The Root Cause - Business of Medicine Podcast

Twenty episodes in, brother doctors Erik and Davin Lundquist step out from the interviewer's chair to reflect on Season One of The Root Cause Business of Medicine and tee up Season Two. The Lundquist brothers — Erik a longtime functional-medicine physician, Davin newer to the path — talk candidly about launching the show as self-described novices, figuring it out episode by episode, and why shippi...

In the most tech-forward episode yet, brother doctors Erik and Davin Lundquist sit down with Travis Garland — co-founder and COO of My Compliance Citadel and a two-decade healthcare-operations veteran (United Healthcare, UF Health, and earlier work that earned an award for redesigning Florida's foster-care system) — to map the collision of AI, innovation, and compliance in medicine. Travis breaks...

Brothers, and Doctors Erik and Davin Ludnquist sit down with health reporter Jess Craig to unpack what "cash-based care" actually means — and why it's quietly tripled over the past several years. Drawing on her reporting at Straight Arrow News and her decade in infectious disease epidemiology, Jess maps the landscape: direct primary care (now 11% of family physicians, up from 3% in four years), ca...

Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist sit down with JJ Virgin for a candid playbook on what it actually takes to build a brand, marketing engine, and scalable practice in integrative and functional medicine. JJ walks through her Trusted Authority Triangle — Trust (built through vulnerability and showing humanity), Authority (built through absolutes and contrarian beliefs you'll defend, not cr...

Dr. Samir Qamar — one of the original founders of the Direct Primary Care movement and creator of MedLion, MedWand, and AstroDoc, joins Brothers, Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist, for a wide-ranging conversation shaped by a childhood spent across four continents with a UN-diplomat father. Samir traces his arc from Ross   University to England's socialized NHS to Penn Medicine-Lancaster G...

In this episode, Doctors and Brothers Erik and Davin Lundquist sit down with Erik Goldman, the co-founder and editor of Holistic Primary Care, a publication that has spent 25 years bridging conventional and integrative medicine for over 60,000 physicians. Goldman shares his journey from covering dermatology news to becoming New York bureau chief at International Medical News Group, where he realiz...

Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani — Emergency medicine physician in Temecula, CA, and founder of a med spa and wellness practice. Former ICU nurse turned surgeon turned ER doc, with a deep focus on physician wellness and community engagement. Chair of his hospital's department of wellness and organizer of the "Wellness in the Vines" physician retreat in Temecula wine country. Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani joins Dr. E...

Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist sit down with Dr. Jeff Bland for a sweeping conversation that traces the entire arc of functional medicine — from its pre-history to its future. Bland shares his origin story: an insatiably curious kid who worked with Nobel laureate Sherwood Rowland at UC Irvine, pivoted from medical school toa PhD, then exposed deadly arsenic pollution at Tacoma's ASARCO...

In this episode of the Root Cause Business of Medicine podcast, Brothers and hosts, Dr. Erik and Dr. Davin Lundquist interview Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, a pioneer in integrative medicine. Dr. Low Dog shares her unconventional path — leaving high school early, training in martial arts, becoming a midwife, herbalist, and massage therapist before going to medical school — and how those experiences shaped...

Kristin Oja, DNP and founder of Stat Wellness, joins hosts Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist to share how she went from personal trainer to building a multi-location functional medicine practice with 55 employees, five offices across Georgia, Nashville, and South Carolina, and roughly 10,000 patients. She launched in 2019 with one employee, an $8,000/month lease, no formal business plan,...

In this episode of The Root Cause Business of Medicine , Brothers Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist interview naturopathic physician Michelle Leary about how naturopathic training overlaps with—and differs from—MD/DO pathways, especially its outpatient focus and deeper emphasis on nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, and (in some states) pharmaceuticals. Michelle explains key challenges in...

In this episode of the Root Cause Business of Medicine podcast, Dr. Erik Lundquist and brother Dr. Davin Lundquist interview Nicole Fox , co-founder of the Temecula Center for Integrated Medicine , about how to build and run a clinic that is “healthy” as a business and as a healing environment. Nicole explains how a practice’s outcomes often mirror the wellbeing and alignment of the practitioner—s...

In this episode, brothers Dr. Erik and Dr. Davin Lundquist interview attorney Scott Radigan (“The Functional Lawyer”) about the legal landmines and best practices for running integrative/functional medicine and concierge-style clinics. Scott emphasizes that re-labeling clinical care as “coaching” does not avoid medical practice laws—especially for telemedicine across state lines—and can also jeopa...

In this episode of the Root Cause Business of Medicine podcast, Dr. Erik Lundquist, with his brother Dr. Davin Lundquist interview Dr. Jill Carnahan, who shares her deeply personal and professional journey into functional medicine and the business lessons learned along the way. Jill reflects on how early health struggles shaped her mission as a healer and how vision, intuition, and alignment—not t...

In this episode of the Root Cause Business of Medicine Podcast , Dr. Erik Lundquist with his brother Dr. Davin Lundquist interview longtime friend and integrative medicine leader Dr. Robert Bonakdar , Director of Pain Medicine at Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. Robert shares his journey from early inspiration in Iran to a formative fellowship in Asia, where exposure to Eastern healing pra...

In this episode, Dr. Jeff Gladd shares his journey from burnout in traditional family medicine to becoming a leader in integrative and functional medicine. After transforming his own health through nutrition and lifestyle changes, Jeff shifted into whole-person care and eventually built GladdMD , a thriving cash-based consultative practice that emphasizes longer visits, transparency, affordable la...

In this episode of The Root Cause: Business of Medicine , Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist talk with Dr. Aaron Wenzel , founder and CEO of Brentwood MD in Nashville. Dr. Wenzel shares his journey from family and emergency medicine to building a thriving concierge practice focused on restoring the sacred doctor-patient relationship . He discusses the risks, lessons, and rewards of creatin...

In this episode of The Root Cause Business of Medicine , Drs. Erik and Davin Lundquist interview Dr. Linda Matteoli , who shares her inspiring journey from conventional family medicine to founding a thriving cash-based membership practice and the Origins Incubator , a mentorship program for clinicians. Linda discusses how burnout led her to embrace functional medicine, build patient-centered syste...

This episode of The Root Cause - Business of Medicine features pediatrician Dr. Chris Magryta, who shares how he integrated functional medicine into a traditional pediatrics practice serving many Medicaid patients. He shifted focus after observing rising chronic illnesses in children and applied “five pillars of health” principles (stress, nutrition, movement, sleep/sun, toxins) in affordable, pra...

In this episode, Davin recounts his transition from a successful yet unfulfilling career in conventional medicine and healthcare technology to practicing functional and direct primary care. He explains how personal challenges, systemic pressures, and the pandemic prompted him to rethink his approach to medicine, ultimately leading him to create a low-overhead, cash-based practice centered on holis...

Erik shares his long journey from traditional family medicine to founding the Temecula Center for Integrative Medicine, shaped by dissatisfaction with conventional approaches, inspiration from mentors, and pivotal patient experiences. Davin, newer to functional medicine, reflects on his own career in traditional systems, physician burnout from technology and regulations, and his desire to practice...