POSTED ON September 23, 2026

The Powerful Journey Into Vascular Medical Sales

In this episode of the Medical Sales Podcast, Samuel Adeyinka sits down with Pete Okonkwo, a Vascular Therapies Consultant at Boston Scientific, to give listeners an inside look at what it really takes to succeed in vascular medical device sales. Pete explains what a typical day looks like, from arriving early for procedures and managing inventory to supporting interventional radiologists, interventional cardiologists, and vascular surgeons in the cath lab and hybrid OR. He breaks down the differences between vascular therapies and his previous experience as a Surgical Account Manager, including the complexity of vascular procedures, the importance of understanding imaging and anatomy, and why reps must be able to adapt quickly as cases change. Pete also shares what it takes to manage multiple accounts, balance case coverage with business development, and build strong relationships with surgeons while maintaining emotional intelligence and situational awareness in the operating room. He discusses the importance of being a self-starter, managing your own time, staying several steps ahead during procedures, and knowing when to speak up and when to simply support the surgeon. Most importantly, Pete shares a powerful story from one of his early experiences in vascular therapies that showed him the real impact medical sales can have on patient care. Whether you’re considering a career in vascular therapies, trying to understand what medical device reps actually do, or looking to become a stronger sales professional in the OR, this episode offers an honest look at the skills, mindset, and clinical knowledge required to succeed.

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Transcription:

(0:00) Well, I think for any medical sales position, I would say, you know, can you control and (0:08) manage your time and are you a self-starter, right? (0:12) Can you work without anyone looking over your shoulder, can you go create business? (0:16) There’s no clear cut map to this, right? (0:20) Like, there’s not always a timeframe breakdown and if you think there is, then, you know, you (0:25) might be looking at this in a different light because you are constantly, you know, being (0:30) flexible and changing throughout your day. (0:33) A lot of times. (0:34) Hello and welcome to the medical sales podcast.

(0:36) I’m your host Samuel, founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program (0:40) called the medical sales career builder, and I’m also host of the medical sales podcast. (0:45) In this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across (0:51) the entire world. (0:52) It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry from medical device to pharmaceutical to genetic (0:57) testing and diagnostic lab, you name it.

(1:00) You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10% performer within your (1:05) role or climb the corporate ladder. (1:08) Welcome to the medical sales podcast. (1:11) And remember, I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing (1:16) industry and how it can change your life.

(1:26) Pete, how are we doing today? (1:28) I’m good. (1:29) How are you doing, Samuel? (1:29) I am fantastic, man. (1:31) Why don’t you tell the audience who you are and what you do? (1:35) Yeah.

(1:35) So my name is Pete O’Conquo and I’m a vascular therapies consultant at Boston Scientific. (1:42) So let’s get into it. (1:43) You know, a lot of people listening right now, they’re still learning the different terms (1:48) of all these different sales reps in the medical sales space.

(1:51) And now we’re specifically speaking about medical device. (1:54) Talk to us about what is a vascular therapies consultant? (1:58) What do you sell? (1:59) What does your day look like? (2:01) And who are you talking to for the majority of the day? (2:05) Yeah. (2:05) So essentially, a vascular therapies consultant, we’re under the cardiovascular cardiology division.

(2:12) And so we are handling procedures, specifically my role in mainly peripheral vascular. (2:21) So a lot of our procedures are like peripheral artery disease. (2:25) And that’s handling everything, you know, in terms of blood flow towards the heart, away (2:30) from the heart, towards the brain, away from the brain, but not the heart directly (2:33) and not the brain directly.

(2:35) And so everything in my bag is wires, stents, balloons and so forth to help, you know, alleviate (2:42) those arteries and veins to help with proper blood flow. (2:46) Got it. (2:47) And who do you call on particularly? (2:49) You’re spending your days mostly with who? (2:52) Yeah.

(2:52) A lot of my business is anywhere between interventional radiologists, interventional cardiologists (2:59) and vascular surgeons. (3:01) So it can be, you know, from the cath lab to the cardiovascular or hybrid OR suite. (3:07) So some OR, some cath lab.

(3:10) Got it. (3:10) All right. (3:11) So let’s, just to get a visual for everybody listening, talk to us about when you’re getting (3:16) up and what happens and take us like, you know, get it up to 8, 8 a.m. to 10, 10 a.m. (3:23) to 12, 12 a.m., 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. all the way to whenever your day ends.

(3:28) Give us the walkthrough, what it looks like. (3:30) Yeah. (3:30) So for me, essentially, you know, we are either trying to align with the case schedule (3:36) of these surgeons that I, you know, spoke about previously, and we’re trying to then (3:42) go in their procedures and provide value and help, you know, with workflow efficiencies (3:47) for these procedures.

(3:49) Obviously, we’re not the one doing the procedures, but we are the one, you know, helping provide (3:52) value when it comes to certain products and certain areas of the procedure. (3:57) And knowing that your day has to start as early as when those procedures start. (4:00) So for me, most of the time in the operating room, cases are starting at like 7 to 8 a.m. (4:06) So in wanting to be prepared for that day, you either want to know what the schedule looks (4:10) like the day before or, you know, get there early enough in the morning to look at the (4:14) schedule again.

(4:16) And you are obviously trying to have a plan, you know, a day or a week before, but a lot (4:20) of people know in this industry, you have to be agile and flexible as the day goes. (4:24) So from that 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. start time for that case, you want to make sure that (4:29) you, you know, communicated with the staff and the team and, you know, understand what (4:33) that case may look like, what that procedure may look like, what the possible patient may (4:38) be going through and then making sure all the products that you need are in there, whether (4:43) or not you’re bringing your product in or you’re using the product that you already have (4:47) on the shelf to make sure the case goes as soon as possible because, you know, that’s (4:52) where the value really comes from as a medical sales rep, especially in these procedures (4:57) where, you know, surgeons may need anything at any moment. (5:00) They want to know that it’s available for them and that, you know, you’re there to make (5:04) their life easier and make the patient have the best possible outcome with them doing (5:09) the procedure.

(5:11) So after I get through my first case, normally assess the board, see if any cases have changed, (5:16) and then I’m doing all the little mundane things such as, you know, seeing where we (5:20) are in terms of like stock on shelf, stock that I may have brought with me and adjusting (5:25) on the fly based off of maybe, you know, information I know about the rest of the (5:28) cases that day. (5:30) So once I know what the rest of the day looks like, and, you know, I know we have (5:34) enough stock for the cases that day, whether it’s on the shelf or in person, (5:38) I’m communicating that with the staff, the circulator, the, you know, scrub tech, (5:44) the nurses, and then as well as the surgeon to, you know, make sure they know (5:47) that they have what they need for the rest of the day and that they’re good. (5:49) And then just depending on the priority of that accounting case and how much the (5:55) surgeons need me adjusting on the fly, sometimes it’s, hey, look like I have to (5:59) balance a day where I have to be at multiple accounts.

(6:02) And so from, you know, that 8 a.m. (6:03) time period, once I understand the schedule of that one account, I’m looking (6:07) and checking my other accounts as well based off of, like I said, priority. (6:11) If there’s new business, I’m normally prioritizing like, hey, a doc who’s not (6:15) as used to our procedures or not as used to our products. (6:19) In these specific procedures, and I’m going over there and spending some time (6:23) with them and their procedures and, you know, kind of help through any, you (6:27) know, ramp up or questions they have, you know, with our products and then (6:30) just adjusting on fly normally around this time, it’s getting close to 11 or (6:35) noon, like I said, if it’s, you know, based off priority, I want to also (6:39) be growing business because a lot of our job is account management and (6:43) also new business in hunting.

(6:47) So I try to make sure I try to have some type of meeting on the books, whether (6:51) I’m catching a surgeon for coffee or a conversation after the case, or I (6:55) have a lunch schedule when I try to have a few lunches scheduled throughout (6:59) the week, so I know that, Hey, I’m hitting my targets for growth because (7:03) as we know, y’all have kind of a growth metric going through your day. (7:06) I’m done from there. (7:07) Once I’m done with any meetings or lunch is scheduled around noon.

(7:12) I’m checking the board again to see if there were any add-on cases (7:15) or cases got pushed back. (7:17) And then just balancing out whether or not my cases are going to be (7:19) done earlier or later, and then also still planning the rest of the (7:24) week on the fly based off of adjustments. (7:27) So that may mean like, Hey, this day might end earlier and I have (7:30) time to go in the field and go schedule some more lunch meetings or (7:33) fall meetings, or maybe I have a dinner book that day or an educational (7:37) like event book that day to continue to build those relationships to, (7:42) you know, help me meet my number.

(7:44) So that’s kind of essentially a day to day. (7:47) But it is a lot of agile movement and being able to, you know, be (7:51) flexible with your customers. (7:53) It sounds like it.

(7:54) So when does a typical day end or is it really just dramatically (7:59) different day by day? (8:01) It truly is dramatically different day by day. (8:04) At least for me, I think that’s why I like this industry is (8:08) because not every day is cookie cutter, right? (8:10) I see different challenges. (8:11) I speak with so many different customers and each, you know, hospital, (8:15) each facility has a different set of needs for that day.

(8:19) So it is really based off of that day by day, you know, some days might (8:23) be an eight or nine PM leave time. (8:26) And I’m leaving with, you know, some of the mid to later day shift or, you (8:31) know, Hey, we started cases from seven and went really hard from seven (8:35) to two or three and a half time to go schedule some new business before (8:39) I call it a day, like, you know, around four or five. (8:42) So it is flexible with you making your own schedule to an extent, but (8:47) you’re also, you know, making that schedule based off of your customer.

(8:51) So you can continue to provide value to them. (8:53) Got it. (8:54) And you’re not working weekends.

(8:56) For me, not a lot of my cases are on call. (8:59) We do have some products for DBT, which is like the in vain (9:05) run back to me. (9:07) So that would be the closest to on call.

(9:09) But most of the time my procedures are like scheduled out. (9:14) Got it. (9:15) Got it.

(9:15) Okay. (9:16) So days can go as late as nine can end as early as two. (9:20) You’re not working weekends sometimes, but it’s rare.

(9:25) What would you say the most challenging thing about this rule is? (9:30) Well, I think for any medical sales position, I would say, you know, can (9:37) you control and manage your time and are you a self starter, right? (9:43) Can you work without anyone looking over your shoulder? (9:46) Can you go create business? (9:48) There’s no clear cut map to this, right? (9:51) Like there’s not always a timeframe breakdown. (9:54) And if you think there is, then, you know, you might be looking at (9:57) this in a different light because you are constantly, you know, being (10:03) flexible and changing throughout your day. (10:06) A lot of times.

(10:07) If you think you had a, these cases are going to run from this time to (10:10) this time, and I’m going to get out at this time, you know, good luck. (10:13) Cause that could change drastically. (10:15) I’ve seen that, you know, kind of like we were talking about some days might, (10:19) you know, and earlier with cases and some days might be later, you know, (10:23) but even with that case time, it goes back to being a self starter.

(10:27) Cause if you think your job is done once the cases are done, then good (10:31) luck trying to grow your territory and hit your metrics, cause even (10:34) though your cases are done at a certain amount of time with maybe those (10:38) accounts that you wanted to spend time with and help, you still have to (10:42) figure out a way how to set business meetings up to figure out, you (10:45) know, where can I grow my territory and help hit the numbers to, you (10:49) know, make sure you’re getting paid. (10:52) Right. (10:53) Right.

(10:53) That makes sense. (10:54) Okay. (10:55) But still, you know, you, so before vascular therapies, you were (11:00) in surgical account manager.

(11:03) Yes. (11:03) Surgical account manager. (11:07) And I want to say that there’s nuances to both.

(11:10) Talk to us a little bit about what makes vascular therapies different and (11:14) the challenges in bachelor therapy that you did not see when you were a (11:18) surgical account manager with the previous company. (11:20) That’s a good question. (11:21) I may need a second to think this one through.

(11:23) Okay. (11:24) I’m good to go. (11:25) So I would say a mix of it is being in vascular therapies now in the (11:32) role on that now I’m more specialized with a lot of procedures and most (11:36) of my procedures are within that realm of cardiology or cardiovascular.

(11:41) So most of my customers understand the procedure, the therapy, the disease, (11:47) and they can kind of all speak the same language. (11:49) They might just specialize in different areas of that disease (11:53) state or that, you know, patient. (11:55) So that’s one thing.

(11:57) And then the second thing is just the procedures are vastly different. (12:01) In terms of like how they’re approached and looked at a lot of these (12:06) procedures, you have previous scans or you can, you know, go in and look at it (12:13) based off of a CT scan, which then goes into you gone into an angiogram or (12:19) venogram in the procedure, and you’re going and walking through a lot of the (12:23) procedure under radiology and fluoroscopy. (12:26) So I think a lot of that is the reason why the cardiovascular business (12:31) and what I’m at, you know, recruits heavily from the lab, the cath lab or (12:34) the clinical specialty to kind of work through their career.

(12:38) Cause they’re very used to these cases and they’ve seen a lot of them (12:41) because just that ramp up period of understanding for oscopy angiograms, (12:46) venograms, and being able to follow the case just visually with the (12:50) anatomy and what you’re seeing and understanding why the radiology is, (12:57) you know, going through, hold on, is going through the steps of (13:01) the procedure where you’re seeing, okay, like this is going to highlight (13:04) this disease and then, okay, you’re building on top of that. (13:07) I see this through the flow of the blood and this is where, okay, (13:12) this is calcified lesion. (13:14) How calcified is it based off of the images that you’re seeing? (13:17) And then you’re, you know, listening to the surgeon talk through the (13:20) procedure or you’re listening to the surgeon pre-plan the procedure.

(13:24) And that’s when you know what products are going to be used (13:27) in that procedure, you know, sometimes. (13:29) So stuff like kind of goes back to that agile mindset that I spoke about. (13:34) So sometimes you’re learning on the fly in the procedure of what you’ll need.

(13:39) Yeah. (13:40) Versus most of the time in where I was at previously, surgical (13:43) account manager, a lot of that was soft tissue and you had a, you know, (13:47) pretty solid pre-plan and idea what you would use in a lot of these cases. (13:51) Right.

(13:52) So I would do like a gastric sleeve with a bariatric surgeon. (13:56) And I know for sure in a gastric sleeve, they’re going to (13:59) use, you know, a vessel sealer of some sort, cauterization of some sort. (14:04) And then they’ll use, you know, a stapler of some sort, and they’ll normally (14:09) use the same products and same sizes throughout the sleeve, right? (14:14) Versus this is really dependent on what type of disease you’re seeing.

(14:18) You know, if you’re going through the lesion and you’re seeing the (14:21) calcium is thicker as a vascular, you know, therapies, you know, you (14:25) might need a different set of tools to get past that thicker calcium. (14:30) And that can mean multiple different variations of tools like (14:33) arthrectomy or lithotripsy. (14:36) And that would need some different products from there.

(14:38) So just, just very different approaches to the procedure. (14:41) Not to be too long-winded. (14:43) Gotcha.

(14:44) And then how long are these procedures typically? (14:48) It just varies based off the disease. (14:51) So that is also probably a difference, you know, and a lot of (14:54) those soft tissue cases as a surgical account manager, a lot of those cases, (14:59) you have an idea of what the set time is. (15:02) And just like every operating room, they have a scheduled time where (15:05) they think the procedure will go.

(15:07) But I think from what I’ve seen, it just depends on how calcified the (15:11) lesion is, and if you can cross the quicker you can cross the lesion, (15:15) the quicker you could start to treat the lesion. (15:17) So I think on average, they try to say an hour, hour and a half, you (15:21) know, 90 minute procedures, but if it takes a while for you to cross the lesion, (15:26) then it’ll take a while for you to, you know, intervene and start (15:29) doing treatment for that lesion. (15:32) Got it.

(15:32) So, so vascular therapy, you have less of a knowing of how long it’s going to be. (15:38) Whereas in surgical account management, when you’re a surgical (15:41) account manager, you kind of knew. (15:44) Vascular therapy.

(15:45) If you heard, like for me, I would do a lot of like oncology cases. (15:51) There would be like a self-ejectomies and maybe even Irae Lewis’s. (15:55) But if I knew that was the case I was going to have, I knew for sure it was (15:58) going to be, you know, no shorter than two hours.

(16:01) And then if it turned into an Irae Lewis, that’s basically like another (16:04) case on top of a case because they have to requisition. (16:06) So I knew that would be like a four or like five hour case, depending on, (16:11) you know, everything that they had to do just to get through and treat in that case. (16:16) So with vascular therapy, what’s the longest that they can go? (16:20) Really just, it depends what the procedure is.

(16:23) A lot of my procedures, like I said, are PAD. (16:26) So far, the longest procedure I’ve probably been in is like three hours. (16:30) You know, maybe like four hours ish, like three, three to four versus, you (16:35) know, like I said, in soft tissue, I’ve been in, you know, some six hour cases.

(16:40) Okay. (16:40) So let’s, let’s stick with vascular therapies, three hour case. (16:44) Take us inside the room.

(16:45) You know, do you see that as an opportunity to get to know (16:48) your surgeon a lot more because you’re with them for so long during this segment (16:53) of time, I take it. (16:55) It’s not just all what’s going on with the patient. (16:58) I take it there’s a lot of that, but there’s probably moments of just (17:02) talking about something else or is it not at all? (17:05) Yeah, it’s a, it’s definitely a mix.

(17:08) I think it’s, you know, kind of laid on that foundation of is this, you (17:12) know, early stages of you being in those cases with that surgeons or is (17:16) a surgeon that you’re, you know, I’ve been in the case for a few now and you (17:19) know, I know them pretty well. (17:21) And if it’s that situation and you know, you have some more leeway to, (17:26) Hey, let’s talk about what’s going on with the patient before the case, (17:30) understand the severity of the patient and the disease, and then also (17:34) knowing the procedure, right? (17:36) You know, some more critical moments when to speak with the physician (17:41) candidly, you know, and just have that, Hey doc, how’s your week? (17:44) Look, how’s, you know, your day look, did you have any family time? (17:47) You had any time off where you want to call, you know, did you attach (17:51) a football game this weekend or anything like that? (17:54) Versus if it’s more of a severe area in the case, you know that, Hey, look, (17:58) I’m most likely not asking about anything just, you know, out the blue. (18:03) Cause we’re focused on making sure we get the best possible outcome.

(18:06) You know, so I would say that’s probably where some of the (18:10) conversations can come from and are, but that’s based off of, you know, (18:15) how much, I would say of a relationship you’ve had with that person. (18:21) And then just read in the room. (18:22) You have to have, you know, always emotional intelligence and (18:25) situational awareness for sure.

(18:28) You know, there’s, there’s, there’s this talk, a lot of my guests that talk (18:32) about how as a rep in these procedures, you kinda, even though you’re (18:38) not the authority, you are playing this role of managing the, the pace of the (18:45) room and managing the emotions of the room. (18:47) Do you agree with that in your vascular therapy position, or would (18:52) you say it’s a little different? (18:53) Yes. (18:54) Yeah, for sure.

(18:55) To an extent, I would say once again, it’s just, you know, having some (18:59) situational awareness and emotional intelligence, right? (19:02) You know, I’m not going to sit here and recommend something possibly to a (19:06) surgeon in a moment where I know that they’re in deep thought or they’re (19:11) having a conversation with a nurse, but, you know, maybe go speak with the (19:16) nurse and ask like, Hey, just, you know, trying to understand what y’all (19:19) were talking about in terms of the flow of the procedure and seeing, you (19:23) know, what he was thinking about doing next, and then they might say they (19:27) don’t know, or they might say like, Oh, he was thinking about possibly (19:30) using this next, and then, you know, I just kind of double back and relay (19:34) that message, Hey, doctor, just making sure I’m following the case and (19:38) understanding what the next few steps are going to be. (19:40) This is what it’s going to look like. (19:42) And then obviously based off of what we talked about before, are you (19:45) possibly going to use this balloon or this stand? (19:48) You know, obviously from what I’m seeing, it looks like it’s a pretty tough (19:51) lesion, are you going to end up like, you know, using arthrectomy or (19:57) using IBL to just break down some of that calcium and get through it? (20:01) Like, well, what are some of your thoughts? (20:02) And then from there, I can kind of understand the pace of the case (20:06) and understand like what’s going on to possibly balance out with maybe, (20:11) you know, some staff that is like, Hey, like the scrub tech, if it is (20:14) something where it’s going to be like IBL or arthrectomy or, you know, (20:18) maybe it’s a case where they’ll probably end up stenting.

(20:20) I’m pulling out some products. (20:21) So I’m staying like a few steps ahead. (20:24) That way, when they’re asking, like, Hey, do you have this? (20:26) Do you have that? (20:26) Yeah, it’s in the room, doctor.

(20:28) Yeah, we’re good. (20:29) We’re good to go. (20:29) Instead of, you know, Hey, let me go run and grab that because that is (20:34) whenever you kind of create some tension, when you keep the doctor waiting.

(20:38) I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode and I want to let you know our (20:41) programs cover the entire career of a medical sales professional from (20:45) getting into the medical sales industry to training on how to be a (20:49) top performer in the medical sales industry to masterfully navigating (20:53) your career to executive level leadership. (20:55) These programs are personalized and customized for your specific (20:59) career and background and trained by over 50 experts, including surgeons. (21:04) Our results speak for ourselves and we’re landing positions for our (21:07) candidates in less than 120 days in top medical technology companies (21:12) like Striker, Metronic, Merck, Abbott, you name it.

(21:16) Would you run an Ironman race without training in a strategy? (21:19) You wouldn’t. (21:19) So why are you trying to do the same with the medical sales position? (21:22) You need training, you need a strategy, and you need to visit (21:25) evolveyourassess.com, fill out the application, schedule some (21:28) time with one of our account executives, and let’s get you into (21:31) the position that you’ve always dreamed of. (21:34) You know, I believe that your advantage compared to the surgeon (21:38) you’re with in the room is that you’ve seen this same procedure (21:42) with a bunch of different surgeons.

(21:44) So you’ve seen an approach, you’ve seen the same, to tackle (21:48) the same issue, you’ve seen multiple approaches compared to the (21:53) surgeon you’re working with who just does it his or her way. (21:55) Is that a fair statement to say? (21:57) Yeah, for sure. (21:58) Now, has there ever been a situation where you’re thinking, no, (22:03) we should not do it that way.

(22:06) And the surgeon is hell bent on doing it that way. (22:09) Talk to us about what that looks like, if you’ve ever been even in (22:12) a situation like that, and how you navigate those kinds of situations. (22:16) I think those situations for me are very humbling in terms of like, (22:22) as much as I want to feel like, oh, I know, okay, like I’ve seen this done, (22:27) you know, maybe 100 times now and I know that’s not the most efficient way to do it.

(22:33) I’m not going to say that, right? (22:36) I’m going to more or less, you know, try to understand why they’re doing it. (22:39) Because at the end of the day, they went and they got the degrees, (22:42) they got the certifications, they got the training long term to, you know, (22:46) be able to have their hands, you know, on their patient and be the primary (22:51) person solely responsible for that case. (22:53) So I try to understand, you know, why they’re approaching it this way.

(22:58) Before, you know, I ask any questions because you, once again, (23:02) you want to be respectful to, you know, that surgeon. (23:05) Because at the end of the day, you are a guest in their like room, their home. (23:09) So you obviously don’t want to say anything that’ll throw them off or, you (23:13) know, maybe make them more anxious or even like upset because, you know, (23:17) then you’re, you’re losing your privileges to be in that room.

(23:20) And if it is a situation like that, you have to figure out a respectful (23:24) way to, you know, ask those questions to get a better understanding, to possibly, (23:28) you know, give any reasoning to why you’re thinking another way, you know, (23:34) or, Hey, doctor, just trying to, you know, understand the vault case. (23:37) It may be a dumb question. (23:39) I’ve seen it done this way a few times, you know, just trying to (23:43) understand what your thought process is and doing it that way.

(23:48) Sure. (23:49) Now, do surgeons typically see you that way? (23:54) Or would you say that’s very rare? (23:56) I think it just, it depends, you know, over time and the relationship (24:00) you build with them a little newer to this space. (24:02) So I’m still, you know, working on continuing to grow my (24:05) clinical acumen in this space.

(24:07) You know, even though you go through training and you have (24:10) your own search to pass, it’s definitely a different perspective than if (24:13) you’ve been working with a surgeon for years and they’ve been seeing (24:16) you, you know, create your value over time. (24:20) Because once they do acknowledge that, and they do acknowledge you (24:23) of someone that does bring value into the room and, you know, someone (24:27) who does also have, you know, a decent clinical acumen, and they (24:31) can really take your word for, okay, like you’ve seen this (24:34) done at a few hospitals. (24:35) We’ve had some conversations about, you know, different (24:37) techniques that you’ve seen and, you know, maybe you have different (24:41) technology that you’ve also seen that’s worth more efficient.

(24:44) Hey, you know, weigh into this, Pete, like, what do you (24:47) think about this? (24:49) You know, do you think this is going to work? (24:50) Hey, do you think this stent is going to cross? (24:53) Do you think this, you know, balloon is going to oppose better? (24:56) Is there anything else that you would, you know, possibly (24:59) recommend that you’ve seen done? (25:01) Or they’ll even bring up, you know, some of their peers like, (25:04) hey, you know, I know you go to this hospital across town, you (25:08) know, and you’ve seen that surgeon at work. (25:10) What do they do in this procedure? (25:12) Gotcha. (25:13) And then, you know, that’s whenever you get to be like, oh, (25:15) okay, well, hey, I’ve seen it done this way and they’ve had (25:18) this type of success.

(25:20) So when I have those products that they use for that, you (25:22) know, whether they did it, is it something that you’re (25:24) interested in doing? (25:26) Most of the time you try to have that conversation before (25:28) the case rather than in the middle of it. (25:31) So, you know, they’re a little more confident and, you know, (25:33) knowing that they thought it through rather than, hey, like (25:35) this is, you know, key to the moment, trying something new. (25:40) Right.

(25:40) Right. (25:41) Okay. (25:42) Take us to that moment, especially because you’re new (25:44) in the space, take us in that moment when you kind of set (25:47) yourself, well, I’m in vascular therapies and this is, (25:50) this is different.

(25:51) Yeah, for sure. (25:53) I was working with, you know, I was working with a key (25:57) opinion leader in the space and, you know, it was kind (26:00) of what I signed up for in taking over a new territory. (26:03) I wanted to, you know, work with some other really (26:05) big name physicians and some bigger named accounts.

(26:08) Right. (26:09) And the whole thing with the team was, you know, make (26:11) sure when you’re in the case, you’re providing value (26:14) because they use our products because they look at us (26:16) is, is very valuable. (26:18) And, you know, another part of the team and extension (26:20) of their team.

(26:21) So if they have questions, they expect us to be (26:23) able to provide some type of answers towards it. (26:25) And it was a question. (26:27) And one thing I’ve seen in the vascular space, (26:29) that’s a lot different than previous spaces is you (26:33) have to have more accountability for other (26:37) products that can be used.

(26:38) Obviously you’re not certified and trained in (26:40) those other products that aren’t yours, but you (26:42) have to have, you know, some type of baseline (26:45) knowledge of like, Hey, you know, if a competitor (26:48) uses a specific stat, you know, in a specific (26:51) area, like how does it normally perform? (26:54) And your surgeon is used to getting that (26:56) information because the people from the company (26:59) have been of value. (27:00) And they’ve seen a lot of these cases, which is (27:02) why I said they tend to hire people, you know, (27:05) from the lab because they’ve seen a bunch of (27:07) these cases and they’ve seen a bunch of (27:08) different products being used, not just one (27:10) company, one brand. (27:12) With that said surgeon was asking me about a (27:15) specific stat and the case and I was okay.

(27:18) You know, obviously it’s not my product, but I (27:21) went to training and I worked with someone who (27:22) used to work there. (27:24) That would be my closest contact. (27:26) Is it okay if I reach out to them and they’re (27:27) like, yeah, fine.

(27:28) I need to know this information now. (27:30) And at the time I didn’t know the severity (27:31) of the information and why they needed to (27:33) know it. (27:33) So I give them a call and you know, I (27:36) get the information.

(27:37) I relay the information to the surgeon and (27:39) then, you know, I asked the surgeon like, (27:41) Hey, I still have them on the phone. (27:42) If you want to, you know, also speak with them (27:44) and hear their feedback as well. (27:45) Cause they worked for that company for a few (27:47) years and they just left there to come to our (27:50) current company.

(27:51) And the surgeon was like, you know what? (27:53) Fine. (27:53) I’ll speak with them. (27:54) She talked with them and she got the (27:55) information and I can tell that the surgeon (27:57) wasn’t, you know, obviously fully on board (28:00) with that information.

(28:01) But I was like, Hey, just making sure, you (28:03) know, doctor, like this is what they’ve told (28:05) me, she’s got hurt her, but I still have (28:07) to try this because if I don’t try this, (28:09) this person loses a leg. (28:11) And, you know, the next step is amputation. (28:13) And that’s kind of where it set into me, (28:15) like the severity of what I’m doing and (28:17) the why of what I’m doing.

(28:18) Cause I’m like, yeah, do what you got to (28:20) do, doctor. (28:21) Yeah. (28:21) You know, I would hate to lose a leg too.

(28:24) Right. (28:25) You know, I would want to know that you (28:26) tried everything. (28:27) Yeah.

(28:28) So the doctor, you know, obviously like I (28:31) said, she’s the professional or he’s the (28:33) professional and they went forward to do (28:35) what was best in that case. (28:38) So, uh, and it ended up working out and (28:40) they got floats towards the legs. (28:42) So, you know, I felt like, okay, I still (28:46) helped.

(28:47) I still provided value. (28:48) We got the information and then with that (28:50) information, she was able to, you know, (28:51) still choose what she wants to do with (28:54) that case. (28:55) That’s fantastic.

(28:57) Do you get to interact with patients at (28:59) all or is it very much you get from (29:00) the seizure it’s one and done onto the (29:02) next? (29:03) Yeah. (29:04) So I would say for this line of work, (29:07) especially vascular like therapy and what (29:09) I do now it’s minimal patient interaction (29:12) on my side of things on, especially as the (29:15) rep, I know different areas of cardiology (29:17) and cardiovascular, especially like CRM. (29:19) That’s a lot more patient interaction, but (29:21) for what I do, the most interaction I get (29:25) is maybe going over a procedure plan (29:27) with the surgeon in terms of understanding (29:29) what the patient may need.

(29:30) I’m not speaking directly at all with (29:31) the patient or anything. (29:32) So you’re just kind of there. (29:33) What I will say is interesting that I (29:35) didn’t know a lot about these (29:36) procedures is that the patient is like (29:39) either halfly to halfly halfway (29:42) sedated.

(29:42) So they can hear you. (29:44) Yeah, technically, but they’re, you (29:46) know, definitely partially out versus, (29:49) you know, what I used to do before. (29:51) They were fully knocked out.

(29:52) Fully knocked out. (29:52) Yeah. (29:52) No, that still blows my mind and, (29:55) and no communicate with the patient (29:57) and the procedures as well.

(29:58) Just like, Hey, you know,