One of the first lessons I learned in medical school was to "listen to your patient." It's easy to want to draw conclusions with incomplete information, and jump to action, but many times it is only by careful observation and listening that the true cause of the ailment is revealed.
I recently spent a couple of days in Georgia visiting with optometrists and ophthalmologists, and like all of my field visits, I was rewarded with a myriad of rich insights about their practices and the needs of their patients. On my flight home, as I was reflecting on the critical elements needed to propel Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. into the next phase of growth, I realized one of the answers is, simply, active listening. It was key in getting us to where we are today and it’s what is going to help us continue to evolve.
As a new biotech company, if we hadn't truly “heard” the perspectives of multiple stakeholders – by engaging in conversations, diving deep into the literature and tracking industry trends – we might have overlooked Demodex blepharitis as a significant area of unmet need. And in doing so, we would have missed the opportunity to create an entirely new category within eye care that has the potential to impact the lives of millions of people who previously had no approved treatment option.
As we continue scaling and working to bring more category-creating medicines to patients, we must evolve “how” we listen, which means being diligent about not making premature assumptions and really “hearing” the feedback we earn from each new meeting. Only by active listening will we learn something new.
