In this episode, I talk with Dr. Anita Gupta about how a physician can build a professional brand in a way that augments professional credibility, allowing their voice and content to “cut through the noise.” Doing so allows a physician to influence public policy and one’s own specialty in today’s content-saturated world.
Hey, it’s Justin Harvey. Thanks for tuning into the anesthesia success podcast, where we take a close look at important topics pertaining to business, practice management, personal finance, and careers for anesthesiologists and pain management positions on the show. I work hard to take your critical questions straight to the experts. Thanks for listening this week. I’m very pleased to be speaking with Dr. Anita Gupta. I really admired the way that Dr. Gupta has built what we’re going to call today, a personal brand for herself. And it’s funny. She has different ideas about it,
Justin (00:38):
What that word, those words mean than I do coming from a business background and chief from a medical background, but doing a lot of work in industry specifically what I’m talking about and what I want to equip our listeners to do today is to think specifically about the way that your voice, your professional voice can impact medical systems and infrastructure, and even public health and brought awareness of public health issues. How the way that you craft and hone and refine your voice can be more impactful if you thoughtfully consider, how do I present myself? Not only in the way that I speak, but in the way that I present myself publicly in my website, or any other literature or any photography of yourself out there on the internet, or any other ways, how do I do that in such a way to bolster professional credibility, to enhance the the professional appearance and to, to help amplify your voice in a very noisy crowded world as social media continues to become more and more adopted the amount of content out there that gets consumed is seemingly infinite. And one of the ways to cut through this noise is to have a unique, distinct, personal brand to be associated with your vocation in your life’s work. So that when you’re talking about something that you have a lot of experience in and credibility to speak about, people will sit up and take notice not only because you deserve it because of your credentials, but also because you’re able to capture their attention through the way that you’ve crafted your brand. So, Dr. Gupta is someone who I think has done that
Justin (02:22):
In an exemplary fashion. And I want to talk a little bit today about her experience in doing so. So as always, thanks for tuning into the anesthesia success podcast.
Justin (02:34):
Hello, and welcome to episode 51 of the anesthesia success podcast. I’m very pleased to be joined today by Dr. Anita Gupta. Dr. Gupta, thank you very much for being here today. Thank you. So I’m really excited to talk about this idea of, you know, we, we laughed a little bit before this interview, personal brand, which brand has been something totally like seated to the business world and for physicians to talk about brand and marketing. It, it feels a little bit, a little bit probably slimy and a little bit like I’m not sure that this is something that I as a physician should or could engage in, especially as it relates to myself. And one thing that I’ve admired about you is that you have been able to take your, your professional endeavors and your perspectives and your voice and carefully craft it and present it in a way that lends credibility to your professional pursuits. And it helps your voice to cut through the noise as you’re talking about, you know, different issues that we’re going to, we’re going to talk about here in a few minutes. I’m really excited to talk to you today about how this all came to be.
Dr. Anita Gupta (03:37):
Sure. Sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on, I think it’s been a pleasure to be here and to talk to you a little bit about my journey and what I went through and what, what has brought me here. And, you know, as you’ve put it what has created my brand but the way I see it is really not a brand. You know, it really has been a, you know, a journey of purpose as an anesthesiologist, you know, and really a junior anesthesiologist. It was really just a day in day out challenge. You know, what, you’re, what you’re dealing with on the grounds in the ward. I was a junior attending at university of Pennsylvania just dealing with a really challenging situation. And I think we deal with that every day. And that is really where this began. It never was a brand. It was, you know, what we, those little challenges that we see every day that drove my need to make a change. And that’s where the story began.
Justin (04:46):
Awesome. So talk a little bit about, you know, some of these early stories or experiences or clinical encounters where you thought adding my voice to the chorus to try to move towards improvement in a patient experience or improvement and outcomes or whatever it is. It’s really important for me as a physician to be able to start to throw my weight behind that. Right.
Dr. Anita Gupta (05:07):
Well, first of all, I have to be very thankful for all the people that said no to me at university of Pennsylvania, because if it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be here right now talking to you his story, but it was, you know, a story of really a patient that was a story of patient experience. You know, a patient who had severe intractable pain that really was unable to get advanced innovation advanced treatment that would really mitigate the need for high dose opioid therapy and really mitigate the need for, you know, really complicated treatment. And, you know, the healthcare system battles, the phone calls, the, the prior authorizations, the, the social work, the, the complexities that we all deal with when we have a complex patient family members, the, the amount of turmoil that a clinician has to go through the, the, the extended hours you know, that are involved in the patient care can be quite overwhelming.
Dr. Anita Gupta (06:23):
And at the time this was back in 2008, you know, I, wasn’t thinking about branding. I was just thinking about, I need to get this patient care, and I really couldn’t figure out a way forward. And I looked everywhere, you know, what can I do? And, you know, I thought back to some of the work that I was doing on medical communications with some of the organizations I had been affiliated with, yes, I’m in pharmacy school. I had some background on that. And so I thought, okay, look, you know, I can write maybe I’ll just write a short article because I was just so impassioned with, you know, we need to get this out there because maybe I can put a voice to this patient who was in dire pain because he can’t right now. So maybe I can speak on his behalf.
Dr. Anita Gupta (07:13):
And so I did, and I, you know, and I asked around, you know, where can I send this? And I said, well, maybe, maybe Philadelphia Inquirer will take my opinion. I submitted it. And after a lot of, lot of hope, they actually published it. And I had no idea where it would go, but they published it and it became pretty, pretty prominent. And it was, you know, became recognized by the American society of anesthesiologists and other major medical societies said, look, you know, you represented patients and not only did you represent patients, but you, you recognized anesthesiologists and you recognized physicians, you recognize insurers, you recognize so many people here. And I didn’t think of all those things I just thought about, look, you know, I want a rep represent the patient. And, you know, I think really what’s important here to recognize is that we all can lead in some way, but it’s a matter of just taking the effort and time to realize what we’re all passionate about every day we’re faced with challenges. And I think in the healthcare ecosystem, it’s really important to take a minute to step back and say, look, you know, what, what part of this system can we make impact and help our patients. And what’s meaningful to us, you know, and where can we drive impact and drive success for our patients?
Justin (08:43):
Yeah. I love the, the ecosystem analogy. I think it’s so apt because it is an interdependent system of, you know, different parties, different organisms, that everything, that one does impact all the others in some way. And that’s why I think it’s as important as it’s ever been for physicians as patient advocates to be, to be speaking up and speaking out.
Dr. Anita Gupta (09:05):
Absolutely.
Justin (09:06):
Do you remember that moment when you picked up that copy of the Enquirer and you saw your name in print?
Dr. Anita Gupta (09:11):
Yes, I still do. Absolutely. And you know, it was, there was a little bit of fear because, you know, I, I remember thinking, you know, I haven’t checked now with my chairman you know, I think he probably should know, but I do recall him and many others being very supportive you know, and that I took the initiative and I got a lot of support for the, for the work that I did, but I can tell you that there weren’t, weren’t a lot of people doing that kind of work. And it was hard to find other anesthesiologists that were leading and in those efforts and writing about some of the things that were happening in healthcare at that time.
Justin (09:55):
Yeah, absolutely. And we just spoke to a doctor, Karen Seibert the other day, talking about some of the work that she’s been doing. And I told her like, please keep going. And we’re talking about like these articles in the New York times where it’s like, well, insurers and doctors and hospitals, and they’re all, like, they sort of pit them all as if their role in issues with surprise billing is identical and there’s no nuance. And it’s just, it’s, it’s going to be a disaster.
Dr. Anita Gupta (10:21):
And funny, you mentioned her because I thanked her just at the last ASA meeting, because I said you were the only one who was writing at the time. Yeah. She was the few, she was one of the few writers who actually had the courage to write. And, and she was the only one I knew writing in that space based at that time.
Justin (10:40):
Yeah. And you know, like everybody who’s listening, you know, we need you out there to point out these things where you’re, you’re functioning and parts of the system that are just desperately broken and shine a light and make this, we want healthcare to be sustainable in this country. Right. And, you know, I’ve been a patient a few times recently and I’ve had to deal with the prior authorization questions and, and just things that don’t make sense and, and physicians are on the front lines of that. And it’s so, you know, let’s, so let’s transition. So you’re, you saw your name in the Inquirer, you got a lot of positive feedback and that did, that was that sort of the first moment when you’re like my, my voice and my perspective can maybe make a difference and maybe is, is meaningful and valuable.
Dr. Anita Gupta (11:24):
Well, I think it definitely solidified my importance you know, and my patients ordinance, you know, and how there that we can as physicians lead, you know, and make a difference and, and our experience, our perspectives can come through in messaging. And that, you know, we can create opportunities for our patients and how people respond to that, you know, and I think something that I didn’t recognize a strongly back then, and obviously now is very clear how you can actually create movement with the, with words and words have power. And I think that’s something that’s very evident even in now even more evident than ever. Yeah. So take us through sort of the next step in your career trajectory and how did that unfold in the context of sort of the discussion we’re having here? Sure, sure. I mean, so as far as my career trajectory, I mean, I, you know, continued to work for many years in Philadelphia.
Dr. Anita Gupta (12:30):
I mean, it was, you know, a place if you’re familiar with the Philadelphia landscape between 2008 and to, but 2017, I spent many years there working from, you know, from university of Pennsylvania into the Drexel healthcare system, which is, Oh, believes to be the epicenter of the opioid crisis. There has been a lot of you know, opioid related overdoses there. I got involved in a healthcare system, Honamin university hospital, which has to date now closed because of a frail healthcare system. And also because potentially, you know, a lot of the implications related to the opioid crisis. And, and, and, you know, when you’re dealing with the frail health care system, when you add a public health crisis into it, it really puts a burden on a health care system. And I was managing that pain center from 2011 to 2017.
Dr. Anita Gupta (13:33):
And, you know, managing that center was very difficult, you know, handling complex patients with primary either Medicare or Medicaid insurance, it was very challenging. So, you know, you can imagine the burden, the types of patients we were seeing at the same time building I’m an academic center, educating training, doing research builds a activist mindset of we need to evolve our health care system. Most of the residents that came out of them of that program are very passionate about making an impact. And I, myself came out of that program wanting to have more purpose. And that really got me involved in health policy and drug policy, wanting to work with people with the FDA and better solutions. I became an advisor there and also with other you know, community organization and nonprofit organizations trying to find better solutions. And that obviously got me involved with more public policy and media organizations and writing and, and other places where my voice became more prominent.
Dr. Anita Gupta (14:47):
And I will say that a lot of it was just simply because I was there at the right place at the right time, the opiod crisis was unfolding before me. I’m out of time when no one else was comfortable speaking about it, that that was unfortunately, or fortunately I was there, no one really wanted to speak about Naloxone, no one comfortable talking about how do we use Naloxone to cope, prescribe for opioid overdoses. It was not something people even wanted to discuss. And when the say asked me whether or not I was comfortable, I was also having a lot of questions on whether or not, what are we talking about and had to really unpack those things carefully. So, you know, it, it was a complex time and a lot of things that needed to be discussed, but that really evolved into an opportunity that really leveraged into a lot of great work that was done.
Justin (15:48):
Yeah. I know we talked to her, Mike Ashburn was a prior guest of the show as well. I know he’s there at university of Pennsylvania. And Philly is, it has been ground zero, you know so I’m from Philadelphia. My wife is a resident at Penn right now. And it is, yeah. I mean, it’s widely known as some place that opioids are just a huge crushing issue. And I know that there’s been a lot of grassroots efforts in Philly specifically because of that because of the profile of the struggles in Philadelphia that there, where they’ve tried to move the needle, even as an area that’s been in the national spotlight. So can you talk a little bit about what did, what did that look like for you is the Philly sort of involvement and how did that sort of contribute to this idea of you continuing to move your profession forward and also gain professional experience and credibility?
Dr. Anita Gupta (16:37):
Absolutely. I mean, for example, in Philadelphia and specifically at Honamin, when I entered Honaman university hospital, there was no, I mean, we were, I entered that hospital in 2011, compared to university of Pennsylvania. There were ultrasounds everywhere. Okay. I mean, we would do ultrasound guided blocks. That was pretty much the standard of care ultrasound guided lines was routine for anesthesiologist when I entered Honamin in 2000 early, 2012 ultrasound guided procedures were done, but we did not have a functional owned ultrasound guided machine that we could consistently use for every block routinely that no was the top notch standard of care. And it was a lack, not a lack of the department. It was just lack of resources. And and it wasn’t state-of-the-art. So that one simple resource took a good six months to one year to establish and to bring that service up to speed was complex, complicated.
Dr. Anita Gupta (17:52):
And then to train the services and the individuals on that. That’s just one example. Yeah. And you can imagine that when we got those servers, this is up to speed. What, what the sources began to look like, and it’s like day and night. I mean, those two hospitals are right next to each other. And, you know, and, and trying to explain and train our residents to that level really, really was challenged. So, you know, patient care that is impacted with that and, and the level of care and the type of care and healthcare systems can be impacted by that as well. So, you know, this, this is really, you know, one of the challenges that I was dealing with, but ultimately, you know, resources, the kind of healthcare practices, the perioperative protocols, the implications on how other services interact with anesthesia all of that, and then revenue and the ROI on all of that impacts the health care system and research, you know, so when you look at a healthcare ecosystem, what else ultimately you you’ve seen the demise of that hospital and it’s not hard to surmise why that, why that could have happened, you know,
Justin (19:14):
So going from, you know, your experience at Honamin and the resource challenges there, how did that time, and that experience inform as you’re continuing to I’m using this phrase, like build your brand, but collect these experiences and focus your voice in a way to drive positive change.
Dr. Anita Gupta (19:33):
Right. Right. So there’s like this there’s a saying, right. I mean, you know, you use your wounds, the [inaudible] your great wisdom, right? I mean, we’ve, you know, I’ve learned a lot from that lesson and I’ve actually went on to Princeton to study health policy for that reason. I learned that policy is very powerful and that you can shift a lot with policy that we can certainly drive change. And so, you know, when I spent the year there, I learned that, you know, there’s certainly a lot of leadership that can be gained and a lot of knowledge that we have to really impact policy and really to drive some of the change that is necessary to impact particularly the opioid crisis. And there’s a lot of great work that’s being done by some of our own anesthesiologist colleagues, for example, us surgeon general Dr.
Dr. Anita Gupta (20:22):
Vanilla saying Jerome Adams, both of them are doing some great work, Washington, D C and I’ve done some good work down there for policy. But I think, you know, specifically, I think, you know, to drive our anesthesiologists currently that are working in the wards and in the operating room, each one of us can lead every day. By speaking about the challenges, talking about, you know, what they’re seeing you know, you can’t really change, you know, each of those things that are happening day to day, but you can choose how to respond to them. Right. I mean, we can respond to each of them and I think, and you know, it really is important, you know, to do that. And I think that’s how we can move the needle on so many of those issues. And, and that’s how we can change the business of anesthesia and change some of the important things that are happening to our specialty right now.
Justin (21:20):
So talk a little bit about being sort of pulled upstream by the ASA. You know, they saw your article in the Enquirer, and then I’m sure the work you’re doing with Drexel and elsewhere continued to sort of, they, they saw in you, somebody who was a great advocate for the organization and for patients, and they wanted to give you a platform and allow you to continue to, you know, share the message from these lessons that you’re talking about. Learning, talk about how that unfolded in that process.
Dr. Anita Gupta (21:47):
Oh yeah. So, I mean, I think, you know, working with the American society of anesthesiologists is like a key opportunity for most individuals. I think everyone should be involved if you’re not a member, you should become a member. I think, you know, number one, you know, become a member right now you know, leverage, leverage your strengths with the organization, you know, there, there’s a lot of professional committees that you can become involved with. I think that’s an opportunity to cultivate your skills identify whatever your abilities are. You know, if you’re good at you can become great at it. I think that’s the opportunity for you to capitalize you know, communicate your education and your skills and build your brand. That’s what the organizations are there for. And it’s a community, right? I mean, there’s a community there to learn.
Dr. Anita Gupta (22:42):
And I think that’s how I have, I’ve grown up with the American society of anesthesiologists from a resident now as a professional physician and now a business professional. And I think that’s did not happen overnight. And I think, you know, when we are challenged as a profession, so lean on that organization looking for answers, and I think we all should, we all should. So I think putting a brand building, you know, opportunity on the back burner is not an option. These professional organizations are there to serve you to build your brand and it will take years to do, but you do it chip away at it slowly.
Justin (23:22):
Yeah. I love your website. Talk for a minute about, when did you think, you know, what, as somebody who is trying to continue to grow and influence in medicine and in the public at large, this is a place where I want to have sort of an online CV that looks pretty darn good. When did that happen and how did you go about kind of constructing that and what was that process like? Funny, funny.
Dr. Anita Gupta (23:46):
So it’s so funny. I so I, you know, I’ll complete honesty here. I, one day was like, someone told me, like, do you have a website? I said, no, well, you’re on TV. You need to have a website. Oh, okay. I didn’t know that. I guess I need to get a website and an email and all that. I think it was like the first time, you know, I got called to be on television. I’m like, okay. They’re like, do you have a website? I’m like, no, well then how are they supposed to contact you? I said, I don’t know. I’m like, I’ll just create a website. So I can just for the timeline, I think it’s somewhere around 2009. It wasn’t far after that first article, but I think, you know, it was, it was one of those late nights. And, you know, after Paul, I just went, I went and figured it out myself.
Dr. Anita Gupta (24:41):
Like how do I create a website? You know, we have long hours. And so I just did it. I went and started doing it myself. I figured out how to do a basic, very basic website. And I didn’t really have the time or resources to do it. I was a new mom and I had a kid and I was very, very busy and I just said, I’m going to just put something up. They said, just put anything up, you know, get a website and do it. And I said, fine, I’ll do it. And so I did that and that worked for a pretty long time. And I kept editing and adding as time went on, but as the years went on, I needed to be more professional. And eventually I hired a professional and professional website developer to do it. And there’s so many now there’s so many.
Justin (25:32):
Yeah. I was talking to one of my pain physician clients the other day. And we’re talking about, you know, he’s about to join this like a multispecialty group. I said, you know, it’s his first job out of fellowship. And I said, your, your brand is going to go with you. It’s important to right now to start to establish it and to start to build it. Cause you’re going to have some patients and you’re going to have a long career and odds are, you may or may not be with this group two years from now, but what you start to build with your own name. And like I said, here’s the website, the domain is available. I literally emailed it to him, was like buy this thing right now. It’s $12. Even if you don’t do anything with it, just to have it. And then to start to construct for yourself, this professional online presence that is going to open up other opportunities for industry collaboration, for publication, and people are going to be able to find you patients and from the public, and that’s going to only help your career over time. So talk a little bit about how, as you’ve built this really nice website, and eventually you kind of did the 2.0 and made it really slick. How has that contributed to opportunities for you?
Dr. Anita Gupta (26:35):
Look, I think it’s just, you just kind of do it, right? I mean, you can’t make excuses for it, not doing it at this point. I mean, it’s, I mean, there’s all kinds of websites and people out there. I mean, I get, get all kinds of emails almost every day. Like, do you need a website? I mean, I don’t, but I’m sure everyone’s sent these kind of emails, but I mean, they don’t make excuses to do it. I mean, we all should evolve and keep up with those things, you know, and I think it gets its time is now we’re in a society where things are moving very quickly. Information is capital and, and we should, we should have it at their fingertips and everyone looks up everybody’s bio and information at this point, patients are informed. They come in with the information and you know, with, you know, people want to know who you are. And so it’s very important to educate yourself, if you don’t have the resources on how to, I mean, it’s not that complicated. You can put up a website with your name and maybe a little bit about yourself and find someone who can help you do
Justin (27:44):
Talk a little bit about maybe, you know, you mentioned industry collaboration and other opportunities that you’re currently pursuing just professionally outside of strictly clinical practice of anesthesia and pain. Talk a little bit about some of those opportunities and kind of how they came about.
Dr. Anita Gupta (27:59):
Right. So, absolutely I, so I, you know, after I finished Princeton, you know, my health policy, as you know, I’ve been very passionate about finding solutions for the opioid crisis. And one of the prior things before I became a pain doctor and became a physician, I was a pharmacist. You know, I worked as a pharmacist. That was something that I’ve always felt very passionate about and trying to combine that experience and my experience as a pain doctor, it just became very intuitive to me after I finished my policy degree, that working with a company that is trying to find a solution plus address the opioid crisis, wouldn’t be a natural fit. And so I’m currently working with a company that is innovating in that space, and I’m really excited about that and, you know, very hopeful that we can find a solution, you know, and, and, and, you know, I think this really combines my background, my passion and also really adds value to things that I’m really interested in. So I hope that it really will combine, you know, all the areas of policy innovation and patient care and really drive a solution for patients in the future.
Justin (29:18):
What kind of advice would you give to somebody who’s listening out there who says, you know, I love the idea of, you know, getting involved in either with a company or an organization that is, has a very specific mission. That’s close to my professional expertise, but maybe they feel like they don’t have the, either the experience or the they’re suffering from some imposter syndrome. They don’t know maybe the first step to take. How would you advise somebody who wants to kind of emulate your path?
Dr. Anita Gupta (29:44):
You know, probably the best advice I’ve had is that number one, you know, create your own board board of advisors.
Justin (29:53):
That’s a great idea. It’s T describe what you mean by that. I really like that. Yeah.
Dr. Anita Gupta (29:57):
You know, create your own board of directors. I mean, I think, you know, we’re all professionals and I think, you know, that’s one of the best advice I’ve ever had. You know, it doesn’t have to be a lot, but just a few people, but you can call up any time and Hey, Hey, you know, what do I, what do I do? And that you can trust and respect and that respect to you. And you, you really can call upon. And I think that’s invaluable. And, and that, that is probably one of the best pieces of advice I can give you because, you know, sometimes when you’re having a difficult challenges or you’re not, you don’t have clarity in your goals early in your career, these people can help you revise. They can give you tactical strategic advice as you go on and help you do some soul searching.
Dr. Anita Gupta (30:48):
And I think as a young physician sometimes clarifying those goals can be really helpful. And helping you cultivate your skills can also be very good, important. The second piece of advice, I probably would say, don’t make excuses. I think I said that before, it’s easy to work hard in silence, you know, and you know, let, let success be your noise. You know, and I think one of my mentors told me that, you know, people often won’t tell you that you’re doing a good job. Sometimes you just have to get out there and be your own noise. So I think, you know, and that was an important lesson. You know, you, you have to get out there and do what you need to do. And, and, and sometimes in healthcare, it’s easier because we are helping patients ultimately and you’re right. Patients will recognize that. And that’s the value we add. And that’s probably the most important thing.
Justin (31:47):
I’m curious as you have grown in your public profile and the work that you’ve been doing at some point, you’ve sort of become to some extent, a public figure and public figures tend to attract all different types of opinions, both good and bad. Have you had any issues or problems or like any haters out there who have been throwing rocks who have caused you to sort of either second guess or worry, or have to deal with, you know, accidentally or inadvertently, just dedicating brain space to the people out there who don’t like, what you’re doing. And we were trying to drag you down.
Dr. Anita Gupta (32:22):
Of course. I mean, that’s with everything. Yeah. You know, you can’t control everything, you know, you just have to relax and, you know, have faith that things are just going to work out and then let go a little and let life happen. I mean, that’s just kind of how it needs to be.
Justin (32:35):
Does that, does it fuel you or is it something you just try to put out of your mind?
Dr. Anita Gupta (32:40):
You know, it’s not, it’s not about that really. I mean, it’s about what you’re really trying to achieve and really what yeah. I’m going to okay. Because on paper there, and I think ultimately when you’re focused on that goal, those things shouldn’t matter at all. You know? And I think ultimately, you know, people are always going, those things always will occur. Those things will always happen.
Justin (33:04):
Yeah, I totally agree. And I, and the reason I ask is because I’ve had these same questions that I’ve wrestled with as somebody who, you know, starting to produce content and scale, the voice that you have and be able to try to maximize your reach, those voices, those people, they do come out of the woodwork. And it is an interesting exercise. And I think just confirming your identity for yourself and knowing like, who am I, and what do I care about and what people do I let in to be able to constructively give me feedback versus, you know, who are the people that I’m going to, whether it’s good or bad, I’m really not going to let what they say have any impact on my life that takes a certain mental toughness. I guess you kind of got to grow some thicker skin and, you know, in the process of building what you’ve built, as far as the personal brand that we’re talking about, I’m sure that’s something that you’ve had to do over time.
Dr. Anita Gupta (33:56):
Yeah, it does. And I also write things, never came from comfort zones.
Justin (34:02):
That’s right. I actually have this this quote is I won’t read the whole thing. It’s a famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt. I have it pasted at the top of my, my CRM. So it’s the first thing I see when I log in in the morning, cause this is so such a recurring challenge for me. It’s the one about the man in the arena. And he says, it’s not the critic who counts nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, and that’s a truncation, but that’s the ethos that I try to sort of carry into this podcast and with my business. And it sounds like you’ve had to sort of get that unlocked down for yourself to keep doing what you’re doing.
Dr. Anita Gupta (34:53):
Absolutely. And I mean, that’s the idea of great leadership, right? I mean, you, you have to continue. We continue to March forward and, and you know, all great leaders and leaders will face that. And that’s the idea of mission and purpose is that your whole face will face those challenges, but it’s that grit and resilience of continuing through that and pushing through that is, is what we have to do.
Justin (35:21):
Absolutely. So I think that’s a great point. Tell me a little bit, is there a leader or a couple of leaders whom you admire and strive to emulate or who have made a Mark on you?
Dr. Anita Gupta (35:31):
Look, you know, I’ve, I’ve had the opportunity to read a lot about different leaders, but JFK, a great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, you know, Martin Luther King. But I’ve been around great leaders, you know, had the opportunity to be around some great leaders too. At Princeton. I met them face to face. Some of them, you know, have had the opportunity to shake their hands and Nobel laureates, some ambassadors, people that address the Ebola crisis. So, you know, just, just being around these people meeting them face to face you begin to appreciate a lot and what it takes to, you know, have that kind of power and, and really, you know, learn those kinds of lessons and and be able to strive for that. You know, we, we have to have the courage really to face some of the challenges we have to stay inspired, to be passionate and remain motivated and still be grateful and be grateful for all, all the things that we have and be open minded really for the challenges that are ahead. I am very thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity to be a physician and that we have the ability to share our opinions here in the United States. There’s not many foods where we can always do that. So I think that that’s also an opportunity for us. So take that and take one opportunity to share and make a change.
Justin (37:03):
Absolutely. I’m curious you know, you’ve, you’ve done a lot of work in a lot of different areas clinically, professionally through your advocacy and leadership and others. Are there any accomplishments or anything that you have been able to either collaborate with people or something that you have achieved, or maybe that you’ve experienced where in that moment you thought this is, and we’ll close with this, by the way, this is a moment of validation. This is something where I’ve strived and I’ve worked and I’ve exerted myself and I’ve seen the fruit of my labor and I’ve seen positive change. I’ve seen whether it’s with a patient or with on a bigger scale things moving in the right direction that you’ve been encouraged by.
Dr. Anita Gupta (37:44):
Probably one of the biggest accomplishments I will say is when I worked with the ASC on opioid task force when I was appointed that as co-chair and I also was leading that for the first time, you know, being the first one woman first time to be reading this kind of task force when the opiod crisis was, you know, at the peak, the NSA decided that they were going to create this ad hoc committee. I was honored to be leading that, you know, as first of all, as a woman and also as an anesthesiologist, that was big honor. And also I was asked to speak at the ASA to, to be, I was appointed the executive committee to go to the FDA to speak on, you know, the need to expand the Lacson and to accelerate the use of Knoll oxen you know, throughout the United States, because at the time Naloxone really wasn’t being, co-prescribing, it wasn’t expanded you and given the climate in Philadelphia and the need for it.
Dr. Anita Gupta (39:00):
I had very clear vision that there was an absolute need for it, given the amount of overdoses that were occurring at the time and, you know, what I was seeing and when it was finally approved for that and when it was expanded use there was a press release where president Obama and the company and my quote was in there. And that was a real achievement when I saw that. And I was really honored to see that because to me that was a real achieve. And now when we see in a zone, you know, being used so so much, it’s a real, it’s a real honor to know that I had some small piece of that involvement of that. And you know, even though I know there’s hundreds of people that were involved to have some contribution in that effort, you know, it’s, it’s a real, real joy to see that I was involved.
Justin (39:57):
Awesome. Well, thank you for all of the labor that you’ve expended on this important work that impacts my community and communities all across America. It’s yeah. I’m glad that there are physicians like you continuing to fight the good fight and Dr. Seibert and others. I mean, many, many, many people out there who are really giving themselves and their vocations in their careers to wanting to just make the world a better place for, for everybody. So Dr. Anita Gupta, thank you very much for joining us today on the anesthesia success podcast.
Dr. Anita Gupta (40:29):
Thank you. Thank you, a pleasure.
Justin (40:35):
If you liked what you heard this week, head on over to anesthesia success.com, where you can find more content and free resources to help you build a successful career in anesthesiology and pain management. If you want to leave a review in iTunes, I would also really appreciate it. Thanks for using some of your valuable time to join me today on the anesthesia success podcast.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS