Justin Trosclair 0:03
48 that’s fork in the road didn’t stop her tenacity. I’m your host, Dr. Justin trust. And today we’re here to nail Hadley MD perspective.

Join 2017 podcast Awards Nominated host Dr. Justin rose clay as he gets a rare to see him look into the specialties, all types of doctors and guess plus marketing, travel tips, struggles, goals, and relationship advice. Let’s hear a doctor’s perspective.

Dr Janell has a really good story. It’s about not taking no for an answer. You hear all about her story about how Joe it’s kind of wanted to be a medical doctor, but was doing other things before that. So she started school little later than most people, she went to the Caribbean. You’ll be going through residency a year later than expected. So that’s why I use the tongue in cheek spork instead of just the fork. Yeah, I can be a little cheesy. Anyway, I think you’re going to love in getting motivated by what she has to say. She’s also a pretty good bake. And if you’re in Chicago area, you could take their food. So take a listen, learn and implement. All the show notes can be found at a doctor’s perspective. NET slash for eight. Let’s go hashtag behind the curtain.

Live from the great state of Louisiana and the United States of America. Welcome back to a doctor’s perspective podcast today. We have a new fresh doctor waiting for residency. Also, an award winning bakery chef, I can’t be any more happy to talk to Dr. Janelle Hadley, welcome to the show.

Unknown 1:38
Oh, thank you so much for having me, I appreciate it.

Justin Trosclair 1:41
I think you’re going to create a new perspective on this podcast. Because we haven’t had, we’ve had someone who maybe a year or two out of residency, okay, but we haven’t had anybody in this in between stage. So I think he can be a huge help to younger people who are listening, as well as reminding some of the older guys what it was like and what it’s like now. And maybe that they can help somebody else as well. So I think it’s gonna be fun. So to start with your backstory, how did you pick medicine and what is you’re going to be your specialty.

Unknown 2:08
So I am from a very, very small suburb outside right outside of Chicago. And for a long time, I actually knew that I want to be a physician. But it’s funny because I started off wanting to do psychology, and I thought about psychology, I want to say like in seventh grade, it was at that point I was I knew that I would either have to get a PhD to further my education and psychology. But then I thought to myself, well, why would I do all that, and I won’t be able to write prescriptions, which is, you know, that’s what kind of led me to medicine and fill in high school. I had counselors and they were able to, you know, get me different programs. And so I did some programs at Northwestern. And it just really shed some light on different areas of medicine and just really made me fall in love that much more. So I went to undergrad at Howard University, and they are also got more explosive are to the entire field field of medicine. After that I didn’t pursue medicine directly, I came home for a little bit work. And I decided, Well, you know what, maybe I should get my Master of Public Health, I think that’s a great thing to do that, especially if I’m considering a field if I’m considering a future of medicine to help to bridge that gap. So I went to get my Master of Public Health from USC. And that just made me fall in love with medicine even more, I knew that urban areas is where I would want to kind of focus my attention on. And from that point, again, I went to work. So I you know, my journey to medicine is not really direct, it’s more of a traditional path. But I went to work for a North Park University, I was the chemical hygiene officer, lab safety officer there. And it was at that time that I you know, it’s engaging with students and solve them, you know, pursuing their desire to pursue Medicine and Dentistry and off and I’m like, you know, as you know, you’ve always wanted to be a doctor, this is the time to, you know, at least try. So I applied to one school, to School of Medicine, which is actually in the Caribbean, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I went there for two years did all my book work, came back to the states and did all my rotations here in Chicago. And I recently graduated from Trinity school medicine and June of 2017. So that’s kind of like my backstory of why medicine, or how I got to medicine, why particularly medicine. When you look at people of color, you see a lot of disparities. And you also see you don’t see a lot of people in healthcare in terms of physicians and their care. And so for me, that was important that I have patients who understand that I understand them culturally, I just want to make an impact, help, you know, decrease rates of diabetes, and you know, obesity and high blood pressure and all these different things. And so for me, that’s something that’s also hit close to home as something that’s, you know, looked at several members of my family. And that’s kind of a, I guess, long short story of why medicine.

Justin Trosclair 5:07
seventh grade, I didn’t even know who to talk to the figure out that a psychologist what has to be truly professional, you know, Masters, of course does work. But how did you figure that out? Or your parents or your parents? college

Unknown 5:20
grads? No, actually, so my sisters and I were the first generation to actually complete college. Both my parents have, you know, done some courses here and there. But we’re, we’re the first of our generation to, you know, go to college and complete and whatnot. So I don’t even know, I’m trying to remember. And I don’t, I don’t remember how I said or what I’ve read specifically. But yeah, I guess

Unknown 5:44
AOL dial up was doing us good.

Unknown 5:46
Probably. Whatever. Gotta research we had at that time. So

Justin Trosclair 5:50
I never asked people’s age, but I’m kind of like, I’m backtracking, like, are you? So you did this, and you did a Masters? Uh huh.

Unknown 5:58
Yeah. And then I work too. Well, that’s the thing I have worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, I’ve been able to do some work with Chicago department public health. Yeah, I’m, you know, I’m kind of up there in age, which is another thing that you know, any dream that you have, and you can always pursue it, it’s never too late. It’s never too late.

Justin Trosclair 6:15
A lot of people they already know, they want to be a doctor, they go, they get out in practice for a few years. And then they’re like, I should probably get my masters in something. And you’ve already got that somewhere you can automatically. If you want to transition into managerial after a few years, you’ve already got the credentials.

Unknown 6:29
Absolutely. That way. That’s that’s a plus, definitely.

Justin Trosclair 6:32
And I actually knew a girl, she, she went to, I don’t know, there’s that many colleges in the Caribbean. Or if it’s everybody kind of goes to the same one.

Unknown 6:38
There. There are several actually different medical schools and the Caribbean, she started

Justin Trosclair 6:42
there, and then decided to go to chiropractic instead. And I was like, Oh, that’s interesting. And another one that did finish your corporate agree and then went there to get hurt, like what you did. And then she’s been thinking Kansas to finish up all the stuff to be licensed in America. Okay. Because of that, MIT, we cover that a little when you go to the Caribbean, if you finish all your school there, if you don’t do rotations in America, it doesn’t actually like count, you have to redo America. Right. Is that true?

Unknown 7:08
Yeah, that seems that that would seem about it. That I think the biggest thing is are the boards, the boards, I’m not 100% sure about the the rotation. But as long as you pass your American boards, that’s the biggest hurdle I think, to anyone who studies outside of the US.

Justin Trosclair 7:25
Yeah, it was a great experience,

Unknown 7:27
it was a very unique experience, let me tell you, because considering you know, we’re first world country, we have access to every single thing we want living in the Caribbean just really opened my eyes. And it really taught me a whole lot. It taught me a lot about myself, and what’s really important in life. And so for me, it was difficult being away from home, but at the same time, it was easy to just focus on my studies. And then of course, I saw, you know, the ocean every single day, the beautiful water and then even you know, when it is raining it literally we’re writing for like 15 minutes, and then the summit come back out and dry the land and is it no rain ever came. And that’s a perfect segue actually into baking because it was there that I actually developed my my already pre existing passion for baking. So being they’re having their sweet treats and stuff, it was different, it was unique, but it wasn’t home. And so I would say sometimes, you know what I really am craving, you know, maybe some pound cake or something, and I wouldn’t have the ingredients and I will make them I will make some cake or something, but I wouldn’t make it and just eat it myself, I will make it you know, kind of to de stress a little bit, take my mind off studying, then I will go share with my friends. And so there was a point where I would start posting on my Instagram. And I said I don’t want to continue to post just food on my personal Instagram. So then I created a baking Instagram for those people who were interested and they can come over there and see my different baked goods, I will come home and people will say oh my gosh, it looks so great. I need to have them. And then that’s when a light bulb clicked. And it was like these, you know what? baking ingredients aren’t cheap. And there was a demand. So I’m going to you know, try this and see if it works. And if it doesn’t, you know, at the end of the day, I still love to bake, you know, but if it works, then that’s just another stream of income. So that’s, that’s excellent. So funny that that passion also developed when I was exploring another passion. So two for one kind of thing.

Justin Trosclair 9:22
So you had like a store in the crew.

Unknown 9:24
I didn’t Oh, no, no store, just I will bake in my in my apartment there. And then I would just go you know, share with my friends who were who were studying at the same time, too. And that will be like a little, you know, special thing to their day, just giving, giving some slices of cake or muffins or whatever. How did you monetize that?

Justin Trosclair 9:43
Through the Instagram? I did.

Unknown 9:45
So so not there. I didn’t want to go back came back home and move back here back in 2014. It wasn’t until 2015 that I decided, Okay, well, let’s see how this you know, business thing could go. So I don’t have a brick and mortar. I don’t have you know, storefront or, you know, I still am able to you know, successfully had my business and I use you know social media to my advantage for that. Nice.

Justin Trosclair 10:10
And did you want you want an award for competition.

Unknown 10:13
There was no competition directly, but there was a specific organization. And they order for me all the time. And I think that they you know, kind of deemed me that name. But I’m not officially paid in any competition. Although in the future. I I don’t know the time thing kind of with scare me. But I would definitely be up for the challenge. Because a lot of times it’s like, okay, you have two hours and go. Whoa, I think that will be the most challenging aspect. But I’m definitely open to competitions in the future.

Justin Trosclair 10:44
think we’ve all seen what cake wars and Cupcake Wars.

Unknown 10:48
Oh my gosh.

Justin Trosclair 10:51
What’s your not we don’t have to talk about baking all the time. But what is your, I guess top two that just you love to bake. And people just love to eat

Unknown 10:59
tops. Definitely Easy, easy would be my cream cheese pancake. People just love it is so moist and tender. And it just reminds you of like Grandma, you know, in mind, you have something that’s just so familiar, so warm, and just easy. It’s easy to make. But it’s a lot of love that goes into it. And so that’s one the second one will be peach cobbler, each cobbler and it’s not your traditional like lattice process, but it’s more of like a biscuit craft and then it gets my thing crunchy on top and the the warm peaches and have to have ice cream. Anyone who purchases peach cobbler for me, I suggest is almost like a mandatory requirement that you have vanilla ice cream to serve with it.

Unknown 11:45
Yeah, because this was the point.

Unknown 11:46
What’s the point? I’ll drop

Justin Trosclair 11:48
my address after the show and

ups that thing overnight with styrofoam.

So you can definitely answer this question kind of however you want. You can go with the bakery, you know the medical doctor, you can go both when we talk about misconceptions about our profession. Especially you have a unique view working in the Caribbean, I mean school in the Caribbean, then coming back, would you recommend that to other students as a way to go as like a first choice do that it’s really awesome. And then, like some misconceptions about maybe doing school there versus always making sure you go to an American school.

Unknown 12:25
Okay, absolutely. So for me, the first question what I recommend it, I would recommend this and here, here’s my biggest thing, I am a by any means necessary kind of person, I want to say to anyone who is determined, and really wants that opportunity. There are opportunities there for you. That’s what I will say, I will also say that, you know, you have to do what works best for you. And your particular situation, if you have time for me and cat was a big hurdle. But I knew that I did not want to take it multiple times I knew that I wanted to take it wants. And that was it. And so for me, I thought that was the biggest thing that kept me out of American schools just being very transparent. But at the same time, there was an opportunity for me to showcase that, hey, I can do this. I am more than mentally, you know, capable. It’s just that I don’t test well. And so this for me,

Justin Trosclair 13:18
you were many years removed from some of these classes to let’s just be honest, or Dana, was you took it in undergrad was a long time.

Unknown 13:28
A long time ago, it was definitely long time ago. And so it was it was the opportunity presented itself. I was successful there. And it again, it taught me a whole lot about myself about my resilience, about my ability to learn how I learned I didn’t know how I learned even in undergrad, you know what I’m saying? And that’s a huge thing in terms of being successful in any graduate program is how do you learn? And how do you maximize that learning and for me being away a separate it from, you know, different distractions of being at home, you know, I can just be that and focus on what I need to focus on. And there were no distractions. So it was it was a great opportunity, as I stated before, but at the same time, there are challenges that you face. And there are misconceptions about what if you go to a Caribbean medical school, then you’re looked at differently. And that’s unfortunate, that’s true. When you are trying to get interviews for residency, you have to make sure that you stand out above the crowd or that you are board scores are you know better to get the same opportunities, as you know, students who may have gone to school in the States, which, you know, I mean, it’s like, you know, you have the good and the bad and you just have to roll with the punches and make the best at whatever, whatever situation. You know, I heard

Justin Trosclair 14:38
that the more education you get the more residences the more fellowships, that’s what people care about. They’re not like, oh, where’d you go to undergrad? Your doctrine of I don’t care where you went to undergrad? Where’d you get your you know, where do you get your get your doctorate degree? Oh, you know, where do your residency? Yeah, like, that’s what I care about you like, they don’t even care after a while, but it’s the into it? Yeah, just call you. Is it a Doctor? Doctor, right?

Unknown 15:02
Oh, yeah. Okay.

Unknown 15:06
Hey, you know, what they call a C student, MD, I love It’s like a little equation is like C equals MD. And that’s the funniest thing because you know, growing up, you know, I was smart k quota Po, I was smart and get the, you know, get these grades and all these things. And then things kind of changed a little bit. Once you get into med school and you’re like, wait a minute, I have to know all I have to know, I think one time we had a know like 10 chapters in two weeks or something ridiculous for like histology. And it’s like, you know what, I have seen more information in these past two weeks, and I have ever in my life. And if I just pass this exam, I will be more than Okay.

Unknown 15:43
I will be no, you know, we will see this all in.

Unknown 15:49
Yeah, but your perspective changes for sure.

Justin Trosclair 15:52
Oh, yeah. So you’re doing

Unknown 15:54
a general practice residency, oh, I have applied to family medicine. And so I used to be hardcore ob gyn me, because I have a huge passion for women’s health. But I recently when I was doing one of my electives I did and let the for a family medicine doctor and she blew me away with everything that she does with her wealth of knowledge. And for me, that just really opened my eyes to, you know, thinking about medicine a little differently. And I know that comprehensive medicine is something that’s really important to me, and I still get women’s health, but then I get so many different other, you know, aspects of medicine, I get P, I get even site, you know, you you’d be surprised at the people that come in there and the stories that they share with you. And, you know, you’re you’re kind of like counseling them at that time and just drop the gatekeeper. Yeah, absolutely. The gatekeeper. I was really, it just changed my mind so much. And then it showed me a lot of my strength was was was dealing with people of all ages, you know, and being able to connect with people, all ages, races, gender, as well. And so it really seemed like a better fit for me. Family Medicine.

Justin Trosclair 17:08
How did you mentioned you wanted to help like urban and colored people and things like that? So how do you do you just niche down? And like when you go to find a hospital or private practice? Do you go to the urban area and open up shop? Or do you market to just like, Hey, I’m like you and come see me? Like how do you see that going? Well,

Unknown 17:28
for me, what I did was when I was applying for residency, I was specifically looking for programs that do have that aspect of urban and or underserved communities. And so I mean, they are ready planet there in terms of residency, and so I wouldn’t really have to go out and look I would be in, in that environment. And this is hugely important. And I guess that would speak to another misconception is, unfortunately, the underserved don’t always get the back the best access to quality healthcare. And that’s another thing that you know, drives me and I will want to make sure that people have the same right no matter you know, your background, no matter how much you can afford that you have access to quality health care of someone who actually, you know, cares versus you’re just another number or your money in the bank, or whatever the case is,

Justin Trosclair 18:15
you actually have a passion to help these people who otherwise would might get some optimal care, absolutely interesting. You’re in that unique spot where you’re going to start doing a residency, to where you can really mold yourself and choose to focus on you can figure out like, these are the issues that they’re having on a regular basis. Let me learn as much as I can have more than the next guy about the urban struggles. That way you can better serve them in the future. There

Unknown 18:39
are so many things that go into you know, healthcare, it’s not just oh come for this visit is like know, how are you getting here? What does your transportation like? Oh, well, what do you have access to it in your community in terms of being active? Can you play outside? Or if they’re gone by that you’re concerned about? Do you have access to quality food, or their food desert? So there are so many different things that go into caring for patients. And it’s not just you come through the door, and I assess your labs, and you have this messenger on your way, you know what I’m saying? So,

Justin Trosclair 19:14
explain, I don’t think everybody probably knows what’s a food desert.

Unknown 19:16
Okay, so food desert basically, is your access to fresh quality produce, and things like that. And where you live in proximity to that there are several food deserts here in Chicago, where they you have even the nearest store you may have in walking distance. So you may be within two miles or something like that. And there’s no fresh produce, or there’s nothing you know, lively to keep you healthy. So you can’t push for a health, health health eat healthfully when there is only canned goods and orange juice and, you know, pop chips, or whatever at the grocery store. You know, I hope that you know, can kind of shed a little bit of light. But yeah, definitely do a little bit of homework, if you’re listening on what food deserts are and how they impact health care.

Justin Trosclair 20:04
I had heard maybe it was when all that Ferguson stuff was going down. The I don’t know, there was one store that had stuff like like that you would actually want to eat. Okay. And then it was damaged. And the guy was like, Yeah, well, I’m not rebuilding. And so the now there was an entire area, and I could I could have been some results. But now that entire however many blocks not have any fresh food or like a real grocery store at all. Wow.

Unknown 20:26
And that’s, you know, yeah. And it’s, you know, it’s important to keep that in mind for people, especially people who don’t have, you know, access to cars or even public transportation, sometimes it’s out of reach for so it’s horrible

Unknown 20:35
in America. Yeah, maybe she got this right has better public transportation, better is better here.

Justin Trosclair 20:41
But it is tough to like, if you know, you gotta walk two blocks with a bag of groceries. You know,

Unknown 20:45
that’s, that’s a long, long, you know, if you’re already obese, and you can’t walk, oh, I have this grocery store, right up the street, I was going to go get some, you know, two bags of chips, and it’s a pop or McDonald’s is right up the street. And then they have the dollar menu. And that’s where we’re going to eat for dinner, you know, five times out of seven days a week. There’s so many components to providing healthcare and not just thinking, you know, linearly but you have to think on it on a broad spectrum.

Justin Trosclair 21:09
The we’ve all got unique abilities mindsets, what are yours that’s made you because some people, they started the job, that’s it. I’m not going back to school, I’m going to be a public Public Health Administration, you know, for the rest of my life, the EPA, but you change. So you’ve conquered what you needed to what sets you apart?

Unknown 21:27
That’s a good question. I would say two things. But definitely, I’m going to speak to my tenacity and my ability to never say accept no for an answer. Because that, for me, is something that a lot of people settle for, you get to know and then you’re like, Okay, well, I’m not gonna try, I’m going to be done. There’s an example that you’ve had to do

Justin Trosclair 21:49
that with,

Unknown 21:50
um, so even, let’s say, just in cat, for example, you know, that was looking at my score, and knowing that I’m not considered to be, quote, unquote, competitive, I could have looked at that and said, you know, what, you know, maybe medicine isn’t for you, you know, maybe what society tells you in terms of your score, is what’s going to define you. So you know, what, maybe you should just think about something else. Or you can be open and say, you know, what, what are my options? What are my options to make my dream come true? No matter what, no, I’m not taking no for an answer. And so that’s just one of countless stories on my particular journey where, you know, I’ve been faced with, I can, I can accept what I’ve been given, or I can continue to press forward. And you know, that’s a something that you don’t you don’t know, that you have on until you face it until you go through it, it’s definitely gonna be something to talk about more in the future. and explore that. But it’s just, you know, not not taking no for an answer, continue to move forward. Having a close support system around you, who lifts you up and encourages you, and even as they are to, you know, pay for your meal when you don’t have money, or, you know, whatever the case is, but just never saying, I accept what is being given to me at this moment.

Justin Trosclair 23:09
When you’re going through your journey. Have you had any roadblocks because you’re African American and a

Unknown 23:14
woman? Absolutely. Even just, and that’s, that’s one thing that I like to talk about as well, you know, they’re out of all the physicians in America, there are only 5% of black of doctors in America are black. And so, you know, a lot of times when you walk into a room, even as a med student there, you know, they don’t understand Oh, what is a medical student? Are you are you in school to be a nurse or are going to be a tech like they don’t, you know, understand, like, I’m going to school to be a doctor. And then even after you are a physician, and you have all these things are like, okay, so are you, you know, this person? And then are you that person, and I’m so happy that we have so many different people coming together in healthcare, because we all important entities, right? But it’s never Are you the doctor, you know, and it’s actually funny, I was going through France, I went to Nigeria for medical mission work. And so on my way back, I was coming through France. And so the guy he was checking, I think he’s taking my passport. And he was asking me, you know, so what were you doing? And Legos. I was like, I was there for medical mission work. And he said, Okay, are you are your doctor. And that was refreshing, like, I have to go all the way to France.

Unknown 24:20
Or Yeah, go go to Paris, when I go to go to France to have someone acknowledge me sometimes. But I mean, people don’t see it a lot, either. So I can’t blame people for something that they don’t really see a lot there. But that definitely had some its fair share challenges. And just as a woman, sometimes you’re undermined, or, you know, people don’t sometimes take you seriously because you look a certain way, or you look pretty, or they can’t come fighting you I’ve had patients where you know, I’ll go and vital then I’ll go talk to my attending. And my attending is like, Oh, yeah, he’s not just here for a visit. He’s here because he wants to get screened for STDs or something like that. So but they don’t, you know, they don’t want to be completely honest, or give you full disclosure, because you know, you look a certain way. Are you a woman or whatever the case is?

Justin Trosclair 25:08
Interesting, that I’ve heard that several times with, it’s like, when you’re leaving the room? Oh, by the way, right, right. Like I’m too embarrassed to actually talk to you. I had somebody was saying sometimes their own race had an issue with them being the doctor because it’s like too close to home. And so they felt better, like having a guy or you know, a white doctor. And when that does different for me, I was like, wow, I thought you would definitely be like, Oh, you’re black on black. It’s the connection. You know what I’m going through? You know, there’s more. There’s more trust Amelie built the reporters there. Yeah. And so that really surprised me whenever I was, I was learning that now, that’s not always the case.

Unknown 25:43
Yeah, sometimes that that is true as well. Well, you do have, unfortunately, you do have some people who won’t value what you have to say. Because again, you do have that, oh, you’re black or your woman. And you know, you can all you can do is educate and as much as you can be respectful, because honestly, my thing is, you’re the patient. And ultimately, I want to honor what you want. So you know, I will educate you the best of my ability. But the same time, I want to make sure that you are comfortable, because this is your this is your time, this is your service that you’re receiving.

Justin Trosclair 26:17
And that’s your right, when we’re looking at staff, you obviously don’t have to hire staff and all that kind of stuff at this point. But when you’re interacting with nurses with LPN with people quote below you in rank, okay, air quoted that we leave

their home, but they’re obviously there’s a hierarchy. Yeah, they’re not in the same level as you are. And so you can dictate orders and do things is there have you experienced how to train or how to interact with them so that it’s cooperative. And there’s less of that, like, I’m the doctor do what I say exactly type of atmosphere.

Unknown 26:54
So a few things. First of all, when I was training, there was this ob gyn and St. Vincent, and he told me me that 60% of what he learned came from the nurses. And so for me, that really sets the sets the foundation of making sure there’s a mutual respect, I respect you, you respect me. And so I’ve always gone to any rotation or any environment with that mentality is important that that respect is their baseline, also understanding that we can learn from each other. It’s not you learn from me, it but it’s that we can learn from each other. And so there was a day that was on my surgery elective, and one day, we just have some downtime. And so I said, You know what, there’s a nurse here, I love her. She’s really sweet. And I’m going to ask her to spend some time with her to see, you know, what is her day? Why? Because a lot of time there is that disconnect? And I’m trying to I want to get down to the root cause of what why is there a disconnect? So I spent the day with her. And I’m grateful for that day that because I learned a lot and just one day with her. And she was showing me how to work the IV machine when it goes off. And if I’m in the room as efficient, I don’t need to say, hey, nurse, can you come turn this off, I should be able to operate all the machinery so that it’s not inconveniencing. I’m thankful. Yeah, I should write. Also, she was telling me just about communication. You know, if we’re, if I have four patients on the floor, that days, from her perspective, I have four patients, and those patients require vitals, you know, every six hours, and then I have to make sure medications are getting filled in all these different things. Why? And I’m not at my desk, and you see, as a physician, you’re on the floor with me and you see that something needs to get done, you know, can you talk to me about it, versus putting the order in the computer and expecting that I’m going to be at the computer and see the order at that time. Of course, the order has to go through, you know, it’s the way that it’s supposed to go appropriately. But just talking about communication, how we can, you know, respect each other more, and she just really opened my eyes to any misconceptions that may be had about the nurse, Doctor relationship with them know, a lot of times in medicine, we see that these two different worlds that don’t always mesh as well as they could, but we always have to remember that is the patient that we are caring for. And so I always want to make sure that we’re all on one accord. And that goes again, for any other staff is that making sure that we’re all on the same page that we’re even anticipating needs, you know, if I have, let’s say, ob patient come in, every ob patient comes in, they need a urine analysis, right? So if you see that I have, you know, three patients in the room, and you have a patient come in, you know what, Hey, Doc, I’m going to go ahead and have her use the restroom. them, I don’t have to ask you for a urine sample. I mean, it’s simple things like that. But as long as everyone’s on the same page, as long as we are communicating effectively, I think that’s the biggest thing to having a great team, a great camaraderie amongst your team. We’re definitely on the right track.

Justin Trosclair 29:52
I mean, that’s I’ve seen it in the more you invest into your staff, and in a year, your nurses and the training that they have, it’s gonna make your job something you can especially if you were already been doing this job for a long time, then you come in, and we are you able to kind of guide us on like how you like it, yeah, but we already know what to do is just guide us how you want it done that way you’re happy. And then we can still keep doing our flow correctly as well.

Unknown 30:12
And I will say to the doctor who changed everything about where I was thinking about going long term with family medicine, she leads by example, she leads by example, meaning that no big No job is too big or too small for her. If you know if I see that the MA is busy, and she’s bringing patients back to vital, but this room is dirty and you know, finished with my patients, there’s, there’s nothing beneath me that I can’t go and take the gown and put in the laundry or, you know, tear off the sheet. So that that room was prepared and ready. There was nothing that that’s too low for me. And I feel like that’s another Well, I can’t do that because I’m the doctor, I need you to do that, you know, we work together as a team, then everything could be seamless. That’s just my opinion. I’m sure there may be people that differ with me, but we’re not going to always agree on everything. But for me leading by example, as huge as well,

Justin Trosclair 31:02
where you see yourself in five years or 10 years any big goals, not I don’t have to be big goals, but goals that you’ve set for yourself, and how do you know if they’re worthy,

Unknown 31:10
I have so many goals. And I don’t I mean, and I guess that’s kind of why I am where I am now, because I have these goals that sometimes seem unrealistic. But for the next five to 10 years, I’m going to start personally Actually, I see myself with a family. I don’t have I’m not married yet. I don’t have children yet. But I definitely see that in my five to 10 year range. So that’s one to definitely see myself, you know, as a practitioner working in the field of medicine, but working to make a difference, especially when it comes to meaningful long term outcomes. You know, I don’t want to just treat disease, but I want to work to eliminate disease. And if I can be doing that within the next five to 10 years and making an impact, especially with patients and you know discontinuing medications or lowering dosages of medical patients or you know, things like that really having substantial change within the medical community, I would love to, to say that I’m doing that within the next five to 10 years, also probably a book. That’s something that I would like to have just to kind of share my journey as it is very unique, non traditional. And so just something that would inspire but also have some transparency component, as well, a lot of times we see the glitz and the glam and the glitter. But we don’t see the cracks. And we don’t see the falls. And I want to encourage people that life is not always likable. So that’s probably within the next five to 10 years as well. And just you know, traveling more and things like that. So that’s my next five to 10 years.

Justin Trosclair 32:46
What’s your view when you’re when we’re talking about you know, diabetes management, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, things like that, you know, come in as a chiropractor, we know we think we can’t prescribe drugs. So we we look at natural things that has been shown to work in the research and things like that. But what is kind of starting out in residency, do you have any views on helping people to counteract some of these things through diet, exercise, nutrition, versus pills, and the more pharmacological methods? Absolutely. So there are two things really pick out just hit on those, I wish that we had more training as physicians in our

Unknown 33:20
and then our books, you know, that we learned more about nutrition and things like that, I’m sure so you know, programs are different, they vary across the states, but I just wish that we did have more exposure to that. So that we can, you know, guide our patients in one way or the other. But also, the hardest part, unfortunately, is people. And, you know, I I wish that, you know, we didn’t have to have, you know, all these drugs to help people maintain their blood glucose, and insulin and all that stuff. But at the same time, we have to want to change and some people unfortunately don’t. So that’s why we do, you know, we do have our pharmacological and training, to where we can help to intervene in certain areas. But what I like to have more patients not on medications, absolutely what I like to explore more holistic ways to, you know, decrease your cholesterol or whatever the case is. Absolutely. So that’s another thing probably within the next five to 10 years, and I want to educate myself, you know, on other more natural remedies to tackle some of the elements that we see. But again, people Old habits die hard, I would love to say that we just should only treat holistically and not introduce medications, but people you know, have bad habits and are not changing, you know, let’s be honest, my subset of population is going to be different than yours. And so we may only see those types of people that are proactive. Yeah, they, they, they’re little more, we don’t want to take the painkiller anymore, I need to figure out what the root cause, oh, while I’m here, let me try to do X, Y, and Z, where I think a general practice family doctor, you’re going to see everybody like, I’d rather cut my leg off amputate my foot, because I’m not stopping my brownie. That’s true. And so just not gonna see a lot

Justin Trosclair 35:09
of that type of patient where I can see the doctor just like, I’d like to just give up, you know, like, I quit, I used to do this, and then I quit. And that’s why just give drugs because the population I see just doesn’t care. They don’t

Unknown 35:21
want to have that we you know, some people, and then part of it, too is not even the not caring, but just the not knowing. And so they’re they’re not educated, and they don’t and not educated in terms of you know, going to school and having a degree but educated in terms of Oh, so you’re telling me if I do this, and that’s going to impact me in this way? what’s an example that I can think of just simple things like cutting out pop, you know, or cutting out juice or, you know, let’s saying hey, I’m going to replace one meal a day with a salad. And people don’t understand how one small change could make a huge impact. People think that you have to change everything completely. And I have to go vegan, and I have to restrict myself. And so then you get scared and all these different

Justin Trosclair 36:03
things. Real pasta and rice again. Yeah.

Unknown 36:06
Right. And then so it’s just, it’s so many different things that play into, you know, patients, as well. And then people get on Google, and they’re like, why Google this? And they said, If I do this, and I can’t do that, and it’s just like, you know, so having to, you know, reshape and help educate, that’s, that’s huge. But, um, I would love if we could find, I guess a happy medium, you know, sometimes they’re just complete opposite spectrum. People completely change. And then people were like, I’m not changing, as you stated before,

Justin Trosclair 36:37
if people would just lay off the web, and the more please,

Unknown 36:42
please, please. I know it’s cancer, man.

Unknown 36:45
No,

Unknown 36:47
no, no, it’s not.

Unknown 36:49
It’s not Yeah, it’s a bola

Unknown 36:52
bola

Unknown 36:53
a little girl. That’s it. It’s not a heart attack, you know,

Unknown 36:57
it’s a little girl.

Unknown 37:00
It’s called gallery

Justin Trosclair 37:02
protein for a little while.

Unknown 37:04
You’re

Justin Trosclair 37:06
supposed to eat if I can eat a pound of beef every day.

But

we’ll we’ll switch gears a little here on you. And I don’t know how well you’re about to be swamped with no.

So being that you’re about to experience some of the hardest work schedules, how do you plan to get a mental vacation, let you your body and your mind recover when you’re expected to be on so much and always learning.

Unknown 37:33
So I’m learning to kind of do that now, in terms of like, work life balance is important. And so it’s funny that you mentioned that because I was I really want to learn how to play the electric guitar. I started watching YouTube and I didn’t want on Amazon and saw like a kit with have amp and have all have all these things. So I’m looking at to get that within hopefully the next week. And just like making sure that I always have to meet time. No matter what, no matter how busy are crazy that my schedule gets that I’m always doing something for myself. I really enjoy going to live music, complete Love, love enjoying art. And then of course baking, you know baking, this is the season watching Food Network, like right now is Food Network season in my jams, and just really soaking up all these amazing recipes and getting inspired and just always making sure that I have some form of me time during the week for sure. For sure. And then traveling. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to travel within the past year, not God’s increase. I’ve done lagos nigeria, I think I sold him to Costa Rica. And then you know, so just making sure that you know, even though I may not have all the time in the world, when I do get some time to travel, I will love to travel more.

Justin Trosclair 38:52
Okay, you impress my wife one time I made a chicken dish with peaches. Really?

Unknown 38:58
Yeah, it was like a like a favorite with a little bit of sweet.

Justin Trosclair 39:01
Yeah. And I was like, the years of watching Food Network, just absorbing it subconsciously. You know, I was like, Oh, I don’t know how to make a comfy tea or whatever it is. Crazy muscles. They put on everything. But I like I’ve seen enough fruit combined with meat to know that this could work for some Yeah.

Unknown 39:19
Did you make a little sauce to

Justin Trosclair 39:22
know now So okay, I mean, maybe sauce and then like the juices from the meat and from the vegetables? water so don’t stick But

yeah, I didn’t do a peach sorbet on top. You know, something? I tried to really rocking my room. Like, what? What all those fancy. I don’t know these French words that they use. Yeah, that’s all that really is. That’s a big, big name for you

Unknown 39:49
know, just three things. I cannot

Unknown 39:54
chocolaty, right. Yeah. Yeah, chocolate sauce. Probably don’t put that on your chicken. No.

Unknown 39:59
Unless you’re chop, chop.

Justin Trosclair 40:02
Beginning you’re forced to

Unknown 40:03
Yeah.

Justin Trosclair 40:06
Well, you said you’re not married. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t dated in your title snap?

Unknown 40:11
Oh,

Justin Trosclair 40:12
yes. Maybe you haven’t? I don’t know. I would assume you did. But what kind of relationship advice might you have? Because a lot of people are divorced. Hey, that’s back out there on. Am I supposed to Snapchat? Do I do daily insights? What kind of pictures cannot see right.

So what kind of what kind of advice do you have for the 2017? crowd

Unknown 40:34
out there? So that’s a very interesting question. So it’s very, so Okay, so because I can sit, I’m a millennial technic. Bye, bye, you know, my birth year, dating as a millennial is very interesting, because we’re not confined anymore to just, you know, 20 mile radius. You know, if I want to meet someone via you know, whatever side or something, I can meet them, and they live in Washington or, you know, main or whatever, you know, so that’s interesting. And just being open, I would definitely say that, that’s my advice is just to be open, because you never know, we may meet. And that’s the great thing about technology is we do have access to more options. But then again, that could be considered a bad thing as well. So being open, also

Justin Trosclair 41:19
get overwhelmed.

Unknown 41:21
I’m

Justin Trosclair 41:21
not so much but not okay. Because I didn’t align dating before I got married. Okay, it was, you know, I was available is like, Okay, I’m not opposed to having a fly to Chicago, you know, you know, doing those types of things. Yeah. Does that ever? That’s what that goes, That’s my question. Does that overwhelm me? like, Okay, I’m gonna have to spend all this extra money, and how do I spend time with you, because it’s different between Skype versus Yeah, person,

Unknown 41:44
that’s true. But it doesn’t overwhelm me, because I think it makes it that much more interesting. It makes it you know, you have to be very creative, and how you connect with someone, especially when you’re not there in person. So you do want to do things like Skype, or, you know, make sure you can indicate as much as you can when you’re not together. But then also, you know, finding unique ways to connect, I like to play games. And, you know, I would say, hey, pull out a piece of paper. And let’s, you know, play this game and I want to play or even what crossword we would do crossword together and things like that. So to me, I think is, is refreshing to be more creative and forces you to do that it is a little bit, I guess, tougher when you do have a long distance to see each other as much as you would like. But you know, I think that anything that you want to have happen, can you just have to logistically figure out, how can we make this work and then have a long term goal in mind, obviously, be together? sooner rather than later?

Justin Trosclair 42:41
Hey, do you have to pay your own way on your first dates?

Unknown 42:43
Should you? Um, it depends. It depends on if you’ve been asked Personally, I wouldn’t want to have you asked me on a date. I feel like the first date should definitely be you paying for it. But you know, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong. I don’t know.

Unknown 42:58
Yeah, just the coffee room. I don’t know you

Unknown 43:04
can cut away from three bugs and 10 minutes later, like, oh, man, we do not connect.

Unknown 43:08
That is

Unknown 43:10
that is hilarious. Oh, but another thing about I guess like online dating, I personally have not yet had the opportunity to date or mine. I’m not opposed to it. I just haven’t had a chance to explore that. But I know that algorithm. algorithms are really good. So did you meet your wife that way? Or did you guys just meet the old school way? It was funny.

Justin Trosclair 43:31
I had just bought like an extra membership to like a new site and used it before. Okay. And then somebody I’ve worked with, like, Hey, I know this girl. Recently, and I was like, all right, well, what’s another, you know, date?

Unknown 43:44
Okay. So that was kind of like old school, which I mean, I think every, I don’t know, if everyone would love to meet the old school way, you know, friend of a friend or bumped into want someone at the grocery store. But the same time I think is pretty cool that you can meet someone that you connect with these, you know, these sites, the algorithms are amazing, amazing. They are amazing. So I think that they will connect you with people that you have a lot of compatibility with.

Justin Trosclair 44:05
Yeah. I don’t not recommend it. I was just curious how

Unknown 44:08
I just I haven’t, I haven’t yet. But I’m open. I’m open. I’m single and I am open. There we go.

Justin Trosclair 44:15
How do you prepare your day, you have like a morning routine or lunch routine that excites you or get you grounded. So

Unknown 44:21
recently, I make sure that I’m meal prep on Sundays. Because if I don’t have a plan going forward to the week, then I’m going to make terrible decisions and I’m going to spend money I don’t have. So for me, everything probably starts on that Sunday stars a meal prepping starts with me thinking about Okay, what is my goal this week? And how am I going to get to it? And how am I going to think about it every day so that I can actually make moves to achieving that. I’ve made it a point to say hey, I need to start working out because holidays are coming and I haven’t lost the weight that I gained last holiday season. And so I want to start you know, working out want to make sure my middle there prepped, always start out with with some type of music, I wake up, I have some music, just a reflection time. And then I have a grateful journal as well. And so I’ve been keeping a grateful journals right here, actually my bed, see it. And I started let’s see, the first day that I started it was December 18 2015.

Unknown 45:20
So it’s coming up on my two year anniversary of keeping a grateful journal. And basically my grateful journal is just a jot down, maybe at least one thing, at least one thing from that day. But I can have multiple things that made me grateful or made me smile, or this just changed my perspective in a way that’s refreshing. And so yesterday, I had an amazing day, I got to break the news to someone that they were expecting. And that moment you notice and I want to remember that I want to remember that for as long as I can. And it’s no better feeling than telling someone you know, you’re gonna you’re going to have a baby and then really be an excited about it. And then the partner with their they gave me a hug. So I wrote that down yesterday. But there are so many things to be grateful for. And I think that a lot of times we’re always focused on the bad, the negative, you know, it’s snowing here in Chicago. Already today was the first day of snow. So I know people people may be thinking, Oh, it’s snowing and all these things. But you know, I want to focus on positive or great things. And, you know, have that lead the way for the rest of the day.

Justin Trosclair 46:28
Do you ever go back and kind of read from time to time?

Unknown 46:31
I haven’t. I haven’t in a while actually, I probably should I started and I got up to like October 2016. So I you know, and I a refreshing my mind like, Oh my gosh, I can’t I can’t remember the exact day. But I remember you know that one thing that stood out. So I would definitely recommend that for anybody, you know, just keep something and constantly live in a state of gratefulness.

Justin Trosclair 46:55
You could just be a notebook, right? You have to go out and buy a

Unknown 46:57
$20 no fancy thing. You said.

Justin Trosclair 47:02
All right. Here’s the last couple fun questions.

Unknown 47:05
Okay.

Justin Trosclair 47:06
Any favorite books, blogs or podcasts that you secretly enjoy? And some that you just like? Everyone has to check this out.

Unknown 47:14
Okay, um, podcast, I am new, I guess which I would say to the field of podcast, but I watch insecure is IBM distribute familiar, but they have, they have like a recap. podcast after the show airs. And it really opened me up to podcast, it was about an hour long, but I just played in the car on my way to work. And it’s, it’s funny, you know, I listened and I laugh along. And so I can’t remember the name of it. It’s like, it’s like, insecurity, I think is the name of that podcast. So instead of the show was insecure, and the podcasts and security. So that’s going to be like my guilty pleasure podcast. And I like to laugh. All that stuff. have you discovered 1.5 speed yet? No.

Unknown 48:06
that’ll change your life. Hmm.

Justin Trosclair 48:08
Shave? shave off 15 to 20 minutes, man. If you’re into it, I’m like marathon guy, Mike, let’s get through it. You know,

Unknown 48:15
any books? Any books lately? Um, there’s one physiology? It’s No, please, no, no, there’s a book called The Four Agreements, okay. And I always try to remember, the Four Agreements, one of them is to not take things personally. And that has helped me tremendously in my adult life. A lot of times, when people I guess react to you, in certain situations, you kind of you have a tendency to take things personally. Whereas the book kind of helps you to dissect things and say, Hey, anything that happens, or someone says something, let’s say rude to you, you have to to immediately shift that off of yourself, and look at it and say, Okay, what is that in this person’s life that made them react that way versus, you know, me taking something that someone says or does personally, and that has helped me tremendously. That has helped me a lot. So the book is Four Agreements. There are three other agreements, one of them is always be good about your word or something like that. There’s two other ones, but it’s a great book. It’s an easy read. It’s like, yes, it’s 500. Some, yeah, hundred and some odd pages. And it’s just, it’s a really good quick read. But it just helps you get back to Ground Zero before you take things personally.

Justin Trosclair 49:33
We know that makes sense. Because you don’t know they could have had a huge fight with their absolute teenage kid. And then you’re the next person and we’re still frustrated. And you’re like, oh, it wasn’t me at all. I mean, we see that all the time, like people are rude. You get rid of their back pain. This person’s actually enjoyable. Like, right. I could have just done without them about a week ago, but now they’re actually enjoyable. Okay. So yeah, yeah, that makes sense. All right, last one, ready. We have a love of with our phone. Yes, we do. Mostly any favorite apps business or pleasure that you gravitate to, besides the classic Instagram, and Facebook? Let’s see,

Unknown 50:09
I haven’t started this app yet. But it’s for the guitar lessons. It’s called I just downloaded it today. And it’s called use it musician. And so I just, I think it’s going to help me because it’s basically is going to challenge you, and listen to the different cores as you play and help you and train you. So I’m really looking forward to using that app. So many great, amazing things technology has given us and anything that you want to be able to do you can do you just have to funnel you’re, you’re focused into that. And I’m very determined to try to learn how to play the guitar before I start residency. So that you know, I have something else a different outlet. And I you know, I don’t want to keep putting it off like oh, I want to learn I want to learn the time is now I have the time. And then I’m going to use different apps and you know, YouTube to my advantage

Justin Trosclair 51:04
of you. Are you musically inclined

Unknown 51:06
or not other instrument? I am not? Oh, it’s funny, because my dad, he purchased a keyboard for me, like many moons ago, probably over 20 years ago. And I tried to teach myself but it didn’t work. I think it would have helped if I had lessons.

Justin Trosclair 51:21
Yeah, yeah.

Unknown 51:24
I always have this affinity and this love for music. And I just, I can imagine myself just rocking out with the electric guitar. And I’m like the time is now the time is now to try and learn.

Justin Trosclair 51:36
Which is what’s your top two? Some of these trying to find? What are you trying to play? What is your

Unknown 51:39
goal? My goal? I don’t you know what? I want to just freestyle

Unknown 51:46
freestyle, something just melodic and beautiful. And that will be my goal. Some original original pieces. Come Yeah, but I do love. That’s a tough that’s a tough love Daniel Caesars though. And he has a song. Best part. So maybe I can try and learn that. I don’t know.

Unknown 52:06
It’s all chords most of these people. Do you play? Do you play? No,

Justin Trosclair 52:10
no, I mean, I pretend to sing. You know,

I think I’d like to say my hands or small. My lack of rhythm. I’ve got all kinds of excuses to not actually pick up an instrument and learn to play but I pretend like when I’m driving, I can see me on stage rocking out. I’m

Unknown 52:27
like, I gotta make this a reality. I just feel like I feel a deep connection. I feel like I can play I just have to get the instrument and learn. So I’ll

Unknown 52:37
let you know how that goes.

Justin Trosclair 52:40
I think you can do it. You’ll probably put it on Instagram that first

Unknown 52:44
married little head of the line was awesome today.

Unknown 52:50
Well, how can people get in touch with you and find more information about Dr. Janelle heavy so you can definitely follow me on Instagram at Paging Dr. Hadley. Also, aging doctor Hatley. I also have a Facebook page. That’s just Dr. Janelle K. Hadley. And then also my business page is cake dot and that fate and you know, even if you just want to take a look, and just you know, even get inspired by some of the things that I posted and make, you know, it’s a great page to follow. I don’t ship or anything like that. So if you’re not in the Chicagoland area, unfortunately, you won’t be able to have some goodies. But you’re more than welcome to follow and you know, maybe can exchange recipes and tips or things like that.

Justin Trosclair 53:32
Okay. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your unique perspective. Thank

Unknown 53:38
you so much for having me. This was an amazing experience. And I’m grateful for the opportunity to share

Justin Trosclair 53:46
another great episode in the book, thank you so much for being on the show. Being open with us. It was interesting to hear that even if we wanted to give more patients nutrition and lifestyle advice that we just don’t care. And sometimes I think we we forget that when we’re surrounding ourselves with like minded people, you’re an inspiration to me, and I’m sure to a lot of people work hard during residency, never stop learning. And I know you’re going to be a great benefit to the urban community where you decided to end up all the show notes can be found at a doctor’s perspective, net slash four, eight travel tip coming up next.

I’ve got some new things to talk about, of course, you can always review is give us that five star review on wherever you listen, but I got four new t shirts, you know, there’s chiropractors, some of them that just like to adjust. There’s someone like me who’s rehab and you know, decompression and cold laser things like that. And we call us straights versus mixers, so created some mixed tour shirts. They’re supposed to be kind of tongue in cheek over like I’m also the Atlas at remove the DNS, so therefore check that out. Maybe you like that better. Today’s choices, tomorrow’s health book, version two, point O is now out, we got nerve stretches, optimal calorie counter calculators, a section on fat, and a whole section on how to budget and try to get your financial life in order. All the things that I talked about all the time, it’s over 100 extra pages so get it now bonus my new hot off the presses book needless acupuncture self treatment guy for 40 common conditions is finally finished. It’s been a in the works for quite a while stop the hurting with no needles are meds, your roadmap to self treat your conditions painlessly. With needless acupuncture, Scott pictures, it has descriptions as of course, the conditions. And I plan to have video tutorials soon as you go to the website and check it out also on the website, but in the top right. All the social media icons are right there, whichever you’d like to follow me on, click that button and say hello.

travel tip, there’s an app called cash app. And you’re able to send money to people a little easier than just using your bank’s app. So if you ever have to split the bill at a restaurant with your friends, nobody cares cash and the restaurant doesn’t let you do it. This is one of those ways that you can do it. Or if you know that person’s never actually going to pay you back. You better get away you can catch up next week. Thanks for tuning in to the African American doctor spotlight series.

We just went hashtag behind the curtain and this episode has come to an end. I hope you got the right dose for your optimal life. Please spread the word about this podcast by telling to friends, share it on social media and visit the show notes on a doctor’s perspective. net to see all the references from today’s guest. A sincere thank you in advance. You’ve been listening to Dr. Justin trust Claire giving you a doctor’s perspective.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai