Dr. Eric Fishman, Vascular Surgery Specialist – A DotCom Magazine Exclusive Interview

Dr Eric Fishman
Dr Eric Fishman

Dr. Eric Fishman is a vascular surgery specialist in Purchase, New York. He has over 20 years’ experience. He has helped many people overcome serious illness and injury through his skilled application of surgical techniques. Dr. Fishman uses the most up-to-date technology to safely and effectively treat people with vascular disorders like carotid artery disease and aortic aneurysms, among many other problems with their blood vessels.

Dr. Fishman received his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 1997. He is affiliated with several New York-area hospitals, including White Plains Hospital Center, Greenwich Hospital, Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, and New York-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital.

Dr. Eric Fishman is a valued member of the medical community in the New York City area. He accepts patients with severe problems with their blood vessels and enables them to achieve a better quality of life. Some of the techniques that Dr. Fishman uses are angiography, balloon angioplasty, guided ultrasound, and other minimally invasive and traditional surgical methods.

Dr. Eric Fishman is fully board-certified, and he has a positive reputation in the New York City area. His patients are generally able to return to normal and fulfilling lives after their procedures. His understanding of the newest techniques in vascular surgery allows him to treat patients with care and efficiency.

Let’s start by telling us about your business.

My vascular surgery practice is located in Purchase, New York. I have privileges at multiple hospitals in New York and Connecticut, including Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, Greenwich Hospital, White Plains Hospital Center, and New York-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital.

I work with patients who have serious problems with their blood vessels. Some of these issues include aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, aortic valve disease, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, and lymphedema.

Please tell us how you make sure your customers will become raving fans of your company?

I believe strongly in having a positive bedside manner. I try to treat all of my patients like I would want to be treated if I were in their situation. Some of my surgical colleagues can be rude and rushed, but I always try to spend as much time with my patients as possible and make sure that they have the answers to all of their questions.

I am always proud to receive good reviews from my patients, but I am willing to take negative feedback as well as positive feedback. I feel that patients should be able to be honest with their doctors.

Please tell us the one thing that separates your business from the competition?

My level of experience and my facility with using new techniques sets me apart from other vascular surgeons in the area. I like to stay up-to-date so that I can treat each patient with the newest and best methods. Since I have over 20 years’ experience, I have seen many varieties of vascular problems, and I have a good instinct for what types of treatment will work for each patient. If I am wrong, I am always willing to admit it.

And to finish this section, please tell us what is the one major key to your company’s success?

The one major key to my success as a vascular surgeon is my advanced method of treating my patients. I make sure that I am continually trained on new methods like guided ultrasound and robotics in surgery. Another key to my success is the amount of time that I spend with each patient. Finally, I feel that I do a good job as a vascular surgeon because I am always willing to listen to the patients’ concerns.

For our readers just starting to build a company, what advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out with a new venture?

Starting a new business is nerve-wracking. Although my business is a medical practice, I can share some of the tips that I learned when starting my business with people from all fields.

The first thing that you need to do in order to start a successful business is make sure that you have a great idea. Find your market niche and make yourself unique among your competitors. If you’re offering something that no other company can offer, you are likely to attract more customers. If you get into the same business as everyone else, the only way you’ll be able to compete is by slashing your prices, and your profit margins will suffer unless you are doing an extremely high volume.

The next decision that you need to make is how you are going to fund your business. Many first-time business owners don’t have the funds to get started on their own, and they need to ask investors for help. Another method that you can use is called “bootstrapping.” This means that you are running your business with little to no cash reserves and using your profits to shore up the company. In this case, I think it’s important to keep your day job for a while until you start to make a profit.

Finally, you need to decide whom to hire if you can’t do everything yourself. Hiring friends and family, while it may be tempting, is not alwys the best idea. Sometimes friends and family will take advantage of a new business owner because they feel that there won’t be any consequences if they don’t perform well.

For entrepreneurs seeking to build a business as successful as yours, what one big piece of advice can you give them when times get a little challenging?

Everyone has times when they need to meet challenges. I have some painful memories of my own. The most important thing that you can do in order to meet these challenges head-on is to learn from them. It helps to never make the same mistake twice. They say that a sign of insanity is doing the exact same thing multiple times and expecting different results. This seems like an extreme example, but I believe that it applies well to business.

In today’s fast-changing business environment, how do you stay abreast of things?

I always make sure to update my skills. I keep a close eye on the medical field, and every time there is an improvement in the field of vascular surgery, I make sure to sign myself up for a class or to have a representative come to visit me to show off new equipment.

What is your “Why”? In one sentence, why do you get up in the morning?

My patients are my “why.” I am motivated by my patients’ need to live normal lives. If I can help my patients overcome the bad hand that genetics or ill health has given them, I feel good about my contributions to the world. Taking care of patients is the most important thing in my professional life.

In one sentence, what is the most important thing one has to do to be a great leader?

Great leaders have to listen. Giving pronouncements from on high and expecting everyone to follow them is foolish at best. Creating an artificial distance between yourself and your employees means that they will resent your leadership and look for ways to subvert it.

A great leader also needs to be a peacemaker. Conflicts often come up in the workplace. A great leader not only knows how to manage conflicts, they know how to keep them from happening again.

In one sentence, describe how important your customers are to your business?

My patients are everything to me. I take each of their problems to heart. It is necessary to take some sort of professional distance when dealing with patients because losing a patient is so hard, but this has always been something I’ve struggled with. I have learned to compartmentalize my work and personal life, which is a good thing as far as my family is concerned.

In one sentence, describe a positive way that technology can make the world a better place?

Technology can make a huge difference in the medical field. There are so many amazing innovations in vascular surgery that have helped us perform procedures that would have required open-heart surgery in the past but now can be accomplished with endoscopy and ultrasound. I feel that it is imperative for doctors to keep up with the newest advances in their fields to make sure that their patients are receiving the best care possible.

In one sentence, tell us how something positive to motivate our readers?

I once saw this quote pinned up in a nurse’s station at one of the hospitals where I work, and it has stuck in my mind: “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” This quote resonates with me because I am one of those people who has always wanted to make a difference, and I have run into negative people in my own life. This quote reminds me to discount the naysayers and forge ahead on my own path.

In one sentence, tell us how you start your day to get ready?

Doctors always have early mornings. I like to get up, have coffee, and work out before I have to go into the hospital. I feel that working out centers me. As a vascular surgeon, I have also seen the consequences of patients who let their health suffer, especially where cardiovascular health is concerned.

I get to the hospital around 7:00 and start my rounds. I like to visit with the patients who had surgery the day before and find out how they’re doing. After my rounds, I scrub in for my first surgery. I spend the day going back and forth between surgeries and consultations with new patients.

In one sentence, describe how you handle rejection and setback?

You have to be circumspect about handling setbacks. Above all, it’s necessary to keep from taking them too personally. Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean that you are a bad person. Of course, in the medical field, making even a minor mistake has huge consequences for your patient, so I take them very seriously.

In one sentence, describe what your hiring philosophy is?

I vet my candidates for nurses and assistants very carefully. I enjoy working with people who have the same dedication to patient care and who are always willing to learn new things.

In one sentence, describe how you keep your sanity in a competitive business environment?

Doctors do have trouble maintaining some sense of work-life balance. As a surgeon, I am frequently on-call, so my family time and relaxation time are interrupted fairly often. I try to relax as much as possible. Working out also helps because it burns off negative feelings and starts the day off on the right foot.