Dr. Oz has won six-time Daytime Emmy® Awards for The Dr. Oz Show and is Professor of Surgery at Columbia University.
His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive surgery, alternative medicine, and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books, has received numerous patents, and participates in 50 heart surgeries per year. He also hosts the internationally syndicated Daily Dose in 134 radio markets, a newspaper column in 175 markets internationally, and has a magazine The Good Life, which was voted the hottest new publication in 2014.
Dr. Oz was born in Cleveland, Ohio, raised in Delaware, and received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University (1982) and obtained a joint MD and MBA (1986) from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School. He now lives in Northern New Jersey with his wife Lisa of 29 years and their four children, Daphne, Arabella, Zoe, and Oliver.
Together with Puente Romano Beach Resort and Six Senses Spa, the famous Dr. Oz hosted an exciting get-alone talk about health, well-being, and nature.
Tell us about that aha moment when you knew medicine was the right path for you.
My father was also a surgeon, so I grew up watching him be a healer and was independently fascinated with the human body and science. A seminal moment happened when I was seven and a store clerk asked a boy ahead of us what he wanted to be as an adult, to which the boy replied he did not know. My father used this as a teachable moment and said to me that I could be anything, but I cannot be undecided and must pick something and be good at it. I knew already that medicine excited me and that conversation forced the crystallisation of my life’s mission.
What is the biggest challenge about being a doctor?
Unlike any other job, the cost of a mistake is that a person will suffer or die. I always say that surgery is controlled arrogance – you have to be in a specific zone to look at a beating heart and then stop it, repair it and restart it. That’s a high wire act without a net.
Did you ever dream you’d be practising medicine on TV?
No, never crossed my mind. I would have been perfectly happy operating for my entire career, but at the end of my life, I would have only helped several thousand patients. Television lets me teach millions – ideally with information that lets them avoid major health problems. I can make a bigger impact of broadcasting our national conversation on health than I ever could if I stayed in the operating.
Can you describe your definition of a good doctor?
Historically, humans always designated one person in the village that was a healer. This “doctor” knew you, listened to your problems, prayed with you and for you and shared whatever rudimentary technology they had to alleviate suffering. Most importantly, this person was also a teacher, showing you the pathway to health and a better life. The word “doctore” in Latin means to teach. A good doctor understands that these wise ancient elements are still part of their modern job description, albeit enhanced by our current science and technology. A good doctor is sensitive, open and a strong advocate for the patient.
What is the best piece of advice you could offer to aspiring doctors?
I was told in medical school that by the time we retired half of what we were being taught would be proven to be false. The problem was we won’t know which half. The core issue a new doctor must comprehend is that what we see as dogma in medicine is actually fluid, changing, evolving. Accept that medical truth is a moving target and you’ll be a more effective healer.
What are the most common improvements people try to make and what are some good tips?
People aspire to lose weight, feel energized and look younger. The most important tip is to have a concrete, actionable plan! Those who have plans and write down their goals are twice as likely to succeed. This January we are going to help you feel like a 10 in all areas of your life. We are providing terrific plans for rapid weight loss, looking younger, boosting energy, getting more sleep and many other topics that will help you reach your potential to feel like a 10. We’ll even address the aches and pains, like heartburn and arthritis, holding you back. We know these plans are effective because we have deployed elements in the past and gotten tremendous positive feedback from viewers.
For instance, the Total 10 Rapid Weight Loss Plan from our TV show (free on www.Doctoroz.com) is an improved version of a prior plan which two million viewers downloaded last year and sampling indicates an average weight loss of 9 pounds within only a few weeks. After assessing the whole plan we eliminated parts that were obstacles for users – like the morning cup of coffee so many of you crave. Our shows this month will change your life, so tune in.
What is the topic of your talk at Marbella’s Puente Romano?
Health and wellness topics resonate with many groups because their members realise that if they cannot control their own bodies, how can they change the world outside of it. Yet many are living lives of quiet desperation searching for the good life – a journey that I try to facilitate thru the lens of health. For example, people change more based on how they feel than what they know, so we need emotionally gripping stories to make insights sticky. I use show clips to bring alive these tales. I often share weight loss, sleep or stress management tactics to reveal what holds us back from changing and how we can alter that reality. High-quality animations and demonstrations can breathe life into these examples.
In fact, there are five big life adjustments that control 70% of how we age and I tackle these using Emmy award-winning show videos and cutting edge fundamental medical insights so the audience can take home actionable tips for their friends, family, and potential clients. I share communication insights learned appearing on 80 Oprah shows and over 1000 of my own programs over the past 7 years. Our digital efforts (busiest in all of daytime television by several-fold with numerous award-winning apps) offer novel approaches that demonstrate how I see the health field rapidly becoming dominated by mobile influences. Analogous changes are impacting the financial services and leisure sectors, groups that intersect more than imagined with health. Nevertheless, the best way to live longer is to give your heart a reason to keep beating, so I seek a soulful element to the presentation.
Why you are still doing the Dr. Oz shows?
Watching my show, people learn and come to experience their own body. Especially women who can, in turn, take care of their children and husbands.
What have you learnt from your own shows?
The most important lesson I’ve learnt is that people don’t change based on what they know, but based on how they feel.
What is happiness for you personally?
Happiness is all about health! It is about the feeling that tells me that my body is filled with joy. This is both physical and emotional health.
If you are anxious, depressed, and have problems, you can’t be really healthy as your mental health is suffering.
What comes after happiness? What is the next level?
I think it’s continuous. For me, it is peace at heart and love for everything and everyone around you. Let’s be honest, very few of us get to this point. This is the ultimate joy.
Have you noticed that some people are energy givers, and others, energy takers? If you give energy, you are an energy giver, and people around you feel happy and blessed!
My daughter Arabel has diabetes, can it be treated?
I’d say that for Type 1 diabetes, there are no miracles, whereas Type 2 can be controlled by means of a special diet.
Did you like Six Senses Spa Marbella?
Yes, I and my wife enjoyed it very much. We enjoyed massage and yoga treatments.
Do people need food supplements?
You need no food supplements if your diet is perfect (which is the case of about 1% of all people on the planet).
Our body does not produce minerals, that is why one should consume at least a minimum daily amount of minerals with food supplements.
Do people need meat protein?
Yes, but we need protein, not meat, not necessarily.
My wife is a vegetarian, and I eat pretty much anything. Everything depends on a person’s blood type and genes.
About Annika Urm
Annika Urm is an international businesswoman, journalist, blogger, public speaker, international influencer, the director of i-Marbella.com, and her job is to report emotional experiences and facts in the best possible way. Annika is a modern entrepreneur, a business lady of high standards and exquisite taste. Annika’s incredible performance is best described by her numerous followers (more than 200,000.00 each month)
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