We will discuss key transitional issues when finishing fellowship and beginning employment in a private practice/academic hybrid. We will review expectations of employers, personal goals and realistic expectations in the first five years, and review key factors that will drive success.

1. Learn key transitional changes needed to succeed in private practice in the first year of practice.
2. Describe employer mindset and approach to hiring.
3. Discuss key factors that will drive success in clinical practice over the first five years of practice.

Dr. Ryan Stratford, MD, MBA, FACOG is a fellowship trained Urogynecologist who is board-certified in FPMRS. While attending medical school, he took time off to study business and obtained an MBA from the Univesity of Chicago Booth School of Business. His interest in business was longstanding and drove him in his undergraduate studies with a major in Finance. He worked with pioneers in urogynecology such as Charlie Nager, Carl Luber, and Shawn Menefee while completing his residency at UCSD. After completing fellowship training at Scott and White with Dr. Bob Shull, he started a practice exclusive to urogynecology in Phoenix, Arizona. After over 18 years of practice, Dr. Stratford has observed the ebs and flows of running a practice, recruiting physicians and growing in an ever changing third party payor environment. He has learned to seek out growth opportunities and career development available in private practice that has affiliation with an academic institution and residency training. Dr. Stratford served on the board of directors for AUGS as treasurer for three years and learned about the key emphasis of the leaders of AUGS who seek to best represent all urogynecologists. He offers unique perspective to the creation and leadership of a company/practice in urogynecology. He says that his greatest achievements are outside of work, and he loves to spend time with his wife and five children - two in college, two in high school and one in elementary school.