Episode 59: Finding Truth in Medicine | Marjan Koosha Johnson | Medical Student & Researcher
Marjan Koosha Johnson is a third-year medical student taking a research year in dermatology. We recorded this conversation just as the COVID-19 outbreak began in the U.S., before quarantine restrictions took effect. She shares the realities of medical school, where to find credible medical research, and how she balances the demands of school, family, and friends. Marjan discusses the beauty and depth of Persian culture, her journey from the UK to the U.S., and how yoga helps her stay grounded. She talks about resources like PubMed, JAMA, Medscape, and UpToDate for trustworthy medical facts, the different paths within dermatology, and the importance of curiosity in a profession that’s constantly evolving. Her perspective offers clarity, science-based truth, and a reminder that medicine is as much about learning as it is about healing.
“Medicine is beautiful because it evolves and as doctors we get to be in the on-going pursuit of learning.”
-
-
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Marjan Koosha Johnson
03:50 Third Year of Medical School and Research in Dermatology
08:20 How COVID-19 Changed Medical Training Overnight
12:45 Finding Credible Medical Research Sources
17:15 Balancing School, Family, and Friends
21:40 The Beauty of Persian Culture
26:10 Moving from the UK to the U.S.
30:05 Yoga as a Tool for Mental Health
34:25 Exploring Cosmetic, Medical, and Surgical Dermatology
39:15 The Role of Curiosity in Medicine
43:50 Trusted Resources for Medical Facts
48:25 Advice for Future Medical Professionals
Every single day learning more and more of what I don't know. And I feel like that's what science really is. It's like the pursuit of truth. But every time we feel like we have such a grasp on a topic, some new study comes out and is actually no. Take a look at this.
That's Marjan Koosha Johnson and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something, and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
Marjan Koosha Johnson is a good friend of mine and is currently a third year medical student. We've recorded this episode just as the pandemic outbreak in the US was starting and before quarantine restrictions went into place. On this episode, we talk about the realities of being in medical school where you can find the facts regarding medical research.
Huge for everyone wanting the truth about COVID-19 right now, and we get into how she stays balanced with the intensities of medical school, family, and friends. Plus, we talk about the beauty and depth of the Persian culture, all that, and so much more coming up. But first, if you're interested in discovering what possibilities and businesses are available for you to create and to live your most fulfilling life, please visit the powerful ladies.com/coaching and sign up for a free coaching consultation with me.
There is no reason to wait another day to not be living your best life when you instead could be running at full speed towards your wildest dreams today.
I am very excited to have you here today. I'm very excited to be here today. Awesome. Let's begin. Let people know who you are and what you're up to.
Okay, so my name is Marjan and what I'm up to right now is I am on, I'm in my third year of medical school and I'm actually taking a research year to do some dermatology research next year and then finishing up med school the year after that.
So med school is of course very daunting. Yes. Both for people choosing to take that path and then once you're in it. Oh yes. How did you decide to go to me school, medical
school? That's a really good question. So I started out in graduate school. I had pretty much decided I'm gonna go for the PhD.
I'd be teaching at an R one university and like doing the professor thing and doing the research thing. What does R one mean? So it's basically a university that focuses very heavily on research. Okay. So the professors that are there are both involved in research and involved in teaching.
And so uc, Irvine would be a perfect example.
So I went to uc, Irvine for grad school as well as undergrad. And I was like, this is the path I'm taking. This is gonna be great. And then amidst being in graduate school, I was like, oh gosh, like I really feel like I'm meant to do something more clinical. This is so great and science is interesting.
But I feel like that human aspect of it, human interaction aspect of it, was really missing for me. So midway through graduate school, I was like, I went up to my advisor and I was like, you know what? I think I'm, I think I wanna go to medical school. And he was like, you have my blessing. I feel like you'd be a great clinician and let's get you out of here with a master's degree and let's do this thing.
Yeah. And what were you studying in grad school? So I was studying genomics, so looking at like pop population evolution different things like that. My, my primary project was gonna be on the effects of hybrid vigor, which is basically if you were to take if I were to really dive it down, it would be like a mule, right?
So basically taking two different species, breeding them together, and then producing like a species that would be superior to either of those two. And so I'd be doing that with fruit flies.
So that was gonna be like the real content of my PhD project, but I basically had piloted a few projects and then that, at that point I was like, okay, I think I wanna go to medical school.
So yeah, it was cool. It was a lot on population evolution and a lot on a fitness and different parameters that, it's hard to explain but it was quite interesting at the time, it sounds like you were essentially studying how to
make a super species.
Yeah. Yeah, that's absolutely one way to look at it.
Yes, absolutely. So
why, assuming you don't have, take over the World Evil Mastermind plan, what is the benefit of studying a super species and trying to figure out how to create one?
So it wasn't so much like that. There'd be some. Huge benefit. I think we were looking to see. So what we were looking at was be, before I started this project essentially I'd taken over the work of somebody that had gone back to Portugal to finish her PhD in Portugal.
And what she was doing was taking the top 10% of a population of fruit flies and then breeding those and founding a next generation. Next generation. So what you're doing is basically you're taking the fittest of the fit. Yeah. And you're artificially selecting them for those jeans for the subsequent generations to have those jeans like accelerated Darwinism.
Exactly. Exactly. And so for me, I was gonna take a different angle on it. Let's see, is this actually a valid, is this actually a valid thought? Could we potentially, cross two species and see what happens? See if they do produce a superior offspring. And I didn't really get to find out the answer to that question.
So it wasn't that we were looking largely for any kind of like overarching benefit in this, but other than to see is this, can we reproduce this on a larger scale?
Yep. And starting with fruit flies. What would you have bred them with if you like? I dunno, are you jumping to like, all right, fruit fly and a bee.
That sounds crazy, right?
Okay. That's a really good question. So they were the same so they were both drosophila melanogaster, but they had been apart for so long. Like they had been kept apart from each other for so long that they developed certain genetics, certain traits that each other may not have had.
And so what we did was just cute. You like dye their little bottoms with different colors and you know that they're not from the same vial essentially. So they have been apart for several generations, several years. And then we would have them mate and then produce offspring that way.
I've heard of something similar in the wild of like squirrels on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon.
Yeah. There's like one that's
red and one that's brown. Yes. And like they can't actually, they don't normally breed together anymore. Yes. And they're truly different.
Yes. Species. Yes.
Exactly.
Yeah. Okay. Awesome. I have heard of that too. Yeah. So when you thought about, okay, teaching's not my, being a researcher and a teacher isn't my path. I really wanna be working with humans. And providing my knowledge to them. There's so many ways to do that. So what made you think I need to be a medical doctor?
It's funny because I had been, like, when I was in undergrad at UCI, I thought so much about it and I was like, gosh, like how could I make the biggest possible impact?
And I think a lot of it was my own self-doubt as to whether I was good enough for medical school. Like just realizing the level of competition the rigor of the actual process itself, the rigor of the curriculum, and then coming out like, all intact on the other side.
I really had to grapple with that for quite some time. And I'm so glad that I did because I entered med school when I was 26 and I had so much knowledge to that point. And I had, I matured in such a way that I wouldn't have, if I would've just went from uc, Irvine, to medical school. So I think that when I was in grad school.
I was also torn because I was like, okay, clinician, or be a researcher professor. Both are great lives and you can, you can just, you can have a fabulous lifestyle with either path. But being in the hospital, I'd spent quite amount of time in the hospital at the uc, Irvine Medical Center.
And I just realized like that level of interaction that I was having with patients, even on a very limited basis, because we weren't allowed to do very much, as volunteers or as interns. And I really wanted to be a part of that in a way that I felt I couldn't quite achieve if I were to be in research and to be a professor.
And yes, I'd get to work with a lot of students, but I wouldn't see the impact directly necessarily. Yeah. Or I'd see more of an impact, like when I was dealing one-on-one with a patient. And I was able to help them in a way that like I'd see the return right away.
Yeah. The different level of producing results.
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So then you started med school? Yep. And. What was year one? What was reality like in med school?
Oh gosh. Okay. You and I had talked so much about this. Even leading up to it year one was, it's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I went in knowing, I think I went in a little bit less, I underestimated medical school, especially the first and second years, the preclinical years.
And it felt like it was funny the first day I went in one of the professors was like, so medical school's gonna be like drinking water from a fire hose all the time. And she gave us a really interesting analogy. She said, every day you're gonna have eight pancakes to eat. And it doesn't seem like a, it's a decent, it's a sizable amount of pan eight pancakes, if you were to eat them every single day.
Then you'd be okay. You'd get through it. But let's say you didn't eat pancake, you ate pancakes for one day, then the next day you'd have 16 pancakes, and then the next day you'd have even more. And the following day, like you'd have so many pancakes, you wouldn't know how to handle it. And she was absolutely right.
It felt like you were always trying to just barely make it during the first year. So it was a slap in the face, I will say. And I didn't, there were so many periods of time where I didn't feel like I'd get through it. And somehow I got through it. Like I couldn't tell you this was the formulaic way in which I did that, but at the end of the day I was like, oh, okay.
I passed that class, moving on to the next one. So it was, there was a lot of that going on during that time.
And as your friends seeing you go through so many changes with yourself and like your relationship to yourself and your relationship to time and your relationship to being social there'd be moments where you're like, I love what I'm doing, and the next day you'd be like.
Why am I doing this? What is happening and the pressure that you've put on yourself to achieve and like to make medical school work. And just like anyone, I think taking on like a new thing whether it's medical school or a new business or you name it you don't realize how much of your whole lifestyle is going to be upended.
And even if you want to approach it with a, balanced style you instantly see how you're like, oh I thought I was gonna be on a cruise ship. I'm actually on a life raft. Yes. Okay. I can only keep three things and the three things I'm keeping. And, speaking from your perspective, be like, I'm keeping.
My husband, I'm keeping school. And I'm keeping something I'll figure out each day. Yes.
Oh my gosh, yes.
So being someone who's so used to like you're very much into wellness and being centered. How did you, or how didn't you handle the fact that suddenly you couldn't make it all work?
All the time? Yeah. In the short, like while you're dedicated to med school.
Yeah. So that your, all your questions are so good, Kara, because I feel like there was a period of time where you and I had spoken and you told me that, what's going on with the clothes you've been wearing lately?
And I was like, what has been going on? I felt like I was in such a daze. And I wasn't happy for the first two years. A lot of the time I felt like I was surviving. And so just like you said, like here's my three non-negotiable things. I think my only non-negotiable thing at the time was like my relationship with my family and my husband.
And. That was essentially it. And my relationship with school and everything else, like we were, I always felt like I was wearing blinders the entire time, because over the course of two years of med school, I gained 20 pounds. I was pretty miserable after that. And so it felt like while I was like, okay, yoga, okay, I'm gonna go for a run.
Okay, I'm, but it was like, I was eating to feel okay and studying all the time, not really moving around a lot.
So it was easy to fall into this place of maybe I'll just settle for getting six hours of sleep at night. That could be okay. And then I feel like I emerged from the other side, I think it was like the end of my first year, and was like, no this is not, clearly, this isn't working for you.
I was able to cut back on the amount of time I was putting into school and instead putting my time into, like seeing my friends, seeing you guys coming out a lot more. And it helped my spirit so much so that I felt like it ended up being better for my performance in school and my happiness overall because so much of every, everything was really put on hold.
Yeah.
At least say during the first six months.
When we put so much pressure on ourselves to focus on the amount of work or pancakes that we need to eat. That we've been given as our to-do list. And when you never give yourselves a break from doing, like you literally are run out of capacity.
Yes. And we think like our first reaction is, I'll just do more instead of I need to stop. And it's, it can be so like no. But I can just do one more thing before I go to bed or. And I catch myself even going to those cycles myself and I always pay for it. Yeah. Always. So I probably need like an alert in my phone or a post-it or something that's just says No, stop.
Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. Actually, it's so funny you say that because I read a quote that was like, it landed with me. It was like, no, when to rest or No when to rest, not to quit, or something like that. It was really profound. I was like, okay, so I'm missing peace in my life.
Yeah. I don't have to necessarily end what I'm doing right now, but I have to take a step back and reevaluate.
Yes. And I think so many people do associate not being in motion with quitting. Yeah. When it really is just a pause. Yeah. Like you can prep, press pause Yeah. And come back. Yeah. And that pause could be five minutes, an hour, two days, two weeks of vacation or two years if you decide that you're like, Nope, I needed a full two years.
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So now you're at a stage in perhaps this part is closed, moved on, but like the last time we touched base, you were going through the phases of your rotations, which I think is awesome because then you get to like really be in the stuff you've been talking about.
Yes.
What was that experience like and what did you learn in the different phases and then overall that's, helping you choose what's next
for you? So the biggest thing I think I took away from rotations was narrowing down what I would wanna do as a doctor. Because you get a little glimpse once a month not once a month.
Every month you switch rotations, so you get to see different specialties and, different environments, right? Like the hospital environment versus the clinic environment. And I think what I've really discovered is, okay, this could be an area that could really work for me, or this is absolutely not a very good fit for me, for instance, like I was in the hospital on a rotation in internal medicine. And while internal medicine was really riveting and challenging and required a lot of critical thinking, and it was amazing, I couldn't deal with the hours. I was like, gosh, I'm so in need of my nightly ritual and having to stay up all night and work just wasn't something that like I was built to do.
Which is what you would do if you were in the ER for example. Exactly. You would,
there would be, the lifestyle's very different. And for me, like looking at myself and what I'm up to in life, it wasn't aligning with the lifestyle that I wanted. And so there were so many specialties where I thought, oh my gosh, I'm totally gonna love this.
And I went into it and was like, wow, I really didn't expect that this was, this is what it actually looks like the day to day of it. Okay. Maybe I need to be open to other things. For example I came into psychiatry absolutely not, no. No, I don't wanna do this. And after two weeks in it, I'm like.
This is amazing. Like this is so novel. We're missing this, and I could really make an impact here. Like maybe I should explore this. And my husband and I were joking about it. 'cause he's wait, psych really? That was the one thing you're like, absolutely not, but now that I've done it for two weeks, I'm like, it's profound. It's really great work. And I learned a lot. I learned some simple things too. What we tell patients is like one of the most, I think it's one of the most documented ways to. Prevent suicide or depression is to put on a good movie or to go on a walk.
Simple. Totally simple. And I've been trying to employ that more into my life. Not obviously for the suicide part of it, but because it's just a good practice. Yeah. And I've noticed, okay, this is I need to take a walk. I don't wanna take a walk. I'd rather get all this stuff done, but no, I'm gonna go take a walk because I feel like I'll come back feeling refreshed and renewed.
And so not only have I been able to glean a lot of where would I really fit in As somebody that's a practicing physician, I've also been able to take away aspects of things that I've shared with patients and apply them to my life.
Yeah, I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book, talking to Strangers.
Okay. And they have a whole segment. The purpose of the book is really about coupling how whatever you, we don't know people enough, so we put a lot of assumptions in 'cause it helps us filter things out, engage from. Purely survival perspective, but he has a chapter about suicide. And how people think that if someone, the way to prevent suicide is to, change the entire conversation. Where in actuality when you look at the data suicides are directly tied to having access to the type of mechanism people would use to commit it. So for, there's a huge drop in the uk for example, when gas stoves switched from using the kind that you could like, put your head in the stove Yeah.
To not do it, not doing anything. Yeah. So instantly, like all the suicide rate dropped because people no longer had easy access to basically an opportunity to commit it. And especially for women where they usually choose less violent paths. Yes. It like fell off. It's like the lowest, it's never gone up to that level again in the uk.
And so they were talking about how removing the opportunity. To the potential common path is a way to prevent it. Same with the like putting the nets on the Golden Gate bridge. People thought, oh, they'll just go and do it a different way. Yeah. And it's actually the studies show that they don't Yeah.
Like most people have one path in mind. Yes. And if you stop it Yes. They'll just not do it. Yes. Which people don't expect and think oh, they would've done it anyway. Yes. And you're like, actually no. Yes. Like it's a specific place thing, moment in time that in actuality we can impact. Yeah. Which is crazy to me.
It's so crazy. Completely different perspective. Yeah. And I think it speaks to how many, how much we like, don't know. We don't know about topics. And in the medical fields, like how often does that come up? Is it more traditional or is it more, do you see the innovation happening? Like you might in. A physics department.
So yeah, so I feel like it's funny because I felt very much so this way in graduate school and I felt very much so this way in medical school, in that I am just every single day learning more and more of what I don't know.
And I feel like that's what science really is. It's like the pursuit of truth.
But every time we feel like we have such a grasp on a topic, some new study comes out and is actually no. Take a look at this and which I think is frustrating. In, in some ways because clearly we'd like an answer, we'd like something tangible, something black and white.
But sometimes that's not the case at all. And I feel like with medicine, a part that's really important, especially to me, is I'm always having to check myself and ensure that I'm staying up to date with what's going on out there in the world and what information I can learn. And there, there really is no lid.
I feel like sometimes doctors get in trouble because they feel as though they have all the information they need. Yes. They're the experts in their respective field, but their respective fields are evolving through time all the time. And as you, I didn't even know about the, this book that you were speaking about and the findings of this book.
And I'm actually not surprised because like I said. During my psychiatry rotation, there was so much I learned that I wasn't aware of when I actually thought I really was. So it's quite interesting. I think important things are to remain very curious and to stay up to date with what's going on out there.
That's what they really encourage is physicians should really be like, engaging in the literature, reading the journals, participating in research, and like being able to entertain ideas that they may have, they may have to modify their own viewpoints on. And I think that's what's really beautiful about it all right?
Is that it doesn't have to be the set thing that we can make, changes and steps in the right direction. And that's what kind of adds to the chaos and the wondrousness of it all. But also that okay, just, staying very much committed to learning more about a particular topic and.
And knowing that things are ever shifting. So at least that's been something else. I think I remember I spoke with one of my professors and was like, gosh, like I just really feel like I don't know anything, and he's you really don't know that much and you really don't know all that much.
And that's a very good place to be in order to learn. So
yeah, to have that balance of these are the things I know that I can rely on most of the time. Yeah. And I need to remember to keep making sure I can still rely on them.
Yeah, that's right. Absolutely.
I think also sometimes that, data comes with some different forms, right?
And obviously there's all these hashtags about fake news and how people are getting information today. And I realized in some of my conversations lately that. So many people may not have been taught how to get back to source information and how to read statistics and how to dive into some of the information that's being shared, right?
No matter what the topic is. So obviously this is a formula that, based on how you have to do your research, like how, what should people be looking for? Yeah. If they are looking at whether it's about climate change or about regular, like a journalism on a more of a political or pop culture topic all the way through to extreme science.
Like what are the standards for evaluating a piece of information and knowing if it's legitimate too? Look at work on or incorporate,
So I think the biggest things are, so especially in something like medicine where there's a lot of, there's a lot of hype right now around coronavirus and around vaccinations and should we be doing it?
Should we not? There's a lot fear and I feel like a lot of misinformation unfortunately because it's very easy to follow the masses, but it's harder to go, digging. But if you actually like, wanted to glean some really tangible information, it's out there and it's available to you.
So I always recommend like people look on on resources like PubMed's, one of them and like jama, like medical journals that have been reviewed by people that are experts in their field and that really are credible sources instead of just Google searching something and then not even looking at the source and going and reading it or what was the latest thing.
It was like people were seeing topics on Facebook, on articles and reposting them without actually reading the article. Which was actually quite a shock to me because I would go through and read the article like, wait, do you actually agree with this? Did you read it? Yeah. Before you posted it.
So I feel like just being. Curious and also formulating an opinion or a stance based on gathering a lot of information and being open to other people's views. So for example, on the topic of vaccinations, this was like a very big topic and it still is when I was in pediatrics, and one thing that I really learned that was important to do was to be open to what was going on with the patient, or the patient's parent in most cases.
Because there was some concern and it was legitimate based on all the hype, right? And so it's just about listening to that party and going, okay, so I see where you're coming from and are you open to receiving the information I have to share with you based on like my medical knowledge based on all this information that I can provide you with, and then make an informed decision on that. So I feel like people respond to that so much more, and it's so important for. Doctors and, scientists and everybody else that represents a particular field to be keeping up with that information and making sure that it's from credible sources. And so when people ask me how, how can I learn about, let's say a particular disease?
I'd say go on like a medical site, go on Medscape or go on up to date or go on maybe WebMD for some things and don't just search it on Wikipedia because who knows, like who knows what typed up, who typed up that information. It may not actually be all that true. And then you're like, perpetuating something.
Yeah.
Yeah, I, I think coming back to where did it come from? Who wrote it? What are their qualifications? What would their point of view have been when they wrote it? Do they have an incentive? Like when you look at, especially in all the the bajillion food documentaries that I'm obsessed with, by the way, on Netflix and all the other streaming services, when you start seeing like, who's putting out who's paying for some research to be made or who's actually releasing it?
And it becomes, you have to separate what's a marketing spin for someone's personal agenda versus what's just science. And they're very different. And as you so often science is contradictory because we can't see the connection yet. And it's so frustrating. It's, it is.
Especially in a culture that just wants black and white answers. Yeah. It's not, that's not really how humans or the universe work. So where are you at now? Where do you have an idea of what. Specialty you wanna go into?
Yeah, actually I am excited because for so long there I was like cruising through rotations.
Like what do I wanna do? Like, all these are great, but I just don't feel drawn to any one of them. So at this moment in time, I am narrowed down to dermatology and psychiatry. Both of those fields are fascinating. Both of those fields are wonderful and evolving, and I just feel so connected to them.
And I feel like I have an affinity for either of those fields. So I'm wanting to gather as much information about them. Like I mentioned, I'm doing a year of research in dermatology next year between my third and fourth year, which will be really eye-opening for me. And I'm on my psychiatry rotation right now.
Hopefully able to add in another psychiatry rotation at a different hospital. Just to get more experience and see, okay, could this be something I potentially incorporate into, what I end up doing?
Yeah.
So I'm down to those two, which I'm like, this is the best. I haven't felt so clear, and it's like late in my third year, I was like, okay, when is it gonna happen?
When am I gonna feel like I know what I wanna do? And so finally I think as of a week ago, that's that's where I'm at now.
Very cool. Yeah. So both of those specialties are actually quite broad. Yeah. Even though you've narrowed it down from the huge array of what options are. Yes. So for people who don't know, what is the range of career paths or specialties within those specialties?
That, dermatology is not just, someone, a dermatology, you don't just see for acne, for example. There's so much behind it. And same with psychology. So can you explain to everyone listening a little bit more about both of those areas of expertise?
Yes, absolutely.
So with derm, so dermatology there's, what's interesting about dermatology is that it's very multifaceted more than people might think it is, right? Because what they think of, typically the average person thinks, okay, I'm gonna go see my dermatologist to treat some something that's going on with my skin.
Be it a rash, be it acne, be it something like a growth that's just that they just recently noticed. And what I like about it is that you get to do so many different things. So you can do procedures, right? So if somebody has a squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma, or god forbid, like a melanoma, you're able to do procedures and take care of it.
And and so just. Just reap the benefit right there. So in a way it's like a little mini surgery. You get to do that. Then there's like the, there's the cosmetic side of it. And then there's also, so there's the cosmetic side. So acne, something that a lot of people deal with in their youth, in their adulthood.
And you get to, help those people and dealing with their skin, feeling very confident in their skin, which is a mission that I really can appreciate because so much of I feel like how we identify is with our skin and how our skin's doing, and. I always tell people, I feel like your skin is a manifestation of what's going on internally.
And so if I can help with that, even with incorporating what else can we do other than just applying, let's say a cream for your acne. Can we look at your diet? Can we look at your hormone profile? Can we look at what you're doing on a day-to-day basis? How much sleep are you getting?
How much water are you drinking? So you really can incorporate like a whole body approach there as well. And also I've dealt with eczema my whole life and it's can, it can really be one of those difficult things to deal with because it's something that doesn't really ever go away and it's a nuisance and it's annoying and you have a spectrum of eczema, you have really mild to really severe.
Same thing with like rosacea, same thing with psoriasis, same thing with all sorts of different, like skin rashes and diseases. And so I feel like I, I have an understanding of it with eczema in such a way that I could impact my patients and go, okay, it doesn't have to always be like this.
Let's see what we can do. Let's, we don't necessarily have to apply a steroid cream. We can also look at what you're eating. 'cause that can impact the way that your skin is. Dealing with everything. So ski, so derm is, there's a lot that can be done within derm. Mostly what I'm interested in is the outpatient.
So if it's gonna be like surgery, it would be outpatient as well as if it was gonna be like cosmetic derm as well as medical der dermatology. And what does that mean?
Sorry. Okay. What is
cosmetic derm versus so there's surgical derm. Medical derm and cosmetic derm. So cosmetic derm is more of the.
What you think of with like cosmetic procedures, like plastic surgery type thing. So plastic surgery would, I think so I'd leave that more to the plastic surgeons. But like little procedures that can be done in clinic. Yes. Absolutely. So if that's something that, that I could be a part of, I'd be interested in doing that.
Then there's the, what did I say? Surgical derms. So that would be like the most surgery. So removal of like cancers and things like that. Yeah. And screening for skin cancer and burn victims,
things
like that. Burn victims, yes. Okay. Exactly. So burn victims are reconstruction, right?
So looking at things like that. And then medical is you're just dealing with rashes and different type of dermatological pathologies and
more everyday kind of commonalities. More
outpatient. Coming in to see my doctor for something like a fungal. Whatever it is. So there's a lot of different things that you can do there, but it really is more of an outpatient thing, which I like.
I like the nine to five. I like that type of lifestyle. And some people crave the other kind where they are there the entire night. So that's just, so that's something that I much prefer. And then with psych's, very nuanced. I personally think I'd like the outpatient setting as well for psychiatry.
I'm working right now in an inpatient setting. Which is fascinating and wonderful. And you do get to see a direct impact right away, because your patients are only there for a limited amount of time and then you release them, you don't get to do much follow up. So for me, the follow up is really where it's at.
So while I really like inpatient, I was thinking if I do end up going into psychiatry, then I'd wanna do inpatient and outpatient. So inpatient is just stabilization and then outpatient is, okay let's really think about long term, the changes that we can incorporate and a life plan.
Absolutely. And there's a lot of research behind certain psychiatric conditions that are better treated with, let's say, therapy than they are medications. People don't know that. People think they go to their psychiatrist and immediately they'll be given a whole host of different medications.
And I've come to realize that's not necessarily the case. Or there can be some that are treated exclusively with medications or there can be some that are treated with both. Like I said, it's very nuanced and very interesting and also evolving. And all the psychiatric and psychological journals out there are like something that I'd wanna delve into further to see what's going on, other parts of the world and how we can integrate that here.
I think it's such an important topic because. How people are doing mentally and emotionally impacts the rest of society and culture at such a huge magnitude. And I feel like until recently it wasn't dealt with at all. No. Like past 50, 60 years. I'm thinking about the first time, like in pop culture, people talk about it in a like a medical procedure versus a fixed way of being.
And if it occurs to me, and this could be totally wrong 'cause I haven't studied it, but it occurs to me that it's around like the 1950s, sixties, when like a switch happened. Yeah. Before that you would've just been like, put in a corner and classified and kept separate. Yeah. And then suddenly it started changing into, actually everyone has probably some degree of support they need, whether permanently or at different seasons in their life.
And I think it's such an interesting field of conversation and science to see how it. How it's changing.
Yeah.
And so often it's the only thing that can be fixed or solved to really fix and solve another problem. Yes. We have as a culture. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. How are, is there an encouragement I feel like when there's a teacher shortage or like more students show up, people are like, all right, quick, everyone should be teachers.
Here's incentives. Go and do it. Do you see an incentive program for more people to get into? Like mental health? Or is it still is it really not being hyped up, I guess within the medical school community? So
psych is actually very competitive which I also wasn't fully aware of until I entered med school.
The culture is shifting a lot because I feel we're really realizing the need for good psychiatrists for good, the thing is with any area of medicine, it takes a team. So it's not just the physician, it's the nurse, it's the therapist, it's whoever else is involved down the chain, as well as the patient's family, as well as their friends, as well as their community at large.
So it's like a whole group of different people that are involved in any given scenario. And with psych, it's become one of those fields that is so coveted because we are shifting, we're realizing there needs to be more of an emphasis on mental health. And it's different right across cultures. Like the way that we view mental health here in the United States may not be the same way as it's views viewed in Asia.
It's not the same as it's viewed in Europe and. What I find interesting is learning about that. And the nuances within cultures and how we can weave that into how we treat patients here. So yeah, I think that whereas when I came into med school, I was like, I don't know how many people really wanna go into psychiatry, but I've realized that there's a lot of people that are leaning towards entering that specialty because they realize, one, there's a great need for it.
A lot of psychiatrists are very happy people.
Which is something I also didn't know. I figured you're dealing with very heavy topics on a daily basis. You must be so burnt out. But no it's actually not the case at all. They have, they report that they're very happy and they have all the tools to Exactly.
Be the happiest as possible. Exactly. Exactly. And there's such good care around taking care of psychiatrists around, taking care of psychologists around, like making sure your wellness is also addressed as a provider. So I feel like that's also essential and that's something we're really working on doing.
We. Last week we just had a a meeting about how's it been going for you two weeks into your rotation? What are some things you've really learned? What are some things that you wanna talk about and hash out and not take home with you? And I was like, gosh, like we need to do this with everything.
Every profession needs to have something like this where we get to purge all that stuff that we've built up. So I really liked that. Something I really wish was integrated into more fields outside of, in and outside of medicine. But it was something I really resonated with. And I think that's why people are like, huh, maybe I should go down this road.
It seems like it could be a pretty good life,
yeah. Oh, I was shocked when we had Dr. Brooke Butler on who's the vet about that? Female vets have some, like a extremely high suicide rate versus other professions. Wow. Because of having to always be making hard choices. In an environment where you have two clients, essentially, the pet and the owners, and you are in a field that like most common people don't have knowledge of in depth.
And there's always, especially emergency room vets. Yes. And I think like, how great would it be if they did have even before they left for the day, like an opportunity to just get complete before they go home? Oh
yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It's underrated, but so profound and important, and I feel like it needs to be done.
Yeah.
You spoke about how medicine and mental health is viewed differently around the world, and you are a classic example of an immigrant family and the offspring going into very high caliber professional fields. Was that maybe tell your story of how you ended up here in California and your family, and then I'd also be curious if you always, if there was a pressure to go into the classic fields of medicine or, be a dentist or a doctor or a lawyer.
Did you have that pressure or did you just get here on your own?
Okay. I love talking about this because I feel like with anyone, I always tell people if they're like, I'm interested in going into medicine. I always tell people, it's such a great field and don't do it. No, I'm just kidding.
But if I could do it over again, I would and don't do it. I'm just kidding. But. The reality is that yes, there is a very big cultural push into entering, I guess certain. Certain careers that are like more status, it fulfills a certain status role, that particular culture wants to uphold.
And for Persians, it's very much like doctor, lawyer, engineer, we really want these heavy duty titles. And they don't really know exactly why that is. And so there's a lot of people that end up going into medicine or into, law or into engineering, and they're not necessarily happy at the end of the day.
And I absolutely didn't want that to be the case for me. I ended up, like I said, I went to grad school and then I taught at at a junior college after that. And then I was like, okay, I feel like it's. It's a good choice for me now to go into medicine. Like I've exhausted all my other options and they didn't work for me as well.
You tried to avoid it and there was no hope. I did. It's so hard. I tried my mother keeps telling me like, you try, you just always wanted to do this. And I wanted to be darn certain that it was something I wanted to do. And so that's something that I really encourage with people is that it's the most incredibly rewarding field.
And I'm biased obviously but it is, it's a very big commitment and people should know that going into it, that it's not sunshine and daisies. It's very challenging in a lot of different ways, both personally and in terms of the actual curriculum and the education itself. But in terms of like how I ended up here, so my parents grew up in Iran and they spent their youth pretty much in Iran until their late teenage years.
My dad moved to Scotland or England and Scotland. Went to University of Aberdeen, earned his PhD or his undergraduate degree at University of Aberdeen, came to the United States. And then like was doing a back and forth thing between the US and the uk. And met my mother in London who had also gone from Uran to England and was working separately at BDC separately.
Like they had no knowledge of each other until they'd met. So then they got married in England and they had me, and then I spent six years of my life in the UK in London. And then my dad got relocated to the United States. So then we basically moved over here and they had my brother who's seven years younger than me, and he grew up here.
He didn't spend much time in England at all. So yeah we've gone back. We've gone back for visits many times. But, and is back the UK or back Iran? Both. Both. So we try to go to both because. The UK is pretty much in between here and Iran. Yeah. So it's nice to just get to, to make a stop there and see people and just be back in that environment and then go over to Iran to see the rest of my family.
But they're all pretty much there. It's me. I've got some family here and there in the United States and my immediate family, and then everybody else is pretty much in Iran right now so yeah.
What was it like for you being a young girl going from London to Southern California?
I hated it.
It was oh my gosh. I remember coming home crying all the time. Like I had a very. Thick British accent. And my, I would cry and I'd tell my mother they don't understand what I'm saying. Like they just keep asking for me to repeat things. And I don't like it here. And I didn't like that we don't wear uniforms.
That was like, you wouldn't think it's such a big deal. But for me it was like, this is how I identify. I wear uniforms when I go to school. And and I think the accent thing was the hardest thing for me and acclimating as a 6-year-old I had all my friends in the UK and
So I had a tough time for sure.
I had a very tough time. But I feel like I had an easier time as someone who spoke English than someone who, let's say, came straight from Iran to England or came straight from Iran to the United States later in life even.
Yeah. Yeah. What are your favorite things of being Persian? So I think
absolutely the food.
Yeah. I love that our culture is so warm and loving and close knit. I love the music, the poetry, the history. If you, it's
so
amazing. Yeah. Yes. There's so much, there's so much I still don't know about like Persia and then, how Iran came to be. So it's fascinating. And there's a very large community of Persians here in California, so that's nice.
Especially in Los Angeles actually. Yeah. Especially here in, in La Shaws of Sunset. Yes, exactly. I haven't actually seen that show, but I've heard a lot of good things. Not some good, not, yeah. I don't think I'd
recommend
it. Okay. Okay.
Yeah, that's fair. I think that there are higher caliber humans Yeah.
That I would've picked instead Yeah. To maybe represent the Persian culture. Yes. Yes. It's like how my mother is very upset about Jersey Shore. Yes. Being a New Jersey native. Yes. Like she is. Very irritated about the representation that she's been given.
Oh gosh, yes. Yes.
I think the history of Iran and Persia is so fascinating because so many things came from that part of the world.
And it doesn't surprise me actually that there's a push for engineering and medicine and legal practice because so much of modern civilizations, foundations in all of those, and math and science came from Persia. And we don't talk about enough today. There isn't enough, in my opinion, in the US in particular, enough respect given for what that area of the world contributed Right.
To everything else,
right?
And it's, it breaks my heart when you see a scene where like a, an ancient not location, but as when they destroy parts Yeah. Of the archeological history. Yeah. Because not only is it getting destroyed for the people who are still in these countries.
Yeah. But it's being destroyed for the rest of humanity that has so much to gain from it. And yeah, I'm just it's heartbreaking because it's like anyone else that falls into a stereotype, it's unfair. And it's so subjective and it's so inaccurate.
Yes. Absolutely.
Yeah. Have you had to personally deal with discrimination based on your background?
That's so funny you ask because I was talking with someone the other day about this. I've actually never encountered that, which I know I'm very lucky. That's never happened to me. I don't know if people don't assume that I'm Persian or I don't know if it's different for males that are Persian or just the way I am, I'm, I hopefully come across as a very non-threatening person and but I've heard stories of other people.
And the discrimination that they face. Not so much in California or the Orange County environment because like I said, there, there's just so many Persians here, I feel like. We're used to it. But in other parts of the United States, and I think what really gets me is that there's a lot of, there's just a lot that people don't know about Iran, even modern day Iran. And when I ask people like, what do you know? They go it seems isn't it just like a desert and just I envision like hills of sand. And I was like, oh no. It's it's definitely not that way at all.
Like it's very modernized and lovely. In fact, I recommend going and so I, and I feel like in Europe there's more, people are much more open and maybe knowledgeable about Iran and other parts of the world, and I think it is that they just have more exposure. Yeah. Or they just look into it more because they're more willing to travel or at least they have an understanding and insight beyond just what's depicted.
Because what's depicted is absolutely not the way that it is. Yeah. So I get really sad about that, that I have friends who don't even know that Farsi is the language of Iran. And. That, that certain beliefs that they might have aren't in fact valid. And could we look into that a little bit further?
Do a tiny bit more research? Yes. But like, why isn't that happening so much here? So yeah. Yeah. It's it's definitely something that I I haven't personally struggled with the discrimination, but I've heard about it and makes me sad Yeah. To know that. 'cause there's just so much good that's come from Iran, that part of the world in general and people are so lovely and they love Americans. And myself included, I absolutely identify as an American. And I wish more people would go over and see what it's all about in the Middle East, because it's quite lovely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It doesn't surprise me that you aren't discriminated against 'cause you're American.
Yeah. Like we have this idea that people who are immigrants are something else first. And it's no.
Yeah.
No. Yeah. You're like, I am a resident of California and I'm American. Yep. And. Like what? Why is this a surprise? Yeah, that's true. That's actually a really good point. Yeah. Yeah. And I just also like watching all the videos you show of everyone dancing and singing and having the most amazing party ever.
Yes. When you send a text about Persian New Year, I was like yes. We are clearing our calendar. Yeah. And we are so going to this 'cause it's gonna be so fun.
Yes. My husband has such a good time. He just loves it. He loves it. He's I'm dancing. I'm like, okay, you go do that. I'm the over here.
Yeah.
So when you think about like where you've, how you've gone from a small girl in the UK to now here in California and going to medical school recently married. When you look back at like how you have evolved, who are the women and men who have supported you in becoming the powerful lady that you are today?
Wow. Yeah, it's funny to like, think about them because so many people just popped into my head. There's been so many people along the way and so many more than I can even count. It could be so much as just like making a small comment about something that they observed about me that's made a huge impact.
And I feel like people don't realize the things they say can carry so much weight and really make someone's day and be the reason they do something. So I definitely would say my, my, my parents and my brother have been a very solid support system that have. Definitely been there for me through just my entire life as well as like this deciding to go down the road of medicine because I think that maybe they were in some ways, much more in touch with reality about how difficult it would be.
And they've just really been there for me and had my back on days where I wanted to turn my back to medicine and just go, okay, you know what? I'm doing something that's a lot simpler than this. And I've had many of those days. And I think a lot of people have that have been in this field and in other fields.
And I definitely would say my husband has been a huge support. I told him, I think it was like a month ago or something, I said to him, Hey, so I know you were thinking I was gonna be done with school next year, but it looks like I won't be. What are your thoughts on that? And he was just like, are you serious?
Because he, he's really had to deal with the ups and the downs, and they, there's been an abundance of them. And of course the financial aspect of it. It's a big commitment. There's a, it is just a commitment in, in, in every aspect you can think of. And he's just been like, Hey, if you wanna do a research year, I absolutely a hundred percent support you and I have your back.
And I really appreciate him and friends, just just our group of friends. Like I feel like we're very lucky that we have such a great group of friends. I have you and what you're up to. I feel like that's really been a huge support for me and I just feel so lucky because I feel like the women in my life are up to such amazing things, and they're just continuing to do more and more amazing things on a daily basis. So it's hard not to go, okay. Look at her. She's like such a badass. I wanna be just like her. And I, i'm launching myself into that same viewpoint because I've got this person that I can emulate, and it's not about perfection.
It's about, okay. I know that they're going through a tough time too, potentially, and I know that they've come up against some things, but they're still doing it. They're still doing the thing. Yeah. And so I think that's really been what's what's really been like the backbone of going down this road and like continuing to wanna plow through and make a difference in the lives of people, in my career and outside of it.
Yeah. So obviously your life is made up a lot more of medical school. Yeah. What are the other passions that you get to pursue when you do have the opportunity to pause and take a break?
My, one of my biggest passions would have to be yoga. I've done yoga for probably like 13 years or so, maybe more than that.
I love it so much. It's an incredible, I feel like it's one of those things that if you look at the history of yoga and the philosophy of yoga, it's so simple. Like what the teachings are. And they're so profound in all their simplicity. And I've really learned to humble my ego because for a good period of time while I was in my yoga practice, I'd say probably around 2013 to 14, I became all about this trend of yoga and oh, I must look this certain way and have this certain body.
And now that I'm like a little bit older than that, I'm like, no, this is about me. This is a practice that's for me and how I live my life. And being able to take on those teaching and the, those teachings and those mantras and carrying them through day to day, even if I don't get to have an actual practice of yoga.
So it's very central to who I am as a person and I really love that. That's a part of my life and I want it to be an even bigger part. So today was in fact a reminder of that to me. You can totally do this. You can carve out the time to, to incorporate a little yoga sequence at home.
And then outside of that, I love camping and going on adventures with you and with my husband and with our group of friends, we go, we have such a good time and it's just so lovely to unplug. And just be out in nature and just get grounded and regroup. I think those are some of my favorite times that we have to together when we're all just out there and we don't necessarily have a plan when we go.
We just we wing it and it's fun and I don't know, it's it's a very liberating experience and every time he talks about us doing something like that, I'm like, yes, we must do it. We must go. I will make it work. So I really love that. And definitely spending time with my family. I see my mother like once a week for sure.
She can't really go much longer than that without seeing me, yeah. And she's an amazing cook. She is. She is amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so we just had some of her food today and it was delightful. And so yeah just things like that and getting together with a friend to have a cup of coffee or go on a beach walk.
Just things that are, I'd ordinarily underestimate that can really make my day,
yeah. What are some things that you are proud of having achieved? Just in general? Yeah.
I think making it this far in med school. Because like I said, I'll share very candidly, there's been so many moments that I've been like, medicine's not for me.
Like I'm just not, I'm not built for it. I don't have the thick skin that you need to have for it. I'm too much of an empath and I'm not smart enough and I've had so many thoughts of this is not, I don't know if this is worth it. And I know my husband's had those thoughts too. 'cause he's seen me go through the ups and downs, but I'm so happy I stuck through it and got into clinicals and got to deal with patients and got to really get to psych to where I'm like, okay, I'm looking at these options that I could explore for myself.
I am glad I didn't give up midway through because there's moments where I definitely gave it a lot of consideration. So I'm really proud of that and I'm proud of myself for knowing when to pull out of something that wasn't working for me.
Which was grad school and it was wonderful.
And people thought I was crazy for doing it, but I was like, you know what, like people switch careers like in their forties and fifties and they're happy. And it must be scary, but they do it, and it, so I'm gonna do it. And if let's say down the line I decided to do it, I'll do it again.
And know that it's possible to say no to something that doesn't work for you anymore. Even if it has all these wonderful aspects. It doesn't have to be the be all, end all. So I'm proud of myself for doing that. At a time where everyone thought I was crazy for going into debt when I was already making an income and might've potentially had a postdoc lined up and certain things that I wouldn't have had promised to me otherwise.
Yeah.
I think was so admirable of who you are is you really are rooted in a lot of the tr traditions that you've gotten from your family and your commitment to excellence and, being a type A personality, some of us in the room may also be. But I think you do such a beautiful job of.
Seeing what is the traditional black and white options and how things should be done and what you do next. And at the same time being like but what's, let me just look over here. And that to me shows up in what you said about how you've changed your path from a career perspective and learning perspective.
It shows up to me in, how you and Dale ended up together. Yeah. It shows up to me in being so disciplined and dedicated and focused at the same time being a yes to going to Burning Man. Yes. There's this really interesting level of like I was talking at a previous podcast about how, my favorite quote is, let your mind be focused and your're spirit free.
And I think something that we share is that really living our lives that way. Yes. Like, how can we be dedicated and focused and committed and at the same time be open?
Yes.
And how we started talking before we went on, went live about. Things change all the time.
Yeah.
We're always learning new information.
We're always having our what we think is a fixed way of being change. And I think you do that so fluidly. So thank you. I just wanna acknowledge you for that. Thank you so much. And I think too, like we, we ask everybody on the powerful ladies where they put themselves on the scale, zero being average, everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady possible.
Where do you put yourself today and where do you put yourself on average?
So what was, so there was the average lady and then the most powerful lady. Yeah. Average. Average everyday human.
Okay. Average
everyday human. And the
epitome of powerful lady.
Okay. Oh, I aspire to be that. Absolutely. I think I aspire to be that all the time, even at my worst where I don't wanna get outta bed.
And today? Today I would put myself on somewhere between those two. I feel like there's a lot for me to learn and there's a lot for me to build on and improve, and I feel like there's some things that I do well. And hope to inspire in other people as well. And also just, I think that points to something really important that I've learned in this process is just staying very humble and keeping a level of humility and being able to check yourself and being able to call yourself out on your stuff.
And I try to do that a lot. Okay, I didn't know that. Okay, great. That is noted, and I don't know everything and I can learn from people. Anybody, be it like a patient, be it a friend, whoever, like even my younger brother who I swear is older than me in so many ways.
And just consistently working towards I don't know all the answers and I can absolutely be in pursuit of the things that I want to learn about, but I can also stay really open. To, to, to what other people have to share. I think that's something that I wish I saw more of in medicine and I hope to inspire other women to, to view the same way.
Yep. Yeah. Amazing. This has been so much fun to hang out and talk to you. Likewise. Before we wrap up, is there anything that we didn't get to cover that you want to talk about or share with the audience?
Yeah. So I think one thing that I'd love to share is I spoke very candidly about how medicine, my experience in medicine in medical school has been full of its ups and downs.
And it's definitely not been short of any struggle. And I say that because I definitely depict it perhaps on social media and even when I meet new people as though oh no, this is totally fine. I've got it all together at all times, a hundred percent. Yeah, this is, yeah, this is just me on a whatever day.
But the reality is that no, I don't have it together all the time, and you don't have to. And that's the beauty in it. And if this is a field that somebody wants to go into, that absolutely, I would highly recommend that they do that and go into it knowing that it won't be short of struggle. But that it'll absolutely be worth it.
And to also really prioritize your wellbeing in a way that I didn't do. I feel like I would've done so much better in terms of my life in general and finding that balance, as you mentioned, and that freedom. Had I actually prioritized my health and wellbeing first. So it's a great career.
I highly recommend it, and I just, I want everyone to know that even though I talked about how difficult it is, there's so much to be gleaned from it, and it's very rewarding. Rewarding at the end of the day.
I love it. Yeah. Thank you so much. And then I'm sure once everyone sees your photo on our website, they're gonna ask if, is it required to go into derm?
Like you have to have glowing, amazing skin. So I'm sure people will ask about that after. Thank you. But thank you so much for your time today for sharing who you are, being an amazing friend and being a yes to powerful ladies.
Thank you. Thank you to both of you and everybody with powerful ladies.
And thank you for what you've been doing, Kara, and for being such a good friend. And I'm just grateful to be here with you guys. Thank you.
Marjan is a gift. I wish all doctors and medical professionals were open to the curiosity learning and to be evolving with their perspectives based on science. Of course, as Marjan is. I'm excited to see where she goes and what her year in dermatology research brings to her, and I'm even more excited for when she's out and practicing.
Since we recorded this episode, there have been so many changes across the world. Due to COVID-19 Marj On's classes and rotations have gone online, and just this week they announced that all medical students are invited to join the California Health Core. Marjan says to visit the CDC website for the latest information.
It can also visit her Facebook page, Marjon Kush for the latest updates she's sharing as well to connect, support and follow Marjan. You can also follow her on Instagram at Medical student Yogi, and we have her link to her LinkedIn account in the show notes. I hope you've enjoyed this new episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
If you're a yes to powerful ladies and want to support us, you can subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcast. Make sure to give us a five star rating and leave a powerful review on Apple Podcasts. You can also be one of our Patreons for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/powerful Ladies.
We can get access to exclusive content that we're making just for you. Follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page, and of course, visit our website, the powerful ladies.com for all the latest news details and updates. I'd like to thank our producer and audio engineer, Jordan Duffy.
Without her, this wouldn't be possible. You can follow her on Instagram at Jordan K. Duffy. Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love. This episode of The Powerful Ladies is Made Possible by our Patreon subscribers.
Did you know that for as little as $1 a month you can support this podcast? You can send us love, tell us that you want more. You can support all of our events and all that we're doing in the world to. Fulfill on our full circle of empowerment. It starts at $1 a month. That's less than the coffee you're drinking a day, and there's so many more levels that give you more bonuses and fun things, and behind the scenes information.
So go to our patreon, patreon.com/powerful ladies and support us today. Thank you in advance.
Related Episodes
Episode 169: The App Bringing Girls Together Worldwide | Naama Barnea-Goraly | Founder of Girltelligence
What You Don’t Know About Birth Control & The Fight for Women’s Rights | Dr. Sophia Yen | CEO & Co-Founder, Pandia Health
Episode 209: From Hating Running To Leading a Movement | Kelly Roberts, Founder of Badass Lady Gang
Instagram: @medical_student_yogi
Facebook: /marjankoosh
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
