Interview with Dr. Dana Corriel, Internist and Founder of SoMeDocs [Show Summary]

It’s not often you hear from a doctor who has consciously taken time to “smell the roses.” Dr. Dana Corriel shares how she keeps balance in her life while practicing medicine, raising a family, and managing a growing social media presence.

Finding Balance in Medicine, Giving Doctors a Voice on Social Media, and More [Show Notes]

I’m thrilled to introduce our fascinating guest, Dr. Dana Corriel, who graduated from my alma mater, UCLA and then went to medical school at the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, graduating in 2003. She did her residency in internal medicine at Albert Einstein in NYC. Since then she has served as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, practiced medicine, and in 2017 became Director of Quality at Highland Medical, also in NY.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up and how you got interested in medicine? [2:05]

I was born in Israel and moved to the U.S. around age 10, to the LA area – Walnut specifically. I attended UCLA and earned a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience. I then went to medical school at Tel Aviv University, and came back to NY for my residency at Albert Einstein. One unique thing about me is that I took about three years off during that time to stay home and be mom to my three boys. That helped shape who I am today.

Were you scared to take the time off? Worried to come back? [3:48]

There is a multifaceted answer to that. I had spent years and years of my life to become a physician, and it was so difficult to get in and go through the process. So yes, it was very scary in that regard but ultimately very valuable to me. Since I took time away from medicine I was able to discover things about myself I never knew. Doctors always take a very straight path to medicine and don’t stop to smell the roses. I took time off to be with my kids and get to know my kids (I had my first son when I was an intern, when I was working so hard and didn’t have time to really connect). When I took the time to connect I was able to do that but also discover something about myself.

I discovered that I am very creative which puts me in a good place. Burnout really applies to physicians and so many things are broken with healthcare, but part of fixing it is finding out what is missing in yourself that could make it better. Physicians need to find their voice. The thing that puts me in a good place is expressing myself, either through creative writing with my blog or traveling/discovering and sharing that experience with the world.

Judging both by the volume of your writing on your site and the quality of it, you also love to write. Have you always been a writer? [7:24]

Not at all. It is amazing what you can discover by giving yourself time. I had never done any major writing, and didn’t write well when I first started to write. It evolved over time. My ultimate goal is to write a book, either fiction or something in my life that is funny that makes you think – like random things that are metaphorical and help you start to think.

You attended medical school in Israel. How was that experience enriching or difficult? Did you have difficulty coming back to the U.S. and getting a residency? [10:53]

I would not trade it for anything.