1: V is for Vedala

In Vital Visions’ first episode, we get to know the Vedala brothers in depth. Drs. Krishna and Veer Vedala talk about their lives growing up, going to undergrad and medical school together, and how their lives are now - practicing side by side in the same primary care clinic. The doctors talk about their passions, what brought them to medicine and how they ended up at Norman Regional together.

Links:
Krishna Vedala, MD, MPH
Raghuveer Vedala, MD, FAAFP
The Vedala's Primary Care Clinic
Norman Regional Primary Care Clinics
Blog - Norman Regional Doctor Awarded New Title

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The information in this show is not to be used as medical advice. If you are needing medical care, please consult with your physician.

Norman Regional is hiring! See all our open opportunities here: https://careers.normanregional.com/careers-home/

Transcript

00;00;05;14 - 00;00;06;07
Welcome, friends.

00;00;06;07 - 00;00;08;17
This is DR’s Krishna and Veer Vedala.

00;00;08;17 - 00;00;10;15
And we are Vedala Bros.

00;00;10;15 - 00;00;14;17
We are delighted to bring you our brand new podcast, Vital Visions.

00;00;15;00 - 00;00;18;01
So in this podcast, we'll be discussing important medical topics

00;00;18;01 - 00;00;19;10
that affect your community.

00;00;19;10 - 00;00;22;10
We'll be looking into medical research, health and wellness tips

00;00;22;13 - 00;00;23;21
and also available health

00;00;23;21 - 00;00;26;21
care resources brought to you by the Norman Regional Health System.

00;00;26;25 - 00;00;27;14
That's right.

00;00;27;14 - 00;00;30;21
And in each episode, we'll also be joined by medical professionals,

00;00;30;21 - 00;00;33;19
local community leaders and even some of our friendly neighbors

00;00;33;19 - 00;00;37;07
as we talk through various issues that are affecting our community.

00;00;37;10 - 00;00;40;24
So if you want to lead healthy lives or learn about the new healthy trends,

00;00;41;03 - 00;00;44;00
we want this podcast to be your go to resource.

00;00;44;00 - 00;00;47;05
In this episode, we're going to be discussing who the Vedala Bros are.

00;00;48;22 - 00;00;50;16
Yeah, How did you think that went, man?

00;00;50;16 - 00;00;51;16
I think that went pretty well.

00;00;51;16 - 00;00;53;22
No, no, that went pretty well. Pretty well.

00;00;53;22 - 00;00;55;19
That's great. Well, Dr. Vedala.

00;00;55;19 - 00;00;56;04
Yes, Dr. Vedala. 

00;00;56;04 - 00;00;58;19
You're the older one, so maybe you should go first.

00;00;58;19 - 00;01;00;23
Uh, I guess I will, since I am the older one.

00;01;00;23 - 00;01;04;18
Uh, so my name is Krishna Vedala, and, um, I'm

00;01;04;18 - 00;01;08;06
an internal medicine, uh, doctor, uh, in the primary care side.

00;01;08;18 - 00;01;11;02
Uh, at the South OKC location.

00;01;11;02 - 00;01;14;06
Um, but just about me as a person today, I think the best way

00;01;14;06 - 00;01;17;06
you could describe me is

00;01;17;07 - 00;01;19;20
I'm just. I'm just. Just a really nice guy.

00;01;19;20 - 00;01;23;03
Uh, the things I love to do are traveling, uh, when I have time.

00;01;23;15 - 00;01;26;01
And, of course, I'm a big pop culture fan.

00;01;26;01 - 00;01;29;06
Uh, occasionally you'll hear me doing references from movies and TV shows.

00;01;29;18 - 00;01;31;20
And I'm also a big sports, sports fan.

00;01;31;20 - 00;01;34;12
So mostly the Oklahoma City Thunder and the.

00;01;34;12 - 00;01;35;05
OU Sooners.

00;01;35;05 - 00;01;36;04
And of course.

00;01;36;04 - 00;01;38;20
And people always ask me why, but the New York Yankees,

00;01;38;20 - 00;01;40;11
I think it's just because I love them, because they want to win

00;01;40;11 - 00;01;42;11
and they want to do well, or at least they did.

00;01;42;11 - 00;01;44;14
Um, at least not this decade, but the previous decade.

00;01;44;14 - 00;01;49;19
But um, but uh, as far as, uh, other things about me, I love my wife

00;01;49;19 - 00;01;54;07
and of course our cat, Loki, and I love hanging, uh hanging out with my family.

00;01;54;18 - 00;01;58;23
Um, and, uh, I just want this podcast, uh,

00;01;59;02 - 00;02;00;25
to be the opportunity for all of my patients

00;02;00;25 - 00;02;03;25
to get to know me and kind of on the other side rather than just in clinic.

00;02;04;08 - 00;02;05;25
And, uh, that's pretty much about it.

00;02;05;25 - 00;02;08;11
So, uh, what about you, Dr. Veer Vedala?

00;02;09;25 - 00;02;12;28
You can just call me Veer man, its gonna get 
confusing in a little bit.

00;02;13;00 - 00;02;14;08
That's true.

00;02;14;08 - 00;02;15;12
Hello, everyone.

00;02;15;12 - 00;02;16;04
I am Dr. Raghuveer Vedala. 

00;02;16;04 - 00;02;19;13
I am also a primary care doctor,

00;02;19;16 - 00;02;21;19
board certified in family medicine.

00;02;21;19 - 00;02;25;03
Um, I am a father of two fur babies.

00;02;25;03 - 00;02;29;15
Ginger and Izzy, married to my wonderful wife, Sryia Vedala, brother

00;02;29;15 - 00;02;32;15
to THE Krishna Vedala.

00;02;32;20 - 00;02;35;00
Uh, and also, um, a son.

00;02;35;00 - 00;02;37;01
to our lovely parents.

00;02;37;01 - 00;02;39;15
Um, uh, Mr. and Mrs. Vedala.

00;02;39;15 - 00;02;45;28
Let's put it that, uh, I am also a huge gaming enthusiast,

00;02;46;09 - 00;02;50;21
and I say that, uh, because back in the day, I used to be a huge gamer,

00;02;50;21 - 00;02;55;05
and now I have to find opportunities to be able to play and get online

00;02;55;05 - 00;02;58;05
with my friends, play some good old halo or overwatch.

00;02;58;11 - 00;03;01;03
Uh, in my free time these days,

00;03;01;03 - 00;03;04;00
uh, my wife and I are going to a lot of weddings.

00;03;04;00 - 00;03;05;09
A lot of our friends are getting married

00;03;05;09 - 00;03;08;28
and we're doing a lot of Bollywood dancing, uh, for those weddings and, uh,

00;03;09;25 - 00;03;12;05
choreographing those and having fun with our friends.

00;03;12;05 - 00;03;16;24
Um, we also are making more time to, uh, work on ourselves,

00;03;17;08 - 00;03;21;13
whether it be personal fitness wise, or get back into our hobbies

00;03;21;13 - 00;03;24;14
or spend time, some quality time with our friends and family.

00;03;25;09 - 00;03;25;26
So, yeah,

00;03;27;20 - 00;03;28;25
that's about it.

00;03;28;25 - 00;03;30;00
Awesome.

00;03;30;00 - 00;03;32;10
So for me,

00;03;32;10 - 00;03;35;16
I think during the pandemic, one of the things that we noticed was

00;03;35;29 - 00;03;39;18
there was a lot of misinformation out there at times, and I kind of felt

00;03;39;20 - 00;03;41;22
part of the reason for that was

00;03;41;22 - 00;03;44;29
there was this sense of mistrust or just lack of connection

00;03;44;29 - 00;03;48;22
between the medical community and between the general population.

00;03;49;06 - 00;03;51;06
And I kind of felt like

00;03;51;06 - 00;03;54;07
we needed to do something more on behalf of the medical community.

00;03;54;07 - 00;03;55;09
We needed to go out there.

00;03;55;09 - 00;03;58;29
We needed to kind of try to see what the daily,

00;03;59;02 - 00;04;02;22
uh, issues that our patients are having to deal with.

00;04;03;01 - 00;04;07;07
And I kind of felt that doing this through a podcast would be a really good

00;04;07;07 - 00;04;07;25
first step.

00;04;07;25 - 00;04;10;25
It allows, um, the general population to interact

00;04;11;06 - 00;04;14;06
with the medical community if they have any specific questions.

00;04;14;10 - 00;04;17;08
But my ultimate hope and intention

00;04;17;08 - 00;04;22;06
with this podcast is to help, um, mitigate the daily issues

00;04;22;06 - 00;04;25;06
that patients are having to deal with, but also at the same time

00;04;25;10 - 00;04;28;15
to allow this podcast to be a resource for them to go to.

00;04;29;01 - 00;04;32;01
And I feel that at the end of the day

00;04;32;14 - 00;04;35;08
it's not just about us as providers,

00;04;35;08 - 00;04;39;08
but also about uh, getting patients to know that we're just, just like them.

00;04;39;08 - 00;04;43;04
It's just we have years of training,
because this is what we love to do,

00;04;43;14 - 00;04;47;07
but also that we're here because we care for them and that we're here

00;04;47;07 - 00;04;51;11
because we want to see them, uh, to do what's best for them.

00;04;51;29 - 00;04;55;25
And so that's, that's my whole, uh, reason for, for doing this podcast.

00;04;56;11 - 00;04;57;13
Well, what about you? What about you, Veer?

00;04;57;13 - 00;04;59;21 What made you want to do this podcast?

00;04;59;21 - 00;05;01;27
No Krishna, I think that's a that's a great point.

00;05;01;27 - 00;05;05;13
I think what something we're trying to do is bridge the gap between patients and

00;05;05;13 - 00;05;06;22
physicians and, um,

00;05;07;29 - 00;05;10;12
provide resources, uh

00;05;10;12 - 00;05;13;19
that, um, for our patients that are easy to understand,

00;05;13;23 - 00;05;17;00
um, without the medical jargon as we talk

00;05;17;00 - 00;05;20;00
to our guests in a conversational manner,

00;05;20;01 - 00;05;21;02
right?

00;05;21;02 - 00;05;23;23
But for me, as you know, I love teaching

00;05;23;23 - 00;05;26;22
and I think, I think one of my passions

00;05;27;05 - 00;05;31;15
and aims for this podcast as well is to, is to provide a resource

00;05;31;15 - 00;05;35;11
for our primary care physicians and residents and students alike,

00;05;35;13 - 00;05;35;25
right?

00;05;35;25 - 00;05;38;26
Um, I want them to use this podcast

00;05;38;26 - 00;05;42;23
as a, uh, as a tool to help better take care of their patients.

00;05;42;26 - 00;05;47;24
Uh, especially pertaining to our community here in Norman and Norman Regional.

00;05;47;24 - 00;05;49;04
Mm hmm. Yeah.

00;05;49;04 - 00;05;52;16
Um, so with that being said, maybe we should talk about

00;05;52;16 - 00;05;55;16
a little bit about our focuses and what 
there will be on this podcast?

00;05;55;17 - 00;05;56;07
Yes, of course.

00;05;57;07 - 00;06;00;07
So this podcast will have a, you know,

00;06;00;07 - 00;06;03;08
a couple of different focuses, but mostly it, it'll, it'll be on medicine.

00;06;03;08 - 00;06;06;14
Um, but in addition to that we'll also be talking about, um,

00;06;06;23 - 00;06;09;26
what's happening in our community and some other current events

00;06;09;26 - 00;06;13;17
related to the medical field, um, here in our community.

00;06;13;28 - 00;06;14;28
Um, and of course we'll

00;06;14;28 - 00;06;18;21
also be having some expert guests, um, that you'll all love.

00;06;18;21 - 00;06;23;07
Uh, and uh, these guests will be providing some of their expertise, um, regarding

00;06;23;10 - 00;06;26;13
specific topics, um, and uh,

00;06;26;15 - 00;06;30;20
you know, and so that is mostly what you'll see through this podcast.

00;06;31;05 - 00;06;32;23
Anything else to add, Veer?

00;06;32;23 - 00;06;34;29
Yeah, And I think, you know, some of the things we can do

00;06;34;29 - 00;06;39;08
is also stay up to date on what's happening in the OKC and Norman area,

00;06;39;19 - 00;06;41;29
but big projects Norman Regional is setting up

00;06;41;29 - 00;06;44;27
and what more resources we can offer our patients. You know

00;06;45;29 - 00;06;49;03
um, as as well we'll be doing the question of the day.

00;06;49;08 - 00;06;50;24
Yeah that's going to be fun. Yeah.

00;06;50;24 - 00;06;53;29
So the question of the day as we you know you get we have an email out there for

00;06;53;29 - 00;06;56;22
you guys send your questions to at the end of each episode.

00;06;56;22 - 00;07;00;03
We'll try to answer them either by ourselves or with our special guests.

00;07;02;07 - 00;07;03;07
Awesome. Excellent.

00;07;03;07 - 00;07;08;03
Uh, before we, uh, move forward, one of the things that we just want to do

00;07;08;03 - 00;07;09;15
is thank Norman Regional

00;07;09;15 - 00;07;13;12
and our marketing department, uh, for all, all their help in getting this going.

00;07;13;22 - 00;07;16;22
Uh, this has been a dream of ours for quite a few.

00;07;16;22 - 00;07;18;19
Quite a few um, quite a bit of time.

00;07;18;19 - 00;07;21;17
And, uh, to make this possible is, uh, it's a pretty big deal.

00;07;21;17 - 00;07;24;17
So we just want to thank everyone at Norman Regional and the marketing team

00;07;24;20 - 00;07;27;20
for supporting us, uh, and for getting this going.

00;07;28;03 - 00;07;28;10
Yeah.

00;07;28;10 - 00;07;31;20
We are beyond grateful for all the support and uh giving us

00;07;31;20 - 00;07;35;13
this platform, um, in order to make one of our dreams come true.

00;07;36;20 - 00;07;37;12
this is so great.

00;07;37;12 - 00;07;41;00
This is one thing I, I just want to take a good shout out to,

00;07;41;12 - 00;07;42;24
um, Norman Regional [Health] System

00;07;42;24 - 00;07;45;25
and our communication at first. Tiger text has become,

00;07;46;20 - 00;07;49;27
has been a game changer for me because, um, it's, it's not a resource

00;07;49;27 - 00;07;52;27
I had in any of my training in the past or my previous job

00;07;53;08 - 00;07;56;08
where you could message a specialist and talk to them.

00;07;56;17 - 00;08;01;09
But, um, Krishna and I were, we're talking about one of my patients actually,

00;08;01;11 - 00;08;07;05
and um, this is actually a great point to discuss with our future guests, um, Dr.

00;08;07;05 - 00;08;09;01
Jones or Dr.

00;08;09;01 - 00;08;11;12
Jones, Dr. Alexander Jones or Dr. Shari Jones.

00;08;11;12 - 00;08;15;07
Um, because, um, I had a patient who had come in just to establish

00;08;15;07 - 00;08;19;24
care with me, and, uh, you know, we do our routine screening labs and,

00;08;20;09 - 00;08;25;03
and, uh, we, we get this lab called a CBC, and, and we

00;08;25;23 - 00;08;27;03
look at a couple of parameters, right?

00;08;27;03 - 00;08;30;00
So, for example, there is your white blood cell count on a CBC.

00;08;30;00 - 00;08;33;01
There's your hemoglobin and your hematocrit, and, uh,

00;08;33;13 - 00;08;38;18
this man's hemoglobin, uh, and hematocrit, we're like, super high, right?

00;08;38;18 - 00;08;41;09
And, uh, I was like, Whoa, where is this coming from?

00;08;41;09 - 00;08;47;19
Because that condition is called polycythemia, 
and um putting yourself in that place.

00;08;47;19 - 00;08;50;23
People with that have a have an increased risk of having blood clots.

00;08;50;23 - 00;08;54;03
And so obviously I was, I was worried about it and, and, uh,

00;08;54;03 - 00;08;55;06
Krishna and I were.

00;08;55;06 - 00;08;59;12
you know, we're bouncing off ideas and I'm like, Hey, what is going on here?

00;08;59;12 - 00;09;04;15
Is this, um, is this because of, uh, patient had previously been on,

00;09;05;00 - 00;09;09;29
uh, testosterone or, um, is it something underlying going on like a cancer?

00;09;10;04 - 00;09;11;03
Right?

00;09;11;03 - 00;09;14;17
And, uh, uh, he mentioned, hey, why don't you just tiger text,

00;09;14;29 - 00;09;19;11
uh, one of other providers, and I messaged out Dr.

00;09;19;11 - 00;09;21;17
Sheri Jones, and I was like, Dr.

00;09;21;17 - 00;09;23;04
Jones, this is what I started with.

00;09;23;04 - 00;09;24;24
This is, these are the labs I obtained.

00;09;24;24 - 00;09;27;11
What do you think? And she's like, We will work them in.

00;09;27;11 - 00;09;31;08
Great job finding it and just having that reassurance from a specialist,

00;09;31;08 - 00;09;35;05
an oncologist, being so humble about it

00;09;35;05 - 00;09;38;05
and being so it was so easy to talk to her

00;09;38;20 - 00;09;42;17
and being so receptive and helpful and educating me in the process.

00;09;43;06 - 00;09;45;00
I'll never forget that.

00;09;45;00 - 00;09;48;05
And, um, and lo and behold,

00;09;48;09 - 00;09;53;20
the man had Polycythemia Vera and, uh, which can be a malignancy.

00;09;53;23 - 00;09;56;03
And, uh, we're getting him treated now.

00;09;56;03 - 00;10;00;11
And I think that's one of the things that, uh, I, I that we can't,

00;10;00;20 - 00;10;04;29
we cannot appreciate Norman Regional [Health] System enough is the camaraderie

00;10;04;29 - 00;10;07;29
between specialists and between primary care providers.

00;10;08;02 - 00;10;12;11
It is a huge, uh, I hate to say this, a sigh of relief to know

00;10;12;22 - 00;10;14;28
that if there is something that you cannot figure out,

00;10;14;28 - 00;10;18;21
there are people that you can talk to and there are people that can help you

00;10;18;21 - 00;10;20;09
and that's it, that makes a huge difference.

00;10;20;09 - 00;10;24;16
It makes our practice a lot more manageable and um,

00;10;24;16 - 00;10;27;13
it makes it more fun because we don't have to worry about,

00;10;27;13 - 00;10;28;20
well, what if I can't figure this out?

00;10;28;20 - 00;10;29;19
Where do I go next?

00;10;29;19 - 00;10;34;24
You know, and, and that's that really is a big, uh, a big step in terms of,

00;10;35;06 - 00;10;40;00
uh, getting our patients more help and not just, you know, help in terms

00;10;40;00 - 00;10;43;00
of, you know, like, you know, if there's any questions that we have.

00;10;43;06 - 00;10;44;20
But getting immediate help at times.

00;10;44;20 - 00;10;48;14
Um, one of the things that I always had to, um, often,

00;10;48;24 - 00;10;52;10
uh, try to discuss with my patients is, is GI bleeds, right?

00;10;52;17 - 00;10;55;25
Especially if it's, uh, an immediate one or a pretty severe one.

00;10;56;05 - 00;10;59;05
And, um, you know, the GI team specifically, Dr.

00;10;59;05 - 00;11;02;24
Chintan Parikh has always been very, very, very helpful in terms

00;11;02;24 - 00;11;07;12
of being able uh, to quickly work in some of our patients.

00;11;07;12 - 00;11;10;29
Uh, depending on how serious and how severe their issues are.

00;11;11;00 - 00;11;16;14
And so it's something that cannot be said enough in terms of how,

00;11;16;18 - 00;11;20;06
uh, just helpful and how available the specialists are.

00;11;20;19 - 00;11;24;09
And as far as you know, between me and Veer, uh, since we work together,

00;11;24;24 - 00;11;27;12
we often, oftentimes throughout the day

00;11;27;12 - 00;11;30;12
we kind of talk about things and we go, can we kind of go back and forth?

00;11;30;12 - 00;11;32;09
And I think sometimes it worries

00;11;32;09 - 00;11;34;27
some of our nursing staff about what we're, what we're doing.

00;11;34;27 - 00;11;39;11
But these are just discussions that we often have on a daily basis,

00;11;39;11 - 00;11;43;25
whether if it's a question that I have, um, often regarding um, gynecological,

00;11;44;04 - 00;11;47;17
uh, health care, uh, or vise versa,

00;11;47;25 - 00;11;50;20
uh, you know, if Veer has any questions about um,

00;11;50;20 - 00;11;53;20
anything specifically, uh, related to

00;11;53;28 - 00;11;57;13
um, cardiac or pulmonary, you know, we just kind of go off one another.

00;11;57;13 - 00;12;00;16
And that also itself is just amazing.

00;12;00;16 - 00;12;02;10
Not only is he my brother, but he's also somebody

00;12;02;10 - 00;12;05;27
that I could sit down and have a conversation with regarding,

00;12;05;28 - 00;12;10;22
uh, a, uh, a significant or, or severe medical issue.

00;12;11;00 - 00;12;13;08
Yeah, we called it a curbside consult.

00;12;13;08 - 00;12;15;02
he's always curbsiding me.

00;12;15;02 - 00;12;16;08
And likewise too.

00;12;17;14 - 00;12;19;11
it's a it's a pretty amazing ride.

00;12;19;11 - 00;12;19;29
Yeah.

00;12;19;29 - 00;12;22;24
You know, your, your, uh, reply to that

00;12;22;24 - 00;12;25;24
reminds me of the quote from Lil Wayne.

00;12;26;08 - 00;12;26;21
Yeah.

00;12;26;21 - 00;12;29;24
Life's full of ups and downs, but what do I care about?

00;12;29;27 - 00;12;31;09
It's my theme park.

00;12;31;09 - 00;12;34;09
I didn't think we were going to quote Lil Wayne on this podcast, but sure.

00;12;34;09 - 00;12;37;08
We can cut that out. Yeah, well,

00;12;37;09 - 00;12;39;21
whatever you say, Veer.

00;12;39;21 - 00;12;41;29
But. But, yeah, I mean,

00;12;41;29 - 00;12;43;26
eternally grateful for,

00;12;43;26 - 00;12;45;13
you know, the community that helped raise us

00;12;45;13 - 00;12;47;27
because we've been here our entire lives. Honestly.

00;12;47;27 - 00;12;50;19
Yes. Uh, since 92.

00;12;50;19 - 00;12;51;25
Yeah, 1992.

00;12;51;25 - 00;12;52;17
But the first thing

00;12;52;17 - 00;12;54;02
we totally forgot was that,

00;12;54;02 - 00;12;56;29
you know, give thanks to our mom and dad for all the hardships

00;12;56;29 - 00;12;59;18
that they've been through to 
help us make it this far.

00;12;59;18 - 00;13;04;00
Um, and to, of course, having to deal with us as kids,

00;13;04;10 - 00;13;06;27
um, I don't think we were that bad. I don't think we were that, mmm.

00;13;06;27 - 00;13;09;24
I don't think we were really that bad of troublemakers,

00;13;09;24 - 00;13;12;16
just to be honest with you. But, and looking at some kids these days.

00;13;12;16 - 00;13;14;28
But I think. You weren't, man. I was the rebel. I was never home.

00;13;16;03 - 00;13;16;26
That is true.

00;13;16;26 - 00;13;22;06
Uh, but I think looking back now, it really has been an amazing ride.

00;13;22;06 - 00;13;25;06
And the ride that I'm glad we got to do it together.

00;13;25;14 - 00;13;28;00
Uh, and I'm. I'm always proud of it too, everything.

00;13;28;00 - 00;13;28;18
I mean, every day

00;13;28;18 - 00;13;31;18
now, every here and there, I kind of look back and I'm like, Man,

00;13;31;25 - 00;13;34;14
all the things that you and I did to, did together.

00;13;34;14 - 00;13;35;17
Whether if I was working

00;13;35;17 - 00;13;38;16
as a medical assistant like myself and working in medical billing

00;13;38;18 - 00;13;41;02
and you working, um, so many years back here

00;13;41;02 - 00;13;43;07
in Norman Regional and at the pathology lab.

00;13;43;07 - 00;13;46;12
I was. Yeah. Shout out to Dr. Thompson. Yes.

00;13;46;12 - 00;13;52;19
And so it's, uh, it is a very truly rewarding journey.

00;13;52;23 - 00;13;53;13
Yeah.

00;13;53;13 - 00;13;56;26
And, and honestly, like Norman and the Norman community are,

00;13;57;00 - 00;13;58;00
are part of us

00;13;58;00 - 00;14;01;14
and are a part of our upbringing because our college years in Norman,

00;14;01;14 - 00;14;04;26
I think are some of the best times that I will never get back.

00;14;05;08 - 00;14;08;18
Look, I always look back to that and have positive experiences

00;14;08;18 - 00;14;11;17
and just happy thoughts about, about Norman.

00;14;11;17 - 00;14;12;19
I completely agree.

00;14;12;19 - 00;14;17;12
Uh, I always tell my, uh, my friends and of course my wife, Namrata that,

00;14;17;24 - 00;14;21;02
that Norman is one of my favorite cities in the world because it's

00;14;21;02 - 00;14;24;22
where I really got to grow up and mature as an adult

00;14;24;22 - 00;14;28;12
and really figure out who I was and what I wanted to do. And.

00;14;28;12 - 00;14;32;16
And it was just, uh, a great community, um, and great people.

00;14;32;28 - 00;14;34;13
But people that really care about you.

00;14;34;13 - 00;14;38;27
And having that kind of a nurturing environment is really important to grow,

00;14;39;05 - 00;14;42;10
not just, you know, in terms of your career, but also to grow as a person.

00;14;43;03 - 00;14;44;08
Absolutely.

00;14;44;08 - 00;14;49;20
Even now, when we drive through, um, my, my wife, Sryia, she's from Austin, Texas.

00;14;49;20 - 00;14;51;14
So she's a, she's a UT gal.

00;14;51;14 - 00;14;54;14
But every time we go through, she's a huge fan of Tea Cafe, now

00;14;54;15 - 00;14;55;29
on Campus Corner,

00;14;55;29 - 00;14;59;16
uh, so she loves that, we went to Tarahumara's the other day

00;15;00;09 - 00;15;03;00
dude she loved, she loved it man and we used to go there all the time.

00;15;03;00 - 00;15;04;27
Mmm Tarahumara's. Yeah. Hungry. 

00;15;04;27 - 00;15;07;14
Okay, Um, but we both went to OU

00;15;07;14 - 00;15;08;25
Too for med school.

00;15;08;25 - 00;15;10;11
We did. We both went to OU too for 
med school

00;15;10;11 - 00;15;11;12
in the same class.

00;15;11;12 - 00;15;11;24
Yeah.

00;15;11;24 - 00;15;12;19
And, uh,

00;15;12;19 - 00;15;16;02
before going to med school, I also got my master's in public health at OU

00;15;16;17 - 00;15;18;25
Um, from the Health Sciences Center campus.

00;15;18;25 - 00;15;23;24
So it's, there's a lot of, a lot of connection, connection there.

00;15;24;00 - 00;15;27;00
Uh, but it's been, it's been fun.

00;15;27;04 - 00;15;30;25
Uh, there were some tough times, but I think

00;15;30;25 - 00;15;34;00
in life you have to have a little bit of both really become who you are.

00;15;34;06 - 00;15;36;17
And if anyone ever asked me,

00;15;36;17 - 00;15;39;13
would you ever redo anything, I would tell them, Absolutely not,

00;15;39;13 - 00;15;43;09
because it's who I am today, and it's the struggles

00;15;43;09 - 00;15;48;07
and the successes that has made us, uh, who we are today.

00;15;48;26 - 00;15;50;11
Yeah. So that that's a great point Krishna.

00;15;50;11 - 00;15;53;10
I think, you know like what do you think like drew you to medicine then?

00;15;53;10 - 00;15;55;10
I mean, I know we talked about empathy and talked about,

00;15;55;10 - 00;15;57;25
you know, hard work, but what drew you to medicine?

00;15;58;29 - 00;16;00;05
What's her passion about medicine?

00;16;00;05 - 00;16;05;02
For me, you know, medicine to me was a way that I could make the world

00;16;05;02 - 00;16;05;28
a better place.

00;16;05;28 - 00;16;10;02
That's that was that was the basis of of of my passion for medicine.

00;16;10;02 - 00;16;15;07
I wanted to do based on my abilities and my interests to do something

00;16;15;07 - 00;16;18;07
for the rest of my life that I could, uh,

00;16;18;23 - 00;16;21;09
provide for the community around me.

00;16;21;09 - 00;16;24;13
Uh, and I felt that making the world a better place around me,

00;16;24;25 - 00;16;30;13
uh, through my abilities was, is the basis of, of my passion for medicine.

00;16;30;25 - 00;16;35;22
Uh, now it's that passion that's pushed me forward.

00;16;36;00 - 00;16;39;00
It's that passion that's really led me to persevere.

00;16;39;18 - 00;16;42;22
Um, and then, you know, one of the things that, that

00;16;42;22 - 00;16;43;25
I've kind of noticed,

00;16;43;25 - 00;16;47;03
uh, now that, you know, we're finally done with school and training and everything

00;16;47;03 - 00;16;51;24
else, it can be hard to do it on a day to day basis. And

00;16;52;24 - 00;16;56;01
I don't necessarily think this is said a lot of times.

00;16;56;01 - 00;16;59;17
Um, but at the end of the day, uh,

00;16;59;28 - 00;17;03;23
practicing medicine is not, uh, or does not always follow the books.

00;17;04;10 - 00;17;07;22
There's a lot of uh, uh, things that you have to,

00;17;08;09 - 00;17;11;09
that you have to do that you kind of just have to, uh,

00;17;11;29 - 00;17;14;14
base it upon your experiences

00;17;14;14 - 00;17;18;20
and mostly just kind of figure out what you can do with what you have.

00;17;18;27 - 00;17;22;00
And that I did not expect, Uh, when I, when I went through medical school

00;17;22;00 - 00;17;25;26
and residency, uh, I expected everything to go by the book.

00;17;25;26 - 00;17;29;03
But when you're out practicing, uh, that's not necessarily true.

00;17;29;03 - 00;17;31;03
Everything kind of well, not everything, but most of the things

00;17;31;03 - 00;17;34;18
kind of based are based on money and availability of resources.

00;17;34;26 - 00;17;39;12
And so it really comes down to what's right for the patients.

00;17;39;27 - 00;17;43;28
Uh, even though it may not necessarily be the things that the guidelines

00;17;43;28 - 00;17;46;08
and what the book always tells you to do,

00;17;46;08 - 00;17;49;07
you have to look into what's right for the patient in terms of

00;17;49;07 - 00;17;53;04
not just their overall health, but also in terms of what they can afford.

00;17;53;15 - 00;17;57;02
Uh, in terms of finances, uh, time and energy.

00;17;57;15 - 00;18;01;01
And that's been the tricky part, but I think that will get better

00;18;01;15 - 00;18;03;22
with experience. I'm hoping.

00;18;03;22 - 00;18;04;15
What about you?

00;18;04;15 - 00;18;07;26
What do you, what, what, what brings you, what brought you to medicine?

00;18;07;26 - 00;18;09;12
And then more importantly, what do you think

00;18;09;12 - 00;18;13;10
are some of the issues that you did not foresee?

00;18;13;11 - 00;18;14;22
Uh, you know while

00;18;14;22 - 00;18;17;22
While we were studying together? Yeah.

00;18;17;22 - 00;18;21;13
I think all family med physicians have a similar story as we go through

00;18;21;13 - 00;18;22;11
medical school.

00;18;22;11 - 00;18;23;22
And, uh,

00;18;23;22 - 00;18;27;04
we have some experience that brought us to medical school in the first place.

00;18;27;12 - 00;18;27;29
Right.

00;18;27;29 - 00;18;32;17
Um, mine being, as you know, grew up with, uh, with, uh,

00;18;32;23 - 00;18;37;14
juvenile epilepsy and being around doctors all the time and, uh, the, uh,

00;18;37;24 - 00;18;41;19
relationship that, um, our neurologist had with our family,

00;18;41;27 - 00;18;45;28
uh, I think really inspired me because he could just walk in

00;18;45;28 - 00;18;47;29
and we'd be freaking out and he'd just make us

00;18;47;29 - 00;18;50;20
laugh and things would be better, you know? And we had a plan.

00;18;50;20 - 00;18;53;12
We made decisions together, and, uh,

00;18;53;12 - 00;18;56;16
um, you would think that I would go into neurology because of that.

00;18;56;16 - 00;18;59;16
But, uh, going through medical school, you go through your third

00;18;59;16 - 00;19;02;27
year rotations and you either like surgery or you don't.

00;19;03;05 - 00;19;04;24
Right? That's definitely true. You like the O.R.

00;19;04;24 - 00;19;05;25
or you don't.

00;19;05;25 - 00;19;10;19
And I enjoyed all aspects of, uh, of my rotations there.

00;19;10;19 - 00;19;12;26
I loved working with kids.

00;19;12;26 - 00;19;16;09
I, you know, I like working with adults, too,

00;19;16;18 - 00;19;19;10
because I think the medicine in adult medicine,

00;19;19;10 - 00;19;22;05
you know, the physiology and stuff is very interesting.

00;19;22;05 - 00;19;25;19
Um, with the, uh, the diseases and its complexities and,

00;19;25;19 - 00;19;28;07
um, the pharmacology associated with it.

00;19;28;07 - 00;19;32;01
And uh, uh, I wanted to do it all

00;19;32;01 - 00;19;36;18
and I wanted to be able to help people of all ages.

00;19;36;18 - 00;19;40;09
And, and that drove me to family medicine and, uh,

00;19;40;13 - 00;19;43;18
I'm a huge advocate for family medicine and, you know, um. He

00;19;43;18 - 00;19;44;13
is, he is.

00;19;44;13 - 00;19;48;26
I really, I really love the field of family medicine and, and what, uh,

00;19;48;27 - 00;19;53;03
our organizations here in the state, whether it be OFP or nationally, the AFP,

00;19;53;15 - 00;19;57;25
um, the resources they offer and the amount of advocacy

00;19;57;25 - 00;20;00;02
they provide our, our physicians and our patients.

00;20;00;02 - 00;20;05;00
And, and I don't think I would ever, I don't see myself doing anything else.

00;20;05;04 - 00;20;09;27
Um, and, and family medicine had given me the opportunity to teach,

00;20;09;27 - 00;20;13;21
and I did that for a while and now I want to provide more for the

00;20;13;21 - 00;20;18;07
community and, and my own, you know, um, pursue my own other interests.

00;20;18;07 - 00;20;23;21
And, uh, but teaching is still a passion of mine, but the, the, like.

00;20;23;21 - 00;20;28;10
Your second questions, uh, Krishna, about what you didn't expect is,

00;20;28;25 - 00;20;32;03
is yeah, uh, you would think that everything is,

00;20;32;03 - 00;20;35;13
is clear black and white when you're taught in medical school,

00;20;35;28 - 00;20;40;15
but the, the specific intricacies that, that go along with U.S.

00;20;40;15 - 00;20;44;16
health care, whether it be, um, insurance issues

00;20;44;16 - 00;20;47;16
or the administrative burden that follows in practice,

00;20;47;16 - 00;20;50;20
um, you don't expect that and you don't realize that, right?

00;20;50;20 - 00;20;55;07
So, um, and even in residency or during my time

00;20;55;07 - 00;20;59;04
as faculty at OU Family Medicine residency, the things I would always, uh,

00;20;59;24 - 00;21;03;00
um, instill in my students and residents is

00;21;03;00 - 00;21;08;15
I'm a huge advocate for efficiency and, uh, you, you have an issue where, um,

00;21;09;03 - 00;21;12;17
you have all these administrative tasks that are bleeding into your patient time.

00;21;12;17 - 00;21;16;29
You have to figure out a way to get around it, um, and,

00;21;16;29 - 00;21;21;16
and get yourselves more efficient, whether that be dictation software or,

00;21;22;02 - 00;21;25;03
or, uh, um, getting assistance from, uh,

00;21;25;09 - 00;21;29;13
from your, your nurses and staff who are there to help you.

00;21;29;13 - 00;21;31;22
And they're part of your team and family.

00;21;31;22 - 00;21;33;20
And what we're doing is trying to

00;21;34;22 - 00;21;36;07
do good for our patients. Exactly.

00;21;36;07 - 00;21;38;13
We're a team in that effort. Mmhmm. 

00;21;38;13 - 00;21;41;13
and it's so nice that I can, uh, I've got such great partners

00;21;41;13 - 00;21;45;20
like Dr. Sims and my own brother here, who helps us do that together.

00;21;46;25 - 00;21;49;00
Well, thank you. I really appreciate that.

00;21;49;00 - 00;21;49;19
Of course, Dr.

00;21;49;19 - 00;21;51;09
Vedala. Anytime, Dr. Vedala.

00;21;51;09 - 00;21;53;14
Thank you. Dr. Vedala.

00;21;53;14 - 00;21;55;10
Well, we were both born in India,

00;21;55;10 - 00;21;59;03
and then, um, you know, when I was around two years old

00;21;59;03 - 00;22;03;06
and when Veer was, uh, Veer and I are only about, about 13 months apart.

00;22;03;06 - 00;22;05;05
So when Veer was less than a year old.

00;22;05;05 - 00;22;08;05
Um, my and my, our parents decided, you know,

00;22;08;10 - 00;22;13;25
they wanted to move to the States and so moved to Chicago in 1990,

00;22;13;25 - 00;22;18;10
and, uh, my dad spent two years there, and then he decided he needed a change.

00;22;18;26 - 00;22;22;19
You know, Chicago, with the weather being sometimes nasty around the year and

00;22;23;09 - 00;22;26;09
being too big of a city, he decided he wanted to kind of

00;22;26;24 - 00;22;29;07
go to a place that was a little bit more smaller.

00;22;29;07 - 00;22;32;07
And, uh, and then he found Oklahoma City.

00;22;32;07 - 00;22;33;13
And, uh, here we are.

00;22;33;13 - 00;22;37;10
And he, we've been here and since then we both grew up in Edmond, um,

00;22;37;26 - 00;22;40;16
went to Edmond Memorial High School.

00;22;40;16 - 00;22;42;06
So go Bulldogs.

00;22;42;06 - 00;22;45;14
Uh, and then from there, it was kind of just a journey of,

00;22;45;15 - 00;22;48;02
of, uh, figuring out who we were.

00;22;48;02 - 00;22;52;00
I think in terms of values that, uh, our parents, uh, really put into us, um

00;22;53;13 - 00;22;55;04
the main one is, is hard work.

00;22;55;04 - 00;22;58;25
Uh, you have to really, if you want to do well in life,

00;22;58;25 - 00;23;00;03
you got to put the effort in.

00;23;00;03 - 00;23;02;23
Uh, nothing ever comes in easy.

00;23;02;23 - 00;23;04;14
Nothing ever comes in without hard work.

00;23;04;14 - 00;23;07;29
And even if it does, it's something that will never be with you forever

00;23;08;15 - 00;23;10;11
because you don't really know the value of it.

00;23;10;11 - 00;23;13;23
And so I think that's hard work is is one of the main values

00;23;13;23 - 00;23;16;11
that our mom and dad really our mom probably more than dad.

00;23;16;11 - 00;23;19;11
But that really put it, uh, really

00;23;19;15 - 00;23;23;12
mmm emphasized uh, to us well as we were growing up. Veer,

00;23;23;15 - 00;23;25;08
What do you think?

00;23;25;08 - 00;23;27;00
Hard work is definitely up there.

00;23;27;00 - 00;23;30;00
Um, persistence, perseverance, Right.

00;23;30;05 - 00;23;34;20
Um, uh, compassion, I think is, uh, is a, is a big one.

00;23;34;20 - 00;23;38;29
I think that's what, that, that, uh, uh, those, um,

00;23;39;26 - 00;23;42;26
conversations growing up with, uh, our parents

00;23;43;05 - 00;23;47;00
that um, mainly had a point of compassion is probably one of the reasons why

00;23;47;08 - 00;23;48;14
I think you and I can empathize

00;23;48;14 - 00;23;51;17
a little bit more now and that we take into our practice, uh,

00;23;52;02 - 00;23;53;09
try to get, to put yourself in

00;23;53;09 - 00;23;55;15
someone others' shoes and see what they're going through.

00;23;55;15 - 00;23;59;25
Um, it's helpful in our practice too, because then you can try to understand

00;23;59;25 - 00;24;00;24
where they're coming from.

00;24;00;24 - 00;24;04;02
And it's important when making shared decisions with your patients.

00;24;04;19 - 00;24;05;16
Yeah, definitely.

00;24;05;16 - 00;24;07;08
I, I, I, I agree with that.

00;24;07;08 - 00;24;10;29
I think empathy plays a big role in, uh, should be playing a big role,

00;24;11;11 - 00;24;14;11
uh, in terms of, um, of being a health care provider.

00;24;14;13 - 00;24;18;06
Uh, and one of the things that I always try to do as is,

00;24;18;06 - 00;24;21;29
is put myself in my patients' shoes, and I definitely don't think

00;24;21;29 - 00;24;26;06
that would have been possible without, um, you know, Mom and dad's,

00;24;26;06 - 00;24;30;29
uh, support, but also without their ability to do the same.

00;24;32;03 - 00;24;33;06
Agreed.

00;24;33;06 - 00;24;37;23
uh, growing up in Edmond, Edmond wasn't as big as it is now.

00;24;37;23 - 00;24;39;27
Back then was, uh. By no means.

00;24;39;27 - 00;24;42;07
No. Now, going back to what we call old Edmond.

00;24;42;07 - 00;24;46;07
Now it's it's it takes me about 20 minutes just to get from.

00;24;46;26 - 00;24;50;29
And what, Uh, Penn to Coltrane?

00;24;51;07 - 00;24;52;20
Yep. Getting through.

00;24;52;20 - 00;24;56;06
Um, my dad used to work at UCO, so we spent a lot of time on that campus,

00;24;56;06 - 00;24;59;06
too. And, yeah, it's just changed so much.

00;25;00;12 - 00;25;03;06
I, I think one of the things you, you always see

00;25;03;06 - 00;25;05;02
whenever you're driving in Edmond is underneath.

00;25;05;02 - 00;25;08;00
You'll see this, this caption that'll say a great place to grow.

00;25;08;00 - 00;25;09;19
And by all means, I completely agree.

00;25;09;19 - 00;25;10;24
It is a great place to grow.

00;25;10;24 - 00;25;15;15
And, uh, we're thankful for the positive environment that we had really around us.

00;25;16;09 - 00;25;19;06
Um, but, uh,

00;25;19;06 - 00;25;23;11
overall, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's just a, uh, a nice place,

00;25;23;17 - 00;25;26;14
a nice, uh, community to, to raise kids.

00;25;26;14 - 00;25;29;07
Um, and we're pretty, we're really lucky

00;25;29;07 - 00;25;32;18
to have, uh, grown up in to two really great towns.

00;25;32;18 - 00;25;33;24
Edmond and Norman.

00;25;33;24 - 00;25;34;07
Yeah.

00;25;34;07 - 00;25;37;10
Uh, Edmond's our family, and, uh, Norman's like our friends.

00;25;37;27 - 00;25;39;25
You know, the friends I made in Norman

00;25;41;11 - 00;25;42;28
Still are friends with them to this day.

00;25;42;28 - 00;25;45;28
Mm. It's. It's college for you.

00;25;46;11 - 00;25;49;09
So this podcast will have a, you know,

00;25;49;09 - 00;25;52;10
a couple of different focuses, but mostly it, it'll, it'll be on medicine.

00;25;52;10 - 00;25;55;16
Um, but in addition to that we'll also be talking about, um,

00;25;55;25 - 00;25;58;28
what's happening in our community and some other current events

00;25;58;28 - 00;26;02;21
related to the medical field, um, here in our community.

00;26;03;02 - 00;26;04;02
Um, and of course we'll

00;26;04;02 - 00;26;07;25
also be having some expert guests, um, that you'll all love.

00;26;07;25 - 00;26;12;11
Uh, and uh, these guests will be providing some of their expertise, um, regarding

00;26;12;14 - 00;26;15;17
specific topics, um, and uh,

00;26;15;19 - 00;26;19;24
you know, and so that is mostly what you'll see through this podcast.

00;26;20;09 - 00;26;21;27
Anything else to add Veer?

00;26;21;27 - 00;26;24;03
Yeah, And I think, you know, some of the things we can do

00;26;24;03 - 00;26;28;12
is also stay up to date on what's happening in the OKC and Norman area,

00;26;28;23 - 00;26;31;03
but big projects Norman Regional is setting up

00;26;31;03 - 00;26;34;01
and what more resources we can offer our patients. You know

00;26;35;03 - 00;26;38;07
as as well we'll be doing the question of the day.

00;26;38;12 - 00;26;39;28
Yeah that's going to be fun. Yeah.

00;26;39;28 - 00;26;43;03
So the question of the day as we you know you get we have an email out there for

00;26;43;03 - 00;26;45;26
you guys send your questions to and at the end of each episode.

00;26;45;26 - 00;26;49;05
We'll try to answer them either by ourselves or with our special guests.

00;26;51;07 - 00;26;52;09
Awesome. Excellent.

00;26;52;09 - 00;26;57;05
Uh, before we, uh, move forward, one of the things that we just want to do

00;26;57;05 - 00;26;58;17
is thank Norman Regional

00;26;58;17 - 00;27;02;16
and our marketing department, uh, for all, all their help in getting this going.

00;27;02;26 - 00;27;05;26
Uh, this has been a dream of ours for quite a few.

00;27;05;26 - 00;27;07;23
Quite a few, uh quite a bit of time.

00;27;07;23 - 00;27;10;21
And, uh, to make this possible is, uh, it's a pretty big deal.

00;27;10;21 - 00;27;13;21
So we just want to thank everyone at Norman Regional and the marketing team

00;27;13;24 - 00;27;16;24
for supporting us, uh, and for getting this going.

00;27;17;07 - 00;27;17;14
Yeah.

00;27;17;14 - 00;27;20;24
We are beyond grateful for all the support and giving us

00;27;20;24 - 00;27;24;17
this platform, um, in order to make one of our dreams come true.

00;27;25;19 - 00;27;26;24
Yeah.

00;27;26;24 - 00;27;29;24
Um, so with that being said,

00;27;30;18 - 00;27;32;16
I think we'll end this episode.

00;27;32;16 - 00;27;35;16
So thank you for all our listeners out there.

00;27;35;24 - 00;27;37;22
Please stay classy, my friends.

00;27;37;22 - 00;27;39;12
And please stay out of trouble. My friends.