Welcome to No Referral Required

Show Notes

Dr. Lara Harvey, Dr. Mandy Yunker, and Courtney McClendon introduce themselves and explain why they started this podcast.

Transcript

Courtney [00:00:09] Hi, and welcome to Episode 0.5 of the No Referral Required Podcast. This is our first episode where we are going to explain who we are and why we’re starting this podcast. We hope that if you have found us right at the beginning of our podcasting journey or are finding us later on and just want to know exactly who is talking on these microphones. We wanted to give you a way to get to know us and to get to know the goals that we had for the podcast. So my name is Courtney McClendon. I am sitting here with Mandy Yunker and and I’m Lara Harvey. Yeah. And we are the premise of this podcast is that there are two doctors.

Mandy [00:00:48] That’s us.

Courtney [00:00:50] And one non-doctor, that is me. We can kind of go through just the ins and outs of medicine today. And we’ve got some other goals and objectives. But first, I’d love it if we could introduce ourselves, who we are. So Lara, would you mind?

Lara [00:01:03] Sure. So I’m Lara Harvey. I live here in the middle Tennessee area. I’m a gynecologic surgeon. I’ve been doing that for about 10 years now and I really love it. There are highs, there are lows, but it’s never a dull moment. I’m also a mom of four. So I have kids ranging from 13 to six. So that’s kind of my, my five to eight after my eight to five. There you go. All right. Or longer. Okay. Yes.

Mandy [00:01:30] 24-24. Yeah.

Lara [00:01:30] More like that. Okay. Honestly.

Mandy [00:01:33] All right. Mandy? Mandy Yunker. I’m also a gynecologic surgeon for a little bit longer than Lara. Not much. And obviously, that’s how we know each other. And I live here in Middle Tennessee, and I’m a mom of a preteen and teen, which being a gynecologist, they’re both girls, that works out very well in my house with all of the questions and answers that my husband tries to avoid. OK. Yeah, that’s what I do.

Courtney [00:02:03] Okay. All right. Well, I’m Courtney McClendon also here in the Nashville area and I am also have two girls ages 10 and 13. So they are pretty close to Mandy’s age girls and married and I work at a university here in Nashville. There are a plenty of them and so work at one of them and yeah, we are

Mandy [00:02:25] here and doing this in the basement. So no referral required probably, you know, is a little bit obvious that we’re going to talk about medicine.

Courtney [00:02:34] There you go. Yeah. I mean, you know. Yeah. So where did the whole idea to do this podcast come from? Like, what are we, what are we, what were you thinking, Mandy, when you kind of had this idea? I guess I gave it away. Mandy had the idea. Yeah, that’s okay.

Mandy [00:02:48] Had the idea, roped in my friends. So I, For one, I’m a lifelong learner. So most physicians, most people in medicine are like that. If you’re willing to go to school for that long, you’ve got to be a lifelong learner. And that’s what they name our learning, is lifelong learning. And so I’m always interested in what’s happening in medicine, what’s going on, what’s current. And I love talking to other physicians and learning about what they do. But also, and our listeners might know this term, but it’s called the doubling time. And that is the amount of time it takes for what we currently know in an area, so in medicine, obviously, is what we’re talking about, to double. And in like the 70s, it took like a decade for what we know to double. But now more recently, it’s like, yeah, it’s less than a week. So you can see that it’s an exponential rise in the doubling time. Which just means that because I graduated med school more than 20 years ago, that we have acquired quite a bit of knowledge that I never had the chance to learn on the front end. Right. So you’re learning as you’re doing it, constantly educating yourself. Yeah, constantly. So those other fields have really changed since I had a little bit of an exposure to them. And while I might occasionally talk to those physicians and know, you know, a good Percentage of what they do. I definitely don’t know behind the scenes and I’m definitely not caught up with where they are currently Okay, and everybody has changed with technology and AI and I’d really like to know what’s happening. Yeah, that’s great.

Courtney [00:04:22] That’s great I think that’s a good It was a great idea when you kind of brought it to me, but you tagged Lara first. So what was the thought process with that? Well, I like Lara. I like you, too.

Mandy [00:04:39] I’ve known Lara, obviously, a long time, and we’ve been colleagues for a long time. I mean, he taught me everything I knew. Great. It’s a very kind thing to say. Lara and I had the opportunity to do something similar when she was with TEDx Nashville. And so we’ve kind of sort of ventured into a little bit of this media realm as it comes to medicine. So Lara can tell us a little bit about that.

Lara [00:05:03] Sure, yeah. I got connected with the TEDx organization here in Nashville and did a talk a couple, three years ago now? It’s been a minute. And it was really an interesting experience, way outside of my comfort zone, but was able to give a short talk and then talk with people afterwards at the venue. So you were live on the stage, that kind of TEDx situation. Yes, it was terrifying with the red dot. All right, yes. You know, and they tell you. In fact, in the coaching thing, They were like, you need to stay in the red dot, but they want you to move around a little bit so you’re not boring. So I was doing a very, like… And they were like, you’re doing a hoedown. No, they were like, you’re square dancing. You need to make it a little more natural. It’s always so easy when people say that.

Courtney [00:05:50] Be natural. You’re like, what? What does that mean? Yeah, okay, so you did that, and kind of got a taste of it.

Lara [00:05:56] I did that, and then they felt like their response was good, and I think there’s such a interest in women’s health, and in a lot of medical things generally, just to know more, understand more about our health and our bodies, and why things are the way they are, and why medicine is the way it is. So we did a few events downtown with Mandy and I, where we would talk about an aspect of women’s health, and then there was a kind of a Q&A. Okay. People would ask us questions. Okay. It was just, I thought really interesting to hear what people wanted to know. Okay. What they wanted to ask doctors when they felt like a little more free and not just sort of in the clinic setting. Sure. So I felt like… And anonymous. Yeah, right? Exactly. I grew up in that. I don’t know any of your business right there, yeah.

Courtney [00:06:42] What did you talk about? What did you guys talk about? Are we talking about everything? Fibroids, menopause? Okay, menopause, that’s a hot topic.

Mandy [00:06:48] Yeah, a lot of aging related things. And just what’s normal and what’s not normal.

Courtney [00:06:54] Right, that’s the biggest concern I think everybody has. So, is this normal? I don’t know. Now you’re a mom talking about your kids or yourself. Yeah, you just always want to know, is this normal? And then you asked me. I did, Courtney. Okay, because why?

Mandy [00:07:07] Well, I like you too.

Courtney [00:07:08] Okay, great.

Mandy [00:07:10] And you bring, number one, I’ve known you for a long time, you’re a great friend, but also you bring a very nice perspective that Lara and I could never bring, which is that of a pure patient.

Courtney [00:07:22] A pure patient. Not a smarty pants at all. Not adulterated. No one I know or love, well, that’s not true. My sister is a pharmacist, so sorry. Do I need to leave? Is that my outage? No, because no one I know or love is- Is it medicine? Oh, you’re estranged. Yeah, well, I may have familiarity, but whatever, anyway.

Mandy [00:07:44] Yeah, okay. Yeah, and I know at some point you’ll probably divulge this, but you’ve had in the last several years more run-in with medicine than you would like to have. For sure, yes. And have had many visits and interactions with the healthcare system. And so you bring that perspective of someone who has had to interact from a non-educated side as far as being a doctor. And I think that’s very important for our listeners. So that you represent something that Lara and I cannot represent when it comes to the questions that we ask and the perspective we want to know from the doctors and the health care professionals that we interview.

Courtney [00:08:19] OK. Yeah, I’m going to make sure that everybody is able to understand what they’re talking about. Like I have said multiple times to a doctor, explain this to me like I’m five, OK? Like what would you say? Or maybe 15. What would you say to a 15-year-old to explain the situation. And so we really hope. So I think the goal is to get various, various doctors and different specialties different, you know, whether they be more niche kind of things or, or more broad areas, because I know, When I was going through all my health care stuff, I would get referred to this kind of ologist and this kind of ologist. And I’m like, I don’t even know what that is. I have, I always joke that I have more doctors than I have fingers or toes because I just started collecting them, you know, like a deck of cards. Because you get referred to this, and then referred to this, and then referred to this, and sometimes they ask you, what are you doing here? And I’m like, I don’t know. Go fish. You tell me. Do you see my chart? I don’t know why I’m here in your office. Somebody just told me to come. We’re going to figure it out together. Right. So Mandy and Lara have a great connection of doctors who are friends or friends of friends that we are working through, inviting them to come. and sit with us at the table and just kind of tell us, like, what is it that you do? Why did you get into it? And how, why would I come see you? And why, how can I not come see you? How can I never see you? Yes, right, that would be the dream for no one. That’s the doctor you want, the one you never need. Yes, right. So I think, yeah, the educating the public on the practice of medicine, you know, what you see, what you don’t see, because there’s a lot that I didn’t understand going into when all my doctor’s appointments were amped up. I had no idea that things had to be organized in a way that made sense. And I have one doctor who is very, very, very, very on time and very, very much a stickler for that. Like she plans the day, she runs the clinic, she does the things. And then other doctors… don’t operate that same way and it’s a personality thing but it’s also just a patient like load and all that kind of thing and so i think it’d be interesting it’s going to be interesting to hear from so many doctors who this is their every day their bread and butter they went to school for this and just some things that they have learned along the way and things that they wish patients knew maybe you know and i i don’t know i think that’s a good thing and then also we would love to humanize doctors because i can say is having mandy as a friend and now Lara is a new friend like We’re in your home and we’ve gone on trips together and all those things. And it’s really fun to have doctors as friends. And I think a lot of times when you see a doctor in a clinical setting, you don’t think of that aspect of their life. Them as a person. Them as a person. And especially since COVID kind of, I think, took away some level of respect maybe, I don’t know if that’s the right word, reverence, I don’t know, that sounds too much, but you know, like that kind of like appreciation for what doctors have gone through and educated themselves on and how they’re taking care of the public. And I think I would love that, letting people see the personalities of doctors as well, because a lot of times you guys, you don’t have the time or the, you know, it’s like switching left hand, right hand when you’re like taking care of a patient and then trying to like, be a human in front of a page, you know, that feels, right.

Mandy [00:11:40] Yeah. And we’re sort of taught to, you know, create a bit of a wall. Sure. You know, and me to maintain some professionalism. Sure. Sure. It’s taught a lot, you know, and at times not to be overly emotional. Yes. Because you need to be able to make decisions that are not overly influenced by emotion. And then that can kind of bleed out into the day-to-day interaction. Sure.

Courtney [00:12:04] And that definitely, I’m sure, is something you take home. I mean, we were even talking as we were planning, and you guys mentioned, like, you go home and worry about patients, you know? Like, you’ve done surgery, and you sit and lay awake and think about it. Yeah. You worry, and you call up to the hospital and check on them. Did I take that thing out?

Lara [00:12:21] Yeah, right? Check the labs, hit refresh, hit refresh.

Courtney [00:12:26] Yeah, so I think that that’s, I feel like that is comforting to know as a patient because what I don’t want is a doctor who is a robot and comes in and doesn’t understand this. I mean, you know they understand but doesn’t show any emotion at all or any empathy at all. And I think most doctors do and want to and, you know, they probably struggle with that being professional slash being a person and trying to find that middle ground or whatever. And so I would love, , as we interview all these new, all these new to me doctors, just to ask them those questions, , about how they deal with that. Like, how do you, I don’t know if you guys have seen the pit. Have you watched any of them? Yeah. I’ve seen clips of it on social media. The whole, like part of the whole thing is that, you know, they are all kind of, gun-shy about all the things they’ve gone through since COVID and the emotions and all that kind of stuff, things that happened to them. People, like, abuse them, like, hit them and, like, you know, say horrible things to them and touch that, like, grab them and try to pull them to get attention and all that. And it’s like, would you say that to any other professional person? No, you would not. But so just… I understand the mental tax that it is on you guys and so I would like to hear about that from other doctors as well. What am I missing? What are our other goals that you guys would say?

Mandy [00:13:49] Well, I would say that one of the things that is universal is that we’re all at some point a patient and doctors are really bad patients, healthcare in general. The worst. It’s easy for pretty much everybody to ignore symptoms and think that’s not a big deal. It doesn’t, you know, it’s going to go away. It doesn’t really need any of my attention. It’s even more so for doctors because we think we know everything. So I really, as we talk to these specialists want to learn a little bit about what do I need to never ignore? What really should raise a red flag and get a lot of attention? And what shouldn’t? Because that’s very difficult even, you know, for someone who has a medical degree to sometimes decipher.

Courtney [00:14:34] Right, right. So we hope that as you are, listeners, are going through any medical things or have friends that are going through medical things, you can be like, oh yeah, I heard about what those doctors do on this podcast. And you could refer somebody to an episode that talks specifically about whatever specialty that’s going on that maybe you’re going to go see that person. And you need to know what kind of questions to ask. And my favorite question that I learned to ask is, what am I not asking you that I should be asking right that is my end all be all question because sometimes in the moment as a patient you have All thoughts leave your mind, because you are overwhelmed by whatever information you’re getting. You have no idea. This is a totally different world from you. And that’s a good question that I have learned to ask, and ask it all the time. Like, what am I not asking?

Mandy [00:15:20] Because you know. Watch that big take-home point.

Courtney [00:15:23] Yes. What have other people asked you that I am not doing? So yeah. So this is going to be a bi-weekly, hopefully, podcast. Yeah. That’s our goal. The plan is every other week, and a new guest sitting here at the table with us. and joining us and to talk about all the things that they do and know so well that we do not, so.

Mandy [00:15:43] Do we want to end with our prime question that we decided for all of our guests when they come on?

Courtney [00:15:49] I think so, yeah. I think we’ve, yeah, we thought about having a one question that everybody has to answer. which will tell you a lot about that person yeah i think it’s a fun one again it does the humanizing part very well so yeah our our ending question is always going to be like i know you’re working your dream job right now however if you could do anything else what would you do? Because I think a lot of us that are, and maybe it is medical and that’s fine. Maybe there’s just another specialty that they would like to pursue or had thought about and had, you know, had to pick one at some point in the road, but it also could be, and I hope it is something like totally different because that’s really fun. Because I think all of us would say that we have multiple sides to our personality, and I don’t know why we ever think that doctors are different. And I’m sure there are some people that that is just what they live and breathe, and they couldn’t imagine anything else. But I think the majority of people, I would bet, we’ll see what happens, but I think the majority of people will be like, oh yeah, I’ve always wanted to own a flower stand, always. I wanted to sell hot dogs in Times Square, or whatever. Which one of you wants to go first? I’ll go first.

Lara [00:17:04] The joke for me in residency was I would be a great barista because that was always what I would say when I was having a bad day. I can walk away from this and be a great barista. Because I think mentally it helped me to know that this is my choice. I am choosing to come here every day and so that was helpful. But what I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a little kid was name makeup colors. And you would be so good. I feel like I would be really good at it. You would be amazing.

Courtney [00:17:35] Wow.

Mandy [00:17:35] What did she say that she would be amazing? Well, she just has a good sense of style. Okay. And she has any gift that Lara has ever given me has been something unique and different.

Courtney [00:17:47] Ah, okay.

Mandy [00:17:48] And it’s often in the makeup realm.

Courtney [00:17:51] Okay, that’s great. Yes. That’s fun. I think it would be fun. That is fun.

Lara [00:17:55] Is it a job? What are you? Well, I don’t know. I guess that’s marketing. And marketing generally, I feel like doesn’t appeal to me greatly. But every time I look at the names, I’m like, genius. I would do that, you know, or I’d name it this. I want to do a whole season of colors based on this island, you know. That is so fun. I think it would be fun. That’d be a great job, right?

Courtney [00:18:17] Yes. You could even name like products of like, I was just thinking you said like island or something like, you know, Pottery Barn or whatever, whenever they come out with something, there’ll be like the Capri collection. And then it’s like, all these things that are related to whatever location that is or whatever. And then you’d have to travel, right? Do the research.

Lara [00:18:36] You’re going to be thorough about it.

Mandy [00:18:38] Nice. Mandy? If I could do anything. Yeah. besides this job that I love, love every day. I would be the DJ at a large sports arena.

Courtney [00:18:51] I would be so good at that. You guys are cracking me up. That is not what, I feel like we’ve talked about this before, and I don’t remember you saying that, but I’m surprised.

Mandy [00:19:00] What appeals to you about that? Oh my gosh, I would be, number one, if there were some player or team I didn’t like, I could roast them so well. With music? With music. And it would be, or you know, like an inside joke. And it would just be so great. And you know, only like, you know, 25% of the, you know, stadium.

Lara [00:19:17] You need to know that Mandy writes playlist for all of our fellows who graduate based on their personality, things that have happened in the hour. She curates these amazing collections that are tailored. You get this. So she can communicate through a playlist like none other. It is funny. And so you totally could roast somebody.

Mandy [00:19:40] I wanted to turn it the other direction. You don’t have to commit for very long. Because you can’t do it while they’re playing. So you can get just the snippet you want, and then you’re like, and done. That is hysterical. Plenty of break time.

Courtney [00:19:52] I have never thought of that, that that is a person. Again, who knew? I mean, I know there are, but you know what I mean. How lucky are they? That’s great. Who do you go to school for to do that?

Mandy [00:20:03] I don’t know. I don’t either. You probably just are a DJ, and then you get good at it. Right. Somebody tapped you. You know somebody. Yes. What about you, Courtney?

Courtney [00:20:11] Well, I feel like I’ve had a multi-colored experience with jobs. I’ve had lots of jobs. For a brief stint in time, I made bagels at four o’clock in the morning at a bagel place. Because I literally was like, that just sounds kind of fun. And I could work while everybody else is sleeping, and then I could go back home and do all my normal mom things. When I was a stay-at-home mom, primarily, that was like, that sounded fun. That was an interesting experience, 4 a.m., because the music that these individuals chose to play was music that I don’t listen to regularly, especially not at 4 a.m. because it was like the loudest, most inappropriate, hysterical, oh man, trying to vamp people up because that’s hard. So I, oh my gosh, it’s hard to choose, but my one that I usually say is very, very specific. It is, it’s going to embarrass me to say it, maybe he knows what I’m going to say. is a plaid at Disneyland. Do you know what that is, Lara? What’s a plaid? So you know the people who do the, yeah, you’re an employee of Disney, and you are like a, you’re a guide. You’re an individual tour guide for that group or person or whatever for the whole day. You’re either rich or famous. It’s one where you pay a lot of money. Yes, you pay a certain like per, like it’s like $7,000 for the day or something. Well, that’s kind of like the layman’s term for it. I think they have like a more professional term or whatever. There’s like a slang term? Yes, because they wear plaid outfits. And so I have like plaid Mickey Mouse ears and I have Minnie Mouse ears and I have a plaid backpack that I have bought on my own. But I, and it’s only Disneyland for me because Disney World, no offense. Not World? No. I have so many reasons why Disneyland is so much better. I’ve never been to Disneyland. All of our perks are Disneyland. Just get ready. I’m sorry. Yeah, no, it’s just more historical, 100% more historical. It was the original, it’s where Walt actually walked. There’s so many little funny, it’s from the 50s, so like, and they’ve had to adapt it. We got her started. I know, sorry, we gotta stop. But no, it’s been great. Yeah, the only reason I wouldn’t do that job is because I’ve seen children having meltdowns and the plaid kinda has to like, deal with that yeah I think I would just want a babysitter I know right yeah a little bit but no I’ve always thought that would be such a fun job I don’t know I love it I love Disneyland and would work there well if this variety is any indication of what our guests are going to say, we might need to keep a tally of your jobs.

Mandy [00:22:44] We should keep a list that’d be fun.

Courtney [00:22:46] Well, this has been fun. And we hope that if you’re listening to this, that it gives you just a little insight into more of who we are, because we really do want to shine the spotlight on our guests when they’re here. You know, more interesting things about them than it is us a little bit. But yeah, we are, like we said, planning to put these out every couple of weeks. And hopefully when you’re listening to this, there’ll be another one coming really soon. And you can find us on Instagram. We are noreferralrequired on Instagram. And we may delve into the world of YouTube. We don’t know yet. That’s TBD. But yeah, and we hope to see you guys back. Thanks for listening. See you soon. Bye-bye.

Lara [00:23:30] This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not constitute medical guidance for any individual case. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or health concern. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge that the host, guests, and producers are not responsible for any decisions or actions you take based on the information discussed.