Healing or Selling? Doctors in a Capitalist Healthcare System

Doctors as Salespeople in Medicine: How We Got Here (and How We Feel About It)
Picture this: You spent a decade mastering the intricacies of the human body, memorizing enzymes, acing OSCEs, navigating 30-hour shifts, and learning how to handle the most fragile moments in human existence. And now? You’re told to "promote this weight loss injection," or "meet your quota for cholesterol-lowering prescriptions." Wait—did we accidentally enroll in med school or business school?

Welcome to 2025, where the white coat is starting to feel a little... retail.

Let’s talk about something uncomfortable, hilarious, and quietly unsettling: Are doctors becoming glorified salespeople?

1. The Slow Burn of Commercialization
Medicine didn’t suddenly become commercial overnight. The seeds were planted when:

• Pharma reps began making more hospital rounds than interns.
  
  
• Conferences turned into logo-flooded trade shows.
  
  
• “Evidence-based” started to sound suspiciously like “sponsor-supported.”
  

Doctors used to be trusted advisors. Now, many of us are subtly nudged—by systems, employers, or the illusion of "patient satisfaction"—into roles that feel more like customer service agents or brand influencers.

2. The Language Has Shifted—And So Has the Role

• Patients are now clients.
  
  
• Prescriptions are solutions.
  
  
• Clinical encounters are touchpoints.
  
  
• And we’re expected to offer "value-based outcomes" like we’re pitching a SaaS platform.
  

This isn’t just semantics—it’s a cultural shift. When hospital administrators say "optimize throughput," it sounds less like healing people and more like clearing a production line. It’s as if medicine has adopted the logic of Amazon warehouses.

3. Weight Loss, Wellness, and the Side Hustle Surge
Let’s zoom into one example: weight loss medications—a booming billion-dollar market. These drugs are all the rage now, thanks to TikTok, celebrity doctors, and pharma-sponsored Instagram influencers.

Here's the catch: Some physicians genuinely believe in the science and the life-changing potential of these treatments. But others? They're:

• Opening "Medical Aesthetics + Wellness Clinics" on weekends,
  
  
• Hosting webinars on boosting GLP-1 sales,
  
  
• And offering “custom health programs” that conveniently include a recurring prescription model.
  

It blurs the lines. Are we advocating for better health, or are we upselling biology?

4. The Pressure to Prescribe
Clinical independence? Sometimes, it’s more of a myth than a reality.

Doctors working in large healthcare systems often experience:

• Performance metrics tied to medication adherence
  
  
• Quality scores dependent on statin or diabetes prescription rates
  
  
• Electronic prompts nudging certain treatment paths based on “best practices” (or is it best for the bottom line?)
  

And let’s not forget the “formulary traps”—where cheaper, older drugs are quietly phased out or made nearly impossible to prescribe.

This leads to a tough internal battle:

Do I stick to what I know is right for this patient—or do I click the box that keeps the EMR quiet and the administrators happy?

5. The Pharmacy-Doctor-Patient Triangle
Pharmacists are now offering direct services like flu shots, BP checks, and even medication reviews. Telehealth platforms promote $20 consultations for quick prescriptions. Patients are often price-shopping treatments based on discount cards and out-of-pocket costs rather than medical advice.

This means patients come to us already primed with:

• Coupons from drug company websites
  
  
• YouTube-researched treatment plans
  
  
• Social media posts from influencers claiming “this supplement cured my Hashimoto’s”
  

As a result, the doctor's credibility is now competing with market branding. And when we push back, it risks sounding like we’re defending our own "sales pitch."

6. “Selling” Isn’t Always Bad—But It Can Be Soul-Sucking
Let’s be fair. Sometimes, "selling" a treatment means truly advocating for what a patient needs:

• Convincing a reluctant diabetic to accept insulin
  
  
• Guiding a high-risk patient toward a colonoscopy
  
  
• Motivating behavior change for smoking cessation
  

These moments require persuasion, empathy, and strategy—all sales skills, technically.

But the difference is intent.

Doctors want healing.
Salespeople want conversion.

When the two overlap without ethical grounding, burnout skyrockets. Many physicians report feeling like cogs in a revenue machine instead of healers in white coats.

7. The Rise of Sponsored Medical Content
Ever notice how many medical articles, guidelines, or continuing education modules are “supported by an unrestricted educational grant”? That’s industry code for “we paid for this, but don’t worry, it’s totally unbiased.”

There are also:

• Sponsored podcasts
  
  
• Industry-backed lectures at conferences
  
  
• Branded content in clinical newsletters
  

Doctors have become targets for marketing disguised as education. It’s like we need CME credits just to learn how not to be manipulated.

8. Defensive Medicine or Defensive Marketing?
In today’s climate, patients sue faster, rate lower, and switch providers easier.

Doctors, in turn, might:

• Overprescribe or overinvestigate (just in case)
  
  
• Agree to unnecessary supplements (to keep peace)
  
  
• Suggest higher-end treatments (because “basic” feels inadequate now)
  

Sometimes, it’s not the patient we’re trying to please. It’s the algorithm, the survey result, or the review site.

9. Social Media Medicine: The Ultimate Marketplace
Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are flooded with doctors explaining diseases—but also:

• Promoting skincare lines
  
  
• Selling weight loss programs
  
  
• Doing sponsored content for device manufacturers
  

This is where medicine meets marketing in public view.

Does it educate? Sometimes.
Does it help people? Possibly.
Does it feel weird? Often.

Especially when board-certified specialists start doing skits and promoting probiotic gummies.

10. So... Are We Selling Out or Buying In?
Here’s the philosophical punchline:

• If business models now define success in medicine, are we wrong to adopt some of the same tools?
  
  
• If patients behave like consumers, are we irresponsible to ignore how modern persuasion works?
  
  
• If healthcare institutions push productivity metrics, are we even allowed to resist?
  

Some doctors embrace the shift. Others resent it. Most are somewhere in the middle—trying to walk the tightrope between clinical integrity and financial reality.

Final Thoughts? Not Today. Just a Cold, Honest Glance
There’s no neat conclusion here because this isn't over. It’s evolving.

Physicians in 2025 are practicing medicine in a healthcare system that increasingly rewards volume, branding, and “customer retention.” And if you’re feeling like you’re doing more pitching than diagnosing lately, you’re not imagining things.

Whether we’re influencers, healers, educators, or entrepreneurs—we’re still doctors.

Let’s just make sure the science leads the strategy, not the other way around.