THE VISIONARY

LET’S BUILD THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE WITH Mir DR. HOOMAN r. Hooman Mir is a DPM physician by training, a proud Temple Medicine alumnus from Philadelphia where he obtained his doctorate degree in Podiatry Medicine with Board-Certifi cation in Wound Care. His interest is in medical treatment of diabetic foot ulceration. He received surgical externships in Foot and Ankle Surgery from prestigious institutes such as Yale-New Haven of Yale, School of Medicine, Scott & White Hospital of A&M School of Medicine and Kennedy Memorial Hospital. He also completed one year of surgical internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York with an additional one-year training in Healthcare Policy & Patient Safety at Thomas Jeff erson, School of Medicine. In addition, he has also received his other D advanced Physician-MS degree in Clinical Investigation from UT Health, School of Medicine at San Antonio with his master thesis on Diabetic Nephropathy. He became the fi rst DPM physician who has received full NIH-tuition reimbursement from Department of Medicine at UT Health, School of Medicine when obtaining his post-graduate degree.

Dr. Hooman, what do you enjoy about being a Doctor of Podiatry Medicine?

What I enjoy about being trained in this fi eld of medicine is knowing how a simple medical routine examination of a diabetic foot can save that patient’s limb from being amputated and the diff erence you can make in the quality of life when dealing with our diabetic patients. Recognizing the impact of podiatry physicians in wound healing and Limb salvage of diabetic patients is an essential step in our Healthcare System for better quality of care.

My daily passion is Academic Medicine Practice. I am a full time Assistant Professor at Western University of Health Sciences where I get to give lectures to the future medical, dental and Healthcare Professionals in anatomical, biomedical and virtual simulated medical courses along with designing extensive medical curriculums such as USMLE Board and H&P Workshop training courses. Since my move to California 5 years ago, I have been very fortunate to have been traveling to diff erent domestic and international destinations to give medical lectures and run medical/surgical training workshops as part of my Academic Medicine Practice.

Can you please introduce your “medical training program” called LEMSA - Learning Enrichment in Medical & Surgical Anatomy”? What problematic does your training program answer to?

LEMSA stands for “Learning Enrichment in Medical & Surgical Anatomy” . LEMSA is a One-Week intensive medical training program that not only gives its participants a big chunk of medical school-level clinical anatomy but emphasis is given on surgical techniques based on specifi c patient pathologies and clinical cases from reputable physicians and surgeons in our country. In addition, LEMSA off ers medical training workshops such as Patient History & Physical , Surgical Principles, Surgical Suture Techniques, Ultrasound Crash Course, Injection Techniques, Patient Poster-Abstract Design to name a few. We also provide Medical Mentorship Program and Consultation for Medical, Dental, Health Professional Entry Programs for our participants. Our targeted students are all Pre-Med, Pre-Dental, PrePA, Pre-PT and Pre-Health Professional students from USA and all over the world.

My medical program is designed to provide aff ordable advanced training in medical curriculum for student who wish to pursue advanced Medical career as future Physicians, Surgeons and Health Professions such as Dentistry, Nursing, Physician Assistant, or Physical Therapy Specialists leading to saving millions of dollars on the cost of Medical-Education for our current future Physician and Health Professional students.

What is the concept and what are the

main advantages? I created LEMSA by combining the Uber Business Model and traditional Enrichment Medical Training with the most advanced simulated technologies all packed into this portable program that I bring to diff erent university campuses for the future Physicians and Healthcare Professionals. My designed model has never been created or off ered in the history of medical education in our country. By providing this program on University/Campus grounds and avoiding the heavily priced convention centers, hotel settings or University facility fees, I have been able to make my training program into the most aff ordable advanced medical enrichment program we have currently.

One of the main advantages of my program include not only an off ered tuition that is a fraction of a cost compared to other enrichment programs in the country but also students save thousands of dollars from travel expenses, their boarding and such by not leaving their campuses since we bring the program to them.

The majority of USA students use their fi nancial aid funds to pay for these costly programs which do not even provide an advanced curriculum or workshops as comprehensive as our program; this Uber-Business model version that is LEMSA can save individual students thousands of dollars leading to the less Financial Aid debt on our government in our country.

A couple years ago, you founded “Hooman Medicine”. Was it the precursor of your current LEMSA?

Hooman Medicine was the precursor for LEMSA. I am the founder and medical director of Hooman Medicine which is an incorporated concierge medical service that provides the highest quality of care in diabetes, diabetic foot care, wound care dressing change, orthotic design, pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of diabetic patients with high risk for cardiovascular disease or kidney failure. As part of Hooman Medicine’s mission, LEMSA was created to provide an aff ordable and portable Medical Enrichment Program to future physicians/Health Professionals with limited fi nancial means and for students who wish to receive advanced preparation of their Medical and Health Professional curriculums prior to starting their Medical, Dental or Health Professional schools.

“I believe there will be high demand for inserti on of Biomechanics into daily podiatry management.”

Very concretely, how does it work? Let’s say we are a group of students and we would like to access your program? What is the process and the main steps to follow?

The main step comes from us. Our chief operator works with the dean’s offi ce of the University that your group of students are coming from, to secure the large classrooms where we set up our diff erent medical, surgical and small group lecture workshops. We bring all the advanced equipments such as surgical/suture sets, our advanced 3D technologies and our human-replica surgical manikins as part of our program to that campus. We create a replica of Medical & Health Professional School with our group of contracted physician lecturers and active medical & health professional students who all join together to bring LEMSA to the targeted audiences. We normally use the Fall, Spring or Summer break to have this portable program set up at diff erent campuses so students will have dedicated time to focus on their Training.

The process of registration is very simple. We email registration forms that can be fi lled out electronically and we get to know our students, their current academic standing, their main goals through series of questionnaires prior to starting the program. Upon completion of their registration, students receive their booklet manual, their itinerary and all supplemental resources prior to starting their training.

You recently ran the PILOT program at UT San Antonio last year with 121 students. What the feedback was? Has this helped you improve your program?

As someone who has his feet fi rmly planted in Texas, it was the ultimate honor for me to host LEMSA at UT San Antonio. I was blown away at the reception it received. We have amazing students from our Pilot programs who have already been accepted into their medical and health professional schools of their choice and we are looking forward to having their names, pictures and their testimonials posted on our Website. The one constant feedback we received was how they strongly felt that their LEMSA Letter of Recommendation played a big role into their acceptance and how during their interviews, they were asked about their LEMSA training experiences.

The program has evolved since we ran the Pilot program last year. For example, we now off er offi cial assessment process of our students after they fi nish their program with us. We also have added newer surgical workshops since the Pilot program. The one improvement we have done is to make sure to check the lecture rooms and facilities of the campuses in advance to avoid any last-minute surprises such as diff erent lecture and workshop rooms not being close to each other or equipped with projection devices we might need.

Beyond your career, you are also a travel enthusiast! How many countries have you visited so far? What was your favorite one?

OMG, I think I lost count a while back lol. Travel is my lifeline. I feel lucky that most of my travels have been sponsored as part of my career because normally I would be giving a medical lecture or running a workshop as an invited guest at a conference. For example, I have been very fortunate to have been giving lectures and running an annual surgical amputation workshop at the Imperial Medial College in London for the past 5 years. So for me, November is always about London. I can

“Medicine is the one fi eld that requires you to keep your knowledge updated so you can bett er serve your pati ents and future generati on of our physicians and healthcare providers.”

tell you that London, Paris, Berlin, and Dubai have been part of my annual travel itinerary for a long time.

Every year, I rank one destination as my favorite one out of all the places I visit during that year. For 2019, my favorite destination was Vienna since I spent a week attending AMEE International Medical conference and was able to really enjoy what the city had to off er. Berlin and Marseille are my ultimate best destinations of all time. I know every inch of these two cities by now due to my numerous visits. Barcelona is also up on my favorite list. I am bias when it comes to favorite domestic destinations which are clearly Austin and Philadelphia for me.

Let’s talk about health and wellness. Via your Instagram, we noticed you have lost a lot of weight over the last few years and you share with your followers the diet you are going on. Why is it important for you to fi nd a healthy balance between your work and personal life?

I have struggled with my weight for a long time. In 2018, I had a major health scare that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I fully recovered from that ordeal, but I felt that everything came crashing down on me. I reached a point when I knew that I needed to take control over my weight and health. My father who is my hero said it best “Take care of yourself fi rst, so you can take care of others”. I took 6 months medical leave to focus on myself for the fi rst time in my life; in other words, I became my own patient. I owe my weight loss to my parents who are simply my best friends in life. For 6 months, my parents unrooted their lives and stayed with me every day. My mom cooked me healthy small portion meals. My father would take me for long walks, and I got back to swimming which helped me with getting the pounds off me. My best friend in California encouraged me to get a cold pressed juicer and I got so addicted to staring my day with fresh juice. I can tell you it took a village to get my-

“Travel is my lifeline. I feel lucky that most of my travels have been sponsored as part of my career...”

self on the right track and now, I have a completely diff erent outlook, empathy and deep understanding of what many of our patients go through. It is not an easy journey and if you do not have the level of support that I had, it would be a more diffi cult transition to get to this point.

What do you see coming of the horizon in the future in podiatry?

Regarding what future holds for my profession, I believe there will be high demand for insertion of Biomechanics into daily podiatry management. Hooman Medicine’s Gait & Biomechanics Laboratory in Dubai will be functional by the mid 2021 as we are in fi nal negotiation of its implementation. In addition, I believe the usage of newer Orthobiologics will be making a huge impact for the surgical outcomes of my profession. One of my main goals will always be advancing patient’s education on their diabetic status and making them become their strongest advocates for their own limb salvage.

What would you recommend to a student just getting out of school and wants to get into the health care industry?

My professional advice for Physician students will be to have them live by these three words: Learn, Serve & Lead. Studying never ends for people like us; Medicine is the one fi eld that requires you to keep your knowledge updated so you can better serve your patients and future generation of our physicians and healthcare providers. Learning becomes part of your daily growth so embrace it. As a Texan born, I live my own life with MatthewMcConaughey’s Philosophy who says, “Have three things in life” and you will be “Alright”. 1- Have something to look up to. 2- Have something to look forward to. 3- Have someone to chase.

I always look up to God, my parents, siblings, and mentors such as Dr. Lawrence Harkless to guide me on my life whether it is a personal or a professional journey. I look forward to making each day count and make a diff erence in this world with my work for patients and future physicians. I do not have someone to chase yet in my private life, but I am in no rush.

Dr. Hooman Mir, DPM, MSc, FAPWCA Known as Dr. Hooman Founder & CEO of Hooman Medicine Founder & Director of LEMSA Program Assistant Professor in Academic & Clinical Medicine Email: Hooman@HoomanMedicine.Org