WHY NOT Wednesday! with Miriam Zylberglait, MD (Dr.Z) 🦋

These last few years have made us question everything.

Our relationships.

Our jobs.

What constitutes an office.

And who we are.

In a.

World filled with chaos, confusion and uncertainty. It's time for some clarity. It's time to start understanding one another.

It's time to start understanding ourselves.

We envision a world where everyone knows their why. But even more, we envision a world where everyone knows their why. O s, their why, their how and their what.

The operating system that drives you, that lets the world know where you stand.

What your unique gift is and most importantly, who you are.

Yos.

Are you ready?

Hey, good afternoon everyone and welcome to why not Wednesday. We are so excited to bring today Dr. Z. Miriam. Dr. Miriam Zilberglake is a doctor. She is triple sport certified in internal medicine, geriatrics and obesity. She is, everybody just calls her Dr. Z and she is amazing because she's in interested in the areas of well being, burnout, mental health and leadership development. She recently completed a fellowship in leadership education and development and she certified as a mental mental health ally and training as a physician, wellness advocate. She's got some exciting things she's going to share with us. But I think you're going to enjoy meeting Dr. Z. So let me bring her on and let's play her song. Why not. How you doing Dr. Z?

Thank you for having me.

Thank you for being on.

Hey, that's your song. All right, well welcome to why not Wednesday. We're excited to have you on. You know I met you a couple of months ago, you told me a little bit about the work that you do and I was so taken by first of all that your commitment to helping people, to bringing well being to people. You've been doing this for a while. As I mentioned, you know you're triple board certified as a physician. So you started internal medicine, then geriatrics and then obesity medicine medicine. So what led you to be to the path from doing those things? You know the you probably your primary care physician with a practice, right dealing with the day to day patients to say you know what, I, I want to be a well being advocate.

First of all thank you so much for having me here and I love that song.

I believe that I have been a well being advocate all my life. For me being a physician is a synonym of being a well being advocate. We are supposed to care about patients and we are supposed to care about them beyond their health, only physical health. We are supposed to advocate for them to feel good, to be emotionally and physically healthy and, and that's what I have been Doing all my life right now. It's just this kind of you know, extra title. But that's, that's me since day one.

Well our, our, our audience is going to get a kick out of your yos because I you know when I looked at your bio, first of all your why is to contribute to make a difference in the lives of others. Make an impact, make a positive impact. You use your, your influence, use your time, you use your money to help others and that's, that's a true contributor and I see that in you. Your how is mastery? You're someone who loves to learn things at a deep level. You like to learn for the sake of learning. And, and boy when we see that you're not just one certification, not two certificates but three certifications on top of your medical degree makes a lot of sense. You're somebody who likes to learn and help people with that knowledge. Your how mastery helps you contribute to the, to the health and well being of others. And your what is trust? Trust is important to you. You deliver trust. You want to be a trusted source. How, how did that resonate with you? When we first talked about was funny.

Because you, you didn't know me and you were saying those things and I was like oh yeah, that's me a little here and a little there. So it was, it was very connected to, to who I am and, and how I act and from all these I believe that contribute probably is the one that is more important for me because that's what makes me happy. Is is my fool. Is is where I get the energy. I, I call it vitamin for my soul. When, when I know that I am helping someone else or, or I'm making someone feel better or be happy for some reason that resonates and make me feel happy. So, so all selfish here I guess.

No, I think it's beautiful and for all the coaches that are listening that's a great contribute attribute. Helping others is vitamins for your soul. I just really love that phrase. Now one of the stories that I heard in the pre interview and in getting to know you was you went to medical school by accident. So we, we've got it here. How did you go to medical school? By accident. Most people have to work their whole life to get to medical school.

Yeah, I mean I, I used to faint in front of blood. I am still terrified of needles and medical school was not in my plans. I wanted to be a psychologist and it's interesting that I, I talk about cycles of life and, and looks like my cyc Bringing me back to who I was when I was a young girl. I wanted to be involved in helping people in the emotional aspect. I wanted to be a psychologist. And right now I am working on the well being. Right. And in mental health. So that was my, my real goal in life. I got confused when my best friend decided to go to medical school and she invited me to join her and convinced me that I could do exactly the same just being a psychiatrist using a white co. And we will be together for many other years. So it sounds very reasonable. And I went for it. She left. She didn't, she didn't apply to medical school at the end. She's a business woman and an excellent mother and a wife. And I was trapped in medical school, thank God, you know, that was a.

Question I was gonna ask. So you're still friends with her? Do you stay friends with somebody makes you go to medical school and then leaves?

We laugh about this story all the time. It's like, yeah, it's part of. We have been friends since we were three years old. So we grow up together and still now we are in touch. Yes.

Excellent. That is fantastic. I Love your mission, Dr. Z. Your mission is to heal and create new friendships, find your purpose in helping others and create a meaningful impact. If that is not contribute, I don't know what is. Where did you come up with that mission job?

It's a we. It's a good question, but I don't think that I created. I, I just have it inside of me. Is, is the person that I am, is the person that my parents, you know, educated me to be. This is what I saw in my house. This is what I saw around my, myself when I was in medical school and I had amazing mentors and amazing colleagues. Seeing my sister that is a psychologist.

So I am a reflection of what, you know, I saw around me. I am the result. And I believe that majority of us, we are the result of our experiences and the impact that others have in, in our lives.

So yeah. So where did that start for you? When did you know you wanted to make a difference? You want it to have an impact on others? Some of us can trace it back to, you know, for, was it a mentor that really helped you? And you said, hey, I want to be that person? What's, what led you to say, hey, I want to make a difference for people?

I, I actually, I don't know if this is the moment that I wanted to like that I knew that I want to make a difference. But I know when I saw That I want to be different than others. And I was studying history at school. I was a girl, and I discovered. I learned about Marie Courier. And I wanted to be that woman that will make the difference. And I thought that she was amazing being a woman in times where women were not able to be scientists. And she went against the system and against what was typical, just to create something special and make the difference in the life of others. So, yeah, Mary Korea has been my idol all my life.

And you've done.

A great job of building a great career. Now you've got something exciting coming up, right. In the month of June, you're opening up a new clinic, and it's a different concept. So tell us about that. First of all, when. When is the grand opening?

So, June 13th. And there's a reason for that specific number. And my mom used to tell me, and I am not a superstitious person, but. But I grew up in this with these stories, right, that, yeah, usually start everything on a Tuesday. So June 13th is a Tuesday. And my grandma used to tell me the story that she survived the Holocaust because she used to live in an apartment number 13. And when the Nazis came to pick up the people from that building, they never opened the door. Thirteen. And. And days later, she was rescued by that. But another army. And they put her on a boat and sent her to. To Latin America, to Peru. And that's how she saved her life, because of the number 13. So I picked Tuesday 13, which is June. June 13. So that's the reason I am honoring my mom and my. And my grandma.

So you're. You're honoring. Now what would have happened if we couldn't find a Tuesday that was the 13th. When's the next Tuesday, the 13th?

I have no clue. But it was very interesting because it was like, perfect. I wanted in June. That was the month. And when I saw that those days, you know, that that day existed, it was like, okay, let's do.

Was. It's one of those. It's one of those meant to be, right?

Yes, it's meant to be. So, yeah, it's to honor my mom and to honor my grandma. A reason for me to be a geriatrician is because of my. Of my grandma and. And my mom. Well, I am who I am because of my mom and my dad.

So that's fantastic. That's a great way to honor them too. And I think it's fantastic that the dates worked out. It's really cool.

So one of the quotes, I quoted this on Monday when I posted about you. You're quoted as saying, be the writer of your book, be the editor of your story and be the principal actor of your life. I love that quote. Tell us what you mean by that.

Well, it's exactly what I am doing right now. I have been upset about the healthcare system. I have been feeling that I don't see, that I don't belong, that I feel trapped, that am not proud of myself as a physician practicing in a way where I feel restricted and I am not able to provide the care that I want to my patients. So I decided to write my book and well, I wrote my book for real. But right now I am, I'm writing the extra chapters that is to create a system that fits me and where I belong. And it's a, a system that will be my first private clinic in this country and is done with, with my heart and my soul and my experience and my knowledge all together. To be able to feel proud of who I am as a physician and to be able to help my community in the way that I believe that they deserve.

You know, I just posted a comment from Leslie who says love the meaning behind the date. Leslie has your how of mastery and, and so she's another lifelong learner. So thank you Leslie for, for being on but you know, I love what you said about, you know, writing your own book. So, so what, we're going to talk about your book because I want to hear more about the 3G circle of life or cycle of life. But you saw something that you didn't like and you said, hey, I'm going to do something about it. And you've, you're creating, you know, I think in, in previous conversations and in what I've read you, you realize that you can't really get to know a patient in those 10, 3, 5, 10 minute appointments, right? So what's going to be different when people come to your clinic, Dr. Z?

So first of all, I, I, I will not have 15 minutes appointments. That will never happen. I, I will have extended appointments. They will be one to one and I will not follow a strict protocols even. I am very respectful of evidence based medicine and I believe that protocols are important and keep us on track. But I don't think that we can manage patients based on protocols and forget that we are in front of a human being. My goal is to treat humans. My goal is to treat the complete need of my patients, not just a laboratory result or a specific pain. So in some way I want my patients to graduate from the clinic feeling that they not only lost weight or control their blood pressure, but they really achieve well being and that they are leaving that place feeling proud of themselves and feeling that they are a better version of themselves in many levels, not only on the labs or the blood pressure.

And you're going to do some of what you've always wanted to do is help with that mental wellness too, which is important.

And I, I still don't understand why we separate these things. Right. I, I don't know where this concept came. Where, you know, a psychologist or a psychiatrist is not related to the complete health of a patient or vice versa. We as humans, we are interconnected. Our brain is the one that almost control the rest of our body.

And our brain controls also our emotions. We cannot separate the way that we feel from the way that we act or that we are physically performing. So medicine will improve and the health of the community will improve when we will start putting all together again and understanding that our social background, our literacy, right, the level of education that we have, the amount money that we make.

If we are lonely, single or not, all those things are important. When you are planning to prescribe a medication, it's not the same to go to see a doctor. When you have all the money of the world and all the opportunities to buy whatever, to do any test, to have a chef preparing you delicious healthy food and a trainer doing exercise with you, right? Versus working two different jobs trying to get some food from McDonald's because it's the only thing that you can pay and not having insurance or having a bad insurance that will not even pay for a nutritionist consult or forget about the gym or therapy. So if we forget about the human, we are failing these patients. And when we fail, we fail as a physician, we are failing our patients. A physician has to be a chameleon that adapts to the needs of the patient. We are servers and in order to serve, we need to be able to adapt to the needs of the person that is in front of us. And I believe that we are forgetting about that.

I love. You know, I'm hearing hints of better way in your, in your mission. And that's from Bruce. You know, If I may, Dr. Z, because we've got some of our coaches that are listening and Bruce is one of them. You're, you're not, you're number four. So we, you know, there's nine whys as we, we talked about, but your number four is to challenge the status quo. That, that is definitely something you're doing here. And then your, your Number five is as, as Bruce correctly said, better way. So you, you're not only do you want to contribute and you do that by, through the mastery of the subject area that you're, you're in. As a physician, you know so much and you build trust, but you also want to challenge the way things are done and find a better way. And you've definitely done that here. I don't hear a lot of physicians talking the way you do, or I think we hear them talk about it, but it rarely gets put into action. So what, what, what? Who do you, who are you? Who's your inspiration?

The truth is that my inspirations are other physicians. And, and I am not the only one, actually. I, I joined just this kind of movements a couple of years ago. But there are many, many amazing physicians. Many of them are now my friends and family that have been trying to create this impact, this positive impact in the life of other physicians and the community.

Yeah, we don't see this in the news and we don't see in the news either that 400 physicians die by suicide every year in this country. And we don't know, and we don't hear the news that 65% of physicians are burned out and are working, feeling exhausted and not motivated, and performing below average.

Another 60% are depressed. So, so there are many things that we are not hearing that are not in, you know, in social media.

And they are not being, you know, having the, that, the attention that they deserve. But there are many like me that we are trying to challenge the status quo and we are trying our best to, to do something different.

Absolutely. And you are doing something different. And I love that you've put a plan of action and you're opening your clinic so it will physically come to Life on June 13th.

Yes. And I believe that it's not enough to complain. Right. Complaining is very easy. Being a victim is very easy. And many of us, we feel safe in that position. Right. Where we admit that we don't like something, we say it loud enough so someone can hear us, but not so loud that is uncomfortable. But yes, we cannot be bystanders. We should not be bystanders and we should not be passive. If something is not good for us, let's do something about it.

Yeah, I absolutely, absolutely love, I love what you're doing. Let's talk about your book, your the 3G cycle of life. The Secrets for Achieving Joy, Meaning and well Being. So you have written a book and it's about the three GS and the three GS are goals, grit and growth. So, and it's a cycle. So tell us about the cycle and why you chose goals, grit and growth.

Because I believe that I function in that way. Probably majority of us, we do and we don't notice that I function on. My first.

Stimulus to start a cycle is to set a goal. What do I want to do, what do I want to achieve or, or what I am forced to do, right? Because some type of goals are, are being forced. You need to finish school or you need to get your license or whatever it is. So as soon as you set a goal, and hopefully you set it in the right way and it's feasible and it's reasonable, right? And it's is accessible to you, you need some fuel to keep you moving through towards that goal, right? And to achieve it. And, and that's great, right? This internal motivation, this internal energy that keeps you moving. And for me, in some ways that your purpose, right? This is your mission. And sometimes I say this grid comes from inside yourself and sometimes it comes from outside. Because your friends and your family and your cheerleaders and your coaches are telling you don't stop, don'. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it. We are here for you, right? Some days are more difficult than others and we will have times that we would like to pass, right? Or even a stop. And that's when the community that you have around you will, will keep you on track. And then at the end, in theory we are supposed to achieve goals, but the reality is that we not always achieve our goals. Sometimes because we change our mind, we. That goal is not important anymore. Our perspective change.

Sometimes because we try really hard and we were not able, we were not at the level that was needed and we need to go back in the cycle and try again. Sometimes we achieve the goal and we celebrate. The question is what happened in each of these situations? And for me, no matter what, if you achieve the goal, if you will never achieve it if it was at the first attempt or not, you have always the opportunity to learn something about yourself, about the system, about others, right? And if you allow yourself, what will happen is that you will grow and you will get to the next level and you will become a better version of yourself and someone that will be wiser and with more abilities and skills to manage the next challenges in life. And that's why I don't finish with another goal or achieving your goal, but with grow with. For me it's the best result beyond the extra that could happen. During those, those cycles.

Yeah, those are great. And, and I love, you know, as Jess says, love this three GS, goals, great. All, all of them are important, but you get that growth from the experience, whether you succeed at the goal or not. And I love that you brought that up because sometimes it's, it's, it's the lessons we learn when we don't achieve the goal that are important. Right.

And I believe that those are the most important because when you are in your comfort zone, which is good, Right. We feel good when we are in, in, in a place where we know everything, with everything is, is not a challenge. Right. We know everybody there, so it's kind of comfy to be in that place. But how much you can learn when you are comfortable and probably it's not too much. It's when you go out of that comfort zone when try something new, when you need to, you know, challenge yourself and ask yourself, what else do I have inside of myself that I don't know? Right. And then it's cover is that you are really a box of surprises full of surprises. And that's, that's, that's the amazing thing about life, right, that you learn about others. But I feel like the most important thing is that we learn about ourselves too.

Yeah. I love that. Pope Benedict once said, you know, we were not built for comfort, we were built for greatness. And I think you're, you're talking about that. You, that discomfort leads to that greatness. So let's ask the show question, which is we're on why not Wednesday, and the question is, tell us about a time, Dr. Z, where you said why not to something you took a chance, said yes to something that maybe other people wouldn't have, but you said why not? And you went forward with it and it made a positive impact.

I believe that this last year I had a lot of why not moments. Probably this year has been my why not year.

Yes.

But I, I, I believe that quitting.

Job.

You know, that was comfortable. And.

Going out to be someone unemployed, becoming an entrepreneur and starting from zero again at this time of my life is my why not moment. Why not to take the chance, why not to do something new, why not to learn something? And especially why not to be a good example for my kids because they will remember this time where mommy jumped into the pool trying to find a better quality of life and better opportunities, not only for me, but for others.

And you left that comfort zone, right? You left the comfort. You had a job and it was, I'm sure it was well paying. You're a physician and, and you said hey, I want to, I want to do it my way, I want to do it different, I want to do it better. And you went out and June 13, that dream comes alive.

Yes. And, and I believe that we need to remember that not everything is about money in life. Right. And, and comfort not necess. I mean money will give you some type of comfort but the emotional comfort that, that comfort that comes from being yourself in front of the mirror and, and recognizing that, that you are proud of yourself. The things that you are doing right. That is, that is real comfort. And that's the comfort that I want for me and I want to show my kids right. I want them to appreciate because money and other things, they come, they go. But we have to wake up every morning with ourselves and we need to go to bed every night to with ourselves. And if we are not proud of who we are, that's a big deal.

That's when you can't sleep and then you got to go see, then you got to go see Dr. Z because you're not able to sleep. Right?

I am about example. I, I don't sleep many hours but I, I use my, my, my night to dream.

With our eyes open. But yeah, I believe that we need to set priorities in life and ask ourselves why not to look for a better quality of life and well being for ourselves and our love problems.

You have done a fantastic job here today and it's been so fun to, to hear your energy and, and the change that you're bringing about. If somebody's interested in learning more and you know I know we have physicians that are listening. If they want to do what you've done, they want to take that big step. We all want to learn from somebody who's done it before you've done it. Can people reach out to you? What's the best way to get a hold of you, please?

Yes. I would love to share my story. I would love to help others. I have been blessed to have many friends supporting me during this transition. So I, I will be honored to help others. That is exactly my, my website for the book and right now the website for the clinic is www.virtual wellbeingmd.com and I am always on LinkedIn. So please happy to not only to answer questions but for those especially in Florida that are interested in collaborate and.

Help me to, to help them to treat their patients and to offer their patients a better quality of care and well being, please let me help.

I love that since, since you're, you're here and you're in Florida, if you're in Florida, but anyone can get a hold of you through LinkedIn. Dr. Z is active on LinkedIn. I, I am, I am amazed at how active you are and the, the, the, the insightful post you put out. So follow her on LinkedIn. Get a hold of her there. Thank you so much. Why don't we end the show on that note?

Why not?

Thank you so much, Dr. Z. It's been a pleasure to have you on today. We are looking forward to next week when we have Simone Hoel Aubrey, the founder and president Impact Trainer. She's a business person development coach and I cannot wait for you guys to meet her. She's from north of the border and we're going to have a great time with Simone. But we want to. Dr. Z, Miriam Zilberglade for being on with us today. You guys go out and have a great week and we'll see you next Wednesday on why not Wednesday?