43: A Walk Through the Foot Business (w/ Dr. Bryan Lee)

Welcome back to the Neiman Creative Show. I’m your host, Josh Naiman on a mission to continue talking to inspiring leaders and visionaries from all, all over the world who are changing the world in their own way. Today’s guest is Dr. Brian Lee, founder of Advanced Foot and Ankle Specialists in Sugar Land, Texas.

He is a board certified podiatrist, a top of his class graduate, a surgical specialist in complex foot and ankle reconstruction, and someone who has clearly proven to bring heart and precision to every patient he sees. So from laser therapies to surgical solutions, his clinic brings modern tech and a human touch to treating pain. Where it starts at the foundation, your feet.

We’re going to be talking feet today and what it’s like being a doctor and to get better, a better understanding of improving the quality of our life, starting with the ground we walk on. So welcome to the show. Dr. Lee, thank you for your time.

Hi Josh. Thank you very much for inviting me on your podcast today. Yeah, it’s a pleasure having you.

It’s interesting. This last year I’ve had several doctors on. I don’t know why doctors want to talk to me, but I love it because I like talking to people who do things that I don’t do or don’t know about.

That’s the fascinating part of life is discovering what you don’t know. Right? Yes. I like spending time educating patients.

So things like this is absolutely what I love to do. That’s perfect. Well, you’re a client of ours and so as I’ve gotten to know you and your practice and your team and your operations better.

That is certainly clear. And you, you reference that a lot, that you like to empower your patients and everything like that. We’re going to get into that.

I do want to kind of turn the clock back because how does one become a foot doctor, a podiatrist? And it’s interesting, like what is a, what is it even called? Podiatry, but I guess ped. But. So I just answered that question, I think.

But maybe you could let us know, where did it start? Why, what, what caused you to be interested in, in feed or medicine in general? I see. Well, let’s just talk about the education process for podiatry. We do, we have to do very well in college.

You have to graduate with a very high degree, a gpa, and also do very well on your MCAT scores, of course. And after that you apply for podiatry school. And I did get accepted into podiatry school.

It is a four year subspecialty medical school program. And after you graduate from podiatry school, you have to find a good residency program to be involved in as well. And I was luckily enough to be a part of a relatively surgical concentrated type of residency program.

It was three years at the time. I was lucky enough to become chief resident my last year of residency as well. And after that you have to find a job like everybody else does.

So I ended up coming back to Houston, Texas, which is where I’m from. And I got a job working as an associate for another position. And from there you have to collect data, you have to collect cases.

This is what they call it. And then if you get, you have to submit your cases for board certification. And if they approve your boards, your numbers for board certification, then at the time you had to go into Chicago and take a board oral board certification examination, which is quite grueling, I gotta tell you.

And if you are fortunate enough to pass that, then you become board certified. And so I was able to achieve my. I actually have two board certifications.

One is in reconstructive foot surgery and the second one is in reconstructive rear foot and ankle surgery. So after that then you know, you get to become board certified in your practice. Wow.

So clearly an intense process. It’s not, it’s a little easier learning computer graphics. So I, I respect how much academia you had to go through.

And, and I didn’t realize that part of that is an oral exam. How long is that? It used to be an oral examination. I think now to get board certification, it is a, an online examination that you take now.

But back in the day when I was taking board certification examinations, I had a flight to Chicago where I remember this, the Chicago Marriott Airport hotel that we stayed in. I could still remember the musky smell of that hotel. I don’t think I’ll ever lose that in my memory.

And then you go into a room with a panel of doctors who sits behind a cardboard curtain and they fire questions at you. And then you answer them the best you can. Wow.

Not, not no pressure at all. None whatsoever, let me tell you. Sweating bullets in there.

Oh, I can’t imagine how long is that, that process? It’s usually a two day process for each examinations. Wow. Wow.

Yeah. That’s a big deal. I mean it’s, it’s so interesting because like for me, you know, you’re a client, I don’t touch you, you know, and, and when we’ll shake hands or whatever like that.

But you are touching people and healing them. And fixing them and, and, and like a root, a foundation of their life where they touch the ground every day. And I mean, that’s just so powerful.

Real quick, someone told me, I cannot remember who, but they said, look, invest in anything that keeps you and the ground separated. So, like shoes, t tires, your bed. And I always thought that was interesting.

So I just wanted to like, sneak that in there that, you know, these are like. Your feet are super duper important. Yes.

And most patients don’t understand that until their feet start to bother them. That’s when they realize, wow. How important their feet are.

But for me, it’s really an honor and a privilege to be able to see and treat patients. And I love doing it. I wake up every morning with a, with a smile on my face and I am, I can see it.

I’m ready to go to work. I love doing it. Yeah, that’s.

That’s amazing. So did you always. Were you always drawn to feet? Like, did you always have a, a pull towards that or did you know you wanted to become a doctor? What.

What was that like? No, not at all. I’ll tell you that. Ever since I was a kid and I. Growing up in an Asian family, Asian parents are.

They can be very helicopter type parents. And mine was no exception. My father being a civil engineer and growing up, you know, being an engineer, I, he, he always told me that I was going to be an engineer when I grow up.

So growing up, all through high school and even into part of college, I thought I was going to be an engineer. I went to the University of Texas at Austin. And my first two years, I was an engineering major, mechanical engineering major, to be exact.

I like mechanics. I like seeing how things work and how things moved and things like that. But I’ll be honest with you.

First year, fine, I didn’t have too much problems. But second year came around. I started taking, you know, thermodynamics and statics and dynamics and those other classes.

And boy, those classes just kicked my butt. And I said that I’m gonna, I can’t do this. I’m gonna change my major.

So I ended up being a biology major. But I still liked mechanics and how things moved. And especially biomechanics was really what intrigued me.

And in my. When I was younger, when I, when I, when, when I was still in high school, I did have an ingrown toenail. And I remember seeing a podiatrist that my mother took me to and having my ingrown toenail removed.

And the doctor was a was a younger doctor. He was, you know, I think it was pretty fresh out of residency, and he was having some difficulty with the, you know, just doing everything all together. So I kind of, you know, being 17, 18 at the time, and a little bit on the cocky side, I sat up, I said, oh, let me help you with that.

So I actually helped him fix my ingrown toenail. And from that experience, I thought, oh, it’s something that I might be able to do. So that’s what kind of, you know, after I decided to change my major, that’s what I decided that.

That, you know, that’s something that I can. I can, you know, be good at. Huh.

Well, that’s interesting that you helped him. That’s wild. But it makes so much sense that you.

You were in engineering and you like how things work or function or move. And, I mean, there’s no exception to learning how the body functions. Honestly, that’s.

That’s more deep or what’s the word? That’s more intense. And there’s so much more dynamic to the body than, like, a computer like, we’re using right now. There’s a lot to it.

Both. But the body, there are so many aspects that. And unknowns.

I. I just like, you’re navigating the body, and it’s like the ultimate. I. I feel like challenge. I don’t know if you feel like that that’s accurate.

Absolutely. I get challenged by my patients every day, and that’s the reason why I love what I do and love going to work. Everybody’s a little different.

Every patient’s a little bit different. Every procedure is a little different, and every surgery is a little different. So it’s quite a challenge.

And I love what I do. Yeah, that’s clear. And also, when.

When I imagine when someone is healed and they are better, hearing that feedback is probably really encouraging and empowering and inspiring. The word I would choose is satisfying. It’s so satisfying when a patient comes in and says to me, thank you so much for what you did for me.

It changed my life. And I went to see so many other doctors before you, but what you did worked, and that’s what fixed me. That makes my whole day.

It really does. And that’s what keeps me engaged. It keeps me happy and keeps me really just love going back to work every day.

And I’m 52. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I still are. I’m still excited every morning and to go to the office and seeing what’s in Store for me.

And what. What’s the next patient going to be like? It’s just great. I love walking to a room and I’m smiling at a patient.

And it’s good. It’s important to be upbeat and have a nice smile on your face when you’re seeing a patient. Because when patients come in to see me, they’re hurting.

They have some type of problem that they want me to help them with. So, you know, I have to start by on a positive side because that’s what. That’s what they appreciate and also puts them at ease.

When you walk into a room with a smile on your face and say, hey, Mr. So and so, Mrs. So and so, how can I help you? Oh, yeah, that’s. That’s enormous. Because a lot of people don’t think about that, like, oh, yeah, like, those people are really happy because you fixed them.

But the. The process is. Your first interaction is with them is likely in pain for the most part, and you.

And they need help and to come about it positively and with a smile, that’s enormous. That’s everything. I’ll tell you that.

I think the process, what you just said, is the most important part. And that’s what I really have focused in. On in my practice.

Between the color palettes in the office, the glass door from the elevator looking into the waiting room. So it’s not a solid door. They get to see in as to what’s going on, to kind of take their, you know, making them more at ease so there’s no surprises.

The front desk person has a nice smile on their face. I think all of those makes a big difference. I try to keep my office a little bit less clinical of a feel, more of a.

Maybe more of a spa type of feel. So this way, it kind of puts them at ease. Of course, I’m doing very technical things.

I have a lot of advanced treatments. It is very clinical in the office, but at the same time, the surroundings, the feel, the smells, I like to really try to keep that at ease for patients. Now, that’s.

That’s enormous. I love how you described your door being a glass door and the transparency. I feel like that’s so important to remove the walls from someone being your accessibility to people and therefore puts them at ease, like you said.

And I ask all of the guests who come on this show, hey, is there anything off limits? And you immediately said, no, I’m an open book. I’m happy to share anything. And.

And so that goes right along. Everything’s in alignment. So I, I appreciate that.

And I. It’s clear your patients do. And I feel like also, you know, because I’m, I, I’m the same way. Although I do have a solid door here.

But in the future it will be glass when I have my own building. But I feel like that makes it easier on you. You don’t have to put on a mask or this or that.

You go in as you and there you are. And you’re not putting on a performance. It’s just genuine.

So there’s less work for you to have to do and you can just do your thing. I think you’re exactly right. Because if you’re not genuine, Patience clients, they see right through it.

Yeah, you have to be genuine to be able to have patience, be comfortable with you, like what you’re doing for them. And I’ll tell you, I do. I do, you know, marketing.

I am your client, so I do digital marketing and things like that to get the word out. But I’ll be honest with you, my best source of referrals are happy patients. They refer their church member, their friends, their family, their neighbors that come see me.

Oh, you got to go see Dr. Lee. This is his website. This is his car.

Those are the best patients. They’re walking billboards for me. And 100%, in order to achieve that, you really have to be genuine with patients.

Absolutely. Yeah. You got to earn that.

But that, I think, I feel like for every industry, because I could say the same. I obviously market myself best. Marketing is people who say, yeah, you got to use Josh and his team.

That’s. There’s nothing better than that. And so, yeah, when.

When someone’s caring for your health or your body, that’s. I mean, I feel like even more important. So, yeah, that’s huge.

And I remember, you know, interviewing you, you know, when we first started, and you were just. You just seem like such an approachable guy, so I wanted to hire you immediately. Oh, man.

Well, thanks for that. I appreciate it. I promise.

I didn’t pay him to say that, but, yeah, I mean, it’s clear. Like, when we engage with people and work with people long term, like Leslie, our partner, and Mead, our shared friend and client partner. These are good people.

These are genuine people who care. And that’s. I mean, when you’re at work and out in the world, you want to spend time with people who are nice, who are caring and who you want to be around, because this is your life and a big part of it.

And so it just makes sense. Absolutely. I totally Agree with you.

Yeah, you, you had mentioned some advanced technology or advanced treatments that you do. So, you know, I, I want to kind of like understand the spectrum of what you can do. So like, you had mentioned that you had an ingrown toenail is from that to what, what level and everything in between.

Like what is the spectrum of services that you provide? Just so that we have an idea of what all you can do. Absolutely. So we see a lot of patients with a broad spectrum of illnesses that we treat.

You know, simple things from ingrown toenails to toenail fungus to the most complex type of reconstructive type of foot deformities, whether it be from a sports related injury or a congenital deformity, reconstructive, like flat foot reconstruction and things like that. Achilles tendon ruptures. We treat a broad spectrum of illnesses in the office and we also have a lot of high end equipment and technology that we use in the practice as well to help to treat our patients and our clients.

We have simple things like digital X ray systems in the office that’s, you know, we can get an immediate diagnosis with a quick, simple digital X ray that I can change the contrast, I can zoom into specific parts of the foot. There are, there’s 28 different bones in the foot without all of the accessory bones to talk about. So it’s a very complex part of our body that has to work in unison to be able to be effective.

So a digital X ray system to get a baseline X ray to see how things are going. We have ultrasounds in the office that are good at looking at soft tissue and things like that so we can look at tendons, ligaments, muscles and all kinds of other soft tissues. And right in the office we have laser therapy treatments for those pesky toenail fungus problems.

We have other lasers in the office that helps to resolve inflammation and swelling by increasing cellular healing. We have, you know, a, you know, we have autoclaves in the office that sterilizes our instruments right there that we can use for buying up procedures in the office. So we have a lot of technology in the office just to help us make the proper diagnosis so that we can treat patients effectively.

Wow, that’s a lot. I didn’t realize. Maybe, maybe I’m always so overwhelmed when I’m working on your business with my team.

It’s like overload, for sure. But that you have not only a digital X ray but an ultrasound machine. That’s cool because they do different things to be able to see inside more powerful yeah, this way it helps us make an immediate diagnosis.

And then this way we can verify our diagnosis by sending them out for do they need a CT scan or do they need an mri? Because those take time to order. And so if we can help to make it immediate, initial, high quality diagnosis, it makes it much more effective to treat patients. And then of course, we’ll order other examinations and tests that help us verify our diagnosis.

Yeah, effective. You use that word. And I also would say efficient.

You know, instead of running all over the place or waiting for, for this scan or that scan and having to go to a different facility, you’re able to keep that in house on the spot. That’s. That sounds like a much more enjoyable process for both parties, you and the patient getting to the solution, which is the whole point.

Well, especially for patients, because these days patients want, you know, immediate results. They want to, they want to walk out of the office with some kind of understanding as to what is causing their pain, what is causing their deformities and things like that. So if we can make an initial assessment or with quality testing that’s done and then verified with other tests, it just makes it a much more enjoyable process for the patient.

Yeah, absolutely. You had mentioned early in this episode that people usually don’t think about their feet until there’s a problem. My wife and I exchange foot massages on the regular, like probably nightly at least I’m giving her a massage.

Wow, they’re amazing. Yeah, I surely, for then I just, well, she also, like, we’re laying on the couch and she’ll just like sneak her feet slowly in front of me and then, then they’re there and so I start to, to work them. But you know, I, I actually never did that or thought about it until I met her and, and, and got into a relationship with her.

But like her father used to massage them as kids in the morning and the night. They’re like a full body massage and like very much cared for, like, them in that way. And I think she maybe got a little spoiled.

Like, foot massages are great. And now I’m like, why don’t, why don’t everybody give each other foot massages like every night? And, and so I, you know, I don’t know, it’s just a simple point pleasure. But I also feel like it’s, it’s important.

And, and I’m leading to a question which is how can we be proactive as people who have feet, those of us who have feet, which is most of us, I think most people yeah. And like, and sometimes I, I give my dog a paw massage too, and I can tell she’s just like melting. But I. What is, what are some, you know, ways that we can be proactive about our foot health that maybe we haven’t thought about or things that are simple or maybe more complex that we can maybe start to take care of ourselves? And I’m
not trying to lose you business, but at the same time, I want to empower people.

Well, I can tell you first of all, picking the right proper shoes. Yeah, that is so important. Right.

Making sure that you wear good quality, quality shoes that have good support, arch supports. Making sure that you, especially the shoes that you wear very often to where the ones that you wear every day to exercise and things like that, those need to be replaced every nine months to about a year or so. It’s not done by looking at the quality of the, you know, the outside.

Oh, Doc, that my shoe still looks pretty good. Why do I have to replace them? Well, the components that cushions the foot or the, the heel, the parts that support the arches of your feet, those don’t last as long as some of the appearance of the shoe. So you definitely need to replace those shoes a little bit more often.

For my diabetic patients, I always tell them, look at your feet every day. Especially for elder patients who may not, may have a harder time getting down there to look at their feet every day, I usually tell them to get a handheld mirror every day at the same time. The best time is maybe after your bath or showers.

Examine your feet, look at the bottom of your feet. And if you can’t get down there, use your handheld mirror to look at your feet every day. So this way if there’s any changes or anything like that, you can see them immediately.

And then if there’s any major changes, you’ll get to see your doctor. Sure. Quite practical advice.

So shoes, your footwear and just analyzing your feet, checking them out, make sure, checking out, looking at them every day, making sure that you keep good hygiene, washing your feet, washing in between your toes every day. You know, you’d be surprised the things that we find in between toes. It says, I don’t know if I needed to go there, I wasn’t sure, but I, I mean, I’m sure that there is a gross component to it and.

But you’re desensitized from it. In the medical field, I feel like you’re trained to have to kind of like compartmentalize like a smell or something that doesn’t look great because you need to treat. But I mean, is that, is that a difficulty that you’ve had to overcome or does it, does it bother you at all? I’ll tell you.

For younger patients who are healthy, you know, a lot of times, you know, we have lives. So, you know, we get busy with our lives. And for men, you know, jobs becomes a priority.

And sometimes our health, especially our feet, is not a priority until it starts to hurt and bother us and then we make an appointment or for most men, their wives or their girlfriend make appointments for them. Because I have found in my practice that women are much better about their health and taking care of their health and their bodies much more than, than men do. Okay, checks out.

Yeah, it’s true. And for elderly patients, especially patients who are maybe diabetic, who have, you know, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, some of them, you know, they don’t, they don’t take care of their feet. And maybe it’s not because they’re not wanting to take care of their feet, but a lot of them have neuropathy where they don’t feel their feet even.

So they don’t even notice a problem until maybe they start to have real trouble. I’ve seen some of them where they didn’t notice that they had a really bad infection until they started to smell the infection. And by then the infection is out of control.

They have to be hospitalized, they have to be on IV antibiotics. They may even need surgery to, you know, possibly amputate body parts to, you know, to get rid of the infection. So it’s very important for elderly patients, especially diabetic patients, to examine their feet every day, maybe seeing their doctor or especially their foot doctor every several months to make sure that they have good foot health.

Because they may not even know that they’re having circulation problems, they have neurological problems, problems, dermatological problems, orthopedic problems with their feet until it’s too late. So it’s very important to get a good examination, make sure things are going okay, and then go from there. Yeah, well, like with an infection, you don’t catch that early and it gets too far and I mean, it could lead to like an amputation on worst case scenario.

And that’s, that’s wild. You know, worse than that, they can develop what we call septicemia, which becomes life threatening. So it’s very important that you have an infection and even simple things like ingrown toenails that can lead to severe infections, that those be treated properly and effectively.

You know, it’s simple enough where you kind of, you know, go in there and maybe try to clip out the ingrown toenail yourself or things like that. But if that’s just the tip of the iceberg, you’re just clipping out the little corner there that gives you the relief temporarily. But there are simple procedures that we can perform right in the office that can eliminate the problem permanently.

And then you don’t have to worry about it anymore, and you don’t have to be, you know, you don’t have to suffer from pain, chronic pain. For those type of conditions that you try to treat temporarily yourself, go see the doctor, get a professional opinion. A lot of the times these things could be treated very effectively without you having to, you know, worry about it anymore.

So that’s good advice, which I had assumed that we’re going to get plenty of today. And it makes me think of my lawyer and the lawyers that I’ve had on. And I say that in this regard is, you know, we both run a business.

So regarding contracts or something like that, having things taken care of up front or care catching it early rather than at the tail end, where now you are spending an enormous amount of legal fees to take care of something that you could have just had one line in your contract had you hired a lawyer at the beginning to, to. To set for, for the, the long term of your business. But instead you forego that, and now you’ve actually spent a lot more money on the tail end and a lot more effort and
energy because you’re trying to fix the problem rather than being preventative.

Well, Josh, it’s like you said, the, the body is all connected, right? So when one part fails, it can cause other body parts to fail as well. And that’s no exception when it comes to the foot. You can have one small problem in one part of the foot, and then you, you procrastinate, you wait on it, and then you start to compensate by using other parts of the foot, maybe a little bit too much more than it’s supposed to be used.

And then you end up with a cascade of problems that you end up having to deal with. So I have patients that come in to see me in the office all the time that it starts with one component and it leads into other components. And I’ll even tell those patients sometimes that, you know what, Instead of treating all of these other problems that you have, let’s focus in on the main problem that you came, that you first started with.

And lots of times, if we resolve that issue, a lot of the other problems, the compensatory problems kind of goes away on its own. So it’s good to have a problem go and focus, fix that problem and then move on. And the sooner you get it treated, the less you have to deal with because it’s we don’t want to have a minor problem become a severe issue.

Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

That’s huge. Great advice for everyone listening because most people have feet listening, I’m sure. All right, don’t go anywhere.

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Before I forget, you talked about shoes being super important. Do you have a go to or preferred brand of shoe? Like for me I used to run in Nikes all the time and last year or earlier this year I got Brooks and I feel like running is more comfortable with these shoes, particular shoes so like designed for running and I know Nike has good running shoes. Maybe I wasn’t getting high enough level, but what, what are your thoughts on brands if if you have a preferred one? I tend to not to like to put
out brands too much just because you know, shoe companies are always changing their styles and things like that.

However, I’m going to tell you that I think you read my mind when you said brand Brooks because I personally wear Brooks tennis shoes when I exercise, when I run and things like that. All right, the Ghost series are my favorites when it comes to Brooks tennis shoes. The Glycerin series is also very good.

You know, being a podiatrist and a foot doctor, I am constantly trying new shoes and Brookston Issues has always been my favorite. And Hoka is also another brand that I like very much as well. So they tend to be high quality, a good, very comfortable shoe made with good arch supports.

They also have a removable arch support that’s inside of them that can accommodate for either a over the counter orthotic device or a custom orthotic device. So it’s a very good brand and I tend to be a little bit more loyal to those two brands. Now living in Houston, Texas and being as hot as we are and as humid as we are, I always get this question that Dr. Lee, I can’t wear closed toe shoes all year round, especially on the weekends.

Do you have any type of, you know, open toe shoes or even flip flops that you can suggest to me? And my go to has always been Olu Kai. I like Olu Kai. It’s a Hawaiian brand sandal type flip flop type shoe.

It has a fairly decent arch support in them and that’s the one I typically will recommend to patients. It’s not the most fashionable, let’s say, and it’s certainly not the cheapest, but however, they make a very high quality flip flop and sandal. Okay, great.

I was wondering if you were going to say keen because my wife has like keens and she’s like that. But that’s, I’m, that’s a new brand. I’m going to pass that along.

We’re in Florida, so it is also hot here. Sandals are very popular. So I think kings has been around for a lot of years now, for probably at least 15 years because my kids used to wear kings all the time.

And I still have a pair of kings that I wear for hikes and things like that. And yes, you’re right, they’re a high quality athletic type of sandal. I like them a lot, but for more, a little bit more casual or something that you can kind of kick off and slip on.

And I think that Olukai is a very high quality brand. Awesome. I’m going to look into that or just buy my wife a pair, Surprise her.

Yeah, I think she’d be very happy with it, living in Florida. Sweet. Awesome.

Done. Do you, I have to ask, do you have like a closet dedicated to shoes? I feel like that, I just, I feel like that would suit a podiatrist. You got a collection? I have to be honest, I have a little bit of a collection, but I’m going to tell you, it’s nothing compared to my wife’s collection of shipping.

That’s classic. Classic. And she hides what she buys from me.

It’s not like I care. But she probably hides them because there’s probably a lot of shoes in her closet that’s non podiatry approved. But that’s okay.

Sure. I mean, you gotta live, you know. Exactly.

You don’t want to be paralyzed by what, you know, like, okay, never wear heels because that’s bad for you. It’s like, well, sometimes you want to dress up. And I’ll tell you, I have women that come into the office all the time and they, they don’t want to talk about the high heel Shoes and things like that.

And then, and there’s no reason to hide that. Yes, I understand professional women, they want to wear high heel shoes. They want to be, they want to look, they want to feel powerful, they want to feel sexy, they want to do all of these things.

And there’s no reason not to. But there are things that we can do to help them. Even with high heel shoes, there are good orthotics for patients who have low arches and things like that, who have foot problems to be able to wear high heel shoes.

But that accommodates for an orthotic device. So there are lots of things that we can do. Awesome.

Well, that’s, that’s empowering for, for everybody to hear. Thanks for, thanks for breaking it down for us real quick before we get to a fun segment, the business side of things. So, you know, a lot of people go into a doctor’s office and they’re not thinking that, well, this is a business.

And so I just wanted to maybe talk about that a little. Like what, what’s something that people don’t really realize about running a medical practice that you have to think about every day? But they don’t. It’s hard.

It really is hard. You know, going through, through medical school and residency training, they don’t teach us about the business side of the practice at all. And quite honestly, when I’m in a room with a patient, I don’t want to think about the business side.

I want to be a doctor. I want to be a good doctor. I want to focus on the ailments.

I want to be caring, I want to be supportive. I want to be there to take care of the patients as a doctor, as a clinician. And you can’t do both things at the same time.

They really interfere with each other. So there are times where I have to have my, you know, my running business side hat on. But I’ll tell you, most of the times I’m, I’m concentrating on seeing the patient.

I want to be, I want to be their physician. But I did have to go back to school. I had to, you know, back, go back to school to get my MBA and in business.

Wow. And really. And yeah, healthcare management, because they don’t teach you enough in school to be able to do that.

Now I did learn a lot over the years on how to take care of a small business, because that’s what this is. But at the same time, you really have to be able to separate the business side from the medical side. Yeah, I feel the same right now in this moment, I am not really thinking about my operations and, you know, revenue and profit and things like that.

I’m enjoying this conversation. I love to do the work I do. I like designing.

I like looking at my team’s designs and watching things function. That’s. That’s what we’re passionate about.

So I’m not surprised to hear that. And it’s. But you gotta keep things running.

And it’s. It’s interesting because there’s so many parallels too. Like, the graphics side of things and the tech side of things is there was barely a class on.

On the business side of things and running your own thing or on contracts. And now looking back, I’m like, why wasn’t there a whole semester on just that or, you know, a whole year on. On just how to run a business and, and make and what.

What it takes? It just baffles me now, looking back, like, how. How isn’t that part of the curriculum? It really should be, and I’m not quite sure why that is either. I think that they should have at least one class, maybe two classes on just medical coding, but that’s never given in school, in residency even.

And I don’t know how. How doctors come out and. Well, I’ll.

I’ll be honest with you. Doctors don’t come out anymore and have a private practice anymore. You got to join practices with a big group.

Group and things like that because they don’t teach you how to run a practice and how to code and how to, you know, Bill. Anything like that. I mean, it’s good.

They teach you how to be a good doctor, but they don’t teach you how to run the business side. And that’s the reason why there are very successful big practices. But there’s also downsides to those as well.

Right. Because patients don’t. May not get the same doctor every time.

You know, they’re, you know, they’re. They. You could be very surprised as to who you are seeing, and you may not.

I have patients that come into my office and they. They say to me, Dr. Lee, it’s so nice I get to see you. And I know you know what you’re like.

And, you know, I get to see you every time when, you know, when I go see my primary care physician, there’s 25 doctors in the office, and I never knew who I’m going to get. Yeah, certainly medicine’s definitely changing. I’m not sure for the better, but hey, it’s just the world’s changing.

I don’t know what to tell you about that. Well, you can only do like so much with your part and you’re keeping the focus on the patient care and all the things that you talked about before, which I think shows through, you know, that’s, that’s gotta be a unique identifier of, you know, advanced foot docs, you know, versus these other, other shops. And, and so stay the course from, from what I can see, because that, that especially now in any realm you’re thinking about technology advancements, AI,
it’s becoming more and more hands off.

And so I think in any industry, the more personal you are authentic or hands on, that you are, the better outcome it’s going to be or people are going to enjoy the process more. I agree. I think AI, you have to be in AI these days.

I think that if you are not in AI, you’re really missing out. I had a patient that came in this Monday who said, Dr. Lee, I came from Humble, Texas to come see you, which is about an hour away from where I am. And I said, well, how did you find me? He says, well, I went to ChatGPT, I plugged in Best Podiatrist in Houston and your name came up and that’s the reason why I came in to see you.

And I, I was just thinking to myself, this is even different from like Google. In Google, of course, you’re reading reviews and everything else, but it’s also very factual. And then you get to make the decision as to who you go to pick to be your physician.

Well, now with ChatGPT and all the AI systems, well, they’re doing all of the reviews and they’re making decision for you. So it’s really a different world that we live in. Oh yeah, it is wild and it’s constantly changing.

And I’m glad that you said that because it’s really encouraging because our efforts are ranking now with AI SEO, which is something that’s really important now. So I’m glad to hear that that’s working. That’s great.

Whatever you’re doing. I guess it’s working. All right, great.

Oh, cool. It’s so new, you know, so it’s hard to even like know where, where the baseline is. You know, we’re all learning.

But the best thing you could do, like you said, is if you’re not, if you’re not using it in some way, you’re losing it. Um, you’re going to fall way behind, so might as well adopt it because there is no putting that genie back in the bottle. Yeah, I think it’s here to stay, for sure.

Yeah, definitely. Well, thanks for that. So we’ve reached a point in the episode called the Rapid Fire.

Should I be scared? If you want to be, but no. Ultimately, it’s just a fun way for me to ask similar questions to all my guests, to see the similarities and differences. And the goal is for you to answer them in as concise a way as possible.

But if you need to expand, it’s all good. I’ll give it a shot. All right, you ready? Yes, sir.

Sweet. So first off, how. What is your biggest source of inspiration? My biggest source of inspiration has to come from my patients.

They’re my biggest inspiration source. There you have it, folks. You’re inspiring, Dr. Lee.

Every day. I love that. I have to ask, do you prefer to wear sneakers or dress shoes? I’ll tell you.

I’ll be real honest with you. I. I prefer wearing tennis shoes, and I try to wear tennis shoes to the practice as often as I can, but it’s very limited. You know, the days I’m in the office and I gotta run to the surgical center, I gotta run over to the hospital and things like that, I tend to wear more tennis shoes and maybe one day a week, but the rest of the time, I do have to be a little bit more professional.

So I will wear, you know, dress shoes, but I always have my orthotics with my dress shoes, so that’s. Now, I don’t typically wear a shirt and tie to work anymore. These days, I wear.

I like to wear scrubs to work because it’s a little bit more comfortable. It is still professional, but I also find that to be cleaner, because I can’t tell you the dirtiest part of a doctor’s wardrobe. The tie.

Oh, yeah. It doesn’t get washed very often. It gets stuck on everything.

It brushes up against everything. So I ditched the tie many, many years ago. Good for you.

I do not understand ties. Yeah, for. For me, my team, I mean, you can wear a suit if you want to, but it is against our.

Our. Our uniform. Like, there is no need, and we’re in it.

We’re not, you know, lawyers or in the medical profession, but I feel like the world is changing in that regard. Like, my. My uniform is usually like this shirt, and if I need to be dressed up, I have a nice little light jacket that I put over it.

That’s. That’s very. It.

It’s. It looks classy, but it’s not like with these big, bulky shoulders or anything like that. And.

And I Have vans shoes because I like the way they look and feel, and they’re still classy enough, but I’m not going to wear dress shoes. So that’s just for me. I was like, no more ties, no more suits ever.

You know, What. What. What other thing that I very much dislike about the medical field? Yeah.

The white coat. The white. White lab coat.

It is a very disgusting thing. Most doctors don’t wash it every day or every week, and it’s very gross. We wear it every day and not beside the white coat syndrome, where patients become very stressed and very nervous about seeing that white coat.

And I get it. I see it. It’s.

It’s gross, right? Yeah. Especially doctors that wear them. Wear them to the.

To the hospital cafeteria to grab a meal. I said, you’re dragging all of that germ right to the cafeteria. It’s just.

I don’t understand. I don’t get it. So I also ditched the white coat about, I don’t know, probably four or five years ago.

It was probably right during COVID when I ditched the white coat. Right on. Well, good for you.

It sounds like that was the right move. All right, great. You’re doing good so far.

See, sometimes we get off on a tangent, and we got to expand. Rapid fire doesn’t become so rapid. Sorry about that.

I’ll try to stay a little bit more focused. That’s. It’s always my fault, but.

But you lost points, but it’s okay. All right. Maybe tell us the most impactful or your favorite book you’ve ever read.

Oh, gosh, my favorite book. Let’s get away from textbooks. The last enjoyable book that I read, Crazy Rich Asians.

I love that book. Oh, really? Yes. I didn’t know that was a book.

I just had seen the movie, you know. Okay. You know, most patients will tell you that the book is much better than the movie.

In this case, I’ll tell you, I think the movie was better than the book. No way. Wow.

I thought it was. That’s saying something because. Yeah, some of my favorite books, the movies don’t do it justice, but that’s good to know.

All right. Going into the music sector, you can play one artist or album on repeat for the rest of your life, and that’s it. Who is it? Wow.

You’re gonna put me on the spot like that, huh? I know this is usually the hardest question. Well, I’ll tell you. I live in Texas.

Right. So I have to go with country music. And I’ll tell you, Zak Brown band I would.

I could listen to Zach Brown all day long. I think the album probably, I think it’s called Jekyll and Hyde. I don’t know why I can listen to that music all day.

It’s a good boating music too. So on the weekends, sometimes when I’m on the lake in a boat, that just my go to music. Oh man, it’s perfect when some album hits you just right.

And then now you associate it with the times on the boat and that becomes even more special because when you listen to that, not on a boat, it transports you, I imagine, to the feeling of on a boat, on the water. On the water with my kids right about when they were, you know, 10, 12 years old. My wife is sitting next to me, the kids are on the boat.

It just kind of. It just helps to relax me right away, you know. My kids are 20 and 18 now.

I’m ready to be an empty nester. And time definitely different. But I really enjoy that time when the kids were just pre teen years was my favorite time.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Well, number one, I have two.

I have a soon to be three year old Nova and seven month old Juni. So quite fresh. Enjoy that time.

It goes by so fast and I’m gonna tell you, enjoy it because you don’t get it back. Yeah, I’m soaking up every minute as much as possible. Even in the, the, the more challenging times like the sleep deprivation and then some tantrums here and there.

I try to remind myself I’m never getting back and this isn’t forever and I want to cherish this moment as much as possible. So I’m really. We’re doing our best, you know, and I appreciate always being reminded because that’s so common to hear.

The years fly by, it goes so fast. So soak it in while you’re, you know, in the moment now. And so I appreciate the reminder, Dr. Lee.

Well, Josh, I got a question for you now since you have such young kids. Oh, wow, the turntables. You did mention to me that earlier that you give your wife foot massages almost every day.

Has that always been the case or did that start from the pregnancy? Oh, definitely before pregnancy for sure. Wow, you are a rarity. That’s awesome.

Now I thought that might have been from the pregnancy when, you know, life’s feet are swollen and they’re achy and then that just kind of continued on. But sure, you, you are ahead of the curve there. Good for you.

No, I appreciate it. Yeah. I mean, it certainly ramped up during pregnancy, because I knew, oh, my gosh, you’re carrying this extra weight.

Wow. And I. I just. I. I can’t fathom carrying a baby inside of me and all that.

So I did whatever I could to be supportive. But, yeah, you know what? Giving a foot massage is not that much work. And for me, it’s actually kind of like a, you know, wrist, hand, forearm workout.

And we’re watching a show, and so I’m kind of thinking about it now. I kind of know what to do. Although I’m sure I could get some pointers from you.

And. Well, you’re talking to a guy who sees 30 to 40 pairs of feet every day. I think the last thing I want to do when I see another pair of feet to massage, but I can get away from doing those husbandly duties when my wife was pregnant, but sure thing.

A lot of years there was. We. We got a.

There was a sale when. Oh, gosh, like, Bed Bath and Body Works or Bed Bath and Beyond. It went out of business or something year or two.

Two years ago or whatever that was. And they have, like, this foot massage machine, and we bought that because it was so cheap, and you just stick your feet in there, and it does pretty good job. So maybe that’d be a good present for your wife, because I totally understand the last thing you want to do is to work with feet anymore.

Even if it’s your wife’s feet. It’s like you’re probably all burnt out on feet every day. Well, she likes getting massages, and the local foot massage parlor gets her business often.

Boom. There you have it. Okay, cool.

So. So she’s taken care of. That is correct.

Right on. Oh, great. You know what? I don’t mind when she goes in.

I says, good, pay the $40. Get your foot massage. I love that for you.

Oh, it’s worth it. You know, it’s. It’s good for you, too.

In fact, I’ve start. We’ve started to give Nova, our. Our daughter massages before she goes to bed.

Helps calm her down. I don’t know if we’re setting ourselves up to now have to give her a massage every night, but it’s kind of a nice little ritual, and I watch her relax, and I feel good about giving that to her, so. Well, you know, that’s all.

That’s awesome because while you’re doing that, you’re also examining the foot as well. So if there’s anything abnormal that’s happening, growths, things like that, you see her right away and you could get to, you know, get her to see a doctor right away. So it’s a.

It’s an excellent way to examine the feet as well. Sure thing. And then she goes, oh, body, body.

And, like, lifts up her tummy, turns over on her back, and then I got to do her hands, and then it ends on the head. That’s adorable. Yeah.

Yeah. I’m not gonna lie. It is.

All right. You’re doing great. I’ve got one more question for you, and that is how do you define success? Oh, gosh, for me, success.

I’ll be honest with you, even though I am a professional, a physician who’s had a lot of training, but for. For me, my family is the number one thing for me. So success for me is my kids saying that.

I really enjoy that time at home with my family, with my dad. You know, my dad always, no matter how much work he had going on, he always made time for me, and I appreciate that so much. That means the world to me.

And success for me is being a good husband, of being a good father to my kids. That’s. That’s the most important thing.

You know, right now I’m looking at to being an empty nester, like I said earlier in the podcast. And my son, who is going to nyu, he’s my last one. And this summer, I have.

I have played more golf this summer than I’ve ever played in my life. Cause he’s such a. He’s such a golf guy, and I love enjoying that time.

And when he says, oh, dad, let’s go play golf together, I can’t find a better way to spend four to five hours with my son. Oh, my gosh. Well, that’s so special.

So love that answer. And then I love that next time I come to Texas, I guess we’ll be going for a boat ride and we can go golfing. Yeah, absolutely.

Anytime, Josh. Happy to do it. Right on.

Great. Well, you have won rapid fire. Congratulations, Dr. Lee.

Thank you so much. Yeah. Now, thank you for the time.

Real quick to wrap up a couple things. Number one, where do you see yourself in the practice in five, 10 years? And maybe you could spell that out. What do you see happening with advanced foot and ankle specialists? Well, I’d love to be able to ramp up the practice more.

Maybe hiring an associate to see more patients in the practice to maybe, you know, having medicine is changing so fast. It seems like every couple of years we have a new high tech type of modality that we’re using or instrumentation to help us make better Diagnoses and things like that. I like to be able to, you know, continue that process and picking up more high end equipment and things like that to help patients.

The newest one is a device is called a swift microwave treatment for painful, recalcitrant or very aggressive, hard to treat warts and things like that. That’s done right there in the office. Non surgical techniques that help patients in the practice.

So I really like to be able to kind of continue in my pursuit of seeing patients and, and being even busier in the practice, but continuing with the high quality type care. I don’t ever see myself selling my practice out and joining a big practice and seeing patients adjust the number. I like to have that.

I like to see patients but still have that home type of feel for patients. Having my patients feel like they’re my neighbor and being able to have that personalized career care. So that’s what I’m interested in and that’s how I want to see and treat patients.

Love it. I look forward to seeing that, being a part of it and just watching it grow. That’s, that’s awesome.

Love it. Last thing, if you, anybody listening want to be a doctor. A doctor.

Someone with foot problems, not foot problems. Young or old, what’s your biggest piece of advice that you love, that you’d like to leave the listener with? I’m going to tell you if you’re looking into getting to the medical field, if you want to be a doctor, I’m going to tell you the driving force behind it cannot be about money. You have to want to take care of patients.

That’s the only way you’re going to get through medical school and residency because that has to be the driving force. There is a lot more jobs out there, careers out there, that makes a lot more money than being a doctor. That’s easier to get to, but you have to, you have to want to take care and, and help patients.

That’s. That has to be the driving force. Yeah.

Or else you’re not going to make it. Yeah, it sounds like it. I mean, it’s grueling.

There’s a lot of, a lot of Segol. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, wanting to take care of patients has to be the driving force.

Yeah, makes sense. And I think you can apply that. In my opinion.

I feel like if you apply that to whatever you pursue, if you’re not chasing the money, then you’re going to enjoy the work, just chasing the money. Are you going to really enjoy the process of getting that money and then what’s that money for, is it continue to not enjoy the process of getting that money, which is a majority of your life. What are you doing? Yeah, well, I mean, especially with health care, the way things are these days with insurance reimbursements, you know, it’s.

It’s not like it was, you know, 20 to 25 years ago where, you know, doctors were making a ton of money. That’s. It’s just not like that anymore.

And the driving for it has to be wanted to be a good provider for your patients. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, it seems like you’re doing that, so I, I appreciate you, Dr. Lee. I appreciate your partnership and collaboration. And for you taking the time, come inspire us and let us know about, you know, your background and what you’re up to.

Means a lot. Well, thank you very much. And thank you very much for spending the last hour and a half with me in this process.

Yeah. Oh, it’s a pleasure. Well, there you have it, folks.

Thanks for tuning in to another wonderful episode of the Name and creative show. If this conversation helped you, inspired you, or even made you book a podiatrist appointment, which I hope it did, especially if you’re in Texas, don’t keep it to yourself. Please send it to someone.

Hit subscribe, leave us a review, share it on your socials. We really appreciate it. And soon we’ll be back with more.

But in the meantime, stay curious, stay kind, and give someone you love a foot massage. Thank you, everyone. Sa.