How One Emergency Physician Is Taking Back Autonomy, Wealth, and Joy

In Part 2 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin and Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani picks up right where they  left off: two emergency physicians who actually like coming to work, unpacking the systemic forces that are burning everyone else out.

 Dr. Mehrdad explains why he co-founded NeoMd Spa.  It started with one vial of Botox and a refusal to be a 60-year-old shift-worker, how physicians surrendered control of their profession to corporations, and why financial wellness is the missing pillar no one talks about. Dr. Andrea and  Dr. Mehrdad wrestle with the death of the democratic group, the rise of corporate metrics, and the urgent need for physicians to reclaim leadership, unity, and their voices.

Wrapped in stories of cross-specialty happy hours, Peloton-fueled pandemic survival, and a beautiful real-time patient handoff, this episode is a rallying cry: stop complaining, start building, stay connected, and never forget, we are all members of one body.

You’ll Hear How They:

• · Expose the financial traps that keep high-earning physicians living paycheck-to-paycheck and overworking
• · Reveal why every single guest this season has a “side gig” — and why that’s now a survival strategy
• · Break down the shift from physician-owned democratic groups to corporate medicine (and what we lost)
• · Show how one med-spa became a hedge against burnout and a reclaiming of professional autonomy
• · Prove that culture change happens in 10-minute handoffs and cross-specialty happy hours, not just policy memos
• · Issue a call for physician unity, leadership, and using your voice before you end up “on the menu”

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

• · NEOMD Spa – https://neomedicalspa.com
• · Financial wellness as a pillar of physician well-being (https://www.abpsus.org/physician-thriving-financial-wellbeing-and-burnout-where-do-you-stand/)
• · Visible Voices podcast with Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey (https://www.thevisiblevoicespodcast.com/) (“Use your voice”)· Persian (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1274345-human-beings-are-members-of-a-whole-in-creation-of)
• poetry: “Human beings are members of a whole… (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1274345-human-beings-are-members-of-a-whole-in-creation-of) ”

Top 3 Key Takeaways

1. Financial wellness is physician wellness : Stop the “just pick up one more shift” cycle and build something that gives you passive income and freedom.
2. We gave away control of our profession: if you want autonomy back, you have to own something (a practice, a business, a voice at the table).
3. Culture is built in the small moments: A thoughtful handoff, a happy hour with ortho, inviting the security guard to break bread , these are the ripples that change everything.

🩺 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.

 

 

🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities

• 🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate (https://www.coachingfordoctors.net.au/programs/recalibrate-doctor-ca…