February 23, 2026 • 35 mins
What if AI could run every clinical protocol and you (the clinician) still felt more essential than ever? We sit down with Dr. Chris Seitz (board-certified in emergency medicine, licensed in all 50 states, and now CEO of Guardian Medical Direction) to rethink how modern care is built, supervised, and scaled. From trauma bays to telehealth, Chris shares why the “medicine is the medicine,” and how a functional, personalized mindset can live inside algorithm-driven environments without losing rigor.
We dig into the oversight gap that stops many great ideas at the door. Outside the hospital, nurses, PAs, and NPs hit a maze of state-by-state rules on ownership, supervision, and scope.
The future theme is clear: let AI handle the checklist work while humans do the healing work. For students and early-career clinicians, we offer a challenge worth writing down: if AI runs the pathways, what unique value will you bring? Learn the business basics now, notice where presence beats memorization, and design a career that restores your craft.
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Episode Transcript
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Ashley Love (00:00):
Have you ever wondered why so many clinicians
reach their goal and thenquietly start looking for
something else?
Today you'll meet an emergencymedicine physician who did
everything you're being taughtto do.
Residency, boards, years in theER, even got licensed in 50
states.
And still realized his greatestimpact wasn't where he was
(00:21):
trained to stand.
If you're pre-med, pre-PA, orearly in your career, you've
been told to focus on gettingin.
So you build the resume, youcollect the hours, you follow
the path exactly as it's beenlaid out.
But no one is teaching you howmedicine is changing or how to
recognize when it's time to stopfollowing and start thinking
(00:42):
differently.
In this episode, we're going tounpack what separates
clinicians who build sustainablecareers from those who slowly
disconnect from the work theyfought so hard to do.
Welcome to Shadow Me Next, apodcast where I take you into
and behind the scenes of themedical world to provide you
with a deeper understanding ofthe human side of medicine.
(01:04):
I'm Ashley, a physicianassistant, medical editor,
clinical preceptor, and thecreator of Shadow Me Next.
I invite you to join me as wetake a conversational and
personal look into the lives andminds of leaders in medicine.
This is Shadow Me Next with Dr.
Chris Seitz.
Dr.
Seitz, thank you so much forjoining us on Shadow Me Next
(01:24):
today.
You are incrediblyaccomplished, and the gift that
you have given clinicians isphenomenal.
And I cannot wait to talk aboutit.
So thanks for being here withus today.
Dr. Chris Seitz (01:34):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
Ashley Love (01:36):
So you worked as an emergency medicine physician.
Are you still working activelyin the ER or have you totally
transitioned?
Dr. Chris Seitz (01:43):
So I'm still board certified.
I'm actually having to re-up myboards.
It's been my one of the oldguard that has that every 10
years.
I think they changed it toevery five now.
But um so I'm but so I'mcurrently board certified.
I in the last year or so havenot worked any shifts.
I fully fully been a CEO andthat's been taking up a lot of
my time.
But uh I licensed in all 50states.
(02:04):
So I I did a lot of travellocums medicine.
So I will probably pop into ERsagain here in the near future,
but uh right now, right now alittle too busy.
Ashley Love (02:12):
Well, that's the beautiful thing about keeping
your board certification, right?
And the fact that you'relicensed in all 50 states, I I'm
really excited to ask you aboutthat as well.
But you know, you can you cango back to it, right?
You have established thisincredible business for people.
Um, and you know, you are theamount of patients that you are
helping has probably justexponentially exploded because
(02:32):
now you're you're helpingclinicians, right?
Help those patients.
So your your tree is so manymore branches to that with
patient care.
Dr. Chris Seitz (02:40):
And that's part, I mean, I guess I say I
haven't I say I don't practicemedicine right now.
And at the same time, I meanevery day I'm learning with the
clinicians that we support.
You know, I mean we're gettingasked questions about protocols
or questions about, you know, Iactually went back and got
functional medicine trained uhbecause a lot of our clientele
are functional medicinepractitioners.
So um, yeah, I'm alwaysespecially when you're doing
(03:01):
medical oversight, medicaldirection work, which is what we
do.
Uh yeah, you're you're alwaysstill, you may not be seeing the
patient directly, but whenyou're supporting all the
clinicians that do, I'm stillanswering those questions, still
having to look stuff up, youknow, still having to read and
watch the YouTube videos againand all that good stuff.
Ashley Love (03:16):
So heavily, heavily involved in patient care.
Absolutely.
Just a little bit different.
So think back to your emergencymedicine days.
Um, tell us, tell us aboutsomething about emergency
medicine that maybe people don'tunderstand.
Dr. Chris Seitz (03:29):
I've had this obviously interesting path, uh,
which has been very exciting andit's not done, and I I like not
knowing what comes next.
Um one of the things I thinkfor me specifically, a unique
perspective I have is the factthat I did practice very
traditional, the mosttraditional medicine there is,
which I would argue is emergencymedicine, and then now and have
(03:50):
trained in like the functionalmedicine wellness side of
things.
And I think what people peoplethink those are completely
different things.
That there's traditionalmedicine and then there's new
functional wellness,personalized care, and they are
not the same.
And if you're on TikTok orInstagram, that the traditional
way is bad and the new way isgood.
(04:11):
Um and I just have such adifferent and unique perspective
as I was learning aboutfunctional medicine myself and
wellness and preventative care.
I went into it thinking this isgonna be completely different
than what I learned.
And what I actually insteadrealized is that I had probably
been practicing emergencymedicine with a functional
medicine mindset the whole time.
(04:32):
Because it's really what it is.
It's a mindset.
It's resin, but the medicine isthe medicine, how you approach
that medicine really dictateswhat quote unquote type of
medicine you're actuallypracticing.
Um so you think emergencymedicine, you think algorithms,
you think you know, you'rewatching the show The Pit, which
actually is a great show.
You've learned it, it's great,very exciting.
(04:52):
Give me a little PTSD.
I thought I was working toshift the first episode, but
that's okay.
Um but like, you know, like youlook at it, it's very
algorithm-driven, protocoldriven, like you know what to do
next, or you know, or you'retrying to trouble chew.
But but how you show up in thatas the healer, as the
clinician, really is either thatfunctional medicine
personalized approach, or it'snot whether you're using an
(05:15):
algorithm or not.
Even functional medicine, ifyou if you look at it, I mean
there are algorithms that youcan follow.
So I think that there is thismisconception that the two are
upset.
Ashley Love (05:24):
This is a great time to pause for quality
questions.
This is a segment on the showwhere we talk about an interview
question that you might hear onyour own pre-health interview.
So, what I want to talk aboutright now is how the science of
medicine is algorithms, ACLS,stroke pathways, antibiotic
order, and how AI will likelyhandle more of that in the
(05:45):
future.
So here's the question I wantyou to wrestle with.
If AI can run the protocols,what will define your value as a
clinician?
Is it your ability to memorizepathways?
Is it your ability to createenvironments for healing?
To read a room?
To notice what's being notsaid?
If you're preparing forprofessional school, this is the
(06:08):
identity work no one isassigning you.
Here's your action step forthis week.
When you shadow, notice onemoment where the clinician's
value has nothing to do with theprotocol.
Write it down because that isthe art of medicine.
And it doesn't just stop atquality questions.
There are more resources foryou as a pre-health student on
(06:30):
Shadowme Next.com to include ournewly released application
readiness course.
So head on over tocourses.shadowmext.com and check
it out.
Dr. Chris Seitz (06:40):
There's algorithm-based, research-driven
medicine, and then there's thispersonalized, explorative, you
know, like you know, science,being a pioneer.
And it's always the same.
We've always said it's thescience and art of medicine.
I was talking about those twothings.
Like that is what we're talkingabout.
Those are the different things,right?
Ashley Love (06:59):
Absolutely.
That's a fantasticmisconception, actually.
And it brings me to anotherquestion, and that is well, I
guess the statement.
So there is a role forfunctional medicine in the ED,
then, because in my brain, I'mthinking of the ER, like
someplace you go acutely foremergent pro emergency room,
emergent problems, not yourtoenail that's you know, hurting
(07:19):
you or sniffles.
Yeah, ideally, it's these acuteissues, but you've seen
discussions and focus onfunctional medicine really
improving even those patients inthose acute settings too, then.
Dr. Chris Seitz (07:33):
Yeah, and and even the even the toenails, I'll
say um, you know, even the eventhe toenail patients, even the
patient, I mean, emergency theemergency department has become
very much um everyone's entrywayto medicine in general.
Better or for worse.
Right.
Supposed to be.
I always say, like, man,emergency medicine would be
(07:55):
really cool if you only ever sawemergencies, but that's just
not the case, right?
90% of what I would see in aday was but but as a part of,
and this is this is where Ithink the functional medicine
piece comes in, is that whatthat all boils down to is
education.
That's what drew me tomedicine.
I I'm a I'm a lifelong learnermyself.
I love to educate.
(08:15):
Um, but before you can educate,you have to learn it yourself.
So, you know, medicine is aboutcoming alongside people and
educating them, whether it'sabout their body or about their
own misconceptions about what'sgoing on.
Um, and the emergencydepartment, I mean, I'd have
three, four, five patients anhour where I'd have an
opportunity to educate them orguide them in something.
And we used to tell ourresidents when I was an
(08:35):
attendee, think about if youwere on the street today, does
that person look normal orhealthy to you?
Because what happens whenyou're in the ER all day, you're
like, that guy looks fine.
But if you saw that guy in thestreet, you'd be like, oh, whoa,
that's that's not a normallooking person, right?
You you have a you kind of hadto learn to remember what normal
people, because you you youswitch, you switch a switch,
(08:57):
right?
You you turn on, you put onyour scrubs, you put on your ER
badge, and all of a suddenyou're you're that clinician and
people look different to youbecause you're looking at them
through the new lens.
So you had to continuouslypractice this.
Hey, if I saw this person in myliving room where they walked
through my door, like, would Isay that looks normal?
But I feel like this person ishealthy or not healthy.
And maybe it's not an acuteemergency, but I'm the I'm the
(09:18):
entryway, I'm the person they'recoming to to help figure this
out.
So here's my opportunity toeducate, to give a little
knowledge, to give someresources, to point them in the
right direction.
And again, I'll go back to likethat that that's functional
medicine, right?
I mean, that is that ispersonalized care, that's
functional medicine.
Maybe I only get to play asmall piece of that, right?
I don't get to follow them, youknow, a ton further, but even
(09:39):
finding my space to hold withthem and to take that next step
with them.
Ashley Love (09:44):
And interestingly enough, I would imagine, and I
don't work in the ER.
Um, you said something a secondago that made me giggle, and
that was how you enjoyed notknowing what's coming next in
life generally.
And I think that probablycontributed to your enjoyment of
the ER, which is why I wouldnot enjoy the ER, especially if
you're not thinking about, youknow, I like my little clinic
schedule of 30 patients.
That I would imagine as an ERphysician, ER clinician, um,
(10:07):
that would really help preventburnout, is realizing that it's
not every, it's not just theacute patients that need your
care, right?
It's even the patients thatcome in with maybe a chronic
thing that they're justfrustrated with today.
Um, you can still provide themwith that education.
You can still surf them as aclinician, um, you know, even if
it's not something where youhave to begin chest compressions
immediately or starting them onall these acute medications.
(10:29):
Um, that's a really interestingpoint.
And I love your idea aboutperspective too.
Um, you have to take off yourER glasses sometimes and see
people just as, you know, asregular with your regular
eyeballs, which it's amazing.
If for our non-clinicians whoare listening to this, it's the
hats.
You know, we always talk aboutthe hats that we wear.
It's like the brains we put inour head, you know, everything
(10:51):
is intertwined at some point,but we definitely we definitely
have different roles that weplay, which you have a whole
nother role, which isentrepreneurship in medicine,
which of course we're gonnaactually let's talk about that
right now.
When did you realize you youwork in the ER?
This is an incredible career.
When did you realize or startthinking about shifting and
maybe moving intoentrepreneurship or even even
(11:13):
you know, a new, a newleadership role, really, which
is what which is that we have?
Dr. Chris Seitz (11:17):
Yeah, I think um it's one of those things that
you know you every entrepreneurwho's done it and done it
successfully, you know, you'rehere to be like, Oh, I was I
think I was always anentrepreneur.
It's like it's because when youlook back, it's easy to you
know to pull that threadthrough.
Um for me, like I don't Iwouldn't say I was always an
entrepreneur, like I was notthat kid who was like, you know,
putting up lemonade stands,doing that.
(11:39):
Like I I really like I, youknow, I I did my chores, I had I
had jobs, but it was not reallyagain for me, it it goes back
to, and again, this is inhindsight, right?
I looked to see where the wherethose threads were.
Um leadership for me was alwayseducating.
I always had felt that the bestleaders or the leaders that I
respected the most knew how toeducate really well and were
(12:01):
passionate about that, right?
Whatever, whatever it was.
Um, I'm someone who like youstart talking to me about
something random, like your youryour marketing career, and I've
got tons of questions.
I I want to know everything.
I think it I think it makes mea good CEO because I'm I'm
interested in in that.
Um so it's really that learningand that education I think drew
me to at some pointentrepreneurship in the sense
(12:24):
that um I've just I've alwaysbeen very curious.
So as I was my my path in theemergency department was
interesting.
So I I worked uh I did myresidency in Detroit area, level
one trauma center.
I then went and worked at alocal community hospital here in
the Detroit area um for twoyears as an attending.
That contract got bought out byTeam Health, so it got bought
(12:47):
out by kind of corporateAmerica, which is not
necessarily a bad thing.
A lot of people hated thatright away.
It didn't really bother me.
It was again, I was curiousabout it.
I learned a lot about howbilling works.
I mean, doctors aren't dumb.
Like we know that healthcare isa business in the United
States, so tell us how to helpoptimize that.
We're happy to, as long as youlet us take care of our
patients.
So I didn't really have anissue with that until it became
an issue, right?
(13:08):
All of a sudden, efficiency wasbeing put probably before
patient care in a lot of cases,and we didn't have quite the
voice that we should have.
Uh so you know, when it came tore-op the contract for a couple
years, I said, Yeah, you know,let me try something different.
So I went to travel medicine.
Um I was licensed in a coupleof licensed in a couple states
and I started doing travelmedicine.
Um, travel medicine now is avery like robust.
(13:32):
I mean, this is like a careerpath that you can start deciding
you're gonna take early.
When I first did travelmedicine, it was the beginning
of that.
Like we were like probably thefirst group of physicians like
leaving saying, hey, like we'relegitimate board certified
emergency physicians and we wantto try travel medicine, versus
like, hey, I lost my license inCalifornia and I can only work
now in this.
That was kind of the doctorpersona at the Luddy's.
(13:53):
So I would go into these ERsand people would be like very
appreciative that I actuallyknew what I was doing, uh, which
was fun.
But I but what was cool aboutthat is I got to learn that like
the medicine didn't change, buthow you delivered the medicine
changed based on your resources,based on what you know, what
they had or didn't have, youknow, who who you had available
to you.
I worked in emergencydepartments where I had nurse
(14:13):
practitioners that worked underme, and we had level one, you
know, we had surgeons and we hadvascular surgeons, and then I
worked in emergency departmentswhere I was the only doctor in
the hospital, like in the wholehospital.
There's one point I was workingin a rural community up in
upper peninsula of Michiganwhere we had a trauma coming in
and a lady was giving, was likegonna give birth upstairs, and
they're like, Dr.
(14:33):
Sites, like which one do youwant?
Because you can't do both.
Um, but what was cool aboutthat is that you like really
learn to to rely on your team,right?
I there's just there's youknow, people ask me, like, oh,
Dr.
Sites, like if you were out inthe wilderness, you know, like
what would you do?
Like a CPR?
I don't know.
I don't have a CT scan, fivenurses, and a bunch of other
things.
I can't really do my job,right?
(14:55):
You have to admit that.
So um I think that gave me areal great appreciation of the
of the team of the healthpractitioners that I was working
with.
Um, and then what startedhappening is that we COVID
happened, right?
So all of a sudden I was likeone of the only doctors working
all the time during COVID, goingeverywhere to help.
Um, and that's when we saw thismass exodus of clinicians
(15:16):
leaving kind of medicine.
Um, we saw advances intelemedicine and technology that
allowed for us to do remote,you know, Zoom type of visits.
All of a sudden, this thiswhole digital health thing blew
up, and people started askingme, hey Dr.
Sice, can you be my medicaldirector for this thing?
Could you help me?
Could you oversee me here?
Could you be my partner withthis?
Nurse practitioners, PAs,nurses.
(15:37):
And I was like, Yeah, I'd loveto.
This would be awesome, right?
First, it was selfishly.
I don't have to work as manyshifts if I if you pay me to
help with that.
But uh, but then I realizedthere was no good resources for
that either.
There was no, this was a newway of doing medicine that we
weren't prepared for.
And of course, you know, I wasone of the physicians, first
physicians coming out during thetime where like this focused on
the physician shortage has beenhuge, and you just realized
(16:01):
being a practitioner in thatecosystem that man, like this
system is broken, and we have toturn to another pool of
providers.
We have to, it's aninevitability.
Unless we empower nurses, nursepractitioners, PAs to pick up a
baton and see patients,patients just won't be seen.
I can't see more patients in myunit.
So that kind of all culminatedinto well, what if we built a
platform to help non-physiciansget the oversight that they
(16:25):
need, have the compliance toolsthat they can use to make sure
that they're protecting theirlicense, but can deliver care
within their scope of practice.
And then Guardian MedicalDirection was born and kind of
took off, and I kept beingcurious and learning more and
found myself in a CEO C one day.
So uh that's kind of kind ofhow that happened.
Ashley Love (16:43):
But it's incredible.
It's incredible.
Say let's talk a little bitabout medical oversight because
that's something that youmentioned that I think people
have heard, but they might theymight not understand what that
is.
Why is it why is it such abarrier for us in healthcare
right now?
What well first what is it?
And then why is it a barrier?
Dr. Chris Seitz (17:00):
Yeah.
So I mean, again, when youthink about traditional
medicine, when you're whenyou're a nurse working in a
hospital, you just naturallyhave physicians who are putting
your orders in.
You have, you know, you havethis hierarchy of oversight um
that just this just kind ofnaturally happens.
That disappears when you go outinto the outpatient world.
(17:21):
So when we saw these advancesin telemedicine, you know,
ability to do telemedicinestuff, um, with doctors not
being very accessible, all of asudden become, okay, well, I'm a
nurse, maybe I want to start myown ID hydration clinic.
Maybe I want to do aesthetics,you know, do some med spot
stuff.
Maybe I'm a nurse practitionerand I'm I'm gonna start my own
telemedicine practice.
(17:42):
But how do you do that withoutthe right medical oversight in
place that mimics that hierarchyin the hospital?
And there, and there really hasnot been a way to do it.
So, what happened was thatpractitioners would have to find
a doctor like myself who wascurious and somewhat familiar
with these things and say, hey,can can you help me figure out
what forms I gotta file with thestate board?
Can you help me figure out howto register this business even?
(18:03):
Can I can I do this?
Is it am I allowed to do this?
The boards are very silentsometimes.
They they expect us tointerpret what the rules are and
they just hold us accountableif we get it wrong.
Um, so it can be very scary.
And I think especially in inthe the booming digital health
medical entrepreneurship worldthat kind of came out of COVID,
(18:24):
unfortunately, but notsurprisingly, like protecting
the clinicians is kind of thelast thing on the list, right?
It's first like let's makemoney, then let's figure out how
to show outcomes.
So I'm businesses die rightthere, right?
I've made a lot of money withthis new thing, but it doesn't
actually help people in the endof the research.
And then if you can get to thepoint where it actually does
help people and I can prove thatconcept that I'm making money,
(18:47):
then and only then do they worryabout like, well, how do I make
sure my physicians and mynurses and my nurse
practitioners are satisfied?
And a lot of people feelthey're too.
I think I felt that it neededto be done differently, right?
How do we protect theclinicians first?
If you protect protectclinicians first and give them
the tools, they will do whatthey do best, which is drive
outcomes.
And if you drive outcomes, youcan make money in medicine.
(19:09):
The problem is that the moneycame in the third step in my
scenario, not the first.
So it's uh not something thateverybody follows.
But um, but yeah, so so what wedo is that we have nurses,
nurse practitioners, PAs thatcome to us and say, Hey, I want
to start my own medicalbusiness.
How do I do that?
How do I do it the right way,where I protect my license?
How do I who do I need topartner with?
How do I structure this?
(19:29):
And we kind of help them from Ato Z do that.
So we we have a platform thatprovides uh the other side of
that equation, like physiciansto do that oversight.
Uh, we help them draft theirprotocols and procedures that
qualify for state board toapprove so that they can legally
do it.
We help them structure thebusiness.
Uh certain things that peopledon't realize we're like certain
(19:50):
states, a nurse can't own thepractice of medicine, only a
physician can.
So we'll help establish thatrelationship with the right
contracts to again protect bothsides of that.
We always say, like, let ushelp you kind of structure it
the right way, get it done in away that you are safe and can go
to sleep and I know yourlicense is protected, then go
scale your business, right?
And if we do it that way, Ithink.
(20:11):
And it it's it's still a modelthat like people are
uncomfortable with sometimes.
The boards are still trying tofigure out how do we do this
where we're like, we really as acompany have partnered with
these boards to say, hey, let ushelp you show you how to do it
the right way so that theseclinicians can do it.
But there is no other choice.
And I think that's what we'recoming coming to find year over
year that we have to adopt andchange and figure out how to do
(20:33):
this because otherwise we justhave to admit that patients
won't have access, which I don'tthink is an option anybody
wants.
Ashley Love (20:39):
No, it's not an option.
You're absolutely right.
And you, gosh, that wasincredible.
Thank you for explaining all ofthat.
And that is there's threedifferent points that I want to
touch on first.
And the the first one is um Iknow we mentioned we were gonna
come back to the fact thatyou're licensed in all 50
states.
First of all, is that unusual?
That's unusual, right?
Not not every physician islicensed in all 50 states.
Dr. Chris Seitz (20:59):
No, that is unusual.
So that's one of the actuallykind of cool things that again
that came out of COVID andtelemedicine.
It's called the IMLCC.
IMLCC.
It's a way that I as a doctorcan get like one license and
then quickly get licensed in abunch of other states.
That didn't exist before.
Like that's kind of an unheardof thing.
Even when I was first coming upin telemedicine and and travel
medicine, was how do you get alicense in multiple spots that
(21:22):
you have the ability to helpmore?
Um, now that's it's much moredoable.
We're speaking nurse compactlicenses in the same way, right?
But the problem with that isthat as you the way I practice
what I'm allowed to do throughthe state of Ohio's Board of
Medicine is not exactly the sameas the state of Michigan.
And that's something thatpeople don't really understand.
Your scope of practice isdifferent per state.
(21:45):
Um again, that's another thingthat these entrepreneurs have to
navigate as they're startingtheir medical businesses,
especially if you're gonna likeopen up multiple locations or do
telemedicine across statelines.
The different compliancecomponents are different in
every state.
Ashley Love (21:59):
Well, thank you.
For explaining that.
And that was actually thequestion I was going to ask you
is that number one, I wouldimagine being licensed in all 50
states makes you beautifullypositioned to counsel people, of
course, medical professionalsin all 50 states.
But it's also a really greatpoint to make for the student
who might, or even the patientwho might not realize that just
because I'm board certified andlicensed in Florida doesn't mean
(22:23):
that while I'm on vacation inCalifornia, I could just work
for a couple of weeks.
You know, it's just that's nothow medicine is currently
positioned, which is interestingto see.
And I think something to keepour eye on, and maybe you can
speak to this too, over the nextmaybe decade in medicine, is
really seeing those linesblurred, especially as we run
into more issues with um, youknow, a limited number of
(22:46):
clinicians, specifically medicaldoctors.
Um that'll be quiteinteresting.
So thank you.
Thank you for explaining thatso well.
That's such an important pointthat we don't bring up very
often.
And then something else that Iwanted to mention is um, you
know, this entrepreneurship inmedicine.
I think a lot of people thinkabout it as doctors, MDs, or
DOs.
What I'm hearing you say isthat entrepreneurs is not
limited to medical doctors.
(23:08):
It is for nurses, for PAs, forNPs.
Is that this is true?
This is news.
Dr. Chris Seitz (23:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Our whole business, we so wedon't support physician
practices.
We support nurse-run businessesand PAs as well.
Um, so these are nurses, nursepractitioners, you know, RNs,
nurse practitioners, PAs, um,even just medical entrepreneurs
who are gonna hire those typesof people to deliver care who
(23:34):
have a good business idea on howto deliver care in a unique
way, they come to us and we helpthem build it the right way.
Now you need physicianoversight in there.
That's that's why our modelexists.
You need to structure thebusiness in the correct way.
You have to have the rightpolicies, procedures, protocols.
There are certain things youcan do that if you hire these
kind of practitioners, there arecertain things you can't.
And that might be different inwhat state you're in.
(23:56):
I mean, to your point, it'sit's something that people don't
realize is that if I'm a doctoron vacation in Florida and I
respond to a medical emergency,I'm responding as a layperson.
I don't have a license there toactually practice.
You have to be very careful.
Versus if I'm at, you know, thestore and someone goes down,
you hear these stories of, youknow, especially ER doctors, we
like to be, I don't know, welike to get on the news
(24:18):
apparently, but um, we're like,you know, someone, you know,
we're working out of the gym andsomeone goes down and like some
rant, and again, whoever thisguy is, right?
You've heard this story, butwhoever this guy who's who's
like carrying his medical bagand like who is that guy on
scene?
Like, first of all, dude, why Imean come on, you were looking
for that to happen.
Whatever, that's fine.
Uh, you know, you deal withyour own ego at home, I guess.
(24:40):
But uh anyway, elancipate theguy, they'll get him and they'll
save his life.
That's awesome.
If they're licensed in thatstate, if you were like on
vacation and did that as an yeardoctor, you were licensed, like
you get sued pretty severely.
Like, you don't have and peopledon't know that they think
one's a doctor, always a doctor,which is true.
But I'm certified, I'm licensedin a specific state.
(25:01):
So, yeah, I got licensed in all50 states.
It took a long time, it cost alot of money, but uh, like I
said, I I can kind of do what Iwant a little bit uh in that
way, but that's not the norm.
And a lot of people don't don'trealize that.
But yeah, going back to yourinitial question, yes, I mean,
so this is all nurseentrepreneurship, PA
entrepreneurship.
Like we and this is again, thisis what I think is an
(25:21):
inevitability in healthcare.
The act, you know, my emergencydepartment used to be
everyone's access point.
Now people are accessingmedicine at their gym, at their
pharmacy, at their medical spa.
I think that's awesome.
I think a lot of people areafraid of that.
And I think the regulatoryenvironment is like, oh my gosh,
how do we do that?
How do we make sure because youhear all the bad stories?
But to me, like I built abusiness to help support that
(25:43):
the right way because to methat's very exciting.
I'd really love patients to beable to get care wherever makes
the most sense for them.
I think we'll see people takecare of themselves better that
way.
I think we will be able to takethat burden off of the current
healthcare system if we can doit right.
Ashley Love (26:00):
I just I want to repeat this because I think that
this is such a novel idea tohear a medical doctor saying,
and that is get your medicalcare from what's accessible to
you and what and what feelscomfortable to you.
But at the same time, comingfrom someone who's founded
Guardian Medical Direction, findout what is backing them.
(26:22):
Find out where they're gettingtheir opinions from, where
they're getting their advicefrom.
You still have to do yourresearch.
Like, you know, you still haveto know about this person or
this company.
And that's where this is soincredible that you have offered
an amazing resource to theseclinicians, these nurses, PAs,
and Ps who are who reallydesperately want to offer care,
(26:44):
but maybe need some supportthere, right?
Dr. Chris Seitz (26:47):
Yeah.
I think clinicians too, I mean,we talk a lot about burnout.
Um, I think clinicians areburnt out, not because they're
seeing too many patients.
I really don't.
I don't think I wasn't burntout in the emergency department
because of all the patients Iwas seeing.
I got burnt out in theemergency department because I
couldn't deliver care the way Iknew I wanted to deliver care.
Ashley Love (27:06):
Right.
Dr. Chris Seitz (27:07):
Right.
So, like that's the other thingthat I think that I hope that
we empower at Guardian is thatagain, like if you got a
business idea, like you got away you want to deliver care to
your group of patients or yourcommunity, man, I want to help
you do that.
Because, like, one, you'regoing to be able to give so much
more and you're not going toburn out because you get to do
it your way.
Again, let's just make sureit's in the confines of the
(27:27):
right compliance safety networkto do it, you know.
But um, but that's it's it'sit's it's it's less hard than
people realize.
You know, so it's like you justhave to understand it.
Um, but yeah, I I think that Ireally bullish on all the new
advances in medicine.
I think there's a I thinkthere's doctors out there that
are getting worried.
I feel the opposite way.
I really think we're entering atime where, you know, for
(27:49):
physicians who are worriedabout, you know, losing some of
the control, I think that we asdoctors finally get back to
being true scientists andpioneers and thought leaders.
We can empower more people thatactually deliver care in the
way that best suits them andbest suits their community.
We talk about personalized careall the time, right?
Um, so why would we not want tohelp people figure out what,
(28:10):
again, to your point, what worksbest for them, right?
Ashley Love (28:14):
Absolutely.
And you know, here's aquestion.
We've been dancing around thisquestion the whole time, and I'm
just gonna ask it directly.
Where do you see healthcareheading in the next well, I pick
it pick a number, 10, 20 years?
What is it gonna look like?
How is it gonna look differentthan what we are poorly
sometimes doing right now?
Dr. Chris Seitz (28:32):
So I think, I mean, we gotta start talking, we
gotta start talking about AI.
We talk about feature ofhealthcare here.
I think that AI is going to doa really good job of taking over
all the algorithm-based.
It's gonna have to be done withthe right oversight in place,
right?
It we can't just rely on, youknow, uh just the technology,
(28:53):
right?
There needs to be the checksand balances, which I think we
as physicians are gonna continueto move into more oversight
roles.
We're gonna continue to moveinto more kind of guidance.
You know, they say 30% ofphysicians today have a
non-traditional role.
It's awesome.
And that's because a lot ofthem are entering into chief
medical officer, medicaldirector.
Like, we kind of have toelevate up and empower the you
know, the other practitioners todo some of that work.
(29:14):
I think AI starts to reallyhelp take care of a lot of the
easy, quick things.
And to me, that's not scary.
That doesn't take jobs away.
That actually allows us asclinicians to get back to being
healers.
I don't have to be the guychecking all the boxes, making
sure the stroke protocol.
I can be the guy who sits withyou, who holds your hand and
(29:35):
says, Man, I get why this isn'texactly right for you.
Let's work together to figureout what that is.
That's to me super exciting.
I think I we talk about thescience of medicine.
The science of medicine isthose algorithms, right?
It's the ACLS protocol, it'syour stroke protocols, it's it's
you know, make sure you givethis antibiotic before this
antibiotic.
And that science changes basedon research.
And as we the art of medicineto me is the environments that
(29:59):
we create for healing.
And that can be an environmentthat I create with you right
here, where we're just speakingon a phone and I and I sit with
you as a healer and like makethat space for you.
It can be the environment Icreate in my medical spa, right?
When you come in and you feel acertain way when you get that
experience with like I think thethe experiences, that's the art
(30:20):
of medicine to me.
I think that's where we'regonna be able to, as clinicians,
get back to a lot of that.
And I think we're gonna seemassive leaps in people's health
because of that, though.
Not because the science isgonna get better or faster or
quicker, like the strep throat'sgonna be strep throat, it's
gonna be strep throat.
Hey, I can handle that.
Right.
We're gonna start to be able tocreate environments again for
healing, and that was wherewe're gonna see this kind of
(30:41):
revolution of healthadvancements.
Um that's my that's myprediction.
That's my hope.
Ashley Love (30:48):
I love it.
What a fantastic, fantasticidea too, would be to you know,
get take, put the healer back inthe healing, right?
I I I I love that.
And it does feel more, um, itfeels more collaborative with
the patient as well.
And I think that we have sooften just spoken to the patient
instead of spoken with thepatient.
And I think that's also part ofthe art of medicine, right?
(31:09):
Um, oh my gosh, incredible.
Okay, last question as we wrapup.
I'm just taking up so much ofyour time.
Um let's talk to our let's talkto our student right now.
How should students beginthinking about the business side
of medicine?
And should they be thinkingabout the business side of
medicine before they even gointo it, right?
They're they're they'rethinking right now, well, Ash,
I'm not even not even there yet.
(31:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, is this a good time tostart considering it in the
current climate?
Dr. Chris Seitz (31:36):
I think so obviously, I think yes, right.
I think that every clinicianshould be thinking, and but when
I say business, I guess I goback to entrepreneurship.
And we throw that term aroundvery loosely nowadays.
Everyone's an entrepreneur,right?
You sell pottery out of yourgarage, you're an entrepreneur,
and that's fine.
The term entrepreneur, though,like really came from this like
(31:57):
creating something from nothing,though.
Like an entrepreneur back inthe day was someone who like
created something that didn'texist before.
And that's because it'sinterpersonal and it's
(32:17):
interrelational, right?
So I guess when I say yes, Ithink what I'm saying is I'm
gonna encourage whether you'repre-med or pre-nursing or in
these different environments, isto just don't get concerned
that you're not gonna be able todo it your way.
And obviously, like I said,your way needs to drive value,
but it will because you wouldn'tbe in it if you weren't caring,
(32:38):
you didn't want to care forpeople if that wasn't just a
natural thing.
So just stay curious aroundlike, hey, I really like that
path over there, but I wouldwant to do it a little
different, or man, I it'd bereally cool if you did.
Like, those are all options.
And like when I went throughmedical school and I went
through like people didn't tellyou that, right?
You can be an air doctor, youcan be an OBGYN, you can feel
(32:59):
like that's a doctor, and that'sit.
You better pick the right onebecause heaven forbid it's
really hard to switch, you can'tdo another residency.
Like that was kind of the whatwe were taught.
I have not found that to betrue at all.
I I think what one of the bestyou know things about the career
that I chose is that I get tomake it up every I can I can
make up every day a differentway of doing what I'm trained to
(33:21):
do and find new passion or newexcitement or uh just get
creative anytime.
And if I want to go sit andjust see patients all day in
telemedicine, I can pick up thephone, I can get that job
tomorrow as well.
I mean, it's really such ablessing to have that the skill
set to really just, you know,they say that they say the true
marker of success is waking upand getting to choose your own
(33:42):
problems.
I get to choose my ownproblems, right?
What I want to struggle with iswhat I get to struggle with.
And that is the most freeingthing.
I think clinicians are veryuniquely positioned for that in
what we do, and especially withwhat's coming in the future.
Like, I I would just encouragepeople, like, just keep being
curious about it.
Don't get overwhelmed by it,don't worry about it.
Like, it's all on the table foryou.
(34:02):
And that's I think justabsolutely incredible.
Ashley Love (34:06):
Dr.
Seites, thank you so much.
Listen, if you guys areinterested in learning more
about um about Guardian MedicalDirection, check it out.
It'sguardianmedicaldirection.com.
Dr.
Sites, it has been absolutelyincredible.
I am so full of hope, really,about medicine, about the
trajectory of medicine, and umand very, very grateful for what
(34:27):
you have offered.
Dr. Chris Seitz (34:28):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
I really enjoyed it.
Ashley Love (34:30):
Thank you so very much for listening to this
episode of Shadow Me Next.
If you liked this episode, orif you think it could be useful
for a friend, please subscribeand invite them to join us next
Monday.
As always, if you have anyquestions, let me know on
Facebook or Instagram.
Access you want, stories youneed, you're always invited to
Shadow Me Next.
Please keep in mind that thecontent of this podcast is
(34:55):
intended for informational andentertainment purposes only, and
should not be considered asprofessional medical advice.
The views and opinionsexpressed in this podcast are
those of the host and guests,and do not necessarily reflect
the official policy or positionof any other agency,
organization, employer, orcompany.
Have you ever wondered why so many clinicians
reach their goal and thenquietly start looking for
something else?
Today you'll meet an emergencymedicine physician who did
everything you're being taughtto do.
Residency, boards, years in theER, even got licensed in 50
states.
And still realized his greatestimpact wasn't where he was
(00:21):
trained to stand.
If you're pre-med, pre-PA, orearly in your career, you've
been told to focus on gettingin.
So you build the resume, youcollect the hours, you follow
the path exactly as it's beenlaid out.
But no one is teaching you howmedicine is changing or how to
recognize when it's time to stopfollowing and start thinking
(00:42):
differently.
In this episode, we're going tounpack what separates
clinicians who build sustainablecareers from those who slowly
disconnect from the work theyfought so hard to do.
Welcome to Shadow Me Next, apodcast where I take you into
and behind the scenes of themedical world to provide you
with a deeper understanding ofthe human side of medicine.
(01:04):
I'm Ashley, a physicianassistant, medical editor,
clinical preceptor, and thecreator of Shadow Me Next.
I invite you to join me as wetake a conversational and
personal look into the lives andminds of leaders in medicine.
This is Shadow Me Next with Dr.
Chris Seitz.
Dr.
Seitz, thank you so much forjoining us on Shadow Me Next
(01:24):
today.
You are incrediblyaccomplished, and the gift that
you have given clinicians isphenomenal.
And I cannot wait to talk aboutit.
So thanks for being here withus today.
Dr. Chris Seitz (01:34):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
Ashley Love (01:36):
So you worked as an emergency medicine physician.
Are you still working activelyin the ER or have you totally
transitioned?
Dr. Chris Seitz (01:43):
So I'm still board certified.
I'm actually having to re-up myboards.
It's been my one of the oldguard that has that every 10
years.
I think they changed it toevery five now.
But um so I'm but so I'mcurrently board certified.
I in the last year or so havenot worked any shifts.
I fully fully been a CEO andthat's been taking up a lot of
my time.
But uh I licensed in all 50states.
(02:04):
So I I did a lot of travellocums medicine.
So I will probably pop into ERsagain here in the near future,
but uh right now, right now alittle too busy.
Ashley Love (02:12):
Well, that's the beautiful thing about keeping
your board certification, right?
And the fact that you'relicensed in all 50 states, I I'm
really excited to ask you aboutthat as well.
But you know, you can you cango back to it, right?
You have established thisincredible business for people.
Um, and you know, you are theamount of patients that you are
helping has probably justexponentially exploded because
(02:32):
now you're you're helpingclinicians, right?
Help those patients.
So your your tree is so manymore branches to that with
patient care.
Dr. Chris Seitz (02:40):
And that's part, I mean, I guess I say I
haven't I say I don't practicemedicine right now.
And at the same time, I meanevery day I'm learning with the
clinicians that we support.
You know, I mean we're gettingasked questions about protocols
or questions about, you know, Iactually went back and got
functional medicine trained uhbecause a lot of our clientele
are functional medicinepractitioners.
So um, yeah, I'm alwaysespecially when you're doing
(03:01):
medical oversight, medicaldirection work, which is what we
do.
Uh yeah, you're you're alwaysstill, you may not be seeing the
patient directly, but whenyou're supporting all the
clinicians that do, I'm stillanswering those questions, still
having to look stuff up, youknow, still having to read and
watch the YouTube videos againand all that good stuff.
Ashley Love (03:16):
So heavily, heavily involved in patient care.
Absolutely.
Just a little bit different.
So think back to your emergencymedicine days.
Um, tell us, tell us aboutsomething about emergency
medicine that maybe people don'tunderstand.
Dr. Chris Seitz (03:29):
I've had this obviously interesting path, uh,
which has been very exciting andit's not done, and I I like not
knowing what comes next.
Um one of the things I thinkfor me specifically, a unique
perspective I have is the factthat I did practice very
traditional, the mosttraditional medicine there is,
which I would argue is emergencymedicine, and then now and have
(03:50):
trained in like the functionalmedicine wellness side of
things.
And I think what people peoplethink those are completely
different things.
That there's traditionalmedicine and then there's new
functional wellness,personalized care, and they are
not the same.
And if you're on TikTok orInstagram, that the traditional
way is bad and the new way isgood.
(04:11):
Um and I just have such adifferent and unique perspective
as I was learning aboutfunctional medicine myself and
wellness and preventative care.
I went into it thinking this isgonna be completely different
than what I learned.
And what I actually insteadrealized is that I had probably
been practicing emergencymedicine with a functional
medicine mindset the whole time.
(04:32):
Because it's really what it is.
It's a mindset.
It's resin, but the medicine isthe medicine, how you approach
that medicine really dictateswhat quote unquote type of
medicine you're actuallypracticing.
Um so you think emergencymedicine, you think algorithms,
you think you know, you'rewatching the show The Pit, which
actually is a great show.
You've learned it, it's great,very exciting.
(04:52):
Give me a little PTSD.
I thought I was working toshift the first episode, but
that's okay.
Um but like, you know, like youlook at it, it's very
algorithm-driven, protocoldriven, like you know what to do
next, or you know, or you'retrying to trouble chew.
But but how you show up in thatas the healer, as the
clinician, really is either thatfunctional medicine
personalized approach, or it'snot whether you're using an
(05:15):
algorithm or not.
Even functional medicine, ifyou if you look at it, I mean
there are algorithms that youcan follow.
So I think that there is thismisconception that the two are
upset.
Ashley Love (05:24):
This is a great time to pause for quality
questions.
This is a segment on the showwhere we talk about an interview
question that you might hear onyour own pre-health interview.
So, what I want to talk aboutright now is how the science of
medicine is algorithms, ACLS,stroke pathways, antibiotic
order, and how AI will likelyhandle more of that in the
(05:45):
future.
So here's the question I wantyou to wrestle with.
If AI can run the protocols,what will define your value as a
clinician?
Is it your ability to memorizepathways?
Is it your ability to createenvironments for healing?
To read a room?
To notice what's being notsaid?
If you're preparing forprofessional school, this is the
(06:08):
identity work no one isassigning you.
Here's your action step forthis week.
When you shadow, notice onemoment where the clinician's
value has nothing to do with theprotocol.
Write it down because that isthe art of medicine.
And it doesn't just stop atquality questions.
There are more resources foryou as a pre-health student on
(06:30):
Shadowme Next.com to include ournewly released application
readiness course.
So head on over tocourses.shadowmext.com and check
it out.
Dr. Chris Seitz (06:40):
There's algorithm-based, research-driven
medicine, and then there's thispersonalized, explorative, you
know, like you know, science,being a pioneer.
And it's always the same.
We've always said it's thescience and art of medicine.
I was talking about those twothings.
Like that is what we're talkingabout.
Those are the different things,right?
Ashley Love (06:59):
Absolutely.
That's a fantasticmisconception, actually.
And it brings me to anotherquestion, and that is well, I
guess the statement.
So there is a role forfunctional medicine in the ED,
then, because in my brain, I'mthinking of the ER, like
someplace you go acutely foremergent pro emergency room,
emergent problems, not yourtoenail that's you know, hurting
(07:19):
you or sniffles.
Yeah, ideally, it's these acuteissues, but you've seen
discussions and focus onfunctional medicine really
improving even those patients inthose acute settings too, then.
Dr. Chris Seitz (07:33):
Yeah, and and even the even the toenails, I'll
say um, you know, even the eventhe toenail patients, even the
patient, I mean, emergency theemergency department has become
very much um everyone's entrywayto medicine in general.
Better or for worse.
Right.
Supposed to be.
I always say, like, man,emergency medicine would be
(07:55):
really cool if you only ever sawemergencies, but that's just
not the case, right?
90% of what I would see in aday was but but as a part of,
and this is this is where Ithink the functional medicine
piece comes in, is that whatthat all boils down to is
education.
That's what drew me tomedicine.
I I'm a I'm a lifelong learnermyself.
I love to educate.
(08:15):
Um, but before you can educate,you have to learn it yourself.
So, you know, medicine is aboutcoming alongside people and
educating them, whether it'sabout their body or about their
own misconceptions about what'sgoing on.
Um, and the emergencydepartment, I mean, I'd have
three, four, five patients anhour where I'd have an
opportunity to educate them orguide them in something.
And we used to tell ourresidents when I was an
(08:35):
attendee, think about if youwere on the street today, does
that person look normal orhealthy to you?
Because what happens whenyou're in the ER all day, you're
like, that guy looks fine.
But if you saw that guy in thestreet, you'd be like, oh, whoa,
that's that's not a normallooking person, right?
You you have a you kind of hadto learn to remember what normal
people, because you you youswitch, you switch a switch,
(08:57):
right?
You you turn on, you put onyour scrubs, you put on your ER
badge, and all of a suddenyou're you're that clinician and
people look different to youbecause you're looking at them
through the new lens.
So you had to continuouslypractice this.
Hey, if I saw this person in myliving room where they walked
through my door, like, would Isay that looks normal?
But I feel like this person ishealthy or not healthy.
And maybe it's not an acuteemergency, but I'm the I'm the
(09:18):
entryway, I'm the person they'recoming to to help figure this
out.
So here's my opportunity toeducate, to give a little
knowledge, to give someresources, to point them in the
right direction.
And again, I'll go back to likethat that that's functional
medicine, right?
I mean, that is that ispersonalized care, that's
functional medicine.
Maybe I only get to play asmall piece of that, right?
I don't get to follow them, youknow, a ton further, but even
(09:39):
finding my space to hold withthem and to take that next step
with them.
Ashley Love (09:44):
And interestingly enough, I would imagine, and I
don't work in the ER.
Um, you said something a secondago that made me giggle, and
that was how you enjoyed notknowing what's coming next in
life generally.
And I think that probablycontributed to your enjoyment of
the ER, which is why I wouldnot enjoy the ER, especially if
you're not thinking about, youknow, I like my little clinic
schedule of 30 patients.
That I would imagine as an ERphysician, ER clinician, um,
(10:07):
that would really help preventburnout, is realizing that it's
not every, it's not just theacute patients that need your
care, right?
It's even the patients thatcome in with maybe a chronic
thing that they're justfrustrated with today.
Um, you can still provide themwith that education.
You can still surf them as aclinician, um, you know, even if
it's not something where youhave to begin chest compressions
immediately or starting them onall these acute medications.
(10:29):
Um, that's a really interestingpoint.
And I love your idea aboutperspective too.
Um, you have to take off yourER glasses sometimes and see
people just as, you know, asregular with your regular
eyeballs, which it's amazing.
If for our non-clinicians whoare listening to this, it's the
hats.
You know, we always talk aboutthe hats that we wear.
It's like the brains we put inour head, you know, everything
(10:51):
is intertwined at some point,but we definitely we definitely
have different roles that weplay, which you have a whole
nother role, which isentrepreneurship in medicine,
which of course we're gonnaactually let's talk about that
right now.
When did you realize you youwork in the ER?
This is an incredible career.
When did you realize or startthinking about shifting and
maybe moving intoentrepreneurship or even even
(11:13):
you know, a new, a newleadership role, really, which
is what which is that we have?
Dr. Chris Seitz (11:17):
Yeah, I think um it's one of those things that
you know you every entrepreneurwho's done it and done it
successfully, you know, you'rehere to be like, Oh, I was I
think I was always anentrepreneur.
It's like it's because when youlook back, it's easy to you
know to pull that threadthrough.
Um for me, like I don't Iwouldn't say I was always an
entrepreneur, like I was notthat kid who was like, you know,
putting up lemonade stands,doing that.
(11:39):
Like I I really like I, youknow, I I did my chores, I had I
had jobs, but it was not reallyagain for me, it it goes back
to, and again, this is inhindsight, right?
I looked to see where the wherethose threads were.
Um leadership for me was alwayseducating.
I always had felt that the bestleaders or the leaders that I
respected the most knew how toeducate really well and were
(12:01):
passionate about that, right?
Whatever, whatever it was.
Um, I'm someone who like youstart talking to me about
something random, like your youryour marketing career, and I've
got tons of questions.
I I want to know everything.
I think it I think it makes mea good CEO because I'm I'm
interested in in that.
Um so it's really that learningand that education I think drew
me to at some pointentrepreneurship in the sense
(12:24):
that um I've just I've alwaysbeen very curious.
So as I was my my path in theemergency department was
interesting.
So I I worked uh I did myresidency in Detroit area, level
one trauma center.
I then went and worked at alocal community hospital here in
the Detroit area um for twoyears as an attending.
That contract got bought out byTeam Health, so it got bought
(12:47):
out by kind of corporateAmerica, which is not
necessarily a bad thing.
A lot of people hated thatright away.
It didn't really bother me.
It was again, I was curiousabout it.
I learned a lot about howbilling works.
I mean, doctors aren't dumb.
Like we know that healthcare isa business in the United
States, so tell us how to helpoptimize that.
We're happy to, as long as youlet us take care of our
patients.
So I didn't really have anissue with that until it became
an issue, right?
(13:08):
All of a sudden, efficiency wasbeing put probably before
patient care in a lot of cases,and we didn't have quite the
voice that we should have.
Uh so you know, when it came tore-op the contract for a couple
years, I said, Yeah, you know,let me try something different.
So I went to travel medicine.
Um I was licensed in a coupleof licensed in a couple states
and I started doing travelmedicine.
Um, travel medicine now is avery like robust.
(13:32):
I mean, this is like a careerpath that you can start deciding
you're gonna take early.
When I first did travelmedicine, it was the beginning
of that.
Like we were like probably thefirst group of physicians like
leaving saying, hey, like we'relegitimate board certified
emergency physicians and we wantto try travel medicine, versus
like, hey, I lost my license inCalifornia and I can only work
now in this.
That was kind of the doctorpersona at the Luddy's.
(13:53):
So I would go into these ERsand people would be like very
appreciative that I actuallyknew what I was doing, uh, which
was fun.
But I but what was cool aboutthat is I got to learn that like
the medicine didn't change, buthow you delivered the medicine
changed based on your resources,based on what you know, what
they had or didn't have, youknow, who who you had available
to you.
I worked in emergencydepartments where I had nurse
(14:13):
practitioners that worked underme, and we had level one, you
know, we had surgeons and we hadvascular surgeons, and then I
worked in emergency departmentswhere I was the only doctor in
the hospital, like in the wholehospital.
There's one point I was workingin a rural community up in
upper peninsula of Michiganwhere we had a trauma coming in
and a lady was giving, was likegonna give birth upstairs, and
they're like, Dr.
(14:33):
Sites, like which one do youwant?
Because you can't do both.
Um, but what was cool aboutthat is that you like really
learn to to rely on your team,right?
I there's just there's youknow, people ask me, like, oh,
Dr.
Sites, like if you were out inthe wilderness, you know, like
what would you do?
Like a CPR?
I don't know.
I don't have a CT scan, fivenurses, and a bunch of other
things.
I can't really do my job,right?
(14:55):
You have to admit that.
So um I think that gave me areal great appreciation of the
of the team of the healthpractitioners that I was working
with.
Um, and then what startedhappening is that we COVID
happened, right?
So all of a sudden I was likeone of the only doctors working
all the time during COVID, goingeverywhere to help.
Um, and that's when we saw thismass exodus of clinicians
(15:16):
leaving kind of medicine.
Um, we saw advances intelemedicine and technology that
allowed for us to do remote,you know, Zoom type of visits.
All of a sudden, this thiswhole digital health thing blew
up, and people started askingme, hey Dr.
Sice, can you be my medicaldirector for this thing?
Could you help me?
Could you oversee me here?
Could you be my partner withthis?
Nurse practitioners, PAs,nurses.
(15:37):
And I was like, Yeah, I'd loveto.
This would be awesome, right?
First, it was selfishly.
I don't have to work as manyshifts if I if you pay me to
help with that.
But uh, but then I realizedthere was no good resources for
that either.
There was no, this was a newway of doing medicine that we
weren't prepared for.
And of course, you know, I wasone of the physicians, first
physicians coming out during thetime where like this focused on
the physician shortage has beenhuge, and you just realized
(16:01):
being a practitioner in thatecosystem that man, like this
system is broken, and we have toturn to another pool of
providers.
We have to, it's aninevitability.
Unless we empower nurses, nursepractitioners, PAs to pick up a
baton and see patients,patients just won't be seen.
I can't see more patients in myunit.
So that kind of all culminatedinto well, what if we built a
platform to help non-physiciansget the oversight that they
(16:25):
need, have the compliance toolsthat they can use to make sure
that they're protecting theirlicense, but can deliver care
within their scope of practice.
And then Guardian MedicalDirection was born and kind of
took off, and I kept beingcurious and learning more and
found myself in a CEO C one day.
So uh that's kind of kind ofhow that happened.
Ashley Love (16:43):
But it's incredible.
It's incredible.
Say let's talk a little bitabout medical oversight because
that's something that youmentioned that I think people
have heard, but they might theymight not understand what that
is.
Why is it why is it such abarrier for us in healthcare
right now?
What well first what is it?
And then why is it a barrier?
Dr. Chris Seitz (17:00):
Yeah.
So I mean, again, when youthink about traditional
medicine, when you're whenyou're a nurse working in a
hospital, you just naturallyhave physicians who are putting
your orders in.
You have, you know, you havethis hierarchy of oversight um
that just this just kind ofnaturally happens.
That disappears when you go outinto the outpatient world.
(17:21):
So when we saw these advancesin telemedicine, you know,
ability to do telemedicinestuff, um, with doctors not
being very accessible, all of asudden become, okay, well, I'm a
nurse, maybe I want to start myown ID hydration clinic.
Maybe I want to do aesthetics,you know, do some med spot
stuff.
Maybe I'm a nurse practitionerand I'm I'm gonna start my own
telemedicine practice.
(17:42):
But how do you do that withoutthe right medical oversight in
place that mimics that hierarchyin the hospital?
And there, and there really hasnot been a way to do it.
So, what happened was thatpractitioners would have to find
a doctor like myself who wascurious and somewhat familiar
with these things and say, hey,can can you help me figure out
what forms I gotta file with thestate board?
Can you help me figure out howto register this business even?
(18:03):
Can I can I do this?
Is it am I allowed to do this?
The boards are very silentsometimes.
They they expect us tointerpret what the rules are and
they just hold us accountableif we get it wrong.
Um, so it can be very scary.
And I think especially in inthe the booming digital health
medical entrepreneurship worldthat kind of came out of COVID,
(18:24):
unfortunately, but notsurprisingly, like protecting
the clinicians is kind of thelast thing on the list, right?
It's first like let's makemoney, then let's figure out how
to show outcomes.
So I'm businesses die rightthere, right?
I've made a lot of money withthis new thing, but it doesn't
actually help people in the endof the research.
And then if you can get to thepoint where it actually does
help people and I can prove thatconcept that I'm making money,
(18:47):
then and only then do they worryabout like, well, how do I make
sure my physicians and mynurses and my nurse
practitioners are satisfied?
And a lot of people feelthey're too.
I think I felt that it neededto be done differently, right?
How do we protect theclinicians first?
If you protect protectclinicians first and give them
the tools, they will do whatthey do best, which is drive
outcomes.
And if you drive outcomes, youcan make money in medicine.
(19:09):
The problem is that the moneycame in the third step in my
scenario, not the first.
So it's uh not something thateverybody follows.
But um, but yeah, so so what wedo is that we have nurses,
nurse practitioners, PAs thatcome to us and say, Hey, I want
to start my own medicalbusiness.
How do I do that?
How do I do it the right way,where I protect my license?
How do I who do I need topartner with?
How do I structure this?
(19:29):
And we kind of help them from Ato Z do that.
So we we have a platform thatprovides uh the other side of
that equation, like physiciansto do that oversight.
Uh, we help them draft theirprotocols and procedures that
qualify for state board toapprove so that they can legally
do it.
We help them structure thebusiness.
Uh certain things that peopledon't realize we're like certain
(19:50):
states, a nurse can't own thepractice of medicine, only a
physician can.
So we'll help establish thatrelationship with the right
contracts to again protect bothsides of that.
We always say, like, let ushelp you kind of structure it
the right way, get it done in away that you are safe and can go
to sleep and I know yourlicense is protected, then go
scale your business, right?
And if we do it that way, Ithink.
(20:11):
And it it's it's still a modelthat like people are
uncomfortable with sometimes.
The boards are still trying tofigure out how do we do this
where we're like, we really as acompany have partnered with
these boards to say, hey, let ushelp you show you how to do it
the right way so that theseclinicians can do it.
But there is no other choice.
And I think that's what we'recoming coming to find year over
year that we have to adopt andchange and figure out how to do
(20:33):
this because otherwise we justhave to admit that patients
won't have access, which I don'tthink is an option anybody
wants.
Ashley Love (20:39):
No, it's not an option.
You're absolutely right.
And you, gosh, that wasincredible.
Thank you for explaining all ofthat.
And that is there's threedifferent points that I want to
touch on first.
And the the first one is um Iknow we mentioned we were gonna
come back to the fact thatyou're licensed in all 50
states.
First of all, is that unusual?
That's unusual, right?
Not not every physician islicensed in all 50 states.
Dr. Chris Seitz (20:59):
No, that is unusual.
So that's one of the actuallykind of cool things that again
that came out of COVID andtelemedicine.
It's called the IMLCC.
IMLCC.
It's a way that I as a doctorcan get like one license and
then quickly get licensed in abunch of other states.
That didn't exist before.
Like that's kind of an unheardof thing.
Even when I was first coming upin telemedicine and and travel
medicine, was how do you get alicense in multiple spots that
(21:22):
you have the ability to helpmore?
Um, now that's it's much moredoable.
We're speaking nurse compactlicenses in the same way, right?
But the problem with that isthat as you the way I practice
what I'm allowed to do throughthe state of Ohio's Board of
Medicine is not exactly the sameas the state of Michigan.
And that's something thatpeople don't really understand.
Your scope of practice isdifferent per state.
(21:45):
Um again, that's another thingthat these entrepreneurs have to
navigate as they're startingtheir medical businesses,
especially if you're gonna likeopen up multiple locations or do
telemedicine across statelines.
The different compliancecomponents are different in
every state.
Ashley Love (21:59):
Well, thank you.
For explaining that.
And that was actually thequestion I was going to ask you
is that number one, I wouldimagine being licensed in all 50
states makes you beautifullypositioned to counsel people, of
course, medical professionalsin all 50 states.
But it's also a really greatpoint to make for the student
who might, or even the patientwho might not realize that just
because I'm board certified andlicensed in Florida doesn't mean
(22:23):
that while I'm on vacation inCalifornia, I could just work
for a couple of weeks.
You know, it's just that's nothow medicine is currently
positioned, which is interestingto see.
And I think something to keepour eye on, and maybe you can
speak to this too, over the nextmaybe decade in medicine, is
really seeing those linesblurred, especially as we run
into more issues with um, youknow, a limited number of
(22:46):
clinicians, specifically medicaldoctors.
Um that'll be quiteinteresting.
So thank you.
Thank you for explaining thatso well.
That's such an important pointthat we don't bring up very
often.
And then something else that Iwanted to mention is um, you
know, this entrepreneurship inmedicine.
I think a lot of people thinkabout it as doctors, MDs, or
DOs.
What I'm hearing you say isthat entrepreneurs is not
limited to medical doctors.
(23:08):
It is for nurses, for PAs, forNPs.
Is that this is true?
This is news.
Dr. Chris Seitz (23:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Our whole business, we so wedon't support physician
practices.
We support nurse-run businessesand PAs as well.
Um, so these are nurses, nursepractitioners, you know, RNs,
nurse practitioners, PAs, um,even just medical entrepreneurs
who are gonna hire those typesof people to deliver care who
(23:34):
have a good business idea on howto deliver care in a unique
way, they come to us and we helpthem build it the right way.
Now you need physicianoversight in there.
That's that's why our modelexists.
You need to structure thebusiness in the correct way.
You have to have the rightpolicies, procedures, protocols.
There are certain things youcan do that if you hire these
kind of practitioners, there arecertain things you can't.
And that might be different inwhat state you're in.
(23:56):
I mean, to your point, it'sit's something that people don't
realize is that if I'm a doctoron vacation in Florida and I
respond to a medical emergency,I'm responding as a layperson.
I don't have a license there toactually practice.
You have to be very careful.
Versus if I'm at, you know, thestore and someone goes down,
you hear these stories of, youknow, especially ER doctors, we
like to be, I don't know, welike to get on the news
(24:18):
apparently, but um, we're like,you know, someone, you know,
we're working out of the gym andsomeone goes down and like some
rant, and again, whoever thisguy is, right?
You've heard this story, butwhoever this guy who's who's
like carrying his medical bagand like who is that guy on
scene?
Like, first of all, dude, why Imean come on, you were looking
for that to happen.
Whatever, that's fine.
Uh, you know, you deal withyour own ego at home, I guess.
(24:40):
But uh anyway, elancipate theguy, they'll get him and they'll
save his life.
That's awesome.
If they're licensed in thatstate, if you were like on
vacation and did that as an yeardoctor, you were licensed, like
you get sued pretty severely.
Like, you don't have and peopledon't know that they think
one's a doctor, always a doctor,which is true.
But I'm certified, I'm licensedin a specific state.
(25:01):
So, yeah, I got licensed in all50 states.
It took a long time, it cost alot of money, but uh, like I
said, I I can kind of do what Iwant a little bit uh in that
way, but that's not the norm.
And a lot of people don't don'trealize that.
But yeah, going back to yourinitial question, yes, I mean,
so this is all nurseentrepreneurship, PA
entrepreneurship.
Like we and this is again, thisis what I think is an
(25:21):
inevitability in healthcare.
The act, you know, my emergencydepartment used to be
everyone's access point.
Now people are accessingmedicine at their gym, at their
pharmacy, at their medical spa.
I think that's awesome.
I think a lot of people areafraid of that.
And I think the regulatoryenvironment is like, oh my gosh,
how do we do that?
How do we make sure because youhear all the bad stories?
But to me, like I built abusiness to help support that
(25:43):
the right way because to methat's very exciting.
I'd really love patients to beable to get care wherever makes
the most sense for them.
I think we'll see people takecare of themselves better that
way.
I think we will be able to takethat burden off of the current
healthcare system if we can doit right.
Ashley Love (26:00):
I just I want to repeat this because I think that
this is such a novel idea tohear a medical doctor saying,
and that is get your medicalcare from what's accessible to
you and what and what feelscomfortable to you.
But at the same time, comingfrom someone who's founded
Guardian Medical Direction, findout what is backing them.
(26:22):
Find out where they're gettingtheir opinions from, where
they're getting their advicefrom.
You still have to do yourresearch.
Like, you know, you still haveto know about this person or
this company.
And that's where this is soincredible that you have offered
an amazing resource to theseclinicians, these nurses, PAs,
and Ps who are who reallydesperately want to offer care,
(26:44):
but maybe need some supportthere, right?
Dr. Chris Seitz (26:47):
Yeah.
I think clinicians too, I mean,we talk a lot about burnout.
Um, I think clinicians areburnt out, not because they're
seeing too many patients.
I really don't.
I don't think I wasn't burntout in the emergency department
because of all the patients Iwas seeing.
I got burnt out in theemergency department because I
couldn't deliver care the way Iknew I wanted to deliver care.
Ashley Love (27:06):
Right.
Dr. Chris Seitz (27:07):
Right.
So, like that's the other thingthat I think that I hope that
we empower at Guardian is thatagain, like if you got a
business idea, like you got away you want to deliver care to
your group of patients or yourcommunity, man, I want to help
you do that.
Because, like, one, you'regoing to be able to give so much
more and you're not going toburn out because you get to do
it your way.
Again, let's just make sureit's in the confines of the
(27:27):
right compliance safety networkto do it, you know.
But um, but that's it's it'sit's it's it's less hard than
people realize.
You know, so it's like you justhave to understand it.
Um, but yeah, I I think that Ireally bullish on all the new
advances in medicine.
I think there's a I thinkthere's doctors out there that
are getting worried.
I feel the opposite way.
I really think we're entering atime where, you know, for
(27:49):
physicians who are worriedabout, you know, losing some of
the control, I think that we asdoctors finally get back to
being true scientists andpioneers and thought leaders.
We can empower more people thatactually deliver care in the
way that best suits them andbest suits their community.
We talk about personalized careall the time, right?
Um, so why would we not want tohelp people figure out what,
(28:10):
again, to your point, what worksbest for them, right?
Ashley Love (28:14):
Absolutely.
And you know, here's aquestion.
We've been dancing around thisquestion the whole time, and I'm
just gonna ask it directly.
Where do you see healthcareheading in the next well, I pick
it pick a number, 10, 20 years?
What is it gonna look like?
How is it gonna look differentthan what we are poorly
sometimes doing right now?
Dr. Chris Seitz (28:32):
So I think, I mean, we gotta start talking, we
gotta start talking about AI.
We talk about feature ofhealthcare here.
I think that AI is going to doa really good job of taking over
all the algorithm-based.
It's gonna have to be done withthe right oversight in place,
right?
It we can't just rely on, youknow, uh just the technology,
(28:53):
right?
There needs to be the checksand balances, which I think we
as physicians are gonna continueto move into more oversight
roles.
We're gonna continue to moveinto more kind of guidance.
You know, they say 30% ofphysicians today have a
non-traditional role.
It's awesome.
And that's because a lot ofthem are entering into chief
medical officer, medicaldirector.
Like, we kind of have toelevate up and empower the you
know, the other practitioners todo some of that work.
(29:14):
I think AI starts to reallyhelp take care of a lot of the
easy, quick things.
And to me, that's not scary.
That doesn't take jobs away.
That actually allows us asclinicians to get back to being
healers.
I don't have to be the guychecking all the boxes, making
sure the stroke protocol.
I can be the guy who sits withyou, who holds your hand and
(29:35):
says, Man, I get why this isn'texactly right for you.
Let's work together to figureout what that is.
That's to me super exciting.
I think I we talk about thescience of medicine.
The science of medicine isthose algorithms, right?
It's the ACLS protocol, it'syour stroke protocols, it's it's
you know, make sure you givethis antibiotic before this
antibiotic.
And that science changes basedon research.
And as we the art of medicineto me is the environments that
(29:59):
we create for healing.
And that can be an environmentthat I create with you right
here, where we're just speakingon a phone and I and I sit with
you as a healer and like makethat space for you.
It can be the environment Icreate in my medical spa, right?
When you come in and you feel acertain way when you get that
experience with like I think thethe experiences, that's the art
(30:20):
of medicine to me.
I think that's where we'regonna be able to, as clinicians,
get back to a lot of that.
And I think we're gonna seemassive leaps in people's health
because of that, though.
Not because the science isgonna get better or faster or
quicker, like the strep throat'sgonna be strep throat, it's
gonna be strep throat.
Hey, I can handle that.
Right.
We're gonna start to be able tocreate environments again for
healing, and that was wherewe're gonna see this kind of
(30:41):
revolution of healthadvancements.
Um that's my that's myprediction.
That's my hope.
Ashley Love (30:48):
I love it.
What a fantastic, fantasticidea too, would be to you know,
get take, put the healer back inthe healing, right?
I I I I love that.
And it does feel more, um, itfeels more collaborative with
the patient as well.
And I think that we have sooften just spoken to the patient
instead of spoken with thepatient.
And I think that's also part ofthe art of medicine, right?
(31:09):
Um, oh my gosh, incredible.
Okay, last question as we wrapup.
I'm just taking up so much ofyour time.
Um let's talk to our let's talkto our student right now.
How should students beginthinking about the business side
of medicine?
And should they be thinkingabout the business side of
medicine before they even gointo it, right?
They're they're they'rethinking right now, well, Ash,
I'm not even not even there yet.
(31:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, is this a good time tostart considering it in the
current climate?
Dr. Chris Seitz (31:36):
I think so obviously, I think yes, right.
I think that every clinicianshould be thinking, and but when
I say business, I guess I goback to entrepreneurship.
And we throw that term aroundvery loosely nowadays.
Everyone's an entrepreneur,right?
You sell pottery out of yourgarage, you're an entrepreneur,
and that's fine.
The term entrepreneur, though,like really came from this like
(31:57):
creating something from nothing,though.
Like an entrepreneur back inthe day was someone who like
created something that didn'texist before.
And that's because it'sinterpersonal and it's
(32:17):
interrelational, right?
So I guess when I say yes, Ithink what I'm saying is I'm
gonna encourage whether you'repre-med or pre-nursing or in
these different environments, isto just don't get concerned
that you're not gonna be able todo it your way.
And obviously, like I said,your way needs to drive value,
but it will because you wouldn'tbe in it if you weren't caring,
(32:38):
you didn't want to care forpeople if that wasn't just a
natural thing.
So just stay curious aroundlike, hey, I really like that
path over there, but I wouldwant to do it a little
different, or man, I it'd bereally cool if you did.
Like, those are all options.
And like when I went throughmedical school and I went
through like people didn't tellyou that, right?
You can be an air doctor, youcan be an OBGYN, you can feel
(32:59):
like that's a doctor, and that'sit.
You better pick the right onebecause heaven forbid it's
really hard to switch, you can'tdo another residency.
Like that was kind of the whatwe were taught.
I have not found that to betrue at all.
I I think what one of the bestyou know things about the career
that I chose is that I get tomake it up every I can I can
make up every day a differentway of doing what I'm trained to
(33:21):
do and find new passion or newexcitement or uh just get
creative anytime.
And if I want to go sit andjust see patients all day in
telemedicine, I can pick up thephone, I can get that job
tomorrow as well.
I mean, it's really such ablessing to have that the skill
set to really just, you know,they say that they say the true
marker of success is waking upand getting to choose your own
(33:42):
problems.
I get to choose my ownproblems, right?
What I want to struggle with iswhat I get to struggle with.
And that is the most freeingthing.
I think clinicians are veryuniquely positioned for that in
what we do, and especially withwhat's coming in the future.
Like, I I would just encouragepeople, like, just keep being
curious about it.
Don't get overwhelmed by it,don't worry about it.
Like, it's all on the table foryou.
(34:02):
And that's I think justabsolutely incredible.
Ashley Love (34:06):
Dr.
Seites, thank you so much.
Listen, if you guys areinterested in learning more
about um about Guardian MedicalDirection, check it out.
It'sguardianmedicaldirection.com.
Dr.
Sites, it has been absolutelyincredible.
I am so full of hope, really,about medicine, about the
trajectory of medicine, and umand very, very grateful for what
(34:27):
you have offered.
Dr. Chris Seitz (34:28):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
I really enjoyed it.
Ashley Love (34:30):
Thank you so very much for listening to this
episode of Shadow Me Next.
If you liked this episode, orif you think it could be useful
for a friend, please subscribeand invite them to join us next
Monday.
As always, if you have anyquestions, let me know on
Facebook or Instagram.
Access you want, stories youneed, you're always invited to
Shadow Me Next.
Please keep in mind that thecontent of this podcast is
(34:55):
intended for informational andentertainment purposes only, and
should not be considered asprofessional medical advice.
The views and opinionsexpressed in this podcast are
those of the host and guests,and do not necessarily reflect
the official policy or positionof any other agency,
organization, employer, orcompany.
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The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.