Issue 119.4 - Slade Smiley

March 2021 Issue 119.4

SPECIAL ISSUE

Is a Recently Discovered Oil-Free CBD Technology the New Fountain of Wellness?

Slade Smiley thinks so and has the research and products to back it up.

Pg 1

TOP DOCTORS OF THE WEEK

An All Encompassing Approach to Healthcare: Dr. Robert Vadovic Pg 14

A Healthy Lifestyle...

A Longer Life: Dr. Harpreet Tsui Pg 16

What's Inside?

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24

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0 1 IS CBD WATER THE NEW

3 5 AN INTERVIEW WITH

1 1 APPROACH TO

AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING

4 3 AN INTERVIEW WITH

1 4 A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

4 8 AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.

1 7 AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.

5 3 PROFILE SPOTLIGHT:

2 4 AN INTERVIEW WITH

5 6 PROFILE SPOTLIGHT: DR.

3 0 KIAN KARIMI

5 9 AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.

3 2 PROFILE SPOTLIGHT: DR.

6 4 AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.

FOUNTAIN OF HEALING?

HEALTHCARE

& LONGER LIFE

THOMAS D'AMATO

NICOLE MCDONAGH SPOTLIGHT

JAVAID KHAN

DR. KATHLEEN BENSON DR. ALENA BUTKEVICA KENDRICK JOHNSON DR. CARL HESS

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Is a Recently Discovered OilFree CBD Technology the New Fountain of Wellness?

By Brianna Connors

Introducing Slade Smiley You may recognize Slade Smiley from his features on The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Doctors TV, along with his wife, Gretchen Christine Rossi. Their story has warmed the hearts of many across the nation, but Slade’s journey into finding solutions for his son, who was facing some health challenges, began even earlier in his life.

Slade is a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur. He was a professional cyclist and competed for almost ten years, racing throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Through this experience, Slade gained a lot of working knowledge about the human body and sports medicine. This fascination is something he’d always had, but it grew in regards to physiology and the human body. From professional cycling, Slade then transitioned into real estate. “My focus in school was on international business clients; the skills in international business got me into real estate,” he explained. For 11 years, Slade worked as a principal partner with a large title insurance company before selling the company in 2007 and transitioning into the consulting realm.

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“I’ve been able to consult in a capacity at a bunch of different levels, from those working in Government positions within the intelligence community to doing brand integrations into film and television. There’s a wide array of experiences,” said Slade. “In the course of my consulting, and sadly this started back in 2005, my son was diagnosed with a severe illness. It is a very challenging and difficult thing that he has been through, and obviously, it is very hard on the entire family.

“There are a lot of science-based articles out there on the possible health benefits and healing properties of CBD. The question is, how do you get it into the human body?

Research scientists are now reporting on low absorption rates with CBD Oils since the body is composed mostly of water and everyone knows water and oil simply do not mix. In our quest, we discovered an amazing individual Mike Panian, who is now the Chief Science Officer of BioReigns. His previous experience in working for the City of Hope creating intravenous medications is what led him to develop Rapid Cell Technology (RCT) for BioReigns. Since then, RCT has begun to revolutionize the CBD world.”

What is CBD? Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural supplement found in both the human body and the hemp plant. It is an essential element in breast milk and is responsible for calming a baby while he or she is feeding. It is also the primary ingredient for many hemp-based products such as CBD oil or CBD water.

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Predicted by Forbes to be an industry just under $30 billion by 2025, The Green Rush into CBD shows no signs of slowing. And for good reasons.

There are 120 different cannabinoids within the hemp plant - including CB1 and CB2, which are utilized more frequently because the human body possesses the most receptors for these particular cannabinoids.

Since CBD is a natural compound already found within the human body, it does not carry the same side effects or risks as an external drug.

A common misconception of CBD (hemp) is that it is marijuana. That is inaccurate hemp is very different from marijuana despite being in a similar plant family. “The way I like to describe it is iceberg lettuce is different from butter lettuce even though they are both types of lettuce,” Slade Smiley, who worked with BioReigns founders to help launch the company, explained in his interview with Top Doctor Magazine. The misconception developed during the war on drugs was when hemp was rolled into the same category as marijuana. “This is unfortunate because, before that legislation, CBD and the hemp plant were widely used as a natural medication. For more than 3,000 years, they’ve traced hemp back as a natural supplement used for a variety of conditions,” said Slade. However, with the rise of CBD products and recent research into the hemp plant as an entity outside of marijuana, scientists discovered the endocannabinoid system.

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What is the Endocannabinoid System?

The endocannabinoid system is a series of sensors from the tip of your toes to the top of your hairline. Included in this system are the human body’s immune system and the inner and outer nervous systems. “If you have ever wondered why your body can sense and detect whenever someone touches you or when you have inflammation and soreness, and you’re not feeling well, that’s the sensors of the endocannabinoid system,” said Slade. “The endocannabinoid system is responsible for maintaining the human body’s homeostasis. This is what keeps you in balance.”

For example, when the body’s homeostasis is out of balance due to stress or anxiety, it automatically spikes the cortisol hormone. If the endocannabinoid system works the way it’s supposed to, it recognizes the raised cortisone levels and instructs the body to produce a polar compound to dilute the cortisone. As a result, your body calms down and is brought back in balance (this is homeostasis). “If you think about it, we are always waiting for the body to heal,” Slade explained, “If you break your arm, I might put you in a cast, but what happens? I’m waiting for your body to heal. If you sprain your ankle, I’m waiting for the body to heal. If you get a cut on your knee, we wait for the body to heal.

Western medications cover up the symptoms while waiting for the body to heal. If the human body is working the way it is supposed to, it will heal itself.” But what happens when the body is not working correctly?

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Think about what we call chronic conditions. In a condition such as diabetes, the body does not recognize excess sugar in the system. Insulin, a naturally occurring hormone, is what dilutes sugar and brings the body back into balance.

However, those who have diabetes do not have the insulin needed to dilute the excess sugar levels and realign the body’s systems. Consequently, they take regular insulin shots in-vitro, providing their bodies with the necessary tools. With chronic arthritis, an individual is missing the necessary lubricant required for a joint.

When functioning correctly, in-vivo, the body instinctively communicates to the brain that a particular area is deficient, triggering the request for a specific chemical compound that the brain then produces and delivers to the deficient area.

“It’s like baking a cake,” says Slade, “and when one ingredient is missing, the whole compound falls apart. This is why it becomes imperative that we consume the

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right type of fuel our bodies need. Micro and Macronutrients from our food are what becomes the ingredients the body needs to produce all the necessary chemical compounds and hormones our bodies require.”

If you exclude an ingredient when baking that cake, what happens? The cake doesn’t rise, and things fall apart.

It’s like a missing cog in the wheel; without everything working together in harmony, there will be complications, and eventually, things cease to function correctly. Our brain is a pharmacy of ingredients it uses to formulate very complex compounds; when the pharmacy is missing a key ingredient, it will eventually cause things in the human body to not function properly.

Almost everything about us is chemical.

We need the proper ingredients to stay in balance. The endocannabinoid system, when properly working, is always looking and detecting imbalances in the body. “But like every other system, this system begins to degrade with age, and it doesn’t necessarily work as well as it could,” Slade reminds us. Thus enters CBD.

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CBD in itself fixes nothing. What it does, however, is give the endocannabinoid systems sensors (called CBD Receptors) the fuel they need to work correctly.

As a result, people who use CBD can experience reduced stress, anxiety, and inflammation. In addition, they can gain improved sleep and lessened pain.

“Now, we can start to understand why the discovery of the endocannabinoid system was such an incredible discovery. We now understand why it is such an incredible opportunity to help people with a natural way to supplement their body to start healing,” said Slade.

The Challenges of CBD One of the challenges presented with making hemp more accessible is an influx of products to the market. With more and more people rushing to grow hemp, a discrepancy of quality has occurred. Many crops are contaminated by pesticides or by run-off. As a result, more regulations are being proposed to ensure hemp can be harvested in its purest and cleanest form possible. In California, to provide the cleanest form of CBD possible, crops are put through tests to identify whether or not it contains any pesticides on a list of 60+ banned substances.

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If found, there is a very narrow window of time to remediate the pesticide, or the farmer has to destroy the entire crop.

Another more significant problem within the CBD world is preservation.

Being a plant, as soon as it is pulled from the ground, it begins to degrade.

To keep the CBD from spoiling completely, manufacturers package the CBD in oil.

“Here’s the problem with oil... you are 65% water, your heart and lungs are up to 75-80% water. What happens when you mix oil and water?” asked Slade, “In answer, they don’t mix.”

Scientists have discovered that less than 6% of what is consumed is actually absorbed when you ingest CBD oil.

What happens to the other 94% of the CBD oil? It is delivered straight to the liver, where the enzymes necessary to break it down are produced, ultimately eliminating the oil and also eliminating the CBD. This essentially negates taking CBD oil, but it has also proven to overwork and strain the liver. With this in mind, CBD oil becomes a very inaccessible supplement, not to mention an impossibility for people with digestive issues, heart health issues, or allergies to the type of oil used like MCT oil, a derivative of coconut oil.

However, there are other difficulties with CBD oil.

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Additionally to the low absorption rates, there is the inconsistency of dose due to the CBD isolate not mixing entirely with the oil. So, even if you do get enough CBD into your system without your liver flushing it out with the oil compound, there is no guarantee that you can maintain that exact dosage every time for any specific period of time. This dilemma is where BioReigns stepped in and why Slade is a part of their mission to find a solution in what they call RTC (Rapid Cell Technology), essentially binding the CBD and other nutrients to a water molecule.

Components of certain micronutrients, like CBD, are hydrophobic, meaning that they push water away. To be absorbed into the body, it has to be converted to become hydrophilic. “What our scientists were able to do, and this is the science behind BioReigns, is that we have figured out a way to attach the CBD and curcumin (another natural supplement which is found in Turmeric) to a water molecule,” Slade said. The preservative for the CBD is then water instead of oil, eliminating the downsides listed above. “The water molecule is the host to the CBD or the other micronutrients we add. Think about two drops of water coming together; they make a bigger drop of water. We have attached the CBD inside

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the water drop, like a trojan horse; the water then protects the CBD from degradation, it’s protected from being exposed to air and light, and it allows for 100% absorption into the human body, making these key nutrients 100% bioavailable.”

The Difference Bioreigns RCT CBD Can Make BioReigns is the only company to date that has succeeded in creating a fantastic water-dissolvable delivery system that increases the absorption of low bioavailability molecules. In anecdotal trials, BioReigns has proven a 100% absorption rate over the last two years. Not only is the absorption rate higher, but when CBD is connected to water, it helps turn on your body’s receptors quicker compared to CBD oil.

“CBD can now be this product that takes effect almost instantly, causing a noticeable difference within the body in a concise amount of time,” said Slade. This has resulted in numerous patients being treated naturally and efficiently without external chemicals ushering in the question: could CBD attached to water be the new standard of care? A fountain of wellness, if you will.

BioReigns offers three products featuring their RCT technology and CBD. In the Full Spectrum daily, the hemp plant in its entirety is used. The Broad Spectrum daily contains all 120 cannabinoids except THC, even though only 0.02% of THC can be

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found within the plant, making it difficult for someone to get high from taking hemp. And in the Pure CBD daily, only CB1 and CB2 are integrated. Unlike other CBD products, which are generally packaged within a deviant of coconut oil called MCT, BioReign products lack the terrible taste of swallowing oil.

Because it is attached to water, you can even add the CBD daily to a glass of water or cup of tea, making for an easy and enjoyable experience.

“We’ve become a natural solution for so many people, and that’s why we’re so excited to bring this technology forward and help people,” says Slade. “So as long as you are eating properly and taking in all those nutrients, the brain’s pharmacy will go to work reproducing the compounds, healing the skin, healing the body, reducing inflammation, and bringing you back into balance.

Because at the end of the day, the body always heals itself.”

But BioReigns is so much more than a CBD company. With its waterdissolvable delivery system RCT, they have cracked the code on absorption. In addition to CBD, they have various protein powders, lotions, Keto, and collagen products. “It started with CBD, but BioReigns isn’t just a CBD company. We offer lots of products that don’t contain CBD at all. We’re becoming known more as the absorption company vs. a CBD company” Slade Smiley told Top Doctor Magazine.

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An All Encompassing Approach to Healthcare

By Brianna Connors

About Dr. Robert “Bob” Vadovic Dr. Robert "Bob" Vadovic is a Nurse Practitioner with a Ph.D. in Nursing Practice.

He started as an Office Provider at Intermountain Healthcare and is currently the Medical Director for High Risk and APPs and Program Director for the APP Fellowship Program for about a year and a half.

Teamwork and Telehealth When COVID-19 took over, and everyone was scared to leave their houses, health care providers had to get creative and think of other ways to assist their patients. That's what gave rise to telehealth.

Dr. Vadovic mentions that what they once took for granted became the linchpin to providing proper care for their patients - and that is teamwork. "We are now more reliant on each other to get moving and help everybody," he says. Dr. Vadovic, who oversees all the APPs in Las Vegas, understood the importance of increasing touchpoints from people. From the medical assistants to the case managers, everyone in the team had the initiative to reach out to their patients to make sure they have what they need.

Social Determinants of Health Despite the convenience that telehealth has given many people, unfortunately, some individuals don't have access to it. Dr. Vadovic admits that they still struggle with reaching some of their patients because they don't have a smartphone or computer or don't know how to use it.

"I think the biggest issue that I have seen is that this has brought out the social determinants of health to the forefront. It really separates people that have the ability to meet their needs versus those that don't," Dr. Vadovic shares with Top Doctor Magazine. It can be frustrating for Dr. Vadovic and the rest of his likes to be unable to provide the care that their patients deserve.

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Rationality and Continuous Education It has now come to a point where many people, especially the younger generation, have grown tired of staying indoors. Many of them resumed their pre-pandemic lifestyle because they see themselves healthy even after catching the virus. However, most of these young folks go home to see their parents and grandparents - who, unfortunately, will not be as healthy if the virus hits them. Dr. Vadovic even mentions that the ICUs of their partner hospitals in Utah have become occupied by mostly parents or grandparents affected by the virus that their children brought home.

To manage or prevent this occurrence, Dr. Vadovic believes that more awareness on this issue is vital, without, however, insisting on these points due to both sides' heavy biases. Instead, we should lead the conversation with rationality. "It has to be a rational two-way conversation where each side is allowed to give their thoughts and feelings and come to a common solution," he emphasizes.

Health Care For The Masses "I really do believe and see that population health - that encompassing a holistic approach to health care, where we take care of the masses and provide the care that they need to do well broadly rather than on just specific issues, is how patients are gonna do well," stresses Dr. Bob Vadovic. He would love to see more support going to social determinants to make a more significant impact on patients who need help the most. Luckily, Las Vegas has many non-profit organizations that are willing to help out.

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Telehealth Is Here To Stay Telehealth has made medical care so much more accessible to thousands of people especially those who get into a hassle because of transportation and work shifts. Now, people can access care at odd hours because telehealth is available 24/7. Although it still does not replace face-to-face check-ups and examinations, still, it's an excellent substitute for when you need to see your doctor for consultations. "I see telehealth staying. It was forced upon us due to necessity, and I don't see it going away. I think it's the way of the future," Dr. Vadovic expresses.

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A Healthy Lifestyle & Longer Life

By Brianna Connors

Dr. Harpreet Tsui is a board-certified internal and obesity medicine specialist whose number one passion lies in being a mom to her four and six-year-old sons. However, ever since she was four years old, her initial first love was the desire to become a doctor. That young age is when she started imagining herself in her doctor position.

Later, Dr. Tsui discovered another passion while attending her third year of medical school- compassion for people. Whenever she shares her experience during her first set of hospital rotations, she is always excited to talk about how she fell in love with getting to know patients and their families.

While doing her residency in internal medicine in Las Vegas, NV, Dr. Tsui developed a strong interest in obesity medicine. She further pursued it and was boarded in obesity medicine last year. Nowadays, Dr. Tsui benefits from combining internal and obesity medicine in her practice.

Aside from training, Dr. Tsui felt the need to experience a different approach to patient care. For that reason, she recently left a huge hospital-owned company for a different practice: Health4Life (a concierge medical practice). There, she's now the medical director. While grateful for the knowledge gained from the previous experiences, she was happy to leave behind certain obstacles like limitations on her sessions' length and frequency, which prevented her from better assisting and discussing more with patients. Since becoming a part of the Health4Life team as an obesity medicine specialist, she receives the leisure, the freedom, and the opportunity to spend more time with her patients, something she had deeply desired.

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Preventative and Lifestyle Medicine Nowadays, Dr. Tsui focuses on disease prevention with preventative medicine. She wants to help prevent people from having to go to the hospital in the first place (if at all possible) with proper nutrition and self-care.

With strong beliefs that a healthy lifestyle can lead to a longer life, Dr. Tsui addresses what lifestyle medicine is. While many simply define lifestyle as “how one lives their life”, there is far more nuance to the practice of lifestyle medicine. Dr. Tsui bases it on the following: being conscious of what you're eating, how you are sleeping, how active you are, enjoying good mental health, and plant-based eating.

Dr. Tsui believes that being more active (working out, for instance) with a combination of plant-based eating will keep both the mind and body healthy. She says plant-based eating is remarkably helpful, something most people acknowledge although rarely practice. She further explains how many former nutrition patients find it difficult to keep track of food logs. Even though some patients may provide pictures, patients tend to hesitate to share what they’ve truly consumed. She encourages patients to tell her everything regarding their nutrition to assure them the best help possible. Dr. Tsui stresses that when her patients are transparent about their meal selections, it will only help them experience the best results and success in achieving their nutritional and lifestyle goals. She also reassures them that it's acceptable to have an occasional “guilty pleasure” -the problem is not sweet. Rather, the problem would be allowing indulgences to become habitual.

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Telemedicine Dr. Tsui believes telemedicine is here to stay. She says that it is approximately 60% efficient unless one is experiencing specific symptoms, such as chest pain. Still, she believes it's great for so many people with varying backgrounds and lifestyles: stay-athome parents, young people, and people who love to travel, as Dr. Tsui does!

COVID-19 Though Dr. Tsui's love for her profession runs deep, she explains how the COVID-19 pandemic has been taking a toll on doctors and their loved ones as they found themselves working significantly longer hours. She agrees that things would be better if we were a healthier nation, as outbreaks wouldn't be as high. Despite everything going on in the world due to COVID-19, she states that the pandemic has taught her a lot. Although there's much controversy regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, she shares her feelings of excitement about it.

I Was Just Your Guide!

With never-ending compassion for her patients, their suffering, their obstacles, and a drive to guide patients every step of the way, Dr. Tsui carefully takes her time to partner with every individual on their journey. She encourages patients to know that she's here to be a guide to the community, as she loves telling them: "Look, you had this problem, and we fixed it...together, but you did all of the work, and I was just your guide!"

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VACCINES, THE FUTURE OF MEDICAL EDUCATION, AND THE REALITY OF REIMBURSEMENT S: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. THOMAS D'AMATO

By Brianna Connors 17

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Armed with an impressive scientific education, cardiovascular & thoracic specialty, and experience as Ship's Surgeon on the USS Enterprise, Dr. Thomas d'Amato of Las Vegas has seen plenty of ups and downs in the medical community. However, no amount of training, experience, and notable repute could have prepared him and his colleagues for the COVID-19 pandemic. The year 2020 has been full of reflection on the past, present, and future – and Dr. d'Amato has valuable insight on how COVID-19 has affected his field, the current state of elective cases and vaccines, the future of medical education, and the reality of reimbursements.

Regarding the pandemic, coronavirus hit close to home. "I got COVID," Dr. d'Amato shared in an interview. "It was very mild symptoms. I had monoclonal antibodies, so things continued to be mild… My symptoms were a little bit of fatigue and anosmia – inability to smell." Dr. d'Amato explained how he had caught COVID right before Thanksgiving, a time where cases were spiking in the U.S. But even now, months later, he is still feeling the effects of the sickness. "It's getting a little bit better,"

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He said about his anosmia. "But we [in healthcare] are not immune to getting [COVID]."

However, for Dr. d'Amato, his own experience with the novel virus is the least of his worries. Amongst his concerns, he finds that current conditions make it increasingly challenging for doctors to establish a meaningful relationship with their patients during a time when patients need their doctors more than ever. Dr. d'Amato explained the strategy used to determine between essential and nonessential procedures: "You define cases… as elective, meaning someone can recover at home, whereas urgent is… where it's probably unsafe to let them go home. Emergent is taking them to the operating room as soon as you can.

And salvage is someone you're not going to take to the emergency room and isn't going to make it." Because of COVID, many states are urging that people who would qualify as "elective cases" stay away from hospitals and doctors so as not to overwhelm hospital beds and to help slow the spread.

However, with private practices such as Dr. d'Amato's, this has become a challenge. "We are way behind with what you would call an elective case.

[For example] we usually do a fair amount of aortic dissections, and we're just not seeing that amount now."

Additionally, Dr. d'Amato explained that many of his patients fall into the 3rd category of "emergent," where "patients suffer life or limb loss if you don't operate on them within the cardiovascular specialty."

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But even getting those patients into the hospital has proven to be complicated. He explains, "The challenge that all of us have is getting these patients into the hospital. There's some supposition… that patients are dying at home where they're ignoring symptoms because they're afraid to come to the hospital."

He shared. "I think that's challenging from both a fiscal and being-able-to-provide-goodpatient-care standpoint." However, the solution isn't as easy as simply resuming practice as usual: "There's different issues that occur, it can be hospital staffing, it can be hospital beds, it can be O.R. staffing, nursing staffing, any one of those things depends on where we are on the curve for this pandemic. It changes."

Nonetheless, Dr. d'Amato is cautiously optimistic that the vaccine is a promise for better days ahead. "We want to start knocking out those elective cases as soon as possible, as soon as we have light at the end of the tunnel, and so far, it's getting a little better." He says, stressing the importance of treating elective cases before they worsen. "I think, since the vaccine's coming, people are hoping it'll make a big difference."

Having received his Bachelors of Science in Microbiology & Cell Biology plus a Ph.D. in Biological Science, Dr. d'Amato is personally very interested in the mechanisms behind the COVID vaccines. "I keep up with some of this, I speak the language, and I'm not very concerned." He said. When asked about people's hesitations about the vaccines, he replied, "I'm a big proponent of the two vaccines which are out now [Moderna and Pfizer], but I can't comment on all of them." He went on to explain more about how the vaccine works: "I think it's a very amazing, novel thing that they 1093

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did regarding these RNA vaccines regarding Moderna and Pfizer. Our RNA's are very fragile macromolecules that get chewed up very easily by enzymes that we have, and they're ubiquitous all over…the lipid nanoparticles are just a way to get it into our muscle cells that translate into our mRNA and turn it into a protein, a spike protein. And we excrete the spike protein, which is foreign to our bodies, and we make antibodies against it."

From his personal experience, the only people he knows who've had adverse reactions are people who've had COVID and have gotten sick for a few days, plus arm soreness. Other than that, though, he says, "I think enough people have had this to show it's safe…what they're putting in your arm will eventually go away. I'm encouraging people to get it."

However, Dr. d'Amato warns against an early victory and quickly returning to normal. Even with the vaccine, he asks, "Who knows how

long immunity will last?... It will be interesting. Is it going to be the 'be all that end all'? Probably not, but it's going to slow it down."

Will a COVID world of social distancing, quarantining, shutdowns, and online everything be the "new normal"? Dr. d'Amato doesn't quite think so. "My opinion on that is very simplistic. I think that when I was a kid growing up, my mom used to tell me to wash my hands, don't touch your face, stay away from people who are sick, wash your hands a lot. And I think we've lost those things. That's what we need to teach our kids from the time they're toddlers. That ought to be the new normal, to keep your environment, hands, face, food, drink – all that clean, and try to stay away from sick people." He credits the low rate of influenza to people being more conscious about hygiene and cleanliness. "And I think that's despite this year's flu shot…why? I can speculate. People are washing their 04 20

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hands, staying away from sick people, not touching their faces, basic things. It's amazing how those simple things might make a difference."

As for technology, the online world, and virtual networking, Dr. d'Amato thinks those changes are here to stay, evolve, and revolutionize learning, particularly for the medical industry. Today, medical students are using technology, simulations, and the virtual world as a significant part of their education – even more than before with the rise of distance learning. For some, simulations and virtual experiments are entirely replacing the classroom. While this offers promising technological gain, it also has its downsides: "What worries me is some of the technology that we are using ends up being a crutch, and we end up not knowing how to do things... I hate to say this... the old fashioned way." Dr. d'Amato warns. "When I was in academia, we had residents and students learning from us. And I would tell them I was going to 'hit them with a secret weapon' and they would ask me 'what's the secret weapon?'…It was the physical. [But now] we're losing the handson part, and I'm not sure a lot of that is going to come back."

"Learning will change." Dr. d'Amato promises. "[Technology] is going to improve, it's going to keep getting better…Management of people with stents has improved, medications have improved, you can't deny the ethical value of some of the cholesterollowering drugs and those things." He points to the COVID vaccine as yet another example of how incredibly beneficial technology has been and shares his hope that this is only the beginning. But on the other hand, he still wholeheartedly believes in the importance of real, hands-on work: "You're not going to be able to do [everything] virtually. You can do simulations, but it's not the same. Yes, some of the simulations are really good, and they do help. Sometimes I'm like, 'Oh wow, I wish I had that,' but you don't come out of medical school knowing how to operate. And you're certainly not going to have the judgment for that." His biggest worry is that virtual will gradually chip away at the patient-doctor relationship, which has already been strained. "Nothing beats going to the patient bedside and learning from the patient. But that's kind of gone away."

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Additionally, medical reimbursements have been a particular difficulty for doctors this year, adding to the already-challenging private practice field. Dr. d'Amato compares the medical business to an airline business – they're both highly-reliable organizations held to high-quality standards.

However, Dr. d'Amato notices a big difference: "We have biological entities in it." He states. And in order to fulfill the high-quality standards and maintain the best patient-doctor relationship -- "well, what's disheartening is that all costs money."

Dr. d'Amato explains that doctors cannot write off what they don't collect, and overall reimbursements have gone down. "The reimbursements are incredibly much much lower than when I started and definitely lower than when my specialty started.

And your big concern is that there's going to be a massive collapse of private industry in medicine, and it'll be completely controlled… for good or bad reasons."

Dr. d'Amato foresees that if things don't change soon, the private medical industry may indeed collapse: "It gets to a point where you won't even be able to turn your lights on. It's going to be almost impossible to do that in the future. [Private collapse] may not be the worst thing in the world if it's done properly…but the whole quality issue, that's hard."

Dr. d'Amato explains that physical location, loyalty to one's practice, and doctors being stretched thin due to finances has been difficult for some private practices. "Higher tax burdens, lower reimbursements, these are negatively going to affect most of us."

The fancy dream of the medical field being a life of luxury is no longer the case. "The billionaire doctor doesn't exist anymore." Dr. d'Amato says. The fact

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that medical school is so expensive and the real world is becoming increasingly costly adds up. And Dr. d'Amato is especially worried about how this too will affect patientdoctor relationships. "[Some doctors] have to see 35 patients a day to make ends meet, and they're not bringing home a lot of money…but nonetheless, they can't turn on the lights if they don't see 35 patients a day. But how can you spend quality time with 35 patients a day? You can't, and that's worrisome."

Like the entire world, the medical community is facing a significant change in the traditional status quo. New challenges, hopes, dreams, problems, and solutions are popping up left and right. From COVID to vaccines to technology to finances, doctors have had to juggle handfuls in 2020. Still, Dr. d'Amato believes that the transition from the usual to the new doesn't have to be one of the challenges. "We need to have mentors, lifelong mentors, and colleagues that can mentor you," He advises young people going into the medical community. "Mentorship programs, mentorship philosophy…everyone has something they can bring to the table." He once again emphasizes the importance of the patient-doctor relationship, saying that it is a priority above all: "Nothing substitutes number of patients that you see and what you observe. That's kind of my old-fashioned take on this. But it's important... Haha! I hate to say it. I never thought I'd call myself old fashioned."

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The Benefits of Hypnotherapy for Giving Birth: An Interview with Nicole McDonagh

By Oyalola Lateef

Introduction Relax, put your mind at ease, and visualize yourself achieving the imaginable. You can also concentrate on the mundane— like flannel or the clouds, while you dull every other sound around you. Sometimes, it numbs the pain and anxiety; other times, it makes you feel like you are in control. Sound familiar? The above are different analyses of hypnotherapy. We spoke with Nicole McDonagh, a professional clinical counselor, trauma focus therapist, and childbirth educator with more than ten years of experience. Nicole is a UNLV graduate and the founder of Mental Edge Therapy—a firm dedicated to helping people take control of their circumstances through psychotherapy.

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“I have always done trauma focus therapy,” says Nicole. 'With Covid and everything else, I realized that, “Okay, there is a calling for helping expecting moms with dealing with all the anxiety and stress that naturally comes with being pregnant.”

The Global Pandemic stretched the United States’ healthcare system beyond measures in 2020; many pregnant women would inadvertently feel unsafe in hospitals. Childbirth is painful, stressful, and can have unexpected consequences—even in the most controlled environment, let alone in an environment plagued with coronavirus fears and life uncertainties.

“The unknown can be frustrating. No one knows anything about what,” said Nicole. The tensions of the unknown, the increased level of stress, and fears led Nicole to herald her practice dedicated to helping expecting mothers alleviate some of those anxieties and achieve 'peace of mind.’

Nicole, however, did not begin her career as a childbirth therapist. “It all started with hypnotherapy.” She claims. “After I was hypnotized on the Las Vegas Strip, my professor asked me, ‘Have you ever thought about being a hypnotherapist?’

Following that, I went to the first nationally accredited school of hypnosis and did two years there.' 'I had to get certain amounts of hours to get certified.”

Hypnotherapy, also known as guided Hypnosis, uses relaxation, intense attention, and deep concentration to achieve a heightened state of consciousness.

Hypnotherapy essentially puts you in an 'altered state of awareness.'

Hypnosis, a form of psychotherapy, is used by hypnotherapists to push their clients into a hypnotic state—or a trance. In this state, clients are able to access recessed memories buried in the unconscious mind.

Some of these memories may stem from painful and traumatic experiences that have been wholly repressed from the conscious mind.

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A hypnotherapist will often help a client gain a different outlook on life and experience circumstances from a different perspective. For example, a patient can be made to re-experience a seemingly painful incident —but this time, from a truthful acceptance of the pain followed by the power that comes from surviving the pain.

Hypnosis is powerful, and in all instances, a client will become open to a psychologist and follow the psychologist's instructions. While Hypnosis is an excellent tool used by psychotherapists to help their clients overcome anxiety, fears, doubt, pain, and bad habits like drinking and smoking, the field certainly comes with its risks. One of such risks is that Hypnosis is not licensed, making it impossible for hypnotherapists to insure themselves if there is an accident or a lawsuit.

Nicole says, “I cannot take insurance, so there were moments of doubt.”On her journey to becoming a psychotherapist, “I went back to school to become a nurse, but I did not like biology. Somehow, I found myself in counseling, and that was a big fascination.”

“I studied Psychology and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Minor Addiction Treatment Studies. I went to UNLV, and here I am.”

According to Nicole, a pregnant friend she met during her CPC internship led to an 'epiphany’ moment. She immediately recognized her path to specialize in hypnobirthing when she helped her friend through the fears. “I first became certified in childbirth education in 2014, but I focused more on people with anxiety. As a hypnobirthing professional, helping mothers give birth to their babies, removing the placenta, and putting the baby on the breast is ‘fascinating.’”

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Childbirth can be scary. There are many uncertainties, and medical professionals must make the patient feel like she is in control. Hypnobirthing does not necessarily replace traditional science and medicine in childbirth; instead, it complements other medical personnel's efforts. “Education is great.” A mother who understands why she feels what she feels is better equipped to fight the pain and push the baby into this world.

Traumatic experiences from previous deliveries, unexpected complications, pain, fear, doubt, anxiety, and a general lack of emotional support can lead to an accumulation of stress—which is terrible for the mother and child. As a childbirth educator, Nicole is keen on ensuring that her patients understand precisely what is going on. Education eases fears and anxieties—in turn, reducing trauma. “A lot of trauma happens during birthing when there isn't sufficient education. It can be scary 'when you are in the hospital, and they are doing many things, and no one can explain what is going on.” \With education, a patient will feel more in control. In any birthing environment, a patient should get at least a minute of uninterrupted explanation of what is going on and how she should prepare. If the doctors cannot spare the minute, a patient will feel like there is an emergency—and these feelings only build up stress levels. “When you are stressed, you lose everything. Contraction occurs and you clench. You should relax.

Hypnosis can help a patient relax.”

Hypnotherapy in childbirth takes a patient's mind away from stressors and pain and helps them relax and allow the process to take over seamlessly. When a patient feels in control, she is better equipped to give birth smoothly—and even if there are This year has been hard for all of us in many to ways, yet we must to keep our eyes complications, her mind is better equipped fight, survive, andcontinue give birth. on the future and the areas in our lives we control.

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“I use hypnotherapy as a modality for my client.” Nicole says. “Hypnosis is a higher form of learning. You are driving home, and you do not remember the drive; instead, you are thinking about grocery.” Driving—just like many other activities we do, is automatic.

When you focus on the action, you become stressed out, and the action becomes painful.

Try to concentrate on blinking, and it becomes hard to blink. Hypnotherapy helps put your mind at ease by shifting your focus to an entirely different activity.

Other than childbirth education and hypnobirthing, Nicole has many other clients with different issues. She tells us that some of her clients are afraid of the mall. “Every time they go to the store, they have a panic attack.”

Nicole’s process is to bring up the dreaded emotion so that the clients will come face-toface with their fears. Once a client can get in touch with his fears and anxiety, “we give them another emotion.”

According to Nicole, one cannot have a negative and a positive emotion simultaneously, “so, I will have to bring up one emotion and bring down the second emotion.”

Human psychology is like two sides of the same coin: there are relationships between people's interpretation of experiences, yet for others, the same experience can have very different meanings. If a puppy walks into a room, it can be a positive emotion for a person yet a negative emotion for another person. If a person identifies a puppy with negativity, each time he encounters a puppy, the negativity solidifies. And it is the same for people who have positive emotions.

A practical example is one of Nicole’s clients, a gymnast, who could not do a backflip after having a previous accident on the high beam. Every time she thought about the impossibility of a backflip, doing it became impossible. Nicole helped her “backflip over and over again in her mind.”

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“It is like perception and visualization,” and there is no concept of time. During a hypnosis session, a client can be made to achieve the things he believes he cannot. It does not matter if graduating law school will take five years; in your mind, you can achieve it over and over again within a 1-hour hypnosis session.

With the Global Pandemic ravaging most of 2020 and ensuring a lockdown of nonessential businesses, we wanted to know how Nicole coped. “A lot of therapy is online at the moment because most of my clients are not comfortable with, or it is not convenient for them, coming into the office.” Nicole says, “It is still a process working on the effectiveness of Hypnosis and hypnotherapy through online medium.”

Hypnobirthing is a field without many scientific studies. An NHS-funded research team studied a randomized selection of 680 women in 2013. Results were not conclusive enough to support or debase hypnobirthing's general effectiveness; that is, it may work on a patient and be ineffective on another patient. While NHS’s research may be inconclusive, it is essential to understand that hypnobirthing puts a woman in control of the birth process and gives her a higher chance of having a successful birth—even if there are complications.

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Kian Karimi Spotlight Cosmetic surgery

By Brianna Connors

After graduating from dental school, Dr. Roxarzade set the foundation for his own medical practice in Beverly Hills from scratch. The first few years were riddled with hard work and long hours. “For the first few years of my practice was absolutely tough, I worked every day, seven days a week.” However, these shortcomings were not going to break Dr. Roxarzade’s determination. He took it upon himself to treat every patient as his own mother or father and make a real difference while making money a secondary priority. “Whatever it was, I made sure I kept reinvesting and learned more and more.”

He tells us that keeping up with all the updates surrounding dentistry is the mark of a professional, humble practitioner. “You cannot rely on what you have learned or stop learning. Learning to me is a lifelong journey. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. One of my keys to success is that I am humble and hungry and want to learn.”

In Development "At the time, it was a bit of a risk," Karimi said regarding bringing PDO threads into popularity.

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After facing concerns about the non-surgical procedures and meeting with international doctors to study their techniques, Karimi became excited about the PDO thread's potential. "Once the PDO thread gets metabolized by the skin, it undergoes an amazing callogenesis response, increasing up to 20 times the concentration of type 1 collagen... weeks and months after the thread lift is performed," Karimi said. "It's really the gift that keeps on giving."

Karimi and his team continue to search for ways to innovate in the aesthetic space of cosmetic surgery. He is currently looking at PRFs, which inject one's red blood cells to heal wounds and create aesthetic enhancements. This autologous therapy and others strike Karimi as promising for effective natural ways to help people achieve their desired aesthetic.

Putting Your Best Face Forward The pandemic created a sudden, increased demand for cosmetic surgery. Karimi describes this occurrence as people being forced to look into the digital mirror, with increased Zoom and FaceTime usage.

"I think people are really realizing the impact that our expressions have, our words have, and our appearance has on others both personally and professionally," Karimi said.

"If you put your best forward," he continued, "then it can really positively impact those around you in all aspects of your life."

With his work gaining momentum in the aesthetic space, Dr. Kian Karimi shows the beauty of helping people recover from past surgeries or regain their confidence. His growing clientele and visibility indicate that he has found something that resonates with people: personal fulfillment through aesthetic expressions.

If you would like to read more about Dr. Kian Karimi, you can visit his website here. You can also read more about the boom in the cosmetic surgery industry here.

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Profile Spotlight: Dr. Javaid Khan

By Brianna Connors

About Dr. Javaid Khan Dr. Javaid Khan, DO, is board-certified in two different specialties: Internal Medicine and Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He went on to medical school at Touro University in Henderson, Nevada, and then completed his 4-year residency at the Johns Hopkins University-Sinai Hospital Program in Baltimore, Maryland. He then completed his fellowship at Nova Southeastern University, located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Currently, Dr. Khan is working with the Kaiser Permanente Group, specifically the Permanente Medical Group (TPMG), covering California’s Northern Bay area, particularly Marin and Sonoma County. He has been heading the office for the Allergy Department for five years now.

The Health Effects of California Wildfires With Dr. Javaid Khan growing up in Claremont, California, he is not a stranger to the area’s notorious wildfires. Dr. Khan shares that his childhood home almost got burned down due to a wildfire that got a little too close.

When asked about the effects of the recent forest fires on people’s health, Dr. Khan reports that there has been a notable increase in patients with sinus problems and respiratory conditions related to low air quality.

Immune Targeted Treatments Dr. Khan boasts that most medical advancements are coming from the field of Allergy and Immunology. “A lot of Ph.D. lab researchers are developing novel cancer treatments that use different immune responses to treat different types of cancers in a very targeted way,” he tells Top Doctor Magazine.

In his field, Dr. Khan and his colleagues use a similar immune-targeted therapy to treat patients with chronic hives (which people didn’t have treatments for in the past) and develop new medications to treat severe sinus disease, severe eczema, and severe asthma.

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Kaiser’s Response to Covid-19 and Thinking Forward Kaiser Permanente shows commendable action not only with the crazy wildfires but also with the onset of COVID-19. Dr. Khan happily shares that Kaiser has been very proactive during the whole COVID crisis. He mentions that they were one of the first to provide drive-thru COVID testing, as well as participate in the clinical trials of the Pfizer vaccine. And, aside from rigorously practicing all the safety and health protocols, Kaiser also quadrupled their bed capacity in their hospitals.

Furthermore, Dr. Khan mentions that Kaiser has already been doing telemedicine for a fairly long time and is quite familiar with the whole process of telephone and video appointments - so much so that they developed their unique platform for these appointments. They also created an app called ‘My Doctor Online’ where people can access all their medical history, tests, notes, etc., and order prescriptions and have them delivered right to their doorstep. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Kaiser also developed an app called ‘Cortext’ wherein people can text doctors for any medicalrelated questions. The future is digital, and so Dr. Khan believes all of these are here to stay.

The Financial Effects of Covid-19 to Kaiser Because of Kaiser Permanente’s well-thought-of implementation of their membership and health plan, it comes as no surprise that they are doing well financially compared to other hospitals that might have suffered some financial losses. Another bonus is that Medicare and other medical insurance companies are willing to reimburse for video appointments, Dr. Khan states.

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Get the Correct Information With the vaccine coming out, tons of misinformation is being circled online. “I’ve been getting a lot of emails about the COVID vaccine: Is there a microchip in it? Or is it going to alter my DNA and become a permanent part of my DNA?” shares Dr. Khan. These are all false, and a lot of them stem from conspiracy theories. That is why Dr. Khan says, “With regards to vaccines and health care, one of the things that I think needs to be emphasized is communicating directly with your doctor and looking at validated sources.” Some examples of where to find credible sources are articles published by the New England Journal of Medicine, CBC, and FDA, as suggested by Dr. Khan.

Getting the correct information and looking up at proper vaccination guidelines could also stop people from being afraid of the vaccine. Dr. Khan explains that people are scared of the mRNA vaccine because it’s relatively new. However, mRNA technology has already been used before. To explain, this type of vaccine uses our cellular machinery to produce a protein to which our immune system can then form antibodies. With the 94% effectiveness shown in data, he believes that there is no contraindication for people to receive the vaccine unless stated otherwise by their physician.

Don’t Forget Your Yearly Check-ups A parting reminder from Dr. Javaid Khan is to seek medical and preventive care when appropriate. “We are seeing a decrease in hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes because people are scared to go to the hospital because of the pandemic. That can result in permanent heart and neurological damage,” he says. He adds that they have also been seeing a dip in colonoscopies, mammograms, and other routine cancer screenings.

That is concerning for Dr. Khan, and he worries that there may be a considerable rise in metastatic cancer and late-stage cancer in the near future. That is why he encourages everyone not to be afraid to go to medical centers and get their check-ups as the centers have a reliable system in place to lower the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

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THIS DISEASE KILLS ONE AMERICAN EVERY 36-SECONDS AND HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING TO YOU: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. KATHLEEN BENSON

By Brianna Connors And no, we aren’t talking about COVID here 2 as terrible as that disease is… today we’re interviewing Dr. Kathleen Benson 6 is an interventional cardiologist on who her insights into the COVID-19 pandemic 1she’s 4 battling now in addition to the age4old 0 heart disease pandemic we’ve been battling since the dawn of time. Did you 4know 3 that 655,000 Americans die every year from heart disease? That’s more 5every 0 year than we’ve lost to COVID so far 5and 2 heart disease doesn’t make the headlines.

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This is not meant to downplay the severity of COVID-19 but merely to bring attention to the ongoing battles that our doctors face every day from heart disease and so many other ailments not to mention the new pandemic.

In this new and uncertain world, the medical field has done its utmost best to keep us healthy, happy, and safe to different degrees. Many physicians saw the hardships of the COVID-19 frontline, putting themselves and their families at risk to comfort patients in their hour of need. Others tried to attack the virus at its source by researching ways to eliminate it once and for all. Still other physicians, like Dr. Kathleen Benson, an interventional cardiologist with the Advanced Heart & Vascular Specialists based in Las Vegas, thinks that people require more than just hospital treatment or a vaccine to keep their guard up in this battle: "I think that's going to be one of our biggest concerns right now, as the pandemic rolls on: making sure that everybody is okay emotionally, because that does translate into physical health, and it affects all of us as well."

Her concern here is well-founded as stress-levels (one of the leading causes in heart disease) have been at an all-time high among the vast majority of Americans this past year.

Practicing a simple life, giving thanks for everything around you, and taking things one day at a time – this is Dr. Benson's recipe for maintaining our hope and confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her optimistic view of the world and dedication saw her patients (many with severe cardiac issues) emerge victorious out of the worst of the pandemic.

However, her role in the COVID-19 pandemic was not limited to taking her patients' best care. She went on to make sure that future generations of cardiologists learn from her example and, first, become better humans themselves. Let's tune in to Dr. Benson and know more about her own journey as an interventional cardiologist, taking care of patients during a pandemic, and learning how to live each day at a time!

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Becoming an Interventional Cardiologist From an early age, Dr. Benson knew that becoming a specialist would allow her to help more patients. However, her paths with interventional cardiology weren't always intertwined: "I did practice internal medicine for five years, but I wanted to do more for my patients, so I found that becoming a specialist allowed me to do that." After an early career spell in general internal medicine, she decided to switch towards cardiology and went through the General Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology fellowships. "It was one of the best things that I had ever done," she tells us.

However, Dr. Benson never forgot her internal medicine roots; on the contrary, she credits them as one of the main reasons she is such an accomplished practitioner today. "It sort of gives me a different perspective, and it was immensely more satisfying and intellectually stimulating." Because of this complementary experience, she manages to employ a more holistic approach to the patient's medical needs, allowing her to provide better care as a whole: "I find that I am able to, sort of, incorporate the whole patients into my clinicaldecision making as well, so, just because of the training in the Internal Medicine, which all Interventional Cardiologists do, but I practiced for five years as well."

COVID-19 and Interventional Cardiology Akin to a vast majority of physicians, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged Dr. Benson's practice immensely: "I think it's been a challenge for all health care providers, outpatient and in-patient alike. I think, initially, we didn't know how to navigate as well as we do now. Over the year, we've managed to put policies in procedures, it's becoming commonplace.

Initially, it was very hard, but it took about two or three months, and then we're sort of ramping up to speed."

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The good news is, "that initial scare has lessened for a handful of patients," she tells us. With the social distancing, mandatory masks, and CDC guidelines, many patients learned how to collaborate with physicians and staff members and overcame their fears: "Patients are feeling more comfortable making sure that they're taking care of their health."

Patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic When asked about how she dealt with patient care during the pandemic's first months, Dr. Benson admits that it wasn't a walk in the park. Since her field deals with cardiac issues, patients were more reluctant to expose themselves to the virus. Furthermore, the anxiety and depression following prolonged homestay have exacerbated several of her patients' symptoms, such as increased blood pressure.

While she admits that working in these conditions can be challenging, Dr. Benson found the proper method for her patients. Using telehealth, she managed to keep a closer eye on her stable patients, checking their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. However, she says that this method's area of effect is limited to stable patients only. When asked about the platform that she uses, she pointed to the doxy.me, a text-messaging platform.

What Makes Dr. Benson Excited about Interventional Cardiology?

All the difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic aside, Dr. Benson's excitement to return to the office every day is sky-high. The immediate gratification from helping a patient and the intellectual stimulation are the two rewards she could never let go of

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"For cardiologists, it's an immediate gratification, clogged arteries that become open, chest pain resolve, and the patient turns the corner, for the most part. We go into medicine for lots of different reasons, then we go into cardiology for even more reasons than that. I think that saving a life is extremely gratifying. No matter how many procedures you do, it's amazing, and I also think that the intellectual stimulation that comes with that and every case, no matter how bread-and-butter, is always different."

Aside from the immediate gratification and the intellectual stimulation, Dr. Benson finds immense joy in dealing with every patient as a unique case. "Every patient is always different, so there's always something that you could learn from each and every case."

Every single evening, she leaves the office happier, better trained, and curious about how the next day will unfold.

Debunking Medical Myths Even though she finds immense joy in practicing interventional cardiology, Dr. Benson tells us how hard hitting bumps in the road, especially in the form of medical myths, can be. She cites the example of one of her young female patients whose previous physician hesitated to attribute her symptoms to cardiac disease because it rarely happens in young patients. Once the young girl arrived at Dr. Benson’s office, she recognized the coronary artery thrombosis symptoms and had her hospitalized right away.

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This example taught Dr. Benson how hurtful medical myths can become. "It sort of highlighted the fact that they have to be careful and mindful and not sort of dismiss any symptoms in our younger patients, particularly in younger females and females in general." For that reason, she is determined to help debunk this medical myth and help female patients receive the treatment they need. "So, I think that reinforced my commitment to women and heart disease and making sure that these patients are seen and heard and taken seriously."

Preparing Future Generations of Physicians To make sure that her views and experience will change physicians' future generations and their mindset, Dr. Benson joined the UNLV School of Medicine as a teacher. Now, she has the opportunity to work with students since day 1 and model them towards better selves, better practice, and a better world.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck the world, learning was accomplished more and more in the online world. For Dr. Benson and her generation, becoming quickly tech-savvy didn't come as naturally. Still, with IT experts and state-of-theart technology, she managed to transition to online teaching seamlessly.

She remembers the days when online learning was a futuristic thought: "From my perspective when I was in medical school, I don't think there was anything called online learning at all other than programs that you had on a floppy disk that you entered into a computer." Nowadays, although the advances in technology and the access to information have sharply increased, Dr. Benson believes that some aspects of teaching cannot be conveyed online: "Having everything computerbased, I think that's a great supplement, but, in my opinion, it doesn't fully replace in-person experience. I think we're also seeing that with the trainee generation, where some of them are lamenting not having the in-person experience." Her honest hope is that, once the pandemic is over, we as a society will find an appropriate way to harness the benefits of both inperson and online learning together.

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Preparing Future Generations of Physicians As the end of 2020 was nearing, the month of December brought the best gift we could ask for: both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines received their FDA authorization. For a festive spirit as Dr. Benson's, this news came as a blessing. "I think the biggest concern is making sure that everyone gets vaccinated and that there's not going to be a new variant that requires a new vaccine." While she doubts vaccinating pregnant women, she firmly believes that there is no reason for us to refuse the vaccine.

Furthermore, her hope is that the new White House administration will learn from past mistakes and lead the concerted effort towards neutralizing the COVID-19 virus.

As the vaccine takes care of the physical side of the issue, Dr. Benson believes that staying confident in this uncertain world will help us get through the pandemic together.

While being fully aware that this is not an easy process, she wants us to take things one at a time: "I was reading an article about how they got through the Great Depression and WW2 and, you know, many persons did exactly the same thing: one day at a time, one foot in front of the other and just keep moving." Practicing gratitude, 41

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saying 'thank you' as often as possible, laughing, respecting one another – the little things in life will help us emerge victorious from this battle. "I think that's going to be one of our biggest concerns right now, as the pandemic rolls on, is making sure that everybody emotionally is okay, because that does translate into physical health, and it affects all of us as well," she tells us while recommending yoga and meditation to her patients as a way to keep their minds afloat.

What's Next for Dr. Benson?

A challenging career, numerous patients, peace of mind – these are the things that best describe 'the present Dr. Benson.' What about 'future Dr. Benson?' "I don't know, getting through the COVID pandemic," she tells us, laughing. Although the future is shrouded in mystery, her biggest hope is to have enough time and energy to keep doing the things she loves: support her patients, develop professionally, and spread her knowledge on the cardiac disease to students, fellows, and residents alike.

Knowing her fierce dedication and relentless optimism, we can only be sure that Dr. Benson is one of the modern times' capeless heroes, fighting to keep people happy and healthy while teaching future generations to do the same!

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FRONTLINE HEROES: HOW HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ARE GIVING THEIR ALL TO KEEP US SAFE - AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ALENA BUTKEVICA

By Ionuț Gabriel Raicea In this challenging time, every small action can have significant meaning, helping us reconnect and progress in times of crisis. The coronavirus pandemic is changing our world; rather than breaking us apart, it helps people unite. As every country around the world grappled to contain the pandemic, lockdown and other restrictions were put in place, which affected every aspect of our lives.

Even with the looming exposure threat, they have been providing care to patients to the best of their ability. Even though some of their colleagues are becoming infected and dying from COVID-19 related complications, these amazing heroes decided to put their lives on the line honoring their oaths in a time of great need.

Even though restrictions were put in place to contain the virus, the pandemic still ravaged. As a result, over 400,000 people have died from COVID-19 related complications. As many people gladly embrace the work-from-home option and adhere to the social distance rules to avoid exposure to the virus, healthcare providers are bravely leading the charge.

"[During the lockdown] many businesses closed, but we didn't because we do emergency care for people who have trauma ,and we attended to other things that need to be addressed. Since the hospitals were busy at the time, we got the approval to work.

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Dr. Alena disclosed while recounting her experience during the lockdown.

Dr. Alena Butkevica, a Dental Surgeon, CEO, and leading researcher at AB BioInnovations in Huntington Station, New York, started practicing over 30 years ago. The Latvian relocated to the United States in 1998 to learn dental implants hoping to provide care to people experiencing different dental complications. Dr. Alena ended up in Boston University for her postgraduate training in Prosthodontics and Implantology, and she has performed over fifteen thousand surgical procedures.

While discussing the COVID-19 impact on her practice with TopDoctor Magazine, the award-winning physician said, "Absolutely, we have always been making changes to make sure that patients are safe. As we were trained, every patient presents a threat of infection like hepatitis, HIV, and AIDS. We are always very cautious to protect ourselves and the patients from cross-contamination.

Therefore, we were always prepared even before COVID-19. There are rules and regulations like measuring temperature and all. Also, everything is tested and sterilized, and we have a system where people only go one way, meaning patients will come in one way and exit the other way to avoid contact."

Even though they have a 15-minute timeframe to disinfect everything in the room before attending to the next patient, Dr. Alena told us that her staff's stress has been immense. "We never had such long breaks in-between patients, now my doctors and I have a lot of free time between patients. But we still have to keep ourselves safe by wearing a mask. To avoid exposure to COVID-19, now, we wear masks, face shields, and magnifying globes. Actually, working the whole day with the mask, face shield, and magnifying globes is now difficult because protective gear makes it difficult to breathe. At the end of the day, everyone has circles under their eyes as a result of the stress. I made a decision that every doctor should work one day less so that they can recover from the stress."

While still facing uncertainties, Dr. Alena was continually brainstorming ways to help people and provide the best care to her patients during her free time.

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"[During the lockdown] practice slowed down tremendously because people don't go out for treatment as long as they are not desperately in need of surgery or treatment, which is good for me because I could concentrate my energy and time towards research. You know, apart from the social distancing and not being able to do surgical work, this pandemic time, for me, has been very productive because I was laserfocused on what I was doing pre-pandemic. In this kind of time when I can't go out and do so much, I can use the time to do research and development, intellectual properties, product development. All these take time, and this is the best time to do it. I didn't rest at all. All the time I had was spent on creative work."

While expressing optimism regarding the monumental effort on the successful work on vaccine development, Andrew Cuomo, the New York governor, said, "This is the weapon that is going to win the war." Although the vaccine is an outstanding achievement, it is only the first step in a global mass immunization process that will not instantly end the pandemic. Even though the vaccine will help control the infection's harmful effects and limit its spread, bringing the virus under control will likely take a few years.

Vaccination is a part of a multi-faceted public response to the emergence of pandemic illness. Pandemic diseases have swept through the human population since the beginning of time. For example, the bubonic plague, also known as Black Death, killed about 75 million people in Europe in the 1300s, while the 19181919 influenza killed 50-70 million people globally. Researchers are known to develop influenza vaccines to mitigate the spread of a circulating virus but never before in the history of pandemics have researchers been caught off-guard, as we saw during COVID-19.

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"I agree that a vaccine is one great way to avoid COVID-19. What if there is COVID-20, for example? We don't have a new vaccine. We might have COVID today, but we don't know what will happen in January or what the next virus will be. Is it going to be a mutation of COVID or a new virus? We have flu shots every year because we do have flu every year. Every year we do have a different virus. It is very good if we could predict the next virus that will be out in the air," she said.

Dr. Alena further explained: "Apart from having a vaccine, we know that every year we have a new virus. There are many different viruses; every winter comes with a different virus. People have predicted COVID, but we don't know exactly what will happen."

Even though the vaccine will be a great help, Dr. Alena said that everybody's primary duty is to stay healthy: "The body's natural defense mechanism, which is typically strong, can fight. Statistically, most people who died of COVID had some other additional existing health problems. What I am seeing from a general medical standpoint is the need to eat good food, stay warm, and have a lot of sleep. The less stress there is, the higher the body's self-defense level.

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If you are completely exhausted, and you run yourself down with stress, you are much likely to get infected rather than if you are healthy, sleep well, and eat healthy and proper nourishing food. These are general basic health rules which apply to everybody at any circumstances. People who maintain this kind of balance in their life are healthier, and others who don't subject their bodies to disharmony, which makes them susceptible to health challenges. The major message right now for everybody is that you should keep yourself healthy."

Before responding to the question regarding her plans for the New Year, Dr. Alena sighed and told us that she had so much to do that she couldn't remember when she last had a vacation. "Right now, I am working on a broad spectrum of antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory products. For example, we are doing final testing for psoriasis cream before it will be made available for public use once it is ready. " Dr. Alena's dedication and selfless effort to provide care throughout the lockdown period is a testament to how we should admire our physicians for their sacrifices. "Knowing that I can help people avoid suffering is a huge motivation for me to keep going." Dr. Alena concluded.

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FRONTLINE HEROES: SACRIFICE AND DEDICATION ACROSS THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY - AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. KENDRICK JOHNSON

By Ionuț Gabriel Raicea The COVID-19 pandemic is upending life on a global level. The highly infectious disease, which was first seen in Wuhan, China, has spread across multiple countries globally, causing a devastating health crisis in its wake. In less than a year, the virus has killed over 2 million people, with over 450,000 succumbing to pandemic-related complications in the United States. As the virus-related death toll continues to mount, health care providers are courageously taking on the risk by helping patients recover amid medical equipment shortages.

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Apparently, the pandemic has taken a toll on every person's mental health across the world. Thousands have taken to the internet to provide coping strategies to deal with the unpredictable global outbreak's challenges. However, frontline workers are more at risk of getting infected and exposed to the raging virus's emotional horrors.

As everyone struggles with the pandemic's consequences in their own ways, healthcare providers are considering whether to write their will as they submit to fate in what might be their last act of courage. According to a study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 300,000 healthcare providers have been infected across thirty-seven countries, and over 3000 fatalities have been recorded.

"I don't think there is any doubt that we have missed much of the opportunity to use this pandemic as a wakeup call to live healthier lives and that this virus, as well as most of the other problems that plague our country and its health, are likely directly connected with our lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise." Dr. Kendrick lamented while responding to questions from TopDoctor magazine.

Dr. Kendrick Johnson is a family health physician and lifestyle medicine doctor at Ark Family Health in Peoria, Arizona. Graduating from Touro University in Nevada, Dr. Kendrick started Ark Family Health, the first Direct Primary Care clinic in Phoenix, helping hundreds of people and employers improve their quality of life while saving money. Dr. Kendrick is the seventh child of a dedicated pediatrician who inspired his children through his selfless service towards humanity. "From an early experience, I have always wanted to be a physician. I remember being in a grocery store with my dad, and a lady came up to us and looked down at me and said, 'do you know that your dad saved my son's life?' I remember thinking, wow, my dad is a hero because he had this incredible impact on this family, and I thought about becoming a physician as a way of preventing suffering, alleviating people's pain, and improving their quality of life."

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As a result, Dr. Kendrick has devoted his time to providing care, which underscores his remarkable effort to help people during the pandemic. As an optimistic student who was determined to provide a solution to people's health challenges, Dr. Kendrick was a bit surprised when he didn't hear much of anything about preventing and curing disease in medical school.

"There wasn't a lesson where we talked about how nutrition could prevent 90% of heart attacks, we didn't talk about how powerful exercise is in preventing disease, we looked at how poor diet and sedentary lifestyle are risk factors for some of the major killers, but we didn't do justice or help us understand that if these people were living different lifestyle probably wouldn't have heart attacks, strokes, or diabetes. I was surprised that we weren't learning how to prevent these diseases, so I wondered if

the disease is preventable. So I started looking at research and statistics and data published in medical journals and high-quality medical articles and found that most of the diseases in the US are preventable, most with lifestyle changes. As a young physician, after medical school, I was determined that I was going to help people to prevent this disease even if no one else thinks about helping people to prevent this disease. On my appointments, I spend more time talking to people about nutrition and about exercise and depression and mental health because these seem to be the heart of so many people's problems."

Talking about the impact of the pandemic on his practice, Dr. Kendrick told us, "It's been a not-so-welcomed but helpful test of the Direct Primary Care model because we are many in my traditional models with real problems. Many of the independent primary care offices shut down because they only have one way of taking care of patients, and that was based on the old model of bringing patients to the office. In Direct Primary Care, we were already doing virtual visits as part of the way we take care of patients even before the pandemic. As patients became more comfortable with the technology, we found that this is a model that was better prepared for the future.

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Though many of our patients lost jobs and experienced all other challenges that came with the pandemic, we have continued to grow and provide service to people through the pandemic, which is a blessing."

I think so many issues were clouded by political discussions and so few people ended up really understanding the pandemic very accurately because both of the polarizing views were inaccurate. I think that providing unbiased education that people on both sides of the spectrum can understand and listen to was a challenge."

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of vaccines to fight the virus. The first two vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were authorized despite growing concerns regarding their efficacy as they were developed at record speed. The FDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization for Pfizer's on Dec. 12, 2020, and Moderna's on Dec. 18, 2020.

"I am encouraged by the news about the vaccine, and they look more effective than I was expecting them to be. It sounds like they are going to be able to get enough doses to really make a difference. However, there is a lot of buzz about people being concerned about the vaccines' safety and efficacy, but I am not very concerned about that. Although I don't necessarily trust pharmaceutical companies to do anything besides that which is in their financial interest, and I don't think anybody has enough power to push out a vaccine that is going to be dangerous or ineffective."

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Even though he was optimistic about the efficacy of the vaccine, Dr. Kendrick quickly added that our country's most important thing is to live a healthy lifestyle. He said that the vaccine will be critical in helping us get back to normal life. The pandemic would probably have been much less effective if we as a culture were embracing more healthy nutrition and exercise in our daily lives. "I believe that we can protect ourselves and our family by being self-responsible."

"Also, I continue to emphasize to my patients that eating the whole plant is probably the most important part of nutrition and getting out and moving to anywhere you enjoy is probably the most important part of the exercise. We talk to patients about eating fruits and vegetables and getting more exercise."

Looking ahead to the New Year, Dr. Kendrick was excited about the potential opportunity to increase his healthcare coverage. He told us, "One of the most exciting things about this New Year is the growing trend of employers recognizing that they have the power to improve their bottom line and help their employees by contracting directly with primary care. We are getting more and more interest all the time. The experience we are having with our employers is proving to be really valuable both for business, and individual employees are patients. That's an exciting thing that is happening. Employers are starting to understand that they have a real stake in their employees' health, and there is something they can do about it."

Although 2020 was full of challenges, Dr. Kendrick hopes that the New Year will present us with more opportunities to look inward, take better care of ourselves, and improve the status quo.

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Profile Spotlight: Dr. Carl Hess

By Brianna Connors

About Dr. Carl Hess Dr. Carl Hess has 30+ years of experience in pain management and associated syndromes. Dr. Hess is a board-certified member of the American Board of Anesthesiology. Since the inception of the 90s, Dr. Hess has performed more than 10,000 basic and advanced pain management-related procedures.

Furthermore, Dr. Hess is familiar with the traditional and modern pain management tactics. Whether it’s implantable devices or injections, Dr. Hess understands the periodic fluctuations of pain management. Dr. Hess also has experience in legal testimonies and opinions related to personal injury cases.

Pain Management and Perspective “People may not realize, but awareness on pain management is now wider than it was in the 90s,”

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said Dr. Carl Hess in an interview with Top Doctors Magazine. It is important to understand that Dr. Carl Hess practices and specializes in pain management, a subspecialty of anesthesiology. Dr. Hess also maintains good relationships with prominent anesthesiologists in the U.S.

Chronic Pain: New Advancements and Misconceptions Although there have been advancements in the healthcare industry that now allow people to manage their pain better, Dr. Hess believes that there are still faux perceptions around chronic pain. “The truth is that chronic pain is a serious problem and legislative initiative was just the first step to raise awareness,” continued Dr. Carl Hess.

Pain Management and the Curse of Opioids Dr. Hess also raises the point about the abuse of opioids to deal with chronic pain. The right course of action is a combination of medication, psychotherapy, and physiotherapy. Dr. Hess paints a clear picture that a balanced approach is not always a requirement.

Dr. Hess remembers when he saw the mainstream implementation of implantable devices like stimulators to alleviate chronic pain. “There are new advances, more awareness, and educational guidance right now about pain management,” added Dr. Carl Hess.

Pain Management and the Curse of Opioids Dr. Hass also brings the subject of FBSS (Failed Back Surgery Syndrome) that requires more awareness. The medical practitioners will continue to drift afar from opioids and adopt new methods to control chronic pain. “It is no secret that consistent use of opioids makes your chronic pain worse and leads to Hyperalgesia,” noted Dr. Carl Hess.

A few years ago, rich plasma and stem cell therapy may have had a major impact, but now both are trying to find their place. “Regenerative medicine is the most recent development, but it will be interesting to see how it evolves in the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Hass.

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Traditional Philosophy of Pain Management As the contextual understanding of chronic pain evolves, it is vital for medical practitioners to not forget about the traditional philosophy on the subject. Contrary to misguided perception, chronic pain is a severe condition that doesn’t go away even after surgery.

“We have to understand that pain is dynamic rather than static,” said Dr. Carl Hess.

Dr. Hess also notes that external and internal factors such as stress or bad weather condition make the pain even worse. In many cases, the periodic shift of the chronic pain is unbearable for patients. Therefore, Dr. Hess considers a more empathetic approach to deal with pain management.

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Profile Spotlight: Dr. Lo Fu Tan

By Brianna Connors

In this new series, Top Doctor Magazine decided to speak to healthcare specialists and experienced doctors during a pandemic crisis. The idea is to raise the healthcare professionals’ voices and concerns during the onslaught of COVID-19.

Introduction Dr. Lo Fu Tan is a board-certified medicine specialist in Las Vegas. Dr. Tan possesses more than 35+ years of experience and understands the changing dynamics of the healthcare profession. The decades of experience and wisdom continues to guide Dr. Tan. Amid the pandemic crisis, Dr. Tan has decided to focus more on telemedicine and digital healthcare.

Dr. Tan’s Current Focus of Interest It is a brave new world, and progressive healthcare professionals like Dr. Tan want to utilize the latest tech advancements for urgent care and family practice.

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Dr. Tan insists that telemedicine can serve the broader population’s interest just as traditional medicine has done. He also highlights that telemedicine can ensure consistent urgent care.

One of the recent hallmark efforts of Dr. Tan is to make digital healthcare more accessible to patients in remote locations. “It may sound like a flip-flop and weird, but the paradigm shift of urgent care from rural remote to urban areas was inevitable,” said Dr. Lo Fu Tan in an interview.

We want to ensure people receive comprehensive and continuous medical even if they’re living in the middle of nowhere,” continued Dr. Lo Fu Tan. From northern Ontario to Las Vegas practice, Dr. Lo Fu Tan understands the complexities of the broad spectrum of healthcare access for more than 2 million people.

Prioritization of Streamlined Approach Interestingly, Dr. Tan views the need to utilize telemedicine just as significant as using a smartphone. “The emergence to streamline the use of telemedicine, however, requires more urgency,” adds Dr. Lo Fu Tan. It is vital to understand that Dr. Tan had managed to create virtual urgent care before the COVID-19 crisis. It was part of Dr. Tan’s core services to the community.

More Need to Adopt Telemedicine The good doctor also touches on the challenge of embracing and adopt video telemedicine. In the experience of Dr. Tan, it was a significant change to move from brick-and-mortar practice to video-based or telephonic care. Dr. Tan concurs that it requires a high degree of flexibility and availability. “The world is changing, and there is a more need to build transparent inter-personal relationships with patients,” noted Dr. Lo Fu Tan.

Integration Digital Healthcare Solutions Whether it’s the schedule, process, timeframe, and even communication protocols require a streamlined approach for patients’ sake. Moreover, Dr. Tan also points out the omnipresence of digital tools and integrated solutions.

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“In the modern healthcare industry, one integrated solution complements and propels the other. Patient-centric models no longer equate to in-person interactions. Instead, it revolves around digital telemedicine to understand the actual needs of the patient,” added Dr. Lo Fu Tan.

Conclusion New tech advancements serve as a vehicle to give medical professionals more time to understand the patient’s needs. Dr. Tan believes that electronic medical records will continue to take center stage and integrate with new healthcare solutions.

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THE MOUTH IS THE GATEWAY TO THE BODY: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. JON ROXARZADE

By Brianna Connors It is needless to say that the world we live in went through an unexpected and challenging transition. From 2019's clear vision to 2020's plunge into the unknown, we had to become accustomed to the thought of an unseen enemy amongst us, then, as a society, come together and find a way to defeat it.

The FDA's authorization of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccine in December came as a Christmas miracle for those who look forward to the end of the pandemic. However, with so many voices questioning their efficiency and

safety, will the vaccines be enough to usher in a COVID-19 free world? Are we truly going to face our past mistakes and allow the answers to guide us towards a better future?

Aside from bringing us closer together as a community, the COVID-19 pandemic has also played the role of a healthy yet necessary wake-up call: as a whole, our mentality must move from letting the next pandemic take us by surprise to preventing it from happening in the first place.This line of thought must become our society's rule of thumb, from nutrition and daily exercise all the way to the medical field.

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Although we do not always take these words seriously, staying healthy is not a matter of taking a pill whenever your head feels like it's going to explode. On the contrary, to remain healthy, one must observe the body as a whole and work towards proactively ensuring its health with proper diet, exercise, and a solid sleep schedule. If anything, this is the lesson that the pandemic taught us the hard way.

While some of us might not give it enough credit, some dentistry voices call for a shift towards a more preventative practice. A champion of the field of dentistry, Dr. Jon Roxarzade, shares these views: "Dentistry must move from reactive to proactive and preventative." After years of medical practice, Dr. Roxarzade had to say goodbye to the office after an accident that forced him to reconsider his dentistry role. Nowadays, he's joining forces with Pacific Dental Services to inoculate this preventative mindset into the minds of future practitioners.

Since he was a student, Dr. Roxarzade was keen enough to notice the connections between the mouth and the rest of the body: "Your mouth is the gateway to your body. It is where everything starts." This observation became a stepping-stone for Dr. Roxarzade's future dentist career. He took his first steps towards studying these connections while explaining to his patients how even a meaningless detail could be a game-changer in the world of dentistry: "I would sometimes get patients who would refuse to fill out their health history. 'Oh, this is too long, what does my heart have to do with my mouth?' and I used to tell them, number 1, if you didn't notice, they're connected, your mouth is literally a few inches from your brain, from your 60

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eyes, and a foot away at best from your heart.

So it is. The mouth is a pathway to the rest of your body. And it's highly vascularized, so whatever happens, whatever goes into your body, happens to the rest of your body."

As a meaningful anecdote, he let us in on a story about teaching one of his patients how putting natural glycerin under a patient's tongue can save them during cardiac arrest. Since the mouth is highly vascularized, drugs administered orally can make the difference between life and death. However, lacking this knowledge can be detrimental to both the dentist and the patient. As Dr. Roxarzade explained to us: "Some (patients) will come in and say well, I'm taking all these medications, but I don't know what they are. Well, I need to know what they are because, for example, if you are taking a certain medication, my anesthetic may counteract it, or I may have to give you more, or less, or a different kind. Everything matters."

Luckily, the field of dentistry has made serious progress since Dr. Roxarzade was a student. Over the past decade, research has confirmed his observations on the link between the mouth and the rest of the body: "So, I've always had an eye for the oral-systemic connection, and I understood it really well, but obviously the research and data wasn't there. This research and data are really coming in the last 7-10 years. It is undeniable now; there is a ton of research that is showing that what's happening in your periodontal condition, your mouth, has a direct impact into the rest of your body. We're learning more and more every day."

Speaking about how many serious diseases are linked with inadequate oral hygiene, Dr. Roxarzade explained to us: "The same bacteria that we find in gum disease, for example, sometimes we find it in cardiovascular disease or kidney disease."

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In a study published in the Journal of Pharmacy and BioAllied Sciences, a research team pointed out the link between chronic inflammatory periodontal disease and systemic health conditions, such as coronary heart disease.

The research team focused on how the C-reactive protein (CRP), when associated with periodontitis, increases chronic heart disease risk.

The discoveries went even deeper than the general health's physical aspect. Dr. Roxarzade explained to us how similar bacteria can develop both periodontitis and dementia.

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"What happens is that we will find the same biomarkers that are in periodontal disease, for example, or some of the same bugs I should call them, we find some of the same bugs in, for example, I'll give you dementia. A British study in 2012 found that older adults with poor dental hygiene were 76% more likely to develop dementia. And, in 2013, a study found that it's called Porphyromonas Gingivalis. P. Gingivalis is a bacteria that is associated with gum disease, they found that bacteria in the brain of people with dementia."

To sum things up, scientists found a link between periodontitis and a myriad of diseases, such as dementia, heart problems, dry mouth, diabetes, osteoporosis, and nighttime reflux.Unfortunately, these health issues can go as far as affecting a fetus in their mother's womb: "We know when our female patients are pregnant, they can actually have more birth defects on premature births if they have periodontal disease," Dr. Roxarzade tells us.

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Therefore, how do we go about preventing these diseases in the first place? As he made it abundantly clear from the beginning, the answer lies in turning towards preventative dentistry and better patient education. The medical field's latest discoveries point out that routine dental check-ups are the secret behind revealing health conditions in their incipient state.

In a study published by the American Heart Association, researchers concluded that patients who received adequate oral hygiene showed a 24% lower risk of cardiac arrest and a 13% lower risk of stroke than patients with bad oral hygiene did. Another study showed how patients who do not visit general health care providers regularly but do pay visits to the dentist have an increased chance of uncovering diseases in different phases than other patients.

It is time to enjoy the endless possibilities of technological advances and look towards preventative medicine, Dr. Roxarzade believes. With the indisputable link between the mouth and the rest of the body, it is safe to say that further research in the preventative dentistry field, coupled with strong, well-coordinated awareness campaigns, can bring more patients to the dentist's office. We hope that Dr. Roxarzade's dream of making people see that the dentist's mission is about oral hygiene and general health as a whole will come to life.

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JOIN OUR MARKETING SCHOOL FOR DENTISTS SO YOU WENT THROUGH MANY YEARS OF SCHOOLING AND MEDICAL INTERNSHIPS TO GET WHERE YOU ARE AND ONLY TO REALIZE NO ONE REALLY TAUGHT YOU HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESFUL PRACTICE AND ATTRACT ENVIABLE AMOUNTS OF NEW PATIENTS.

WE HAVE YOU COVERED

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An Interview with Dr. Jon Roxarzade Biographical Sketch

By Brianna Connors Flipping the last page of the 2020 calendar made us realize how challenging the past year was, with its uncertainty and grim look towards the future, all caused by the COVID19 pandemic. However, we can say that we learned quite a lot of lessons – as a community, we have achieved a raised sense of awareness, stretching from general health requirements to new safety protocols.

As we look with renewed hope towards 2021, some of us are more than confident that this sense of awareness will be defining the medical practice for the near future. This is the case for Dr. John Roxarzade, an Iranian national who managed to escape the Iranian Revolution and move to the US, who believes that the field of dentistry is changing.

“Dentistry must move from reactive to proactive and preventative,” Dr. Roxarzade tells us while adding that, even though we went through some difficult times, it is the best time for young practitioners to build themselves a career in dentistry. Let us tune in to Dr. Roxarzade and learn more about his life, his training as a dentist, his opportunities and setbacks, and his plans for the future!

The quarantine, Rachel’s Kitchen, and his children Going through the shortcomings of quarantine made Dr. Roxarzade realize how valuable spending quality time with his wife and two children really is. “Sometimes when we work so much, we don’t really appreciate the opportunity to spend time together because everybody’s so tired.. It’s nice to really be there together,” Dr. Roxarzade says, whose wife started the Rachel’s Kitchen restaurant chain.

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He tells us that, even though the times are a bit challenging, nevertheless, they are happy to hang in there and welcome loyal customers with delicious food every single day – “We have still managed to hang in there, thanks to John and customers who are really loyal and love the food.” What’s their secret? Dedication, respect, and lots of hard work.

Unfortunately, with so much schoolwork on their hands, the children have little time to dedicate to the family business. “They’re too young to be involved in the restaurant, but both are showing interest. My son more so than my daughter.” However, Dr. Roxarzade is doing his best to teach his children the core family values, mutual help, and respect – “That’s the thing I try to teach them, I always tell them I hope you are a kind, good, generous person and always try to leave people better than you found them.” For

Dr. Roxarzade, there is no better reward than the feeling of happiness born through helping others.

“If you do something that you love and that is your passion, you don’t work a day in your life.”

Although Dr. Roxarzade boasts an impressive career, his life was not always that easy. Having fled Iran with his family when he was only 14, he quickly learned the fact that hard work is the only gateway to success. “So I’ve had a number of other jobs from clothing to book keeping to working a library, I worked throughout high school, I worked throughout college.” Working all the way through high school and college helped him build a strong character, whose work ethics were to be flawless.

“I treated every patient like they were my own mother or father.”

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After graduating from dental school, Dr. Roxarzade set the foundation for his own medical practice in Beverly Hills from scratch. The first few years were riddled with hard work and long hours. “For the first few years of my practice was absolutely tough, I worked every day, seven days a week.” However, these shortcomings were not going to break Dr. Roxarzade’s determination. He took it upon himself to treat every patient as his own mother or father and make a real difference while making money a secondary priority. “Whatever it was, I made sure I kept reinvesting and learned more and more.”

He tells us that keeping up with all the updates surrounding dentistry is the mark of a professional, humble practitioner. “You cannot rely on what you have learned or stop learning. Learning to me is a lifelong journey. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. One of my keys to success is that I am humble and hungry and want to learn.”

“We are all here as guests and God knows how much time we have.”

When talking about his success as a dentist, Dr. Roxarzade’s humility should serve as a lesson to us all. He says that material riches serve no purpose in the Afterlife, so we should use our intellect and resources to effect real change into this world. “I know that money helps you have a better life, but it is not the key to having a better life. My humbleness comes from having both.” These virtues, namely humility and the desire to bring positive change into the world, are his most prized possessions. “That’s what I try to impart on my children.”

Giving back to the young dentist community As an accomplished practitioner, Dr. Roxarzade looks towards the younger generation of dentists with high hopes. His main hope is that his young colleagues will understand how important their mission really is.

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“You have the opportunity to affect the patient’s entire health,” he tells us. “The mouth is a pathway to the rest of your body. And it’s highly vascularized, so whatever happens, whatever goes into your body, happens to the rest of your body.“

Giving back to the young dentist community Dr. Roxarzade’s humility and continuous quest towards knowledge helped him overcome the worst things life had in store for him. After surviving a terrible motorcycle accident, he was forced to say goodbye to medical practice. “It was a very difficult time for me and during the six months of going through rehab. I was just thinking, “Oh my gosh, what am I going to do? That’s all I know, I’m a dentist.”

Once again, his determination guided him towards his mission – to help younger dentists better themselves.

With that in mind, Dr. Roxarzade left the clinic for the classroom and tried his hand as a teacher.

One of the biggest challenges as a young student, he tells us, is to establish themselves on the market and create a network of loyal customers. Having started from scratch, Dr. Roxarzade knew he could guide students towards beginning their own journeys as dentists.

Right from the start, he found meaning in the act of imparting his knowledge to a class of curious young students. “I really enjoyed it. There’s nothing better than a student who truly wants to learn sitting in your class, trying to absorb everything you say and ask questions.” Through his passionate approach towards teaching and tremendous experience, he was able to connect with his students and bring positive change to their future careers.

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His next step as a teacher was to apply for the dental director position at Carrington College. Dr. Roxarzade’s face lit up when he told us about the beautiful moments he experienced there. “And that was when I felt at home, I changed the program, they allowed me some leeway to do with it as I thought, and I will honestly tell you that I turned that program around.” The experience and passion that he brought into this project didn’t go unnoticed. ”I was one of their best program directors, and I believe that was because of my passion.”

What does the future have in store for Dr. Roxarzade?

However, the dental director position at Carrington College was not destined to be the last step in Dr. Roxarzade’s career. For about three and a half years now, he is investing his knowledge in Pacific Dental Services, using his vast experience in dentistry to bring positive change to young practitioners in a direct way. “I realized, okay, I can have a direct impact with these dentists that I would be supporting, and I can continue to teach.”

Even though he has settled down, overall, his perpetual thirst for knowledge is what drives him forward. “I’ve always said that if you want to age fast, stop learning.” Dr. Roxarzade’s research on the connections between the mouth and the rest of the body takes him off the beaten paths and into the unknown. “Again, the more I learn, the more I realize I need to learn.” In the end, he hopes that continuous research and dedication will help young dentists understand their mission and the paramount role that they play in their patients’ general health.

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Brianna Connors

Justin Miller

Derek Archer

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