From Vision to Impact: Dr. Norm Silver’s QDoc Journey

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In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, success often stems from unexpected beginnings.

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For Dr. Norm Silver, co-founder of QDoc, his journey from pediatrician to health-tech entrepreneur shows how the right support and values can turn even the most ambitious ideas into impactful realities.

QDoc Inc., a Winnipeg-based health-tech startup, is on a mission to revolutionize access to health care. By offering virtual consultations with local Manitoban doctors at no cost, the company aims to reduce patient wait times and unnecessary emergency room visits. QDoc is available for patients physically located in Manitoba, Nunavut, and Northwestern Ontario. It’s a particularly helpful service for patients living in rural, underserved communities within those areas.

Finding inspiration in unexpected places

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Every entrepreneur has a moment when inspiration strikes in the most unexpected places. For Dr. Silver, it came from his then eight-year-old son, R.J., during a family brainstorming session to name the company.

“QDoc came up, but we moved on to others,” Silver recalled. “Then our son R.J., who was colouring, began singing, ‘A doctor in queue, waiting for you, a doctor in queue, waiting for you.’ [My wife] and I stopped, looked at each other, and that was how we picked QDoc.”

It’s a reminder to entrepreneurs everywhere: sometimes, the best ideas come from the unlikeliest sources.

From medicine to health-tech

Like others before him, Dr. Silver’s path to entrepreneurship was anything but conventional. During his time as a pediatrician, he began noticing inefficiencies in the health-care system and started looking for ways to streamline processes.

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“I had no entrepreneurs in my direct family,” Silver explained. “My mom is a teacher, my dad is a teacher, and I started out just like any other doctor.”

In 2006, he founded the Minor Injury Clinic for Kids, which now serves approximately 8,000 patients annually. He established an appointment-based COVID-19 testing site during the height of the pandemic, and alongside business partner David Berkowitz, co-founded Winnipeg’s Minor Illness and Injury Clinic in 2019.

While these projects were impactful, QDoc felt different. Dr. Silver again teamed up with Berkowitz, to begin making their vision for QDoc a reality.

“The others were all local projects, smaller and not as easily scalable. (QDoc) felt bigger, more scalable, and I knew I needed some help,” Silver said.

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Turning an idea into reality with North Forge

Recognizing the scale of their vision, Dr. Silver and Berkowitz joined North Forge’s Founders Program in 2021. North Forge, a not-for-profit startup incubator, accelerator, and state-of-the-art fabrication lab, offers this no-cost, four-stage program to provide tech entrepreneurs and startups with the resources, mentorship, and guidance needed to transform their ideas into thriving businesses.

Since 2020, North Forge has supported 416 startups through its Founders Program, creating 1,019 jobs within the Manitoban economy.

“I’m not sure if we would have been in the place we are today without North Forge. I do think that the connections that we made and the support we’ve had led us to where we are right now,” says Dr. Silver.

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The Founders Program’s structured approach equipped QDoc with the tools to navigate challenges and refine its business strategy. Building on this foundation, North Forge’s ElevateIP program, a federally funded initiative, helped QDoc protect its intellectual property and develop a robust IP strategy tailored to its needs.

Scaling with core values

As QDoc scales its services, the company continues to encounter new opportunities to address challenges and drive innovation.

Building a minimum viable product (MVP) allowed the company to test its concept, but now the team is revisiting old software and upgrading systems like billing and booking to prepare for future expansion.

Central to this growth is the company’s commitment to its values. Dr. Silver, along with co-founder Berkowits, believes that positive corporate culture is integral to any organization.

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“Dave and I come in and we have a certain way of treating people, treating the company, and treating our clients, patients, and partners. People see it,” Silver said.

This commitment to culture led to the creation of QDoc’s core values: Quality, Diversity, Ownership, and Compassion — QDOC for short.

In August 2024, QDoc introduced the QDoc Value Awards (QVA’s), a monthly recognition program designed to spotlight employees who exemplify these values. What makes the QVAs unique is its peer-driven nature: staff are encouraged to share stories of those representing the company’s core values with the previous month’s winner. That winner selects the next recipient, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement across the team.

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“We wanted people to understand our values so they don’t always have to come to us to ask what we want — they could base their decisions on our values,” Silver explained.

By empowering employees to embody these principles, QDoc is setting the stage for sustainable growth while staying true to its mission: ensuring all Canadians, regardless of location or socioeconomic status, have access to quality medical care.

The entrepreneurial takeaway

Dr. Silver, recently named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, exemplifies how entrepreneurship is accessible to anyone with the drive to identify problems, seek solutions, and build something meaningful. Transitioning from medicine to health-tech, Dr. Silver’s journey highlights the importance of leveraging the right resources and staying grounded in strong core values.

Ready to skip the doctor’s wait time? Explore QDoc’s secure online platform at www.qdoc.ca. For entrepreneurs, take the leap from idea to reality with North Forge’s Founder’s Program, or find out how you can safeguard your intellectual property with ElevateIP at www.northforge.ca.

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