Season 3 Episode 7: A Reason to Stay: Dr. Manjot Mashiana on the Fellowship Program, Belonging & Choosing Relias

. (00:02)
Reliably Well brings you thoughtful conversations from those who are shaping the future of healthcare, focusing not just on the technical side of the industry, but on the human element, the stories, the struggles, and triumphs of individuals who are driving change.

. (00:20)
Join us for

candid discussions that highlight both the challenges

. (00:23)
Yeah.

. (00:24)
of working in a field where humanity and health care intersect.

. (00:27)
Yeah, I

Welcome to the Reliably Well podcast. today we have a very special guest with us. Dr. Manjat Mashiana came to Relias through our emergency medicine fellowship, probably expecting to just stay one year, allow it to be one chapter in her journey. But like many fellows, she arrived focused on learning and growing and preparing for what came next. what she imagined didn’t expect was the the what came next.

Would be staying with Relias. Today we’re grateful she chose to build her career with Relias. And I know that if you’ve met Dr. Mashiana, you know she’s the kind of person who immediately puts others at ease. She’s engaging and genuinely kind. And yet at the same time, she’s an exceptional physician who brings calm confidence to some of medicine’s most demanding moments. It’s a rare combination of compassion and clinical excellence. Her accomplishments are equally impressive.

Dr. Mashiana is a physician and natural nationally engaged healthcare leader who has served in leadership roles within the American Osteopathic Association, helping advance physician advocacy, health policy, organizational governance, and leadership development. See, she is a graduate of the AOA Leadership Academy and the Training and Policy Studies Fellowship.

And has been recognized for excellence in teaching, research, leadership, and compassionate. I’m sorry, compassionate patient care throughout her career. Whether she’s caring for patients, teaching colleagues, or advocating for physicians, Dr. Mashiana brings the same humility and genuine care to every room she enters. I can tell you personally, having gotten to know her over the past year, it is a joy and a privilege.

to have this conversation with her. Doctor Machiana, we are so thankful that you are here with us today.

. (02:26)
Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. Absolutely.

. (02:29)
Absolutely.

That that’s part of my favorite part of my job is getting to gas up our podcast guest before we jump into conversation. Would love to hear from you. you know, what is your story? What kind of brought you to Tupelo? What made you interested in the fellowship program? anything you want to share about who you are?

. (02:50)
So a funny story, emergency medicine was not something I wanted to do. That was something that I had actually just cut off my list of specialties or what I may do. I read so many studies about burnout, life expectancy, just so many studies talking about the negative aspects of emergency medicine. So I said, you know what?

If I’m gonna pick something to do for the rest of my life, it is not emergency medicine. And the universe has a funny way of putting you where you need to be.

. (03:26)
Doesn’t it?

. (03:27)
It sure does. And I came to Tupel up for residency. the family medicine residency program here. so I’m gonna, you know, do a little plug for it, of course. Absolutely. gosh, it was such an inviting atmosphere. It truly felt like a family. We had golden weekends and

People applying to residency and residents know how important golden weekends are. It was very just from the interview to the whole process, everything, I was like, you know what, this is where this is where I want to be. And one of my really close friends who is like a little brother, he was already doing residency here. His wife was also planning to come here. Her and I became immediate best friends. So it just made sense to come here.

So doing residency here, we had to do emergency medicine rotations every year for the first two years. We had four-week rotations during the first year and second year during which we went to the emergency room. There, just seeing all these amazing attendings, doing what they do and just being so good at it. I was just absolutely blown away, amazed. and even on night shift, seeing

the amazing women that I worked with, men and women, but I just remember specifically there was one night it was Dr. Ray and Dr. Mitchell and seeing them. I mean it was a hard night and just seeing them go for it. I was like wow this this is this is it. But still I was like, you know what? You know, I’m such a family medicine doctor. I you know I want to open my clinic. I I want to send those cr New Year’s cards, Christmas cards. I want to

Know four generations of family members. Like I am such a clinic doctor. Like I’d love to know my patients. Dr. Patel comes along who’s who’s become like a sister to me and she says, you know what, it’s just one year. You love volunteering. Why don’t you do it? And I said, you know what, you’re right. You know, learning the skills in emergency medicine will give me more tools for my tool belt. So when I am volunteering, I I’m ready for anything that could happen.

So I said, it’s just one year. I’ll learn the skills. I’ll go back to Texas and you know, open a clinic and be a clinic doctor. But goodness, doing the year fellowship in emergency medicine, I can’t see myself doing anything else now. I absolutely love it. and I yes, family medicine still has my heart. Clinic medicine still has my heart, but in

emergency medicine y being there when when patients are scared, when they they don’t know what’s going on, families who are scared, that just it’s different. And being able to try to calm them or c or even you know say, hey, we’ve ruled out all these scary things.

now we can send you to your primary care physician to get you to the right specialist. Just kind of guiding them, I think, is really important. of course, you know, will I ever go back to clinic medicine? I don’t know, to be honest. but that’s still out there. I do think a lot of emergency medicine is also a lot of primary care. Things that I saw in clinic, I see in the ER too.

In addition to all the actual emergencies, but I yes, I thought I would never be an emergency medicine doctor. I I didn’t want to do it. That was in med school. Yeah. And seriously, the universe really has a way of just putting you where you need to be. So here I am now here I am. Truly can’t see myself doing anything else.

. (07:26)
Yeah. Well, I’d be remiss if I missed this opportunity to thank Dr. Patel and Dr. Ray and Dr. Mitchell for their influence and encouragement. because you’re right, you you just named three phenomenal female clinicians on our staff that really do an incredible job. And I’m so glad that you get to kind of join that crew of clinicians. You know, I hear a lot, especially from

our emergency team that, you know, you are with these patients on quite literally, for most of them, the worst day of their life. And so to hear you say, to be able to step in when a patient is scared or when a patient is, you know, unsure of a of a future and what that looks like, you know, I think that’s the heart of medicine. I I’m curious from your story, where do you think you get that that willingness and that drive to help?

you talked a lot about and I know just as I’ve gotten to know you that you love to volunteer, you love to advocate. So there’s clearly something within you, something within your story that loves to to help people. I’m just curious if you kind of can identify where that comes from.

. (08:36)
So I you know, my parents are immigrants. They didn’t speak English when they came to America. We didn’t know anything about the American system as far as getting help is concerned. You know, we didn’t know about Medicaid. We didn’t know about food tips. We didn’t know about any help that’s out there. So everything my parents did, they they had to do it on their own. and I remember being little and you know, my parents, they can’t afford to take a sick day.

I remember I think I was in middle school. I got bit by a spider and my whole foot turned like black and blue. And my biology teacher at the or my science teacher, Mrs. Morgan, she saw my foot and she’s like, Well, you need to go to the doctor. I was like, No, like my parents are working and I have no way of getting there. I don’t have I you know, I can’t. And she’s like, Well, your foot’s gonna get cut off. And I was like, Well, that scared me.

And so she said, you know what, let let me take you. I’ll take you to the doctor’s office. And I was No, no, no, it’s okay, my parents, they’ll take me. And you know, we we went, and the doctor that was in our town helped or you know, we she told me about a doctor in our town who helps who does cash pay. So he doesn’t take insurance and at that time it was just I think twenty-five dollars to be seen. So I went to him and

he prescribed me some things and I and I was so glad for that because one, going to the doctor’s office, it’s expensive. Two, it’s hard to get in with a doctor. so you know, I remember getting help when I really didn’t know I needed it. And yeah, I did need it at that time. But the other thing is I I remember these little times in my life where

I had, you know, somebody care so much to help me when I didn’t know anything else. But I also grew up as a Sikh. So that’s my religion. And that’s what I grew up in. And the big thing about my religion is service to others. So we are lifelong learners. we want to always help, defend those who can’t defend themselves. So I think before I really

knew more about my religion. I was always practicing it anyways. And about 10, 11 years ago, I read our holy book in its entirety and I said, wow, this encompasses who I am already as it is. And I felt this is more spiritual, you know, just this internal desire to help whenever you can. so I just I don’t know. I I don’t know

Like if there’s anything specific that drives it, ’cause I have been like this for as long as I can remember. But I I I do know it’s something that again, growing up in it, going to our temple, my parents taking us when we were little, I you know, subconsciously all of that is in there. And again, my religion’s very spiritual. So I think it’s just a it’s funny to say, but a calling.

. (11:58)
Yeah, yeah. I love that. You know, and I hear you talk about Miss Morgan, your teacher, and that influence of we all probably have educators in our world that stepped in and were willing to care about us as people and not just as students. And so I I think that’s awesome that Miss Morgan made that you know, influence on you. I’m curious from a professional or personal standpoint.

is are there people that have really influenced the the work that you do today?

. (12:32)
My parents, hands down, I have never seen anybody more hardworking than my parents. they’ve since coming to America, they never took a day off. Like seven days a week, 365 days a year, 6 a.m. to eleven PM every single day. My parents worked. They did not stop. And I that work ethic, seeing them do everything they can, not giving up, not complaining.

I think that’s my brother and I we have the same drive. We we don’t we won’t complain. We’re gonna show up. We’re gonna do what we need to. you know, if my parents could do all of this without taking a day off since I mean, for forty, fifty years, what you know, what am I complaining about? You know, I get two days off. My parents didn’t ever have two days off. you know, my my parents’ first vacation was when I

sent them to Hawaii and that was after they had been married for like 30 some years. Like that they never took a day off. And I was like, mom, dad, I got the businesses. Like, go ahead, go. Like, I promise you, everything will be fine at home. And and then they came right back. They enjoyed it and they went straight back to work. I retired my parents. Exactly. I retired my parents last year. well two years ago now I said hey guys like enjoy it.

no, they I think they lasted eight months in retirement and like, all right, we’re we’re gonna go back to work, we’re gonna find something to do. so they just they they’ve got a drive, they’ve got they don’t give up. They just I mean life it life gets hard. It does. And getting through it, I mean, it it takes a lot because a lot of people do give up. you know, we see it all the time and

You know, seeing these two immigrants who don’t know the system, don’t know anything here, make it, you know, put their children to school and being supportive. I I truly can’t imagine anybody else who could be a better role model for me because you can be anything you want, you can do anything you want. It’s the foundation that’s really important. So I that’s whenever people ask me that, I just mom and dad.

And hands down.

. (15:00)
Yes,

yes. And I I got to see your parents last week at the fellowship graduation. And it was really cool from where I was sitting to watch them. It was very obvious how proud they were to see you complete the fellowship program. They both had their phones out recording the entire time. so I imagine if we were to have them on the podcast, they would sing your praises as well. so what a gift you are to them and that hard work kind of realized for them.

I’m curious from from your perspective, you talked a little bit earlier about, you know, the the statistics that you hear, the burnout rates, the doom and gloom that you can easily find on emergency medicine, and really any medicine healthcare profession in particular. what would you say that you have found is the biggest challenge for for you as a as a clinician?

. (15:55)
so I’m going to take my time in family medicine and emergency medicine to answer that question. Yeah. I do think it’s the distrust in physicians and medical information, I think is the biggest challenge that we have. you know, of course, we go by studies, things that have been proven, research, data that’s out there to help our patients. But when there’s a mistrust in

What we are doing in our recommendations, why we’re recommending it, it it makes it very hard, I think, to do our job because then they say, well, Google said this, or I heard this on TikTok, and while I’m doing this, and you know, I’m gonna go do all of these other teas and supplements, not knowing that some of these interact with their blood thinners. So it’s it’s very hard.

hard because I feel like we are competing against so much misinformation out there. And to me, I find that to be the hardest part of being a clinician is being able to help. And of course, science changes all the time. Research comes out all the time, but we are doing the best we can with the information that we have. so I think, you know, we all went to school for

Feels like hundreds of years. It’s not that much, but you know, we truly studied a lot to get to where we are. And and we continuously have to study. It’s not that, but we studied four years ago. I mean, we have to keep up with our board exams or licensure. We have all these journals that well, at least I know they come to my house because my dad says you had another journal that came in the mail today. And I was like, Yeah, daddy, when I come home I’ll I’ll I’ll read them. Catch up.

Yeah. So you know, there’s a lot of information and we all do really try to keep up with what is going on. So it’s that that’s difficult. And with I AI coming around, I don’t know what the future holds for clinicians for certain specialties. So that’s something that is gonna be interesting to see what happens in the future.

. (18:14)
Yeah. You know, hearing you talk, it it’s that competing information and and helping people kind of be pointed to that source of truth. And to your to your point, the the hours and years that you spend training and practicing and learning new skills and learning new information as science evolves. I know that that is not easy. You know, I I’m curious as we talk about the source of truth, the you know, fellowship program.

Obviously you have just completed that. and for you and your experience, I I can imagine that there may be someone listening to this podcast that may be trying to make a decision on the fellowship program. And so I think sometimes the greatest source is those who have experienced it. so I would I would love to ask you if someone were listening to this podcast, trying to make a decision about the Relias Fellowship, what would you say to them?

. (19:10)
do it. Definitely. in the grand scheme of things, it’s just one year. so if you think about your career as a physician, you’re not going to think about the one year of attending pay that you lost. yes, you get fellowship pay. It’ll, you know, be more than residents pay, but it of course won’t be attending pay at all. But it’s just one year. You’re gonna learn skills. You are I

Even if like I thought I was gonna go right back to family medicine, right? I think it would have just made me a better clinician in the clinic as well. So if you are even thinking about doing it, just do it. It’s one year. You’re gonna learn so much in this one year. It it’s gonna solidify your knowledge, it’s gonna teach you where your gaps are for sure. You are gonna learn all these procedural skills. So in the future, if you ever decide to

pivot your career or you do volunteer or something happens, you’re there. You, you can, you have the knowledge, you can help. Again, I I truly, it’s one year 50, well maybe not 50, but 20 years down the line, you’re not gonna think about the one that one year you spent in training. It’s truly not going to make that big of a difference in the rest of your career and what you’re going to do.

So I mean if you’re thinking about it, do it. And I’m gonna be biased here, but come here because we have some amazing attendees. They take the time to teach you procedures, just clinical knowledge. Whenever you have a patient, they talk you through what you know, what you should be doing. You do have a lot of autonomy and you get to make your decisions, but they’re there, they’re looking at all the decisions you made. You get to talk to them about all the patients that you see and

They’ll explain, you what, you should have done this, or why did you order this? What was your thought process? Well, how about, you know, what what else could you order? What else could you be looking for? You know, try building that differential diagnosis for you. Tupelo is very nice. I truly did not expect myself to be here. I thought I was gonna go back to Texas. We do have direct flights from Tupelo to Dallas, also Tupelo to Nashville.

So it’s it’s a very nice town. They have some of the prettiest sunsets I’ve seen in a town. so again, the town is nice. The fellowship just I mean I’ve made some amazing friends here. And I’m staying around for two more years as in attending at the hospital where I trained at and some of the nearby hospitals as well. So if you’re thinking about it.

Please do it. Reach out to me if you want to know. we get a lot of experience. We get a lot of procedures here. And I’m neurotic. I have a whole entire Excel sheet that shows you, you know, what you need to do for fellowship and what you would have done if you’d done an emergency medicine residency. So that way you can feel competent when you leave at the end of the year. So do it. Yeah.

. (22:24)
Great, what a what a great plug. that was that was great to kind of hear your experience. And I and I’ll tell you this, I think one of the things that it’s really easy for us, especially in healthcare, to talk about the challenges because there are many. but I’m also curious just hearing you talk about the experience of having attendings who were intentional with their time and their teaching, and and you’ve obviously clearly felt very supported and very equipped for

emergency medicine and the continuing practice. What gives you hope about being a clinician? you know, still relatively early in your career, you have a lot of great energy and insight, something I hope that you always keep. and so what gives you hope about the future of medicine?

. (23:11)
That’s that’s a really hard question. you know, medicine is changing. But I I truly think it’s that interaction with the patients, their families, the you know, even their their reaction after you’ve given them a diagnosis or treated them for whatever it may be.

They you truly are there during one of their most difficult times. So I think yes, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, but they still come to you at the end of the day. Yes, they may say, Well, I heard about this and I heard about that, but they are trusting you to help them make those decisions or give them another opinion. so that I think it kind of it

The humanity of it, I think, is I’ll say what gives me hope.

. (24:07)
Amen. Amen. and I think that’s why we ultimately love this podcast. It’s that ability to see behind the expertise to see the human in our clinicians, but remind ourselves too that our patients are human. And like we said earlier, oftentimes there no one’s waking up in the morning and saying, I think I’m gonna go to the emergency room today. it’s oftentimes their biggest fear, their worst day of their lives is when you’re finding them. And so

Keeping that humanity at the heart of what we do, I do think is incredibly important. I’m curious as we kind of wrap up our time together, I have so enjoyed kind of hearing your story, hearing just the clear energy and hope that you have for medicine. I think you represent the future of medicine in many ways. And we’re just so grateful that you are a part of Relias and truly.

An ambassador. You know, we joked earlier as we were preparing for this. Your CV is incredible. You’ve had, we haven’t even really scratched the surface of all the ways that you advocate for clinicians at a national level. I know I’ve talked to you a couple of times when you’ve been in DC, really using your voice for the future of medicine. So lots of really impressive things about you.

but I’m curious as we kind of speak to that humanity, what do you think would be something that people would be surprised to know about you, whether it’s personal or professional or kind of just an anecdote about you as a person?

. (25:42)
I will say, you know, I am always very serious in life. I mean, yes, very bubbly, but besides all the political advocacy and you know, besides all the volunteer work, I do enjoy dancing. dance every day. And then stargazing. I I am a

Sucker for just celestial events. for an example on August 12th to 13th, we’re having a new moon. There’s a pursuits meteor shower, there’s like a six-planet alignment that’s occurring. Unfortunately, I’m working at night. I am night shift.

. (26:25)
Are you night ships?

Maybe you can take a quick break to to see it outside. And it’s great to be in Tupelo. You can probably see the stars a little bit better than in a bigger city.

. (26:36)
Yes. So I it’s gonna be such a great night. But yeah, I mean I chase meteor showers and I will go out of my way to, you know, put these things on my calendar. I’m like, okay, I gotta make sure I try to go find a dark sky park so I can see this. And you know, I love taking pictures of nature, animals, the sky, of course, stars and that’s gonna be one of my next goals is to catch a a media shower or

you know see just kind of refine my photography. I’m an amateur photographer, so nothing nothing exciting there, but dancing and photography and chasing stars, I think, is is what people might be surprised to hear about me.

. (27:25)
You’re a woman of many talents. And as someone who also loves to dance, have always said that I I’m actually not a great dancer at all, but I I think it’s a great stress relief. we’ll have to we’ll have to join forces one day to just one of my favorite things to do. some of those in our leadership team know I love a good silent disco. so maybe we can bring that to the the Tupelo Emergency Department as a stress relief.

. (27:52)
How do that?

. (27:55)
Well, we really just so appreciate your time. We appreciate your story and your clinical excellence, but ultimately we appreciate you as a person and your willingness to share your story. I know that those who are fortunate enough to have met you in person experience and sense that warm, genuine care. but I also know that those that are fortunate enough to be listening to this get to experience it in auditory form. and so

We just really appreciate the time and thank you for the incredibly important work that you do.

. (28:30)
Thank you for having me on this podcast. Absolutely.

. (28:36)
Thank you for joining us on Reliably Well we explore the intersection of the

. (28:40)
We hope these conversations inspire

The passion behind the practice.

. (28:49)
And the purpose that drives innovation in

. (28:51)
Yeah.

. (28:54)
sure to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Your support

. (28:58)
Support.

. (28:58)
helps us to continue sharing these important stories. For more insights and updates about what we’re up to at Relias, visit us at Reliashealthcare dot com and follow us on your favorite podcasting platform.

. (29:13)
And if you have any
that help to demonstrate the humanity of healthcare reliably

. (29:17)
and health please let us know at relique

. (29:20)
well.

. (29:21)
at reliashealthcare.com. We look forward to hearing from you and telling your story. Until next time, stay well, stay inspired, and keep bringing humanity to healthcare.