We recently connected with Neal Patel and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Neal, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

I’ve gone through a lot of schooling in my life and I’ve learned a lot about medicine through my years, but I learned more about people. I will never forget how when I was doing my residency, I was sitting in the work room with my colleagues. We had a very busy day, saw many patients, and you could see the frustration and fatigue amongst our faces. I remember looking to my left and then looking to my right. Everyone looked drained and as if their spirit was leaving them.

I realized at that moment that I would be miserable if I worked for a big corporation and if I was just another “cog in the wheel.” It was at that moment that I realized that I wanted to work for myself and go into private practice. I know that if I wasn’t happy with my job, it wouldn’t be only me that suffers, it would be my patients. And that was never acceptable to me since my patients are coming to me at their most vulnerable state of being. I am so grateful to have had that perception and realization early in my career.

Another experience was in residency when my colleague said: “Neal, your career is like Legos. You can build it anyway you want.” I love Legos and started to do that in real life. I worked multiple different jobs and locations right after I finished and got a full experience of the medical field. I worked in an urgent care, telemedicine, veterans affairs, social security, tattoo removal, another private practice, I did educational talks, and I worked at the LA county Jail systems (both the men’s and women’s). After getting that all out of my system, I moved into private practice and have been there since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

This is from my Bio:

Dr. Neal H. Patel is a board-certified family medicine physician currently in private practice in the city of Orange, and he obtained his medical degree from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. He went on to complete his residency in Family Medicine at Dignity Health, California Hospital Medical Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Dr. Patel is an educator, innovator, and visionary, and his practice focuses primarily on the geriatric population. He is an active member of his community, volunteers at the Lestonnac clinic and is an educator with the organization, Alzheimer’s Orange County.

He completed his undergraduate studies at UC, Irvine, where he worked in the department of radiation oncology with Dr. Charles Limoli. His published research focused on the effects of ionizing radiation of pluripotent and multipotent human neural stem cells, determining how low dose irradiation impacts neurogenesis, and whether radio-adaptation modified this response primarily in the hippocampal region.

His medical philosophy revolves around that the fewer pills, the fewer procedures, and the fewer doctors – the better. He is a big believer in alternative/integrative health including red light therapy, fasting, sound therapy, and he is an advocate for proper medicinal psilocybin and medicinal cannabis use. Dr. Patel believes he and cannabis share an unwritten synergistic bond that has created healing properties and power to treat his patients with a deeper understanding and personalized approach. Being recognized twice by the California State Senate as a medicinal cannabis expert, he is passionate about advocating for and teaching healthcare providers on the rapidly evolving landscape around the plant.

He considers it the responsibility and duty of the healthcare field to be up to date on the risks, benefits, and side effects of cannabis as patients increasingly consume them, and he hopes to educate providers on cannabis as means of another healing tool to empower themselves and the patients they serve. Psilocybin is also another area where Dr. Patel has increased interests for its healing properties for anxiety, depression, PTSD especially in veterans, and the potential for helping with neurocognitive disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. He believes in the quality of medical care versus the quantity, and approaches medicine in a holistic manner. Patient care has always been his top priority, and he continually strives to provide it at the highest level.

“It is truly an honor and privilege to serve my patients with the utmost humility, and I look forward to working as a team to help my patients attain their highest physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.” — Neal H. Patel, D.O.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

He’s not technically my business partner, but he’s the doctor who’s practice I took over. It’s a funny story but I was working on patenting something medical related when I was working at the jails. I already knew at this time I would end up in private practice, but didn’t know exactly where and when. I asked my sister for advice, she then referred me to her friend, who’s a lawyer. I talked to her lawyer and she mentioned how the questions I was asking would be better suited for her father, Dr. Acharya. I called him just thinking I’d ask him some questions about the patent. Instead, he asked me if I was interested in private practice and I replied “yes.” I met him and it felt as if I was talking to an older version of myself, and he felt he was talking to a younger version of himself. Within 45 minutes of our conversation and the first time meeting in person, we had shook on moving forward with me taking over the practice. I went from working in the LA county jails in November of 2020 to being in private practice in January 2021. To this day I am forever grateful for the opportunity he gave a young physician and still see him as a wonderful person and mentor.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe that it’s all about your work environment and what you envision for yourself. I was fortunate that I knew at a young age that I would suffer working for a large corporation and had a clear vision about going into private practice. The most helpful aspect of my success was my ability to have the courage to make decisions that can otherwise be daunting, and to have the ability to think outside the box. The greatest gift I ever received from God is my perception of life, and I still think that’s true today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.PhantomMed.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drnealhpatel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drnealhpatel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnealhpatel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drnealhpatel
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drnealhpatel

Image Credits

please credit my friend Cesar Salazar for some of the pics: @cxla__ (the ones in the suit, the one with glasses pointing to the screen, and the one of me looking at supplements)