Ep 040 Nina Shapiro, MD: What is all the HYPE about?

Dr. Nina Shapiro is one of America’s leading physicians. With more than two decades of experience in clinical and academic medicine, she’s a trusted expert whom her patients and the media rely on routinely to set the record straight about the latest health fads and misconceptions. In today’s episode, I discuss her newest venture, her myth-busting and evidence-driven book: “Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad Advice - How to Tell What's Real and What's Not.”  In this episode, you will learn: How she came up with the idea to write a book and why she felt it was important. Her process of writing the book and how she made time for writing. How she did her research to dispel medical myths. How she has dealt with people that disagree with her message. Nina’s tips for getting on television or radio as a physician and what it’s really like to be on TV. Her advice on how to address patients’ questions regarding alternative medical treatments How to go about writing a book and how to know if the idea is good “book material” Dr. Shapiro is the Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology and a Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. A graduate of Harvard Medical School and Cornell University, she completed her surgical residency at Harvard and finished additional subspecialty training in pediatric otolaryngology at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London and the Children’s Hospital of San Diego. She has appeared on many broadcast programs, including CBS’s “The Early Show,” “Extra,” CNN and National Public Radio. She is a regular guest on the Emmy-Award winning television show “The Doctors,” and her work has been featured and published in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Redbook. Prevention, First for Women, Real Simple and many other print and online publications. Links we discussed in the show: Nina Shapiro’s new book can be found on her website www.drninashapiro.com and also at all major booksellers. You can also check out her blog, Facebook and Twitter.  Quotes from Nina Shapiro, MD: “We really need to break out of that dogma and engage in some conversation.” “Writing the book is the easy part, getting people to read it is the hard part.” “I’ll be honest, patients do sometimes get on my nerves, with their questions starting with, “Do you believe in…?” I wish to interrupt with, “The Easter Bunny, ghosts, The Tooth Fairy?” All these are indeed beliefs, but medicine is not a belief, and I practice based on evidence.” “What I did know was my conviction of what I needed to say and what information I felt like needed to be said.”   Special thanks to this week’s sponsors: The White Coat Investor’s new course Fire Your Financial Advisor! and PearsonRavitz for all of your physician disability and life insurance needs.    Thank you for listening to the Hippocratic Hustle! I know that time is your most valuable resource so I really appreciate you spending some of it with me. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it!  If you’d like to help me improve and grow the podcast, send your suggestions to: [email protected] Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, so you won’t miss an episode!