Inside The Doctor's Lounge

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Mark Ayzenberg, an orthopedic surgeon who turned to photography as a respite from residency training. Today, he talks about how photography has created freedom outside medicine, and private practice has created freedom inside medicine, and why entrepreneurship is key to retaining joy in medicine. They discuss: How being in the right place at the ri...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Susan Trocciola, a cardiothoracic surgeon who trained at Cornell, NYU, and Texas Heart. She now earns over $1 million annually (which is significantly more than her prior employed salary), while taking at least 16 weeks off per year.    They discuss: How she successfully transitioned to full-time locums after a cancer diagnosis prompted a majo...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Kevin Spencer, emergency physician and Co-Founder and CEO of Ring Rescue, a medical device designed to safely remove stuck rings from swollen fingers. They discuss: The long (but rewarding!) process of taking a medical device from idea to market, including funding, prototype, legal, regulatory, and go-to-market processes How and why he chose this p...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Benjamin Toh, MD, and Stephen Chahn Lee, Esq. Dr. Toh is a physician who was prosecuted by the federal government for a side job that he did for a few months in 2019, and actually had to serve time in federal prison.  They discuss: How Dr. Toh got involved in this side gig, how it was pitched to him, and how, unbeknownst to him, the government felt it...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Chethan Sathya, pediatric surgeon, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Northwell Health, and Founding Director, Center for Gun Violence Prevention.  They discuss: How being proactive helped Dr. Sathya open up doors outside of clinical medicine, including everything from tech leadership and advisory roles to serving as producer for an Academy...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Kevin Pho, MD, founder of KevinMD.  They discuss: His decisions to start blogging in 2004 and to eventually start amplifying other voices in healthcare, what’s contributed to his success, and dealing with (and learning from) the occasional negative feedback that comes along with what he decides to publish How his platform has evolved with the rise...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Austin Chiang. Dr. Chiang is the Chief Medical Officer of Endoscopy at Medtronic as well as well known physician on social media.  They discuss: How his role at Medtronic in part stemmed from consistently sharing authentic interests and expertise on social media, and his 3Ps for social media success The role physician executives play in a med devic...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Tina Shah. Dr. Shah is a triple boarded critical care physician, former Chief Clinical Officer of Abridge, policy leader, and advocate who has served in multiple administrations as an advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General, and who is now taking that to the next level by running for office herself.  They discuss: How she first entered the policy and a...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Kameron Matthews, MD, JD, and Chief Health Officer of IMPaCT Care and former Chief Health Officer at CityBlock Health and former Chief Medical Officer of the US Department of Veterans Affairs..  They discuss: How her unique combination of the MD and JD degrees shaped and supported her throughout her career trajectory Value based care, direct primar...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Shiv Rao, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of Abridge. They discuss: Shiv’s journey from clinician to investor to builder, and how being a clinician gives you something that no pure technologist has – the ability to feel the problem firsthand How the barrier to entry to build something has never been lower, but the barrier to doing it right in healthca...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Yele Aluko, MD, MBA. Dr. Aluko has been a health system executive, Chief Medical Officer at Ernst and Young Americas, and now healthcare strategist and Founder of Aluko Advisors.  They discuss: How patients are the most important industry stakeholder, and where the industry falls short in serving them and why What physicians need to learn about the...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Kedar Mate, CMO and Co-Founder of Qualified Health, a digital health company deploying the critical infrastructure needed to safely create the AI-enabled hospital of the future.  They discuss: How technologically that intrinsically hallucinates both creates opportunity and risk, and what hospital systems need to be thinking about with deployment of...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Christina Jenkins, a physician turned venture capitalist, board member, and advisor who invests at the intersection of AI and medical science, therapeutics, and diagnostics.  They discuss: The pivot from practicing physician to a full time career in venture capital, advising, and board member work, and her advice for physicians looking to make majo...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Jim Dahle. Dr. Dahle is an emergency medicine physician and founder of the White Coat Investor, a blog turned platform dedicated to helping high-income professionals achieve financial literacy and independence.  They discuss: Where the White Coat Investor began, and how it has unpredictably, but intentionally, evolved into what it is now What eleme...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Chethan Sarabu, MD. Dr. Sarabu is a pediatrician who is fellowship trained in Clinical Informatics, as well as director of clinical innovation at Cornell Tech and co-founder of the Climate Health Innovation & Learning Lab (CHILL). They discuss: What the field of clinical informatics is, and the critical role clinical informaticians can play bri...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, MD, who is an OB/GYN, lactation consultant, author, and social media personality with over 3 million followers.  In addition to discussing her exciting upcoming book release, they discuss: Why she decided to become active on social media, and why she thinks authentic practicing physician voices are so important in this era What sh...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA, whose many hats include CMO, Speaker, Advisor, Author, and Consultant They discuss: – Dr. Nayyar’s first foray into life outside clinical medicine helping within her own hospital system  – Why Dr. Nayyar decided to get an MBA and what value she thinks it brings physicians  – How she stepped into a big role a...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Alice Zheng, MD, MPH, MBA, and Venture Capital Partner at Foreground Capital They discuss: – Dr. Zheng’s journey from public health to consulting to venture capital as a way to make scalable impact in women’s health – The current state of VC funding and challenges in the space – The venture capital life cycle from investment to ex...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Travis Zack, Chief Medical Officer at OpenEvidence. They discuss: Dr. Zack’s path to becoming CMO at one of the fastest growing health tech companies in the country, and the experience that made him the right fit How AI can augment the way physicians practice and the way medicine is taught (and why AI isn’t going to replace doctors) The value physi...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Rasu Shrestha, Chief Innovation Officer & Executive VP at Advocate Health. They discuss: – The importance of intentionality in creating a thriving innovation ecosystem, using The Pearl in Charlotte as an example – His pathway to executive leadership positions within large healthcare organizations as a physician – Using challen...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Drs. Poorvi Chordia and Abraham Thomas. They discuss: – Starting and scaling their premium tea company while continuing to work clinically and raise young children – The financials of a product based side gig, including startup costs, marketing, and how long it took to break even – Navigating outsourcing tasks & liability concerns...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Neel Shah, CMO, Maven Clinic.  They discuss: – How Dr. Shah transitioned from a very academic, clinical, and public health focused role to a CMO for a rapidly growing startup – What the role of a Chief Medical Officer at a startup entails, and how it changes as the startup takes off, and what skills you need to acquire – How virtu...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Linda Anegawa, Former Chief Medical Officer of Noom They discuss: – Recognizing your worth as a physician when navigating various health tech roles, and asking for appropriate compensation – How to stay true to your role as a physician in putting the patient first, and what to do when that comes into conflict with the needs of a busines...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Pedja Stojicic, Executive Director of People Power Health. They discuss: – How to move from individual frustration to collective action for real change in healthcare – How they have been able to successfully enact legislation in physician led campaigns against things like prior authorization – The pros and cons of physicians union...

In this episode, Dr. Nisha Mehta is joined by Dr. Leif Dahleen, the original Physician on Fire. They discuss: – The intentional trajectory Dr. Dahleen took after discovering he was financially independent – The decision to leave clinical medicine – The decision to sell his very successful side gig – What life looks like for Dr. Dahleen after retirement, and whether he has a...