LLP145: Navigating a Medical Success Story with Dr. Brittany Brinley

Let's talk about Navigating a Medical Success Story…

On this week's episode of the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry we have Dr. Brittany Brinley, a physician and entrepreneur who grew up in a small town in Ohio and despite not having any support growing up, having to drive over 30 mins just to see her pediatrician and being apart of a senior class that had less than 100 students she persisted on her goal to become a doctor.

Often times we see when professionals hit the peak of their career goals and mistake the work that it took to get them there. Dr. Brinley does an amazing job being open about her initial struggles on this journey to become a physician.

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Download Episode 145

[showhide type=””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””post”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””” more_text=””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””Episode 145 Transcript…”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””” less_text=””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””Show less…””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””] Introduction Dr. Berry: And welcome to another episode of the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry. I'm your host, Dr. Berry Pierre, your favorite Board-Certified Internist. Founder of drberrypierre.com, as well the CEO of Pierre Medical Consulting. Helping you empower yourself for better health with the number one podcast for patient advocacy, education and affirmation. This week we bring you a special guest, Dr. Brittany Brinley, who is a physician and entrepreneur out of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles area. And she's going to be talking about how she was able to get over a lot of the obstacles that are in her way to get to where she's at today. And I love these types of stories, especially when our physicians tell it. Because one, it allows physicians to be vulnerable. And then it gives, especially the general public, a different view. Because I think a lot of times when we're talking about physicians, we see someone who's really been at the top of the pinnacle of their career, which is in healthcare physicians are usually up there as far as the goals in mind. And by a lot of times we only see that end result, and we don't really focus on the backstory and got them there. We don't focus on the hills, and the hurdles, and obstacles that were in their way to try to persuade them not to get to that top of the mountain tops. So definitely love when I get physicians who are willing to talk about their story. And again, we're going to talk about how she went to high school, her senior class had less than a hundred people. No one in her family was in healthcare. They weren’t physicians yet. No mentors. She had to drive almost 30 minutes away just for a wellness exam, wellness checkups as a kid. So again, this is someone who, the odds probably told her that, hey, you know what, being in healthcare, being a physician probably isn't going to be what you're going to be at the end of the day, but she defied all of those odds. So can't wait for you guys to listen to this week's episode. Again, as a physician, as a person who has had a similar background where wasn't promised to be a physician. I definitely love when I get to hear these stories on the other side. And Dr. Brinley definitely lets us know her road to the top was not very easy. Let's get ready for another amazing episode here on Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry. Episode Dr. Berry: Alright, Lunch and Learn community. You just heard an amazing introduction from a guest, and I'm definitely excited for you guys to hear about. We talked a little bit about introduction. I think a lot of times when we see our physicians and we see them working in, make an amazing stride just in healthcare and in our own personal care. A lot of times we assume their story was this a straight path and onto the beam path and they just woke up and they were a doctor. And like I've said before, you guys have heard my story before. Just the importance of understanding how one got to that destination can tell you a lot about how they are not only as just a physician but really as a person in general. So again, really thank you for joining the Lunch and Learn podcast today and sharing your story with us. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Well, thanks for having me. Happy to be here. Dr. Berry: I gave a little bit of an introduction as far as some of your background. But I do have some of my listeners who love just skipped introduction and go right to the main episode. Tell them, tell Lunch and Learn community a little bit something about yourself that may not be directly in your bio. But you say, you know what, if they don't listen to anything today, at least they'll know this about me. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Born and raised in a very small farm town and pretty socio-economical horror area. And I think it just shows that you can, in this country be anything you strive to be. So I think that's kind of the main background from my story. And definitely wasn't an easy path and had some struggles along the way and had to learn how to navigate through those myself and I just want to get that message out there and so other people know, if your mom and dad is not a doctor and you don't know what the heck you're doing, you can still make it through this process. You can still be a doctor. You just have to really want it. Dr. Berry: We're definitely gonna touch on a couple of those points because I think that's something you said really struck. The fact that you had to really want it because this is definitely not a journey for the people who want to do this, especially in a time like this where our profession is being tested on. For instance, we probably never even really expected to be tested on. You definitely have to really want to do this thing we call medicine. And again, I love hearing other doctors’ journey on what made them get up early morning, stay up late nights to get here. So I think first things first, my Lunch and Learn listeners want to know, why medicine for you? What was it about medicine and health and say, you know what, I want to be a doctor in the first place? Dr. Brittany Brinley: So I think my story is somewhat common into what struck my interest. And it was actually that I was very sick as a kid. I had very severe asthma. I was on steroids all the time. I was in and out of the clinics, the hospitals. I was intubated at a young age. I almost didn't survive that episode. And literally, even when my asthma got better controlled, I was uncontrolled. We didn't have as good of knowledge back then about asthma. But I was having attacks four times a week at night and waking up airway closed, can't breathe. That was my life. But I always felt better when I went to the hospital or the clinic and I just wanted to be like those doctors that always helped me every time. Because they just thought that it was amazing how much quicker I got better once I saw them. Dr. Berry: That's a very common point that a lot of times, especially for a lot physicians, their introduction into this healthcare field was as the patient. And just recently, a few months ago, I remember I broke my fibula, chase down with my son. And it is such a different experience when you're the patient having to deal with the medical system and just healthcare in general, then when you're on the outside looking in. So I think that's an extremely common point, especially as a young kid. Because a lot of times that can be very traumatic experience. And unfortunately, we didn't scare you away because sometimes that does that too, where if you're very intimate with the healthcare system, you want to stay away from the healthcare system as much as possible. So being that, like you said, you know what, yes, I'm here and yes, I actually feel good when I come to see these people. We're definitely glad we were able to steer you along this journey. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah. It was good. Definitely feel better leaving there. So for me, I think it was a positive experience. Dr. Berry: I know you talked about the family upbringing. You say you didn't have a physician growing up, as far as scene or was it more just like when you were the patient? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah, it was just when I was the patient. My dad has an associate degree and he just worked his way up through a steel company in Ohio and my mom was a stay at home mom for most of my childhood. She did later go on to college when I was older. Dr. Berry: What was that experience like? Especially when you've first said, you know what, I want to be a doctor. And you didn't have, at least, especially in your immediate family, you didn't have any of the immediate family who was particularly connected to the healthcare field. What was that experience like when you started telling people, I want to be a doctor? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Honestly, and I know some other people I grew up with can vouch for this, that have gone on to do some miraculous things. When I first told, I remember I told my Spanish teacher, I was like, you know what? I want to be a doctor and we have to say it in Spanish. And she just looked at me and was like, okay. That was literally her respond. And I was like, no, I am. And she's like, oh, okay. Alright, moving on. And then I didn't realize it. I was just like, whatever. I was very stubborn as a kid and I think anyone who told me not to do something gave me more motivation to do it. So luckily that was the kind of personality I was coming into this with. But yeah, statistically from my high school, like I said, I had between 65 and 80 classmates. Some of them did go on to do the technical school. Only six of us went to college. One, other one to grad school. And I'm only the second doctor to come out of my school, my high school. Dr. Berry: Wow. Okay. That’s… Dr. Brittany Brinley: Amazing statistics I know. When I look back now I'm like, wow. Dr. Berry: Those are some amazing numbers, especially when you think that you didn’t necessarily have an external, a role model to look at. And just the really, that's again, I'm actually surprised by those numbers because not only is that a small class. When you weigh down and say like, wow. When you look back and say, I'm the only person who became a physician. That's just a crazy feat in and of itself. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah, absolutely. And I actually remember talking to my mom about transfer in schools and my parents were very supportive but they just, my parents were very young as well and didn't know and they're like, why would you want to, they almost took it personal. Why would you want to leave our small town and leave our school? And I already could tell them like, I need to go somewhere good where my GPA is going to be ranked. Alright, now I'm getting straight A's but I'm not sure it's good enough. I need some sort of ranking on this GPA. So already in high school I was like, I felt subpar because I wanted to be somewhere in a big high school where they ranked out your GPA because there were kids taken very basic art classes who also were getting, 4.0 in my school and I'm taking science and biology and math. And then I even took calculus and I'm getting a 4.0 but there's no difference between my 4.0 and their 4.0. So even in high school I'd already picked up on that, but I was talked out of changing. Dr. Berry: You were convinced, they convinced. You like, ah, you know what, we're not going to do that. Dr. Brittany Brinley: They scared me out of it. Dr. Berry: And in your town, was there one or two prominent physicians, community physicians? What was that makeup like? Dr. Brittany Brinley: No, there were no physicians that I know in my town. I went to a pediatrician 30-minute drive away, 30 miles from where I live, because a mile a minute. That was the closest doctor. There really wasn't one in town. The closest one was a few towns over, actually. Dr. Berry: Lunch and Learn community, I really want you to hear that because I think sometimes, we can be spoiled by the level of abundance. We can be spoiled by the fact that by the time I go to Publix, I may pass 10 doctors’ offices and not realizing how much of a luxury that is depending on where you live at. Imagine having to spend 30 minutes just to get to, your doctor specifically because, I only like this specific doctor know a doctor. So again, Lunch and Learn community, please understand, as you're growing up, you're experiencing a healthcare system as the role of the patient and you're experiencing the distance associated with not having it really fully engulfed. But still interesting, you say, you know what, I still want to do this. What was that decision like when, especially after high school, I'm pretty sure you did well in high school and you said, alright, I still want to go to be a doctor. What was that decision moving forward after high school? Dr. Brittany Brinley: That's also another fun story of mine. I got into a really good program. You know how there's these programs that shorten your course so you can do the full eight years, you do a six year. I got into a college, it does have a six year and you had to prove yourself that first year to continue on into the six-year program. The university was in Florida and my parents, like I said, were pretty young and a little naive and were just petrified I was going to go to Florida. My family theme is like, if you leave, you're going to drop and you're going to die. Dr. Berry: Quick question. Where were we leaving from? (Ohio). Okay. I can only imagine. Wow. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Oh yeah. So that ended up being a no, so I was not allowed to go. I was 17 when I graduated high school. So you need a parent's signature at that age on your student loans. So they told me I had to go in Ohio and then at that point I chose Toledo University in Ohio and I chose that university at this point because it was the furthest from my house. So that's how I ended up there. Dr. Berry: Which was interesting is that sometimes we do need that break away from the familiarity of our home and some of the restraints, whether it be physically, where to be mentally, that being close to home. That is, so I 100% understand that aspect of not let me get as far away as possible from home without quote unquote leaving home. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Right. And then we all have to take our exams before we start college. So I'm a 4.0 student coming into this, okay, let me take an exam, whatever, I'm going to be fine. No, I think I failed three of the subjects as a 4.0 student. So I had to take prep courses. Some of prep science courses, actually, before I actually started the one-on-one course, one-on-one of chemistry course, one-on-one of this. So it just showed me to where kind of my high school stood. I remember even sitting in those prep courses and being with students that are like, oh yeah, I've seen this and I'm looking at the material, I have never seen this in my life. What is this? So again, it just speaks volumes that if you want to do something you can do it. And I obviously quickly caught up. I ended up finishing all my courses in three years, so I did an extra major on top of it to finish out my four years to give me time to study for the MCAT. Dr. Berry: And I remember, I tell people all the time, that MCAT, I remember I was so naive. I remember I was at Florida state and I was a junior, I think. And I was telling people like, oh yeah, I want to be doctor, I want to, same thing. I want to be a doctor, I want to be a doctor. I had no clue that there was even such thing as an MCAT. And I remember my advisor asking me like, oh well have you studied for the MK? And I'm like, what's that? Oh that's the test you need to given to a medical school. I'm like, oh you got to take another test just to, it was such a new abundance, a new thing for me. For yourself, did you get mentorship once you got into undergrad? Because obviously you didn't have it when you're high school, but when you became an undergrad student, was there someone there that you were able to say, okay, alright, let me just follow this person right here and let them lead me away. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yes. So we actually all had advisers. I was in the honors college, so they were very good about having advisors to a low amount of students, especially if you're in the honors college and they tried to focus on people who were premed as well. Of course, you sit in your first chemistry class, I'm sure a lot of people can vouch for this. They're like, look to your left, look to your right. Only one of you is going to be here by junior year. And you're like, what? No way. We're all going to make it. I think my two, they put the premed kids together in dorms and even by the end of the first semester, out of three of us, I was the only one that's still premed, the other two and already changed. So again, speaking to, it has to be something that you want to do, but we did have advisors that helped guide us through this process, which has made it much better. I'll speak a little bit to the female part of it because I was definitely told, even by my advisor in college, if you want to have kids, you don't be a doctor. It just is what it is. Dr. Berry: And it's still there, which is crazy. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Looking back now, I can't believe they said it to me and they said it so many times. At the time though, I was very young and I was like, I don't want kids. I really felt that way. I don't feel that way anymore. But at the time I felt that way. So I was like, oh, it's fine I don't like kids. And then they left me alone. I can't imagine a female who already knows they want kids at that age because… Dr. Berry: And being repeatedly told that, don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. It's a deterrent. Don’t even waste your time. And I'm not sure people do it subconsciously to try to help you or they really trying to sabotage you. But the amount of roadblocks that people put in front of you, especially when you're, on this path. Again, that's why I keep harking back on the fact that you said like, no, no, you gotta really want this. Because there's plenty of opportunities for you to jump ship. You could've looked to the left, you got to look to the right and you could have been one of those people not there right at the end of that three-year block. But you're like, nope, this is definitely something I want to do. And even when the Spanish teacher's like, nah, you sure? Okay, sure. Whatever. Be a doctor or whatever crazy little girl. I'm pretty sure I can just see the face of the Spanish teacher when she like, oh, okay, sure. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah, yeah, right. He was like, ah, yeah, right. Doubtful. But, okay, cool. Dr. Berry: As you're preparing for the MK, was there any concerns? Because this kind of the high school that you're in and having to take these prep courses before going into the one-on-ones, was there any doubt that creeped into your mind at that point or by that time you were ready? Dr. Brittany Brinley: I think at that point I was pretty confident in myself and my test taking skills. I was actually in Europe when I studied for the MCAT. I did my junior year abroad completely at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK. So I was in Europe and everyone else was go into the pubs and having a good old English time and I was in my dorm studying. But you got to want it like we always say. Dr. Berry: That life of a studying is something that you, I wish I'm an attending now right now. Like oh maybe I'll be studying less when I become attending. Nope. Like it's still this study and for some reason it has not paused down ever since I said I wanted to be a premed, which is crazy. Dr. Brittany Brinley: The difference is now I think it's a little bit better because you get to choose what you study. You feel you're, there's a little bit more motivation behind it. What I feel like I don't know that it's really, well let me go read up on that. Or, you know what, I heard about this great study. What kind of patients did they test? I want to read it. In med school I had a lot of times where I was forcing myself to continue sitting there and I was looking at everyone else enjoying their life as they just graduated college thinking, what am I doing and why would I put myself through this? But now when I'm reading, it's things that I wanna read and things that I wanted to dedicate my time to, which is much nicer than dedicating it to a curriculum. Dr. Berry: Correct. And now the journey from undergrad to medical school, did you end up staying still in the state or did you end up moving at that point? Or what was that journey moving on to the next level? Because of course unfortunately, you signed up to be a doctor, and the works hasn't stopped yet. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yup. I took my MCAT, I did well, but it's still very hard. You obviously needed higher and I'm not sure if it's like this today, I'm sure it is. You needed higher scores to get out of state than get in state. So I was just getting better quality schools in state then I was out of state. So I chose Ohio university in state medical school. I honestly am very happy I did because I had most of my training at the Cleveland clinic and that was a really good experience. Dr. Berry: How was the medical school like? Because this is a dream of yours and you're knocking at the door now. You're less than four years away from actually being called doctor. How was that journey with medical school the first couple of years? Because I'm not sure how your curriculum is. Was it the typical book, work class, work for the first couple of years and then clinic work the last two? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah, so the first two years were completely bookwork. I'm actually graduated college in May and Ohio University starts early. They do straight anatomy for summer. So you start in the summer and you do all the cadaver work and anatomy work and then you go and just straight testing every week or biweekly. And just the curriculum and coursework. I struggled. I was young. I was one of the youngest people in my class. A lot of people tend to do masters or take year off or do some research. I went straight in. I just turned 22. And I really struggled with the fact that everyone was graduating college and outliving their life and getting married and I was literally still studying. Because now I'm on my fifth year of this whole sacrifice for studying. And I think at that point it started to hit me hard. Do I really want to do this? I put so much work. It was really hard. I think sitting there at 2:00 AM being like, I have put so much work into this to put myself in this terrible situation. And I was young at the time, but that's how I just felt like I was trap almost. Dr. Berry: I used to remember looking at my friends on Facebook and they're either on vacation or they're out their country or they're living their life. They got kids. They're doing all of these things. I'm like, well, anatomy, physiology is not going to study itself. And I used to think, and I would have to like, almost, it's going to be over. It’s going to be over soon. Just get through this work here. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah. So I think third and fourth year for me, I'm definitely more of a hands on person. So third and fourth year I was like, yes, let's do it. I was back in the game. I struggled a little bit first and second year, which is motivation to sit there and keep studying, studying, studying. I was also someone, I didn't have to study a lot in med school, was a lot more study time than I was used to. So I think that was part of the adjustment as well. Dr. Berry: Okay. It was almost too much time would you say? Is it was the… Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah, I would just say, I was definitely a crammer. I know there's people out there and I was that kid and I was a pretty med kid that all the other premed kids hate it. Because I didn't study half as much as they did and I got the same scores. But in med school you cannot do that and trust me, I tried. You cannot. You have to study. I learned it and I went through it and I was definitely happy to put first and second year behind me and get out in the hospital. And third and fourth year. I loved it. I was happy I was. And then third and fourth year I said, yes, I made the right decision. I am happy. This is where it's at. Dr. Berry: What made you choose your career choice? For those who don’t know Lunch and Learn community, when we're like literally tasked and decide what do we want to do for the rest of our life, we typically have those first couple of years of bookwork. That's great. But we typically have that one year and third year and then by fourth year we got to start thinking about it. Especially if you're walking in there undecided, that's really how long we have to choose. What do you wanna do for the rest of your life? When did that decision happen that you realized I want to do blank for the rest of my life? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yes. So actually mine was when I was pretty young in high school, I knew what type of doctor I wanted to be. And I will say I'm not that type of doctor today. So I wanted to do pulmonary critical care, obviously asthma. I went in to it. So I knew going into residency, I was doing internal medicine. I went to an osteopathic medical school, but I knew I was going to apply only to allopathic residencies because I wanted a fellowship and I wanted to open up that opportunity. So I did do allopathic residency and I actually got into fellowship and then I decided not to take it. Dr. Berry: What happened that made you say, you know what, I don't want this? Dr. Brittany Brinley: My third year of residency, I think at this point too, I'd wanted to do it for so long and it had been such a goal and a dream of mine. I had to do it for myself. I had to do it. So once I got in, it became a reality. Like, okay, I'm going to do pulmonary critical care. It was a four year program. So I'm like, okay, you know, I'm kind of trying to swallow that. I've got another four years of training coming up. Everything's already on student loans. I can do it. It’s okay. But then… Dr. Berry: Oh, the student loans, which is such a driver and a lot of our career choices, unfortunately. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah. I just started thinking of and said, you know what, I'm actually a really well-rounded person. I get very involved in the academia of it and I felt like if I did do pulmonary critical care, that was all I was going to continue doing. It is just going to be me in the hospital. I'm going to either be in the ICU or I'm going to be in the pulmonary clinic on my off weeks. And I just wanted to do more. I wanted to have a family and I did feel like it might be, not that it's not impossible, anything's possible. But I felt like a lot more time would be dedicated to the hospital to research, to medicine. And I felt internal medicine would allow me to round out my life a little bit better. Dr. Berry: I might be biased. But I tell people all the time, internal medicine is one of the best specialties out there. We love all these specialties out there, but I'm biased. I love internal medicine and I remember that decision will the same. I knew I wanted to do, I remember I wanted, I was going to be like the community doctor and I was going to be the person you had to drive to 30 minutes to come see. But I remember getting kicked out of the rooms for all of my women's health patients. And then after a while I just said, okay, they kick out of the rooms. I'm not doing family medicine. I'm doing internal medicine. That's how I ended up there in internal medicine world. So you get into the internal medicine, you become this internist. What was that feeling like when like it was a fish show that I am a doctor. Dr. Brittany Brinley: I think the best, and I'm a little ashamed of this and a little numb, but I gotta tell you guys when I got that first paycheck, I have been barely skating by for like years. I paid my whole way through this thing. There were times like I, unfortunately I had to call my mom like, mom, listen, I don't get paid until next week. I have zero groceries. Can you float me $100? So luckily, my mom helps me out when she could. And that first paycheck, I walked into Louis Vuitton. I picked out a purse, a key chain, a wallet. It's all laying out on the counter and I'll never forget it. The guy's like, okay, what do you want? And I'm looking at it, I'm going to take it all. And he's like, what? And I was like, I'm going to take it all. Dr. Berry: You know what I love about that is because I think a lot of times, and I see this a lot from my physician colleagues, is that they don't like treating themselves. It was very weird… Dr. Brittany Brinley: I feel like I deserved it. Dr. Berry: You deserve it. That’s why I keep telling like, no, you work too hard for this. One, you work hard for this, not to gloat about yourself. You work too hard for this not to reward yourself. You like, no, you deserve it. It didn't just fall in your lap. Again, you said as a premed, I want to do this doctor thing. Even in your premed and you were studying up and studying early in the mornings, late at night, you still say, I still want to do this doctor thing. And even when you hit every single roadblock that was either purposely o unconsciously put in front of you to stop you from becoming a doctor, you said, I'm going to go over that roadblock and still become this doctor. So every time I try to brag on my colleagues and I tried to tell them like, no, no, no, it's okay to let people know like, hey, I'm that person. Because I worked hard for this. I love that first, and I remember going from resident to attending and I definitely remember that first check because I was like, oh my God, I've never seen this much money on one paycheck before. Okay, this might have been the right decision. Dr. Brittany Brinley: I was worried. I was like, the government is going to come after me because this is the most money I've ever had deposited into my bank account. Dr. Berry: So as you got out, as you finish a residency, what did we end up doing with this career choice? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Actually, when it first came out, like I said, because I decided not to take that fellowship last minute, I started doing locum work which honestly, I felt was very rewarding. I got to go into these places. It didn't have enough doctors, usually pretty remote areas and help people and they were actually very thankful. I trained in the inner city, downtown Chicago actually. So you definitely encounter a lot of patients who aren't so thankful to receive medical care and are actually pretty demanding about what you're going to do for them and what you're not. So I actually, I really enjoyed rural medicine to be honest through the locum work and they were really appreciative. And then when they heard, oh, you're from Chicago, you're from the big city and are just so thankful. Thank you so much for coming here and helping us. And it just felt very rewarding and I really enjoyed it to be honest. And then from there, you grow up, you meet someone, you're getting engage and so that's when the traveling stopped. Dr. Berry: Got to stay a little closer to home. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yeah. He's like, you might should be here more than like one or two weeks a month and I'll think, yeah, probably. Maybe. So at that point I started post-acute care. Because internal medicine, you guys can do anything with internal medicine – locum work, nursing homework. So I was Monday through Friday doing post-acute care nursing homework. And then on the weekends I was actually intensivist as a hospitalist. So I was their ICU hospitalist because actually did love procedures. I was very well skilled in procedures. I was certified in all of them. So yeah. I did that actually at Loyola University on the weekends and then I decided, okay, I set a timeline of five years post-graduation. I want to have my first business opened up. And actually, through residency I got into the aesthetic part of medicine. Again, internal medicine do anything. Dr. Berry: About time, internal medicine, don't sleep on it. Don't sleep on it. You can do whatever. Dr. Brittany Brinley: So I started doing the beauty stuff and the botox, and filler, and threading and all that. So yeah, now I'm out in LA. I've opened up a concierge medicine practice. And I am in the process of opening up a medical spa and then I'm still doing some locum work that fund my business upstart. Dr. Berry: Now the aesthetics, is that something that you did when, as you were doing your locums? Was that something as a resident? When did you start saying like, hmm, this might be something… Dr. Brittany Brinley: When I decided I wanted to go have fun in Chicago in the few days I had off, I didn't have enough money to do that and pay rent with residency. So I found, there was a doctor looking to train someone to do this injections in the state of Illinois. You can inject under a doctor as a resident. Definitely I am a doctor. So as long as he's there on site, I can help him out and inject. So he would pay me a certain percentage of all the profits I made and it kept me going through residency financially to pay my loan payments that were due and pay my rent. Well, that's how I learned. And then I started to love it. Dr. Berry: And that transition from doing it, because at least at that time in residency, was kind of part time. When did you start saying like, oh, you know what, I might be able to make this I guess a bulk of what I do, when did that maneuver? Dr. Brittany Brinley: After residency I told that guy, thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity, but now I'm attending. And this doesn't really attending wages. Now I gotta be smart with my time and my money and things like that. But I wanted to keep up on the skills. So I just started, just pretty much doing injections in my friend houses, for my family. And then it became friends of family, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends of friends. Then I have random people texting me like, hey, you know, I know someone who knows so on and can you do this? So I almost started my own business without trying to. And then just turned into that. And I was doing that until I moved up to LA. Dr. Berry: I love it especially the physicians I interview here, I love the ones who have that business mindset. Because unfortunately, a lot of our colleagues do not. And I think sometimes when we talk about burnout a lot. I think a lot of the source of burnout usually runs into the fact that a lot of us don't have the autonomy that we used to have or we thought we would have once we became an attending. And being the business owner, being the entrepreneur gives a lot of people a lot of that autonomy that you're looking for back to you. So I definitely love the fact that email, it just found you. Now this is something you just happened to be very good. I wish you did. And when you're good at what you do, people will find you. And I tell my mentees that. I tell my physician colleagues. I tell them to get a chance to, I said, you are good at what you do, you don't necessarily have to do that much work because people will come and track you down. And this move to LA, how long have we been out there? We in Ohio and now we're in LA. What was that? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Actually, I've always saw my business going best out in the LA area. And now my husband, he had a company in Chicago and decided to sell his company. So that at that time, we were like, well, let's move somewhere warm. And I said, you know what, I'm approaching my five-year mark soon and I've always wanted to start my own business. I always thought I'd go best in the LA area. And so we decided, yeah, you know, we're both young. Let's make the move. Let’s go get by the water and get some good weather. That was obviously after our third polar vortex. So we were ready to go. Dr. Berry: I do not envy. I'm from South Florida, born and raised. And anytime I even think about weather up north and I see snow and I'm like, oh no, I don't know how to do it. Especially Ohio, I can only imagine that type of weather. So we were here. We were doing our aesthetics. We're even opening up at med spa, which I think is a very smart thing to do, especially guys, again, I think it just kinda complements the medicine that we're doing. What do we have left with? Do we have any more goals? Remember we were, as a kid, we said we wanted to be a doctor and now we're here. Any more goals that we have to go after? Dr. Brittany Brinley: So right now, my goal is to grow my businesses. Like I said, my concierge business I have, I'm going to be opening up a medical spa soon and I actually have a nursing home business as well. So those are my three things going on right now, which is plenty of work I must say. And then I work in the hospitals just to keep up on my skills. Dr. Berry: So you still do hospitalist work as well? Dr. Brittany Brinley: Yes I do. Yup. And that's mostly funding the medical spa upstart if what that's doing. Dr. Berry: Trust me. I know it gain very well. I know it gain very well. Like I said, I'm excited because I love entrepreneurs. I love entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurs who are physicians. Because that just makes it even sweeter because once you start writing your own rules, you know that that's really where the happiness comes. Once you start designing like, hey, no, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to do it because it makes me happy. And I think that's where the accumulation of why medicine comes into play. Because as a physician, as a healthcare leader, you're able to do what you want to do, and you're able to serve as that expert. In fact, the leader while doing it. So I absolutely love the amazing stuff you're doing here. Before I let you go, I want to, let's give a time, and again, if you have time to shot out some of your businesses and how can people join the concierge and when can people get the med spa? Let's just put that out there. Dr. Brittany Brinley: I'm serving right now. First, my concierge practices based in Beverly Hills, but I served the greater Los Angeles area. I do house calls, imaging, lab work, whatever you need to come to the comfort of your home and discreetly, no one knows I'm there. No one has to know I’m there. So it's very convenient for the patient. I have weight loss plans. I do injections. I do injectable medications. We do vitamins. IV therapies, pretty much the whole nine yards, the whole service. The medical spa will be opening up in Beverly Hills soon in the triangle. Coronavirus has put that on hold a little bit right now. And then my nursing home is called Jerry heal. And what I do is I go in and contract the nursing homes and I work as the medical director and some of those and I see patients and I have nurse practitioners that help me out. So right now, my website should be launching this week. It's taken a while, but it's going to be beautiful and it's perfect. And my web guy probably hates me, but it is going live this week. It's drbrinley.com. I am very vocal and been in some media lately, especially The Today Show featured me and actually NBC Miami, Yahoo news, um, some advocating for Covid-19 social distancing. And all that good stuff. Dr. Berry: I love it. I see it too because I love it. Again, Lunch and Learn community, I talked to you guys a lot. One thing that I love, that our physicians especially up today are doing, is that they're not running away from the leadership role that's bestowed upon them. Like again, we did all the study and we pass all the boards. We did what we needed to do to say, hey, we are the leader. But a lot of times I will find ourselves cowering away, not cowering away, almost carnot, seems bad. But we would shy away from being out in that spotlight when, especially in a time like this when we are needed. So I love the fact that you're out there and you're screaming from the rooftops like, hey, no, we need to do this. This is why we need to do it. And, and once people see you that the de facto leader and they know that you're the person that can lead them to that promise, saying I were trying to get them. That what makes all the difference. So again, thank you Dr. Brinley for, first of all, an amazing interview. And again, especially because you again give a light. Because again, I have pre-meds who I know who I says, I know I have medical students who I says, listen to this, doctors as well. And sometimes we forget that all of our journey isn't the same but our end goal should always be. So I love the fact that you did not allow the most of it. Again, it seems like multiple attempts, unfortunately, to really dissuade you to, for joining us, in our profession. And I'm just, obviously we're much thankful that you did. We're thankful that you said, you know what? I don't care what you guys are telling me. I'm still gonna do this. Dr. Brittany Brinley: My biggest thing I wanna note, I want to tell the premed, med school, is just never give up and don't listen to what people say. You can do whatever you want to do. Don't let anyone tell you what you're capable of. The only person that can limit you is yourself. Dr. Berry: I love it. And Lunch and Learn community, we will put, again, Lunch and Learn community depending on when you're listening to this, we'll make sure we have all our information in the show notes. If you are in the LA Beverly Hills area and you need an amazing concierge physician, boom, here's one right here. Do not sleep. Because again, you guys know I love the onus of concierge direct primary care. I can talk to you for days on just on that aspect alone. So I love the aspect that, that's what you're driving home because we need it. We need it more than ever, especially in this day and age where patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction, everything seems to be going down a hill and we need more people who are like, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're still good here. I'm going to hold us afloat. I'm going to be the medical director, the concierge doctor, the media maven. I'm going to do all of these things here because I have to. So again, thank you for joining and blessing Lunch and Learn community today. Dr. Brittany Brinley: Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure. [/showhide]

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