How a Nurse, Immigrant, and Father Became Medicine’s Fiercest Male Ally

What does a man raised in a country where women are legally second-class citizens become one of the strongest male allies in American medicine?

In Part 1 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Mehrdad  Soleimani pulls back the curtain on his improbable journey: fleeing Iran at 16, putting himself through nursing school as a first-generation immigrant, defending his female nursing colleagues from an abusive surgeon and then deciding that very night to become a doctor, switching specialties mid-residency, and ultimately landing in emergency medicine, where he now champions wellness, debriefing, and the “human factor.”

Mehrdad and Andrea explore why stoicism and perfectionism are killing physicians, why it’s actually strength (not weakness) to feel deeply in the resuscitation room, and how small acts of allyship, from checking in on a new female colleague to calling consultants on her behalf, change culture one shift at a time. 

This episode is a love letter to every physician humanity and a masterclass in what authentic male allyship feels like on the ground.

You’ll Hear How They:

• Trace the roots of fierce gender-equity beliefs to a mother who refused to accept second-class status in Iran
• Reveal the night a cardiothoracic surgeon’s tantrum pushed a male ICU nurse to apply to medical school
• Discuss why switching residencies even after years invested, can be the bravest and best career decision
•  Unpack the hidden curriculum of medicine: stoicism, perfectionism, and competition,  and why it’s failing us
• Champion debriefing, emotional processing, and the power of the “feeling doctor” who still gets the job done
•  Model everyday allyship that makes women physicians feel seen, supported, and safer in the workplace

About the Guest

“Just because I was born a man doesn’t mean I’m better than anybody else.” — Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani

Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani is a board-certified emergency physician, Assistant Director of the Emergency Department at Temecula Valley Hospital, and Chair of the hospital’s Physician Wellness Committee. A former critical-care nurse, general surgery resident, proud girl-dad of three, and co-owner/medical director of NeoMed Spa, Mehrdad brings a rare blend of clinical expertise, emotional intelligence, and lived experience as an immigrant to his passionate advocacy for physician wellness and gender equity.

Website: https://neomedicalspa.com

Resources + Mentions

・ Debriefing after critical cases (including pediatric codes) (https://archive.hshsl.umaryland.edu/bitstreams/ada44cd1-2e51-4076-850d-e06e281b1932/download)

・ Hidden curriculum of medicine: stoicism, perfectionism, competition (https://www.aamc.org/news/navigating-hidden-curriculum-medical-school)

・ Emotional regulation vs. emotional suppression (https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/emotional-regulation-vs-emotional-suppression-47de4ec2867a)

・ The power of 45-second empathy moments with patients (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elW69hyPUuI)

Top 3 Key Takeaways

• Allyship isn’t a poster,  it’s action: Checking in, offering to call consultants, making new colleagues feel welcome, and using your privilege to smooth someone else’s path.
• Feeling deeply is not weakness, it’s strength: The best physicians are “feeling doctors” who process emotion, debrief, and still lead the code with clarity.
• Your career is allowed to evolve: Switching specialties even years in, is not failure; it’s choosing a life where you wake up excited to go to work.
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🩺 About the Host:

Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out.

With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart.

💫 About the Show:

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible.

Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done.

Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart.

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