POSTED ON June 25, 2026

The Powerful Truth About Winning a Surgeon’s Trust

In this episode of the Medical Sales Podcast, Samuel Adeyinka sits down with Dr. Diego Lima, an orthopedic surgeon, to unpack what medical sales reps need to understand about working with surgeons in and outside the operating room. Dr. Lima shares how his career in orthopedics has shaped the way he prepares for surgery, builds trusted teams, and evaluates the reps who support him during complex procedures. He breaks down why the best reps think ahead, anticipate workflow problems, take ownership before mistakes happen, and become true partners in the surgeon’s long term career, not just product representatives in the OR. This episode is a must listen for medical device reps, especially those in orthopedic sales, who want to build stronger surgeon relationships, bring more value to the surgical team, and understand what it really takes to earn trust in high pressure clinical environments.

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Transcription:

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I think the main thing is we need to push for major companies to see the value in the rep that is there in the trenches with a surgeon and give more power to that person who is thinking outside the box.

So the future belongs to the entrepreneurial, outside-thinking reps.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast.

I’m your host, Samuel, founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program called the Medical Sales Career Builder.

And I’m also host of the Medical Sales Podcast.

In this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire world.

It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry, from medical device to pharmaceutical, to genetic testing and diagnostic lab, you name it.

You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10 percent performer within your role, or climb the corporate ladder.

Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast.

And remember, I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing industry and how it can change your life.

Let’s talk about the issues you see with new reps.

Let’s just get into it.

Let’s talk about what it’s like for you, what you need as a surgeon, and what are some of the issues you see and why you believe a program would be so helpful for them that can coach them on these things.

And let’s just see where it takes us.

Of course, we’ll talk about your history and all that, but what do you think?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I think it’s a good idea.

I do think younger reps want more time, and they want to practice more.

They learn as they go.

So having that time set aside for them to practice and truly understand what’s important in that business is going to be key.

That’s a really good selling point for having them do the program.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Okay.

Perfect.

Let’s kick this off.

Dr. Lima, how long have you been practicing surgery?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I graduated from medical school in 2010 and went into residency in 2011.

My first surgery was obviously during medical school, but I’ve been in orthopedics, scrubbing in, and thinking orthopedics since, God, I’d say 2008.

So it’s a big part of my life at this point.

Think about this.

Sixteen years thinking about this nonstop.

Even during medical school, I already knew what I wanted.

So I truly focused on that area and basically left the minimum amount of attention to everything else.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
That makes perfect sense.

One thing I don’t think is talked about enough when it comes to medical sales is the actual lifestyle of the surgeon.

So now I’m talking orthopedic sales, and I’m talking to you, an orthopedic surgeon.

Walk us through your day.

When are you getting up?

What’s on your mind?

What are you trying to accomplish each day?

Is every day the same?

Give us the lifestyle of the orthopedic surgeon.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
In general, I’d say 80 to 90 percent of my week is the same every week.

I know which days I’m in the office all day.

I know which days I’m in the OR all day.

But that 10 to 20 percent is the urgencies and emergencies that come in.

Obviously, you can’t truly plan for those things, but you can set aside time for them.

For me, when I’m at the office, I know I’m going to start working on my side projects in between seeing patients.

I’m seeing patients, then I have 10 or 15 minutes here and there.

So I have side projects, such as this one that we’re working on together, something I put effort into.

I do my own research.

Those things take time.

It’s not just leaving the house, seeing patients, going into the OR, doing surgery, and coming back home.

As soon as I get home, I go right back to my office and start working on my own research and other projects that I want to take off the paper.

When it’s an office day, it’s planned already throughout the day with all those patients.

I have a really good team that works with me and knows what I’m thinking and how I’m thinking.

That makes it seamless at the office.

In the OR, I try to do the same thing.

I try to work with the same team every time.

That is very particular because that’s the highlight of the week.

I know my week is going to be office, office, surgery, office.

I know the surgery day will be the highlight.

So I plan.

I set aside time weeks before or the week before to plan how that day is going to go so I can focus on the truly important things.

By having a great team, I’m able to delegate and have them be an integral part of my day.

That sets me at ease because I know I trust them.

They work well with me.

I give them what they need to do, their tasks, and they’re on top of their game.

Then the day just flies by without any issues.

To me, that’s the main thing.

It typically starts a few days before.

We communicate.

We have a few cases coming up.

We need to make sure we have the proper implants.

I always plan my cases ahead of time to know exactly what I’m going to need.

Plan A, B, C, and D.

It’s interesting because people who are used to working with me, if I tell them, “Hey, listen, we have this case coming up. This is what I’m planning,” most of them ask, “Yeah, and what’s plan B?”

Because they know I’m already thinking about plan B, and then plan C.

That’s comforting to hear because I know they’re thinking ahead.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What time would you say your days usually start?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
It starts around 4:00 or 4:30 a.m.

I wake up early because we have a lot of things to do at work, and there are other things I want to do besides work.

For me, it starts with studying a different language.

Right now, I’m studying Italian.

I did that in the past with Spanish.

Once I became fluent, I was able to see my own patients without a translator in the room.

Now that’s what I do.

That created a whole new avenue for me to see more patients because some of my partners would not speak Spanish.

If a patient went to see them, they might be uncomfortable seeing a physician who would not speak their language.

They would ask, “Is there anyone who does the same thing, but speaks my language and understands what I’m going through?”

Most of the time, that’s what they want.

They want to be able to express themselves in their native language and feel understood.

You can lose some of that with translation.

It has nothing to do with bedside manner or the competence of that physician.

If your native language is something other than English, you would be able to experience that by going to a physician.

My native language is Portuguese, and I’m a patient too.

I’m not just a surgeon.

Even though I have the knowledge and I’m able to express myself in English really well with technical terms, it’s different when you see someone who recognizes and is able to understand your culture and your language.

That was important for me to understand.

That was something that could bring more value to my practice.

I did that in Spanish.

And now here in Palm Beach, where we are, there’s a good number of people who speak only Italian.

I always had a passion for speaking Italian, so I started studying a few months ago.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Very cool.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
That’s why I do that early in the morning.

After that, I go to the gym.

So then I already hit two things on my to-do list, which sets my mind to, “All right, we’re winning already. Now it’s time to do the surgery.”

Since the surgery is already planned, it’s a matter of executing everything.

The whole day is about executing everything we know how to do and are trained to do.

And we already thought about it before.

That can end between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. sometimes, depending on how many surgeries we have.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Okay.

What’s typical?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I’d say between four and six.

That’s a typical OR day with big surgeries.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
When you think about your team, and I’m sure part of your team includes the medical sales reps, think about your ortho reps.

Talk to us a little bit about the ones you would say do the best work with you and that you really champion.

What are they doing that makes them so valuable to you?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I’m going to divide this into two aspects.

The first aspect is outside the OR.

Outside the OR, they know they have my business, or at least they think they have my business, or we’re going to work together at some point.

What they do is they follow up every week on which cases we have coming up so they can be prepared.

They also have to plan their week.

They have to plan their days thinking, “If I have two surgeons going at the same time, what am I going to do?”

If we have a good flow and we’re doing cases every week, I think it’s imperative for you to always check, “Hey, do we have anything next week coming up that I haven’t received an invite for yet?”

Those are the things that are valuable to me because they’re thinking ahead.

If I’m too busy, and for some reason I forgot to mention something, or my secretary didn’t send an invite, they’re on it.

That has happened before.

Someone dropped the ball.

Nobody got an invite.

I’m going to a surgery, and I call my rep and say, “Hey, I’m almost there at the hospital.”

And he says, “Well, I’m in Colorado.”

I’m like, “What do you mean you’re in Colorado? We have a case in 10 minutes.”

He says, “I didn’t know we had a case.”

To me, that is a major ball drop.

First of all, my scheduler forgot to send an invite.

Second, the hospital knew I had a patient coming up with a company that I’m using and didn’t check with the rep, the company, or my office.

They didn’t ask, “Hey, we didn’t receive any information about that.”

Third, the rep didn’t bother to check.

If we’re doing cases every week, and in one week I’m not doing a case, he didn’t bother to check, “Hey, is he on vacation? He didn’t talk to me about that.”

We’re a team.

So if you’re not thinking that you’re part of the team and you’re constantly passive, waiting for things to fall on your lap, I’m not going to use you anymore.

Because at that point, you are one more checkpoint to avoid a mistake.

I’m not taking my responsibility out of the equation.

I’m saying I need more people who want to help and will help me.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What do you do in those situations when this happens?

The rep is in Colorado, you have this case in 10 minutes.

How do you mitigate that?

What happens?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
It’s a split-second decision whether I’m going to get pissed or think about a solution.

In this particular case, it happened while I was driving from one hospital to another.

I was doing an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, and in the back of my mind, immediately I thought, the rep’s not there.

He can send a colleague.

The implants that I need are peel pack.

We don’t need trays to be sterilized, and we have all the instruments we need in the hospital.

I knew that.

That was background knowledge I had.

All this hit me in a split second.

I said, “Call a friend. Send him there. If we need to delay the case 10 or 15 minutes, we’ll delay the case 10 or 15 minutes, but we’re doing the case.”

I only thought about the issue again after the surgery.

I completely wiped it out of my head until I was done with the case.

After I was done, I went back and said, “How can I fix that problem?”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Got it.

What are some other things your best reps do?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I was going to make a joke here.

What they do best is they anticipate the workflow really well.

Not when things are going the way they’re supposed to.

When things don’t go the way they’re supposed to.

When they see that I hit a wall, they already know all my steps.

And if they see I’m struggling with one step, or I didn’t move on, they know something is off immediately.

I can hear them talking behind my back, not hidden behind my back, but literally behind me, thinking about solutions without me saying a word.

To me, that’s like, all right, this guy is on my level.

We’re on the same level.

I don’t get stressed out in surgery.

If something like that happens, I immediately call him over.

“So-and-so, come here. This is what I’m facing right now. Let’s see what we can do about this. Get me this or that.”

Then immediately there’s someone running and grabbing an instrument or a tray.

That level of commitment takes a while to get to, but you need to want to get to that point.

It’s not just about me doing the best of my ability to help someone get to that point.

They have to want to get to that point.

It’s a combination of things.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Would you say your best reps drive the relationship as opposed to you driving the relationship?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Oh yeah.

They do.

But because I leave the door open, they realize the door is open and I’m just waiting for them to step in.

If I don’t see that they’re stepping in, if they’re not buying in, then it’s not going to work.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
You mentioned you categorized it initially as outside the OR and within the OR.

When you’re talking about outside the OR, outside of making sure they’re anticipating what’s going to happen, what surgeries are coming up, and what you might need, are you speaking to anything else that happens outside the OR?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
No, not really.

I mean, this is what comes afterward.

It comes when you build a relationship.

Everything else comes afterward.

Because we spend a lot of time working together, sometimes we go out together after surgery and spend quality time together.

Then we talk about business.

It’s not only surgery.

We talk about business.

We get to the point where they understand what’s valuable to me in terms of my career.

I think that’s important.

I’m not there just to do the surgery.

I’m thinking long term.

I have a career as a surgeon, and there are many things we can do as surgeons, not just surgery and seeing patients.

There are relationships you can build, and you can expand your business.

They understand that.

They’re always on the lookout to bring new opportunities.

To me, that’s important.

Whether it’s within their own company to go to a meeting and learn a different technique, or to have an opportunity to do a talk because it’s something I like doing, or meeting someone new who came to the area and could be a potential referral source for me.

That drives our business.

That’s good for me, and it’s good for them.

Those things are important.

If you’re not thinking at that level, you’re definitely a beginner.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
There’s a notion that if you can befriend your surgeon, let’s just stick with orthopedics, if you can befriend your surgeon and really spend a lot of time with them outside the OR, like you mentioned, then you’re going to have a much better relationship.

Is the reality that your good friends are a lot of reps, and you’re going out, and when you’re doing nothing that has nothing to do with work, you’re spending so much time with these reps?

Is that the reality?

Or is it more like every now and again, maybe a dinner here or a meeting there, and most of your interactions are just business?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I’d say it’s 50-50.

Some of my reps became my friends.

We hang out, play golf, and go out together.

Others are strictly OR.

For some reason, affinity and whatnot, we just don’t do anything else.

It’s people as well.

Just because we’re working together all the time doesn’t mean I want to spend time with that person.

To me, it’s kind of hard because if I don’t have a good relationship, it will be hard even to be in the OR with that person.

Like I said, it’s a matter of trust and commitment.

It has to match.

If it doesn’t, then the flow is not going to be the same.

Nowadays, we have so many great companies with phenomenal products that are comparable.

You can easily divert from one company to another and continue to reproduce the same thing using great implants.

Then you get to work with someone you have affinity with.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
So let’s talk about that new rep.

How does a rep get to a place where they have a strong relationship with you?

I’m going to be more specific.

On introduction, meaning a brand new rep to you, give us both.

Give us the worst way you’ve seen that go down, what reps shouldn’t do, and give us the most ideal way you would appreciate a new rep coming to you.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
There are two scenarios.

A new rep from a new company that I’m not using, that’s the hardest one.

Because guess what?

No relationship.

It’s a new face in front of me.

That guy has no experience with me.

That’s super hard.

I don’t know how a person would do that, but it’s possible.

It’s hard, but it’s possible.

I had one person recently who converted me.

He was new to the company, new to me, and he never went away.

He was always there.

I needed him a few times here and there, and he would show up.

He was always on point.

That person basically said, “I know you’re committed to another company, and I know you’re happy with what you’re doing. Here’s what I have. I’m knowledgeable. I can help you with all this. If you need me, just call me.”

One day, I needed him, and I called him.

He showed up, and he was on point.

Then the second time I needed him, he showed up and was on point.

Then a third time.

Time went on until the day I needed to make a change.

In my mind, I was like, who should I change this type of business to?

He was the first person that came to the back of my mind.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Let’s go back because I want to capture that beginning.

You said he came to you and laid it out, which is good.

Every good representative knows to state what they’re trying to do right off the bat so everybody is on the same page.

But when you said he was always there, how much time lapsed between him introducing himself and you actually needing him?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I was waiting for that question.

Two years.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Two years.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
To convert my business.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Okay.

But how much time between introduction and you needing him?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
That happened within a few months.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
In those few months, was he seeing you every week?

Was he seeing you every day?

Was he giving you phone calls?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
No.

It was once a month or every two or three weeks.

We would cross each other in the OR.

Now it’s a familiar face.

He was always interested.

“What are you doing here? What are you doing? What’s up with this case?”

Not pushing.

Not saying, “Hey, why are you using this instead of me?”

No.

To me, if you do that, listen, you don’t even know me.

Bye-bye.

He was genuinely interested.

“Hey, let’s build a relationship. I just got here.”

It got to the point where I understood his demeanor.

He was well-behaved and respectful.

It was not just about bringing implants, trays, and whatnot.

Like I said, it’s about building a team and having that relationship.

I needed him a few times.

If you think two years is a long time for you to convert a physician or surgeon from one company to another, this industry is going to be very frustrating.

Most people tend to use the same thing.

I’ll give you an example.

You’re doing a shoulder arthroplasty.

Most surgeons like one implant and one company, and they stick to it.

They might vary here and there, or they might have two, which I’ve done in the past, but they stick with one.

So if you see surgeons sticking with one company and it’s not your company, and you give up right there, you’re not going to make it.

You need to make sure whoever is not using you knows that you are reliable whenever they need it.

Because that time will come.

We know that.

I know that.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode.

And I want to let you know our programs cover the entire career of a medical sales professional, from getting into the medical sales industry, to training on how to be a top performer in the medical sales industry, to masterfully navigating your career to executive-level leadership.

These programs are personalized and customized for your specific career and background, and trained by over 50 experts, including surgeons.

Our results speak for ourselves, and we’re landing positions for our candidates in less than 120 days in top medical technology companies like Stryker, Medtronic, Merck, Abbott, you name it.

Would you run an Ironman race without training and a strategy?

You wouldn’t.

So why are you trying to do the same with a medical sales position?

You need training.

You need a strategy.

And you need to visit EvolveYourSuccess.com, fill out the application, schedule some time with one of our account executives, and let’s get you into the position you’ve always dreamed of.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
You don’t burn bridges with different companies and different reps, and the other way around.

You shouldn’t do that because at some point, you’re going to end up working together, whether short-term, mid-term, or long-term, whether it’s rock solid or just sporadically.

When that time comes, you have to make it happen.

This example was exactly that.

This person was always there, genuinely interested, always polite.

Every time I needed something, he would say, “All right, I can show up and bring you this. I can facilitate this and that.”

At some point, I was ready to move on from one company to another.

I was like, all right, who am I going to call?

I have cases coming up.

I have to make a decision right now.

That’s important.

I have to feel comfortable with that person and with the implant.

So immediately I picked up the phone, called him, and said, “Hey, it’s time. We’ve got a few cases coming up. Let’s see what we can do in the OR together as a team.”

His reaction was the best possible.

He said, “Hey, you’re not going to regret this. We’re going to make it happen. Let’s meet before, go over how you do your things and what you want to do. I want you to feel comfortable.”

I said, “All right, that’s fine. Let’s talk.”

Then we met and went over all the details.

Just by having the feedback you get from people, it’s interesting.

When someone responds to you, the way they respond shows what they’re thinking.

At some point, you learn that and you see they’re committed.

That’s what drives me when I’m starting a relationship with them.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
That’s fantastic.

I want to really spell out the dynamic of what it’s like in the OR for our listeners when it comes to the sales rep and the associate sales rep.

Talk to us a little bit about your expectations from the associate sales rep.

When you meet a new one, or one is in surgery with you, what are you wanting them to do?

What does good look like?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
That’s not set in stone, and that’s not the whole truth, but I’m going to say what I’m thinking when I see a new associate coming in along with the main rep.

First of all, I keep an eye on them to see how they’re behaving toward that rep.

I look at the relationship between them.

What is that person trying to gather from the rep supervising him?

And how does he behave with everyone else in the OR?

Most of the time, in the beginning, they won’t do anything without being told to.

That’s how I think they should do it.

That’s how we do it as medical students.

First time in the OR, we stand in a corner and observe until someone says, “What are you doing there, standing and doing nothing? Come over here and help us out.”

That is permission granted.

Start working.

I’m going to teach you.

I see the same thing with them.

At some point, when I feel like they’re asking the correct questions to the rep, I invite them over because I want them to feel comfortable.

I don’t want them afraid of saying anything in the OR because they’re in the presence of a surgeon and people who potentially understand what’s going on better than them.

I want them, with responsibility and some notion, to be able to speak up.

So I invite them into the same conversation we’re having.

I ask questions even though I know they don’t know the answer, but I make them think.

I make them part of the team.

If they buy in, and next time they show me they were able to do more, they went after answers, and they were proactive about everything that happened the day before, that tells me they want it.

I won’t forget that.

We do the surgery today, and then two days later we’re in the OR again, and that person comes in with a different behavior.

They’re much more proactive and trying to do more.

To me, that’s a win.

Then, if I see that person is going too far, I find a way to say, “Hey, there’s a line. You can stop right there.”

I do it in a way that makes them think, “Well, I need more knowledge to be able to go beyond this line.”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Give us an example of what that looks like.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
First time in the OR, I see the associate asking questions to the rep.

I’m ready to pull up an implant or decide which size of implant I should use.

Trying to bring that person into the conversation, I ask directly, calling out their name, “Samuel, what do you think I should use here? I have this scenario intraoperatively.”

They might say, “Well, maybe…” and then say whatever because they don’t want to say, “I don’t know.”

I say, “Fine. If I do that, I might go to jail.”

So it becomes a joke, and everyone laughs.

It breaks the ice.

Then I give them the right answer, and we move on.

They observe that.

At that point, they’re thinking, “Why didn’t he accept my answer?”

Then they start bugging their friend.

“Hey, why? What’s going on?”

So next time when they come in, they might come to me and say, “Do you want to use that implant?”

Instead of waiting for me to ask a question, they suggest something.

To me, it’s like, all right, he did some homework.

He thought about this.

So when they come in and suggest something I should do in surgery, and I say yes, I try to find out whether they understand what they’re suggesting.

Did they actually look it up, or did someone just tell them what to do?

At that point, depending on what they know, they show whether they’re buying in or not because then they become more curious and more curious.

That curiosity is what drives them into the OR.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
But what does overstepping look like?

You were saying sometimes they go too far and you need to draw that line.

If an associate sales rep is going too far and you need to draw a line, what does that even look like?

What are they doing?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
They make a recommendation that is not appropriate, and they want to stick with it.

Or they go way beyond their head saying, “Hey, you should do this.”

At that point, if you didn’t go to school or you don’t have 10 or 15 years in this business, just stop.

Because at that point, you’re saying nonsense.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Does the sales rep step in when that happens?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Sometimes, yeah.

At some point, you have to take control of the room as a surgeon and say, “Just speak when you’re spoken to.”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
There’s a lot of talk around, as a rep, you need to be able to impact the mood of the room.

Talk to us a little bit about what that means to you and what good looks like when reps are doing that effectively.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
You have the ability, but it’s not your responsibility.

To me, that’s my responsibility.

But if I have someone helping me with that, that’s even better.

Not every day you wake up and head to the hospital with four or five cases and everything else in your life is running perfectly fine.

At some point, you might be upset with something.

Something is bugging you.

The person who is always with you knows your mood every day and can tell that day is different.

That person has the ability to change that.

They can say, “Hey, listen, we’re about to get into a shoulder right now, and it’s going to be the best shoulder possible. You’re going to nail this. We’re going to flow here, and it’s going to be seamless. Let’s put on some music.”

Which I do very often in the OR.

“Let’s get everyone bought in. We’ll bring lunch to the team in the middle of the day. We’ll get everyone ramped up.”

It’s the first case at 7:00 a.m., and you come in with that face where you don’t want to see anyone.

Then someone gets to you and says all that and makes your day shift from a really dark, sad day to the best day possible.

You only realize when you leave the hospital, get in your car, and think, “Oh yeah, this was supposed to be the worst day ever. And it was perfect.”

That person has the ability to do that.

But they need to be able to read the room, read the person, and know when to do it.

You don’t come in every day and act like everything is perfect.

You can’t.

You have to be able to read the room.

It’s any business.

But once we’re doing surgery, most surgeons have this informality.

We’re able to talk about other things.

There are some periods of time in surgery that are less stressful, and it becomes more automated.

You’re able to focus on other things.

That’s a good approach.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
From my vantage point, we see a lot of what happens across medical device sales, not just ortho, but all different fields.

The turnover, what it looks like for new people coming in, what their experiences are, how long they last.

From an ortho-specific, surgeon-specific perspective, what do you see as far as ortho reps?

Are you seeing a lot of ortho reps come in and quit?

Are you seeing ortho reps come in and phase out?

Or are you seeing ortho reps come in and usually stay?

If you were to give a generality on what typically happens with ortho reps, what would you say?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Once they’re in there, they don’t leave.

They love it.

They grow.

They learn other things.

They expand their businesses.

They become way smarter than surgeons in terms of how to make more money and tackle multiple aspects of the industry.

That’s how they stay in, because there are opportunities everywhere.

When you become a rep, especially in ortho, once you start, you’re thinking only as a rep.

In a few years, you have to start thinking as an entrepreneur because you will expand your business if you want to make more.

You create arms that are everywhere.

I know guys who represent multiple companies and have solutions for different things in the musculoskeletal system that sometimes I don’t even know about.

People who worked with me for years, and suddenly I need a new product or something else, and I call that person, and guess what?

It’s my own rep.

I’m like, “I didn’t know you had that.”

He’s like, “Yeah man, I’ve got to pay the bills.”

It’s just a way to say you can diversify.

It’s never boring.

I guarantee you that.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
So then you would say you see very little turnover in orthopedics as far as reps are concerned?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Yes.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Okay.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Off the top of my head, I know one person who moved to a different field.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Wow.

So, of course, you’re one opinion, but you would say that’s a very secure field, the ortho space.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
Yes.

It doesn’t mean you’re going to stay in the same company for years.

Of course.

But it means you will have your career forever if you want to.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I love it.

Let’s fast forward 10 years from now.

Where do you see the dynamic?

Do you see it being what it is today?

Do you see it going in a certain direction?

What do you see when you think about the future of the dynamic between surgeons and medical sales reps in ortho?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I think the importance of the rep will be outside the OR.

Like you said, they can be replaced by robotics.

It can be someone there, or maybe just a screen saying what you need, and an employee of the hospital doing that.

But that outside aspect, that close relationship with the company, and the way they rely completely and depend completely on my business to thrive, that matters.

Because if I’m not busy, they’re not busy, and nobody is making money.

More and more, they’re thinking outside the OR.

How do I become more frequent in the OR?

The answer is not inside the OR.

That is a baseline, and that recipe is out there already.

I know a few guys who are already doing that, and I realized it when I saw them.

I said, that guy is smart because he figured it out.

I see them doing that, and I’m like, all right, let’s see.

He’s doing that in the OR.

He’s doing that outside the OR.

Now companies need to see that value.

I think the main thing is we need to push for major companies to see the value in the rep that is there in the trenches with the surgeon and give more power to that person who is thinking outside the box.

Because the company is not going to make its bottom line if the rep is not able to think outside the box and bring more business to the surgeon, which brings more business to the rep and affects the bottom line of the company.

If the company can’t identify those important players, then that’s the end of the company, not the business.

So the future belongs to the entrepreneurial, outside-thinking reps.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Exactly.

That is well said.

Dr. Lima, this was fantastic spending time with you today.

Where can people find you?

I know you’re a busy orthopedic surgeon, but people are going to hear this and say, “I have to ask him a question.”

Where can people find you when you have time to talk?

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
I’ll leave my email.

It’s easy to get to me by email.

Obviously, I’m not on my email 24/7, but I don’t like having my inbox full.

So I’m constantly replying to all my emails.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
You heard it here, folks.

His email will be in the show notes.

Thanks for the time, Dr. Lima.

Thanks for all the valuable wisdom you shared with us today.

We look forward to seeing what the future brings and maybe having you on this episode again.

Dr. Diego Lima (Guest):
My pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode.

And remember, I have a customized and personalized program that gets you into the medical technology industry as a sales professional, or any type of role for that matter.

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