Success in Medicine

Dr. Meena Julapalli is a pediatric dermatologist, one of only about 400 in the country.  This was a fascinating conversation, because she relays her journey from academic dermatology to a direct care practice, as well as her work on creating resources and conducting workshops on the path to joy.  One of the fascinating topics we discussed was the different approaches to providing medical care. In...

My interview with prenatal genetic counselor and researcher Lauren Westerfield is a fantastic lesson in how to approach challenging career decisions. The framework and approach to impending burnout that she describes in this episode is very thoughtful and analytical--and has proven effective.  Ms. Westerfield works in both clinical practice and research as the research study coordinator for an NIH...

I really enjoyed speaking to Dr. Stefanie Simmons, because her work with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation is an example of how advocacy in action can lead to change, even over the course of just a few years. Dr. Simmons is the Chief Medical Officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation. Over the course of her career, she has served as a clinician, an educator, a healthcare execut...

I really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Marcy Youngdahl, a Family Practice physician who is the Director of Integrated Counseling and Health Services at Trinity University in San Antonio. I always enjoy speaking with physicians who have been strategic in their career choices, moving from one setting that was not ideal to another setting where they are strongly energized at work. I was also excited to s...

I so enjoyed speaking with Dr. Mohit Khera, who is Professor of Urology and Chair of the Department at the Baylor College of Medicine. He is also Director of the Laboratory for Andrology Research. Dr. Khera is very busy, but one of the things that struck me about our conversation is how much he enjoys the different areas of his work: the clinical care, basic science and clinical research, educatio...

Dr. Hardeep Singh is Co-Chief of the Health Policy, Quality, and Informatics Program at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine. --He is a patient safety researcher and Professor of Medicine, and is committed to researching and developing resources to promote patient safety and diagnostic excellence in clinical practice.  --His research on how to improve missed or d...

--This was an enlightening and inspiring conversation with Dr. Lavannya Pandit, a Physician-Scientist at the Baylor College of Medicine.  --Dr. Pandit is a clinician who also performs scientific research. She is a Pulmonary Critical Care physician on staff at the Michael E. DeBakey Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Houston. She is Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program there and serves as...

Dr. Monica Huang is a Diagnostic Radiologist and researcher in the area of minimally invasive breast cancer treatment with cryoablation. This episode provides some great insights into crafting a career that connects deeply to your mission.    Dr. Huang began her career as a faculty member at the Baylor College of Medicine, and later was in private practice for over a decade. She then returned to t...

Dr. Abbey Vandersall is the Vice President of Quality and Clinical Services at AMSURG, an organization that maintains over 250 ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) across the United States. Her work encompasses patient safety and quality, as well as other areas that impact clinical care such as operations, strategy, policy, and government affairs. In this episode, she shares her journey from medical...

Dr. Andru Zeller is a primary care physician who is focused on fair trade medicine. He founded the Simply Salud Clinic in 2004 as a family-centered, fair trade, integrative medical practice for people of limited economic means. Dr. Zeller completed a family practice residency, followed by a fellowship in rural health. He talks about the strength and power of medicine, but also some of the challeng...

Dr. Pooja Varshney is a Pediatric Allergist and Immunologist at the Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin Texas. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas Austin, and is Director of the Dell Children’s Food Allergy Center, a clinical research center of distinction. She is the principal investigator on clinical trials that are studying the preven...

Dr. Stephanie Cotell is a dermatologist in private practice in Columbus, Ohio. She has been in practice for over 25 years, and as she says, “I love my job." This episode provides a great overview of what it is like to practice general dermatology. Dr. Cotell practices mainly medical dermatology, with some procedural dermatology and cosmetic dermatology. In this episode, she highlights several...

I was very glad to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Srihari Gopal, who is a physician in the pharmaceutical industry and current Global Head at Regeneron.  His work has encompassed multiple areas within drug development, from study design and research to regulatory filings to leading drug development teams. I have fielded a number of questions from students and early career physicians about...

This conversation with Dr. Brett Perkison highlighted several interesting aspects of both Occupational Medicine and career development. First, many medical students are simply not exposed to Occupational Medicine as a specialty choice. Learning about the different career choices within this specialty is interesting. Residents receive a Masters of Public Health during their training, and bring a pr...

This conversation with Dr. Terri-Ann Samuels highlights the field of urogynecology/female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. It was an interesting overview of the field, and Dr. Samuels also had some great advice for medical students, including an emphasis on lifelong learning.  With all of the advances in surgery and surgical techniques, and especially the acceleration of technology in t...

Dr. Munish Chawla is a Diagnostic Radiologist who later became a board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician due to his deep passion for the field.  In speaking with him, I was really struck by the fulfillment he finds in this new field.  He told me that reading a CT scan and making a diagnosis is gratifying, but the feeling of seeing a patient succeed with lifestyle changes was incredibly fulfil...

How do you build a career on the cutting edge of medicine? For Dr. Caitlin Sutton, Division Chief of Maternal-Fetal Anesthesiology at Texas Children's Hospital, it involves pursuing your professional passions-- even when you receive unsolicited negative feedback from colleagues. Our conversation was a good reminder for me that working on the cutting edge of medicine means that very few people...

Dr. Guo is a Professor of Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. As a rehabilitation physician, she works with cancer patients at all stages of their therapy to improve their function and recovery. She also brings an integrative approach to her care: later in her career, she went back to school to become certified in medical acupuncture for physicians, a treatmen...

There are several insights shared in this episode with Dr. Anthony Brissett which really struck me as important for career longevity. Dr. Brissett is a facial plastic surgeon and ENT physician. He wears a lot of hats, including responsibilities in clinical care, research, teaching, administration, and increasing responsibilities related to his medical non-profit organization.  He is very mission-d...

Dr. Sejal Desai is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine, and one of the things that really comes through in this episode is the deep connection she feels to her work as an obesity medicine physician. In fact, she calls Obesity Medicine “happy medicine“, and she describes how happy she was that she discovered this field well into her career as a family medicine physician....

Dr. Thao Galvan is a pediatric and adult transplant surgeon, in the division of abdominal transplantation. She is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine, and operates at Baylor-affiliated hospitals and Texas Children’s Hospital. She is also an award-winning educator, health policy scholar, and researcher. In this episode, she shares what a week in the life of a transpl...

In this episode, Dr. Amy Paller shares some of her insights and strategies behind her long and impactful career as a clinician, translational researcher, and Professor and Chair. One of those insights is that in order to succeed as a researcher, it takes a village. She advises students that success in research depends on a great team, as well as mentors and funding. For her own career, she has fou...

How can you best prepare for the USMLE Step 2 exam? In this episode, we continue our conversation with Dr. Ryan Downey, test performance coach and expert in educational assessment.  Dr. Downey discusses three of the “highest utility,” or most effective, active learning techniques he teaches his clients. Internally referred to as the “Three T’s of Active Learning,” these techniques – Test your...

With the Step 1 exam now using Pass/Fail scoring, the numerical score on the Step 2 CK exam is even more important than ever. How can you be sure that you’re preparing for the USMLE Step 2 exam in the best way possible? In this episode, we interview Dr. Ryan Downey, test performance coach and expert in educational assessment.  Dr. Downey discusses some of the key strategies he used to help hi...

How do you prepare for the MMI multiple mini interview?  As more medical schools adopt this format, premed students need to be prepared to interview at medical schools that use this format. In this episode, Dr. Rajani Katta, author of the books "The Medical School Interview" and "The MMI: Strategies From Admissions Faculty", breaks down the process of preparing for your MMI. Although some sch...