Episode 100! Des Shapiro On Finding Joy

Des Shapiro is a physician with a 40-plus year career in medicine and an incredible legacy under his belt. He’s also my Dad and I’m delighted to have him join me for the 100th episode. We discuss finding joy in medicine, being a Foreign Medical Graduate, and the extraordinary manner in which he always put patients at the center.

Key Learnings

1. A few words to celebrate Episode 100 of Explore The Space podcast

2. The 4 Pillars of Explore The Space

3. What the future holds for the podcast

4. Introducing the guest for Episode 100, my father Des Shapiro

5. How Des started his journey into medicine and starting medical school at 16

6.  Realizing early on that medicine was a calling and never looking back

7. A crazy story about handwashing and the world’s first heart transplant

8. The impact of a commitment to observation, physical exam and narration in becoming an excellent physician and elevating connection to patients

9. Ensuring the beauty and importance of holding a patient’s hand as connection, as exam, and as a privilege

10. Sharing concerns around Foreign Medical Graduates being targets for derision and the importance of welcoming physicians to the United States

12. What was exhilarating and what was scary about building a life as a physician?

13. Possessing the ability to feel what patients are feeling in a manner that is sustainable while avoiding compassion fatigue

14. The single most important lever that both physicians and patients have a responsibility to pull and protect.

15. A pathway for finding joy with every patient encounter and in the practice of medicine

16. The importance of evolving as a physician and seeking to understand new challenges like physician burnout

17. Crowning achievements in his career and how fun it is when I see one of his previous patients

18. The most important lesson I learned from my Dad and an incredible story to illustrate the point

19. Reiterating a recurrent theme on Explore The Space: physician as activist