Doximity saved up to 15 percent of its IPO shares for the doctors who used it. That was a lot of doctors. More than 80 percent of U.S. physicians were members, along with over 90 percent of graduating medical students. The network let them find colleagues, read medical news, and handle chores like faxing and phone calls from an app. When it filed in June 2021, the pandemic had pushed doctors into telehealth, and Doximity's free video calling tool had caught on.

From Epocrates to Doximity

Jeff Tangney had co-founded Epocrates, a drug-reference app that lived on doctors' handheld devices. In April 2010 he started Doximity as a professional network for physicians only. Members verified that they were medical professionals. The tools were free for doctors. Doximity earned its money from drug makers and health systems that paid to reach its members with marketing and job listings. It was profitable years before its IPO.

Doctors Bought In

Doximity priced its IPO at $26 a share on June 23, 2021, and listed on the NYSE as DOCS. The stock more than doubled in its first day of trading. By then it had over 1.8 million medical professional members. Tangney stayed on as CEO and kept outsized voting power through a dual-class share structure. Doximity still trades on the NYSE as DOCS.

Cover: The Physician Considered as God, plate one from Allegories of the Medical Profession, Hendrick Goltzius. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an allegory of the physician (a network for doctors).