Dr. Brian Lima - A Cardiac Surgeon’s Inspiring Story of Success and Overcoming Adversity

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All right, what is going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. Welcome back to the Rise of the Young podcast. Today we have Dr. Brian Lima here with us. Thanks so much. Coming on. Thanks so much for coming to the show, Brian.

I appreciate you having me on, Casey. Appreciate it a lot.

So where does this story begin, man? I know that you recently came out with your book Heart to Beat, and you talk about, you know, when you wanted to become a doctor, and, like, I'd love for you to take us back to when that decision was and what led you into this career path.

Yeah. So, I mean, it was one of those things where I had the misfortune of seeing my dad go through a heart attack when I was young. I was 10 years old. He made it through, but that always kind of put medicine in the back of my mind as something I wanted to do. But it also was one of those things where, you know, I kind of had an idea of what that was like. It sounded cool. It sounded amazing. But it wasn't until I actually watched a surgery, and I was like, in college, I watched a surgery and they let me scrub in and everything as I was shadowing another physician. When I saw that, that's. It clicked. It was like, oh, okay, that I want to do that, you know? And it was one of those epiphanies that I was fortunate enough to have. Not a lot of people have those, like, make or break you moments, you know, those defining moments. And I was lucky enough to have that very early. And that's after that. It was very clear that that's what I wanted to do.

What was it like? Like, in that moment, like you said, like, the defining moment, you're watching your first surgery, like, what was it that made you feel that way?

It was one of those things. At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to react. I was like, okay, I might pass out. How am I? You know, this is. This is crazy. And it sort of. I lost Track of time. You know, you're doing something that's amazing, that you love, when all of a sudden five hours go by and you're like, well, it didn't even feel like, like time, you know, that time element went away. I was so enthralled by what I was seeing. So those two things made me feel like, oh, you know, I think this is something I really want to think about. I never thought of it in that way before, but that's. I would have to say those are the two main things that really drew me in for sure.

Absolutely. When you were growing up, was, was that in your career plan or what was life growing up for you and where were you? Where did you come from and what was early childhood like?

Sure. So I grew up in New Jersey. I was a first generation Cuban American. My parents came over on the freedom flights from Cuba with my two older siblings. They fled communists, Castro's regime. Really, really tough kind of scraping by, getting whatever job they could. We lived sort of low income type of existence. So I didn't have this sort of house full of role models, professional role models, or people in the family that I could say, oh, I want to do what uncle so and so does, or whatever. It was really just this appreciation of, you know, you have to work for everything. Nothing is going to come easy. But also it gave me a chip on my shoulder in that my father particularly preached this whole work ethic thing. And he said, look, please, you know, take advantage of all this craziness we went through. Don't end up like us, you know, or me working in this horrible factory. You know, this is the, you know, this is the American dream, right? And so work hard, you know, be the best at what you can do. And nothing is really beyond your scope of desire. So that was kind of the push that I had. But it was tough. I mean, I really did have to scrape, you know, scratch and claw every step of the way because I didn't have, like, it all teed up for me. I had to figure every little step of it out along the way.

I love that. And I know that you touched on it earlier, but when you decided that you wanted to become a doctor, like, that's a big decision when it comes to schooling and that commitment to not only helping people and really being passionate about that, but what were like some of the roadblocks or mental challenges you had once you made that decision and started along that path?

I would say it's two things. One, it's the, this imposter syndrome you always. I was always this constant feeling, whether it was college, med school, do I belong here? I mean, these are really smart people. These are so kind of getting over yourself, getting over all that negative self talk that you have. And the second thing is just, you know, the pragmatic aspect of it. How am I going to pay for this? You know, my family was like, well, that all sounds great, but we can't afford, you know, college. We can't afford medical school tuition. And so it was also incumbent on me. I had to get scholarships. I had to get a full ride for college, for medical school, in order to even. And so that added more pressure. But it's really tough sometimes to just get over yourself once you sort of just embrace the fact that, hey, I belong here, I work just as hard as these, I deserve to be here. That is such a huge stepping stone. And when you can do that, you really overcome a huge bit of inertia, and that's when you can really unleash what you're capable of. But easier said than done. It took me a while to get over that.

Absolutely. And I think a lot of people can relate to that. When you say imposter syndrome and when people think about when you compare yourself to the people around you, what was the moment where you got over that and what caused you to really come to senses with what you're doing and actually believe in yourself more than what you did before?

It was a slow and steady process. So in medical school, there's only a hundred of us in the class. And, you know, out of this hundred, people think it was like, 15 are from Harvard, 15 are from Yale, 20 are from, you know, the best of the best, the cream of the crop for this entering class at Duke Med School. And I, you know, I was this kind of, you know, athlete, sort of bulky kid that people didn't really like. Who's this guy? You know, I kind of had fun. Felt like people were saying, what is this guy doing here? He's from New Jersey. Like, what is going on? And I just kept to myself, and I studied harder than anybody. I wasn't in any cliques or anything. And I started to do really well on exams. And all of a sudden, on exam day, I would have kids. The Harvard kids or the Yale come up to me like, hey, so how are you studying? What are you like? All of a sudden, I become like, this referral point for advice, and what do you think of this concept? You know? And that's when I started, like, whoa, I don't Know, I just really studied, really. I wasn't sugarcoating what I was doing. I didn't. And I think people respected that too, that I was real with it. I didn't sort of say, oh, yeah, I barely studied. I saw a lot of that too. These mind games that people play with each other. I just worried about me. Did, like, compared myself to me and that was it. And everything else seemed to kind of work itself out over time.

I love that. It's like you bet on yourself, you don't compare. And I think anyone can learn something from that. When it comes to a business setting, but also just in your personal life, what would you say is the hardest thing about what you do on a daily basis? I know that you talked about when you saw your first surgery, but nowadays, during procedures or just you on a day to day basis, like, what is the hardest thing that you go through that you have to continuously overcome?

There's two things that are sort of tied into one another. One is that you're constantly having to prove yourself. It doesn't matter that you saved somebody's life yesterday or that you, you know, what matters is I like to refer, refer to it as, you're only as good as your last complication. So you can never really rest on your laurels. Meaning that even if you did some amazing thing, and we're really proud of, you know, the getting someone through a really tough surgery that was yesterday or last week, today is another day. This patient, this family. And that it's pressure, right? Because no one cares that you did a great job or that you tried your best, right? You can't say, hey, well, I tried. I mean, that's the last thing, you know, family just cares about, did you save my loved one? Right? So there's the pressure aspect of it, and it's the pressure of not only the patients, but also the community, the referring, you know, it's that same idea of when I talk about it in the book, too. One week we're all worshiping the quarterback that was able to pull the game out in the last seconds, right? Everyone's like, wow, hall of fame, this guy, you know, amazing, right? That same guy somehow manages to lose the game the next week, and we're all cursing at the tv. You know, everyone on the sports writers are saying, oh, this guy's washed up. They should bring the backup in. And we're like, wait a minute, this is the same guy we were all lauding last week, right? So it's, it's always like, you're Only one misstep away from just all it all slipping away. So it's that pressure.

Yeah, that's. I would say that's more pressure than a lot of people who ever feel, especially when, you know, dealing with surgeries. Like, I'd love to hear some of the, you know, the moments that you have always remembered, like, what has been the most rewarding feeling of what you do? I know that you talk a lot about families that you've helped and the patients that you've helped, but what is that feeling like? Because not many people get to experience something on that level of fulfillment and just, you know, blessings to the loved one that you're helping with.

Yeah, I have to say, it's an exhilarating thing. Nothing beats it. I wouldn't trade places with anybody. I love what I do. And from a professional perspective, that the biggest moment for me was being blessed with the opportunity to start the first heart transplant program ever on Long Island. And Long island, for those of you that don't know, it's, you know, it's a small island, but it's 2 million people. And that area serves, really 8 million people. And the Manhattan programs, these are some of the most prestigious programs in the world for heart care. So here we are on the biggest stage ever that exists. The New York, Manhattan metropolitan spotlight, everyone rooting for us to fail, and we finally do the first heart transplant. And it went great. The heart took off. And it's all, of course, video in the operating room. This immense pressure. Right. I mean, it could have. And for me, the fact that it went great and we, despite the odds, despite the pressure, we're able to do what was best for the patient. That, to me, is really one of the most defining moments of my career. And a testament. Yeah, you just do your best. Trust in your skills and everything else works itself out for sure.

And I love that. Just hearing that I'm inspired. And for someone like myself, I've never had a surgery personally, but when you say heart transplant, I don't have anyone in my family that has gone through something that severe. Like, I'd love for you to go in depth about, like, the complexity of what you do and how you think about it going into it, because I'm sure every operation is different. You have a completely different mindset, and it's like you're. You know, you just show up. So it's like, how do you go into something like that, being something so fragile? And, you know, the consequences are just something people that don't even want to Think about, right? So, like, what do you do when you go into that type of surgery? And I'd love for you to just walk us through some of the very complex things that you have to think about when you're operating.

Sure. So for heart transplant, you know, there's things where you have someone waiting. You know, they're on a wait list waiting for a heart, and it's life and death for them. If we don't get a heart for them soon, they may. They may pass. So then we're faced with the burden of having to field these offers for hearts. You know, we get called about donors. And the one thing is, you always want to obviously hedge your bets. Right. You want it to go great. You want it to go as perfect as it can go. The problem is, nothing is perfect. Meaning you'll get this call about a heart. You're like, well, it's not perfect, but you have to use your clinical judgment to say, okay, based on my recipient and where they are and how much time they have left. And this person, is it a good match for this person? It's not perfect by, like, an objective sense, but is it perfect enough? I guess is the best way to think about it for this person? So that's a huge judgment call. Is it the right size? Are these other factors in play, how far away it is, these things? So that's one. And then it's orchestrating the timing because unlike kidneys and liver, the heart, you really only want it out of the body, ideally for four hours or less. So think about that. Meaning often we're flying an hour and a half, two hours to get the heart in. The best scenario, if I get a heart and I'm. And I have the old heart removed, it takes me about an hour to sew it in. So that's an hour to sew it in where you're really, you know, you're hustling. Right. So. And you got two hours of travel time. There's not a lot of wiggle room. Everything has to be timed perfectly. And sometimes, you know, you have to deal with the case where the patient already had heart surgery before. So there's all this scar tissue. So it's like digging out a fossil. The heart's pretty plastered to all the stuff. So you have to get this all down to the. To the minute where when that heart comes into the operating room, I'm ready to sew it in. Right. So that's one thing. And then obviously, you sew it in. And then the heart often will need A little bit of time to settle into its new environment because there's all these different factors. There's, you know, the immune system may be attacking it. There's just the shock of the surgery being out of the body. The heart sometimes is like, whoa, what did you just, you know, you just put me into, like, a war zone, kind of. So there's a whole science in that. And my whole mindset with this and any surgery really is I walk into that room waiting and ready for the worst thing to happen. The worst case scenario. I'm ready for it. So that means if it happens, I don't hesitate. Meaning you can't go into anything expecting everything to be perfect and rosy. And this applies to so many things in life. Any situation I walk into, like, what's the worst thing that can happen? Yeah, okay, let's say that happens. Let's talk about this. What am I going to do? What's my plan? And I have that already. So even in the worst case scenario where something bad happens, I don't hesitate. And that also sets the tone for the operating room, where if I start being, you know, know, panicky and, you know, yelling and screaming and all this stuff, that's just gonna totally destroy the mood of the room, the control. So the best heart surgeons I've ever seen in my life, the ones that I, you know, aspire to be, like the mentors, the ones that train me, are the ones that when things get really, really bad, that's when they're the most calm.

Wow.

That's kind of what I try to do, is I stay calm and like, okay, this is what we're going to do. Because really, anything in life, if something bad happens, panicking and kind of just losing your cool, that's not going to help anything. Yeah. At the end of the day, you have to deal with it. Whatever that is, you got to deal with it. And it's either you move on and you and you do the best you can or you don't. To me, the latter is not an option. You have to move on. You have to figure it out. You have to progress. So that's what I preach in the book, and that's so applicable to so many things in life.

Yeah, No, I was actually, I was going to ask you, like, how do you apply that to your life? But you hit it on the nail right there because, like, number one, just hearing that from, like, the eyes of an operator in that situation, I've never heard that perspective. And I think a lot of people can learn from that it's like being calm in the most difficult situations when things go wrong. Right. And people can apply that to their business or whatever it is. But I'd love for you to touch on your book Heart to Beat. Like, what inspired you to write this? And for people that are just coming across you, like, what does it mean to you to have this book, to have your story told? And what are you excited about in it?

Well, I really feel that my book can help others really look beyond themselves and think that maybe the limitations they thought they had really are just figments of their own imagination. I feel like that my story, even it's not specific to. To a doctor story or healthcare. I think it's really applicable broadly to anyone who feels like they need a reboot, an inspiration to sort of really go after what they wanted to, and they feel discouraged, they feel afraid, or they feel like they need to reinvent themselves. And I think my book is a book of hope, a message that, look, nothing is easy. Life is really, really tough. We live in a tough, tough world. The court of public opinion is at its worst, meaning with social media and things. And we're also flooded with these images of overnight success. This whole idea of delayed gratification is almost passe. And I think my book is almost like a throwback to. No, no, no, no. It's all. It's still very much about delayed gratification. It still holds true. Don't, you know, don't, you know, sweat the hype? The hype is. It's. Everything is hype. Think. And I really felt. This is the part I can't explain. I just felt like I had to. They almost, like, just came out of me. Like, I. These ideas. I didn't know what I was gonna do with these ideas, but I was kept. They just kept coming, and I kept writing. And finally I was like, okay, maybe I should just write a book about all this stuff. And it's crazy, too, because once I felt like I had something figured out, then I learned something else. And that's where the entrepreneurship part of the book kicks in. And I talk about how I thought I had it figured out. I trained and studied at the best places. I got the best possible preparation I could. And I thought, okay, here I am in the market. It's all, you know, now it's just about putting all that stuff to work. And then I was like, oh, well, wait, I actually have to build a clientele. I have to market myself. I have to. And that part I didn't really account for. So I'm still learning that. It's like, how do you get, when you get into a new market, how are you supposed to elevate your brand and convince others that you're someone that they should send patients to? It's not a given. And that's the biggest sort of humbling thing that I've had to deal with of late is it's not a given that as great as you think you might be, you're not as great as you. The public at least doesn't think so. So you have to prove it. You have to get out there, you have to hustle.

Love that. And I wanted to touch on as well, like, when did social media come into your life? I know you have an amazing presence on there. And you know, as a doctor, as you just said, I'm sure you had to think differently to go out there and want to start building this personal brand and utilizing social media for a good reason. But when did this start and what was that process like for you?

So I finished my heart surgery training in 2012 and that's when I actually really got, I think that's when I got my Facebook. You know, I started Facebook and stuff. Instagram was even years later. And what I started to kind of as these ideas were starting to materialize in my head, I also felt like there was a total lack of, or there's no presence whatsoever in the social media realm of physicians actually sharing what physician life, what physicians do on a real sense, meaning there are plenty, I'm not gonna name names, of course, plenty of doctors that were peddling kind of these sort of unproven home remedy things or these talk show worthy type things. But there wasn't really anyone saying, hey, this is what like life is like as a doctor. This is, this is why I gave up my 20s and 30s, because of this, because of what I do day in, day out. And I felt, you know what, I'm going to share that stuff. I'm going to share kind of what I do. I'm going to share kind of the things out there that are happening in our field. Just things that I thought were cool, things that I thought were worth sharing. And that's kind of what it started as. And then I snowballed into me feeling like, hey, there's really no other voice or source of people given the lowdown, the truth of what, what this is all about, what healthcare is like. And that's, that's sort of how this all started.

I love that. What would you say are some of the like misconceptions of the healthcare space. I know that you briefly just touched on it, but, like, what have you learned on the inside that you think is so important for people to know? That may not be public information that people come across often.

Sure. So I think one misconception that I know as a heart surgeon, I think the misconception is that, oh, we're the God complex, that we, you know, that we think we're infallible, that we're far from humble. And I would say it's quite the contrary. I would say that what I do as a heart surgeon is arguably the most humbling of all things, because what I do, any procedure, the most basic heart operation, there's a risk of dying at every step of the procedure. You know, one misstep, one miscalculation. And even when you do the perfect operation, technically, you may lose a patient just because maybe they were just too sick to begin with or things are beyond your control. So I would say that the misconception the public has about, you know, heart surgeons in particular and other physicians is that we're not humble that we have a God complex. I'd say far from. Another thing, too, is that as a heart transplant surgeon, one of the things I struggle with in my field and I try to advocate for is awareness of the shortage of donor organs that we have. And there's really a lot of reluctance in the public for registering to be an organ donor.

Yeah.

And part of it is this kind of misconception that's horrible myth, that somehow, once we see that someone's an organ donor, we're gonna somehow kind of, as a medical professional say, oh, we better not try so hard with this guy because we got an organ donor. And that is so absurd and so far from number one. I can't remember the last time I've ever even looked at a license or known if someone's a donor or not, number one. Number two, if anything, we're more guilty of keeping people alive, just not wanting to give up long, you know, as, like, this thing. Like, no, no, we can't. We got to keep this. We can't let them go. Like this whole. We get into this mode of life saving, and we can't. We almost refuse to give up the idea that, oh, wait, wait, you know, did you know that this person's a donor?

Yeah, right.

Let's. Why don't we throw in the towel that never, ever, ever happened. So that's one thing I try to, you know, share as much as I can. Look we all need to be organ donors, registered as organ donors, because it's a huge problem. I have people die on wait list because there aren't enough donors and that's a tragedy that shouldn't happen.

What is the, like the percentage, maybe you don't know this, like the percentage of donors that are out there. I know, like when I, when I got my, you know, when I got my license, I signed up to be an organ donor. Like, is that something that has been increasing or decreasing over time?

It depends on the state. There are some states that you know, are pretty good and they have different policies in place. So it's almost like it's assumed that you are donor. Like you actually have to take steps to not be one, kind of. And when I went to New York to start the first heart transplant program on Long Island, I actually, New York happened to be, and I think still is dead last in the United States for the rates of people, you know, becoming registered donors. So that was another huge thing. I was like, you know, guys, come on. I mean this is, it's a no brainer, right? And you'd be surprised how many people still kind of have this. They just don't trust the system, right. They're just like, oh, I don't want to do that, I don't want it. Then they're not going to try as hard. And for all the reasons I just went into, that's so absurd. And I think it unnecessarily makes our task of taking care of these folks that are really sick, that are just, you know, desperate for an organ. You know, we could be saving so many lives if we didn't sort of subscribe to that fear.

I want to ask you, like, how is it difficult to sort of like switch off, right, like when you, I'm sure you've had these moments where there's a miracle moment or it's the opposite and things don't go right. Like how. How are you able to switch on and off from, you know, being in the room doing a surgery on something so critical and like meticulous to then like living your normal life. Like, is there a switch? Is it always on your mind? Or how do you balance that as a doctor?

Well, I'd be lying if I told you I had that figured out. It's. I don't. And that's why I have so much pride in what I do. And other, you know, we don't look or I certainly don't look at it as a job per se. I almost insulted by that label in that it's like a way of life, it's not a job meaning. And honestly, it may be the same may ring true for entrepreneurs and things like that where you don't shut it off. I mean, it's. You flow with what, what that career is. And I can't say no. You know, if a patient that I just operated on not doing well and it's 10pm and it's well, or it's my day off, I can't just like, well, it's my day off call, you know, that just. That's so. Such a foreign. So the answer is it's tough to shut off. It's a balance that is very tricky. It's. It's a tightrope and there are times where it totally takes over my life and there isn't really any room for anything else. But I would argue that many people that are passionate about what they do or if they're chasing, you know, excellence, that sometimes is unavoidable.

Yeah.

There's no way around that. You can't just be a halftime or halfway there kind of person and whatever. Especially if you really, really want to do great things.

Yep.

And I think also sharing that reality of it with people, which I try to get across in the book, I talk about how you have to go all in really, if you really are wanting, want to do something special. And that's how I view this progress.

Very cool. I was actually, I was reading a book today, it's called no Filter. It's about the story of Instagram and you know, on a different note, but talking about like going all in. They were talking about like during the early days of Instagram where their servers were blowing up, where one of the developers, he like canceled his week family trip because they were getting such influx of users and he just, you know, he was so dialed in where like everything that was important to him now became less important because there was a task at hand that you had to show up for. Right. So it's like same concept but in a different medium. It's important. And like you see entrepreneurs and winners that adopt that mentality. You know, it's for a reason. Because they love what they do and they're doing it with purpose.

100%, man. I feel like it's a non negotiable aspect of. You can't on the one hand say, yeah, I want to. There's a lot, there's a lot of people like that. They love the sound of yeah, I'm gonna do this, or I Want to do that, and they like how that sounds. But then walking, the walk is a completely different animal. Right. And so there's very few people that actually follow that up with action and live it and do it. And I learned early, early on, just from the people that I. That taught me there's. You have to just throw yourself into it, and it's worth it 100%. I wouldn't change anything. You know, sometimes it does inhibit other parts of your life, but that's where I kind of rain on this whole well rounded parade. You know, people kind of, oh, are you well rounded? What about, you know, I think that's a myth also, being well rounded. You can't be successful in all phases of your life at all times. It's impossible.

Totally. I want to ask you, do you. I know you spoke about mentors briefly at the beginning. How have mentors played a role in your life and throughout your career?

Indispensable, I think. Had I not had people that were willing to believe in me and say, hey, you know, you could do this. That. That first surgery that I saw, it was at nyu. I was watching a surgery I had not really thought of. I thought of, oh, yeah, it wouldn't be cool to be a doctor kind of thing. But I had never really thought, specifically, I'm gonna be a surgeon. I thought. I don't know, I just somehow I. And then a surgeon was telling me. The surgeon that I watched was telling me, hey, you know what? I can see you doing this. And I was like, really? And that just having that person who you respect and admire believe in you and give you that extra oomph and say, hey, maybe I can do this, you know, give you that little boost, I think is so key. And I try to return that as many, you know, as much as I can. It's so important to give people hope and give people encouragement to do whatever it is they feel they really want to accomplish, that no dream is impossible. But also being real with it, you know, it's tough love. I think another important thing I talk about in the book, tough love is a lost art. You gotta be really careful about the feedback you provide these days because Totally. May be misinterpreted as an insult or. Whereas for me, that it was that tough love, that negative feedback that was the constant thing pushing me to be better, to be better, to be better. So it's a different world, though.

Absolutely. Well, Dr. Brian Lima, before we. Before we wrap up, we've been talking about your book almost the whole conversation for the people that are just coming across your content and you as an individual in your story, where's the best place for them to check out the book, to buy the book, and to stay updated on everything you have going on?

So my book, Heart to Beat, is available anywhere. Books are sold on Amazon, and my social media handle, whether it's Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, is Brian limamd. So you get to see kind of all what I'm up to and learn more about the book and things like that.

Amazing. Well, Brian, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on the show. It was such a pleasure speaking with you and I know that I'm inspired right now and I know that the listeners are as well. So thank you so much.

Awesome, man. Thanks again for having me on.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters, an Apple original series. The world is on fire. I decided to do something about it on November 17th. This place, it's not ours. Believe me. The most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise.

Oh, my God. Go, go, go.

Legacy of monsters streaming November 17th only on Apple TV. Plus.