it stop her from experiencing the present moment. She set the foundation for the medical marketing coach.

You’ve very likely had similar struggles, either working in a healthcare facility or in a private medical office. It may feel like everything seems to work against you and there are not enough hours in the day. You may have tried branding your medical practice but it didn’t really work and you are not sure what to do.

I am so glad you are here and you got this far reading this. The fact that you are here shows that you have more grit and tenacity than you may have thought. Even if your efforts to brand your medical office have not been very fruitful yet, keep going.

From the bottom of my heart I encourage you to embrace the uncertainty of our medical industry that changes faster than ever. Focus on what is best for your patients, serve them as best as you can, and get help with growing your clinic. Your patients’ lives depend on it.

This blog can be your starting point, the place where you recalibrate your focus, and so much more. I want to provide a safe community where you can explore the true power of developing a good medical branding strategy.

Thank you for reading my story.

Now let’s make your story the beautiful masterpiece it deserves to be.

Sincerely Yours

Samija

aka – The Medical Marketing Coach

P.S.: You will find lots of free training videos on my Instagram, my TikTok, my YouTube, and my Facebook profiles. And if you have a specific question you’d like more info on, simply start with my Blog.