Interview: Zubin Damania MD aka ZDoggMD

Interview with hard-rhymin rapper and hospitalist Zubin Damania MD (ZDogg MD) Slightly funnier than pacebo.

Did you ever wonder what kind of doctor you were going to be when you grew up? A hard-rapping stand up comic hospitalist with a penchant for drafting lyrics like, "I remembered she's demented with a nasty case of C.diff", and "I got one glove like Michael Jackson, but it's made of latex and it's your prostate I'm waxin'!" or calling Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz 'Sucker MDs' might not be it.

But that's exactly what Zubin Damania MD does, and it's worked.

Zubin started out as a mullet-wearing, Costco card carrying rockabilly and ended up (so far) working as a hospitalist at Stanford and making video satire with his pediatrician buddy Dr. Harry on ZDoggMD.com (winner of the MedGadget Best New Weblog of 2010) as well as writing for Freelance MD. You can read all of Zubin's posts on Freelance MD here.

In this interview, Zubin discusses where he started and puts his current practice as well as his passion for combining entertainment and patient education in clear perspective.

ZDogg MD Video: Doctors Today

Interview with ZDoggMD

Part 1: Where did you come from?

In this video: oranges, UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford, Costco, physician parents, residency, Gastroenterology, feculent smelling burp juice, working for someone else, hospitalist, comedy, UCSF graduation speech, slightly funnier than placebo, youtube.

Part 2: Why are you doing what you're doing?

In this video: passion, entrepreneurship, opportunity, preventing ulcer disease, safe sex, physician burnout, testicular self exam, megalomania.

Part 3: What advice would you give to medstudents?

In this video: medical school advice, who you are, niches in medicine, pressure, jerks and homeless patients, kids, purpose and passion, picking a specialty, residency, real doctors, friends and rectums, vasovagal party jokes.

Part 4: What mistakes have you made and learned from?

In this video: Mistakes, lifeinthefastlane.com, Mike Cadogan, wasting time, making money, cynicism, jerks, doctors and credibility, Osamacare, targeting your audience, standup comedy, hearing aids and dying onstage.

Techcrunch Interview (includes Hemorrhoid rap!)

In this video from Techcrunch Rhymes and Medicine: Hemorrhoid rap, Snoop Dog, Tony Hsieh, Zappos, Delivering Happiness, educating, Youtube, unprofessional behavior, a human face on medicine, internet patients and Google, medical technology, iPad, medicines culture of unhappiness.

Like this interview with ZDoggMD? Leave your thoughs in the comments below.

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Check Out Book Biz Radio

Recently I did an interview with Drew Nederpelt on BookBizRadio.com

Check out Drew's interviews with authors for more information on book publishing. You'll see that he has interviewed a variety of authors who write in different genres. If you scroll down to the bottom of the provided link, you'll be able to listen to the interview that I did with Drew. Another good resource for authors! 

10 Tips For A Great Radio Interview

Recently a client of mine e-mailed me in a panic. She booked her first radio interview as a published author. “The interviewer wants 10 questions from me. What do I send him?”

I helped her come up with compelling questions and we did a role play so she could practice.
Here are some of the tips I shared:

1. Think like your audience. Who will be listening to the interview? What do you think they most want to know? What will resonate most for them? Speak their language and speak to their biggest concerns, pains and desires.

2. It’s not about the book. Focus on the information you have to offer to improve the lives of the people listening. Yes, you want them to buy your book (if you have one), but you’re on the air to make a difference. Book sales will stem from service and relevance.

3. Avoid generalities. Tell short, entertaining stories to illustrate your points.

4. Interviewers love sound bites. Create catchy phrases and pithy sound bites around the points you make.

5. Be succinct. The most engaging interviews have an upbeat pace and the banter goes back and forth between host and guest. Hosts find it frustrating if you talk on and on, especially if you’re not on point.

6. Write out your answers to your questions and have them in front of you.  Of course, practice until you get it down before your first interview. You should know your answers inside out. Still, you may get nervous. It can’t hurt to have a cheat sheet in front of you in case you space out. And it may make you feel more relaxed.

7. Stand up. Your voice and demeanor will naturally be more commanding and confident when you stand. Your vibrant energy level will come across.

8. Have fun. The more you enjoy yourself, the more your audience will, too. Don’t be afraid to use humor.

9. Be spontaneous. Once you’ve prepared and practice, allow room for spontaneity to take over. Be grounded and centered for the call and connect with your host.

10. Don’t mention your book too often. It’s the host’s job to talk about your book. Don’t overdo book mentions. On the other hand, if your host doesn’t mention the book at all, by all means,  mention it towards the end. Most hosts are quite gracious, however.

Good luck with that first interview! It gets easier each time. Soon, you’ll be a pro.

Interview On Biomedical Entrepreneurism

Here's an interview with Arlen D Meyers MD from Kings College London.

I embedded them in this post but they automatically play on load so I've opted to provide just the links below. As you may well know, Dr. Meyers is one of Freelance MDs writers. You can read all of Dr. Meyers posts here.

• Video 1
• Video 2