The Concierge Doc Podcast with Dr. Jason Littleton, M.D.
The Concierge Doc Podcast is hosted by Dr Jason Littleton, M.D., where he features medical content to make smart lifestyle choices for optimal health, wellness, energy, youthfulness, longevity, balance, and happiness.
The Concierge Doc Podcast with Dr. Jason Littleton, M.D.
The Concierge Doc Podcast Welcomes Laura Susi, MD To Littleton Concierge Medicine
Visit Dr Jason Littleton's website: https://www.jasonmd.com/
Follow Dr Jason Littleton on Instagram and Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/therealdoctorjason/
Watch Dr Jason Littleton on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealdoctorjason3340
Disclaimer:
Access to the Information and materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk. The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and health care topics (the “Information”). Nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The Information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. The Information should not be considered complete and not exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor.
The views, opinions and statements expressed by our guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Dr Jason Littleton or the Concierge Doc Podcast. We do not endorse or take responsibility for any statements, claims or perspectives shared in this content. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and form their own conclusions.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Access to the information and materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk. The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and healthcare topics. The information Nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. The information should not be considered complete and exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Welcome to the Concierge Doctor podcast. I'm your host, ceo and founder of Littleton Concierge Medicine, dr Jason Littleton. Welcome to the podcast. Now today's host really excited about because when I talk about an introduction, this is a new introduction that I want everyone to know about into Littleton Concierge Medicine, a physician that I've had opportunity to work alongside with for years now and someone who I think fits the culture of our practice in Littleton Concierge Medicine, and that's a big deal to me. Culture is a big deal philosophy, culture, lifestyle and you're going to love this physician. This physician is an ER physician and I want her to introduce herself. I want you to welcome to the Concert Doc Podcast, dr Laura Susie. Laura, thanks for coming on.
Dr. Laura Susi:Hey everyone, I'm Dr Susie. So nice to meet everybody and I'm really excited to be on the podcast with Dr Littleton. Thanks for coming on.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Hey everyone, I'm Dr Susie, so nice to meet everybody and I'm really excited to be on the podcast with Dr Littleton. Thanks for having me. Well, look, I'm thrilled that you're on. I'm thrilled that you're a part of Littleton Concierge Medicine and the practice, and you know when I talk about concierge medicine, when I talk about preventive medicine, lifestyle medicine, about concierge medicine, when I talk about preventive medicine, lifestyle medicine.
Dr. Laura Susi:I wanted to start off with what your thoughts are about that and what you will bring to the table and what you think about that, absolutely so I'm really excited to be a part of this practice.
Dr. Laura Susi:I think that the exciting thing for me when it comes to the concierge side of things and lifestyle, healthcare and medicine and really being a part of the patient's kind of journey and improving their health and their happiness and well-being is that really translates into longevity, right. So in the emergency department as an ER physician, I really get to see patients in a point where they are having an emergency or feel as though they're having an emergency for themselves, and a lot of times how they've arrived to my care in the ER is, you know, they've gotten to a point where there's a weakness in their heart or a weakness in their lungs or their breathing or their stomach or belly and there could have potentially been changes prior to that that would have prevented them from coming to see me in the emergency department. The cool thing about this practice and this opportunity to kind of be a part of this group of physicians and patients is when we talk about the patient and how they eat, how they sleep, how they drink, how they move, as you often talk about, dr Littleton.
Dr. Jason Littleton:The MEDS protocol. Huh, the MEDS protocol.
Dr. Laura Susi:Indeed the MEDS protocol that, having being trained in you know the ER and kind of seeing the breakdown, it gives me a really kind of interesting take on how to kind of prevent that arrival.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, I would totally agree with you. I think that you bring something unique and specific to the table. Being an ER physician and you have skills that I don't have and it brings a nice picture and the whole illustration to the table and offering that we get an opportunity to give to our patients at Littleton Concerns Medicine. And I, you know, first of all, I just think that I think that what you bring to the table is spectacular, and I know not just from not just from a technician standpoint, but from a personality standpoint as well, and working with the patients and making a connection. I think that's so important.
Dr. Jason Littleton:And I, you know, when we talk about primary care and prevention, is that something that has always been on the forefront of your mind, even as an ER physician, where you're seeing a lot of things in acute setting, but you may only see people one time and that's it. You may never see them again. Of course there's things like bounce backs, where a person comes back again to the ER, but you know what's your perspective on that. The whole journey of working with someone you know year after year after year.
Dr. Laura Susi:So I'm really excited about this opportunity. So I'm really excited about this opportunity. I think that that's something that I've kind of missed in my time being in the emergency room. In the emergency room I see a patient once and then I don't see them again, and it's quite often that I develop a relationship with the patient or their family or you know, it's very interesting to be like I'm glad I was able to touch you now, but I hope to not see you again because I don't want to see them in the emergency department. And you know, I feel like that's actually been a big hole for me as far as being in the ER, because I do really enjoy the development of relationships with the patients.
Dr. Laura Susi:I've seen. I've had quite a few patients who I've enjoyed so much in the emergency department that I actually have kept in contact with them and their families because I've had that opportunity to touch them in some way. So that's something that I'm really looking forward to. I know that I've had the opportunity with you, dr Littleton, to meet a couple of your patient families and I have quite enjoyed the engagement that I had with the patients and their kids and their cats and their dogs, and it's been really, really a great experience and I'm excited about that opportunity to kind of learn with the patient and their families going forward and kind of check in on them as they go.
Dr. Laura Susi:That would be a really exciting thing for me.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, I think I think that's awesome. And you know, I know that people want to know a little bit more about you and who you are. And you know, you know, give us a little bio on you. You know, tell us a little bit about yourself and your college experience, medical school and all the things that added up to you right now, and maybe what are two hobbies that you like. And I think people want to know. They want to know who you are as their new doctor.
Dr. Laura Susi:Sure, that sounds awesome. So I'm originally from the Tampa area, just outside of Tampa, and so initially for undergrad I went to Purdue for softball. Actually, I was really, really good at softball. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed sports and being active, went to Purdue, had a shoulder surgery, got hurt, came back home and ended up going to UCF in Orlando. I always knew that I was interested in the medical field, but didn't really know for sure until I shadowed a vascular surgeon when I was an undergrad and absolutely fell in love with the whole field. I thought it was so cool, so ended up being pre-med and then I went to med school, still in Orlando, at the University of Central Florida again. So I stayed there. I got my MD and then I actually ended up in Pittsburgh at UPMC for my ER training in residency and I think, I think then you must have some famous connection with that latest ER show, the Pit.
Dr. Laura Susi:then oh, actually it's so funny, yeah. So I hear that quite a few of my attendings who trained me were pretty involved in the planning of the pit and were some pretty strong advisors on the on the show, which is pretty cool. Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah, so I I ended up there, and I ended up there because my husband is from outside of Pittsburgh and he convinced me to do an away rotation. So I went there and I absolutely loved it. I knew it was going to be great training and indeed it was. It was intense and, like you would see on the pit right I mean there's always some things on shows that are kind of funny for us physicians, but how intense it is, that's pretty much how it is in Pittsburgh. Um, so I got really, really great training up there and then I was able to come back home to Orlando again, and so now I'm practicing here. I'm happy to be back.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, I mean, I think that's that's, that's incredible. I mean one thing about um. Just going back to that TV show, I mean it seemed so fast paced and was it really like that when you went through your training?
Dr. Laura Susi:Yes, and in fact it's still like that where I'm currently working now at Advent Health Orlando. I mean that emergency department is it's quite something. I mean it is fast paced and intense and it is. You are always on the go and you're you're really involved in your patients and your family's acute Crises all just your entire shift, every single day. So that's exactly how it was in training, but I'll tell you what it translates to the emergency department that I'm at now as well.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, no, absolutely.
Dr. Jason Littleton:I mean, you're obviously making a difference there and you know, I'm really excited because I know that you're going to make a wonderful difference in the realm of concierge medicine at Littleton.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Concierge Medicine, you know it translates so well because you have to like multitask constantly and you know, without a break, and in concierge medicine, which might seem more slow paced compared to that, yet there's so many dots that you're connecting on a longitudinal basis with patients that you know that you're familiar with to give a type of service and hospitality. And you know, I just think and I'm really excited about you because I know that your background, you know, translates this in a powerful way and there's a lot of ER physicians who are now doing concierge medicine more and more. I meet new ER physicians all the time that are doing concierge medicine because it's a new way to connect to your patients and I just think that you know, in a lot of different ways, you know when there are urgencies and emergencies and the outpatient setting, you know now they have a new angle with a physician who has certain technical skills to actually attack it, even in a different way, and I just think that goes hand in hand.
Dr. Laura Susi:Absolutely, absolutely, and I think it's going to be a great fit. I'm really excited about it and I think that my perspective is, you know, going to be really awesome. I mean even my. You know I can't tell you how many times I've had multiple family members texting me asking me do I need to go to the ER, what do I need to do here, et cetera, and I'm glad to be able to kind of be that source of information for my patients going forward in the concierge field.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, so when you think about preventive care, and longevity.
Dr. Jason Littleton:you know, one of the things that I want to spend some time talking to you about is like how do you actually move, eat, drink, sleep? So when we, as physicians, we have to take care of ourselves and we have to make sure that we're fit and focused for our patients and we're able to deliver top care, but we also have to be in top physical shape as well. And MyMed's protocol move, eat, drink, sleep I was wondering if you could share with us, starting with move. What kind of exercises, kind of what, do you like to do? How does it lend to your hobbies, and maybe shed some light on that? I think the listeners would love to know that.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah, so exercising for me has always been a huge part of my whole world. Like I said, I grew up playing sports and, um, I had an injury that took me out of sports and that was really hard initially, so I actually figured out that I could translate softball to golf. So I do love golf and where I enjoy playing the most is a walking course. It's a nine hole course and I get all my steps in for the day. So I do enjoy that. But my day-to-day is I like to lift, I'm a lifter, my husband is a runner, I'm not a runner. Is I like to lift? I'm, I'm a lifter, my husband is a runner. I'm not a runner, I, I walk, but I am, I'm a lifter and I I really enjoy it. Um, and you know, previously I I used to do these um, uh, competitions actually, where I would um, lift and then kind of get as lean as I could and go on stage and compete. Actually it was. It was really fun, and I'll tell you what I'm like weightlifting showcases or.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah so our bodybuilding showcases a bikini competition is is what I would call it.
Dr. Jason Littleton:OK, OK.
Dr. Laura Susi:How, how lean and fit can you get and then get in a swimsuit and get on stage and compete against others and I really enjoyed it so much. But I'll tell you what. I now have three kiddos and you know having that years of lifting and, you know, trying to be as in shape as I could has really translated to how well I'm able to take care of my kids and run around with my kids. I mean, it really has translated and I'm so grateful for it. But that's, that's my movement. I love to lift, love to pick things up and put things down and and walk.
Dr. Jason Littleton:I mean that that's excellent. I mean and not just that that type of strength training and resistance. It's good for your muscles and good for your bones, your skeleton. That's incredible. Other things that helped you in your athletic career and your lifting career, and even in you know medicine right now, are there. Are there any snacks or foods that you feel like? Are your go to?
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah, sure. So I mean something that I'm I really try my hardest to do, because if I'm not careful I I can get hangry, and when I get hangry I snack. I'm a snacker. So I realized that the way to avoid that the best that I can you know, with three kids and working in the emergency department, et cetera is I really try to have a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, two snacks, and then I try to throw in a dessert of some sort. My favorite dessert is actually true fruit, ok.
Dr. Jason Littleton:I've never heard of that. What is that?
Dr. Laura Susi:Oh man, it's so good. It's so good, dr Wilson. So you can get it at Publix, you can get it at Sam's, you can get them at Costco and they're fruits. So I personally like the strawberry, the raspberry and the blueberry. I think they also have cherry and banana, but they're they're fresh fruit that's been frozen, um, and I don't think freeze dried. They have like a freeze dried option, but it's it's frozen and then it's covered in chocolate and it's a a a very small amount of chocolate and the fruit is fantastic and you can have like 12 blueberries for like 100 calories and it's delicious. So that's my, my favorite dessert. And I don't have to do the chocolate covering of the fruit because that takes some time if you've ever tried to do it yourself. So that's my personal favorite. But I really do try to get in a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, two small snacks, and then I know I'm going to want a dessert. So I try to get that dessert in.
Dr. Jason Littleton:That's good.
Dr. Laura Susi:Facing it out. That way has really helped me.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, I love that. In my book Energize Again, I talked about having breakfast, lunch, dinner and then having a snack in between breakfast and lunch, lunch, dinner and dinner and bedtime to keep your blood sugar even killed. And I really believe that far too often I see in practice where people do not eat breakfast or they wait to lunchtime to get something to eat, and it's not that they're intermittently fasting, that's just their routine. And I often find and run into this other scenario where I see people will have less than 1,000 calories a day and yet struggle with fatigue, energy, just not be able to be upbeat and meet some of their goals. And so I'm a huge advocate of three meals a day, snacks in between, making sure your snacks are healthy, organic. I think that's really important. Now tell us a little bit about hydration. You know what? What? What is your go-to? You? Drinking water. You drink water with electrolytes, do you? You know? Uh, like juice? Are you like juicing? What kind of things do you add to your diet as far as hydration?
Dr. Laura Susi:yeah, absolutely so. Um, in, I will say that I drink a lot of water. I mean I, uh, I'm guilty of the Stanley. Um, I probably go through two of those a day. Um, what I will say is my, my favorite kind of like drink in the morning to get me going is um, I actually really like to do. Um, I take an orange and a lemon a fresh one.
Dr. Laura Susi:I juice them and then I take that juice and I put it with coconut water and then I'll take some strawberries about three of them and I'll blend them up and I'll put them right in and that is my favorite drink to have in the morning and it is so dang good um, it's, it is. It is so, so, so good um, and it feels good to drink it too, right with, like, the coconut water, the fresh strawberries, the fresh orange and and lemon juice. That's my all-time favorite um throughout the day. I will also have like um. Um. I know, dr Littleton, you have a personal favorite electrolyte drink. Um, I do like um, just the packets. Sometimes if I'm feeling dehydrated, I'll throw in a electrolyte uh packet Um. My mom has a couple of favorites. I'll have to grab those and then we can talk about that next time. But she actually brought me a couple recently. Yeah, I like.
Dr. Jason Littleton:I like element. I mean, it's not advertisement for them, but I guess it's a offensive one. I guess you could take it. I make out element, element tea, um, otherwise known as element um. I like the, the soda version of it. Yeah, they're. I think they're really good and it's pretty salty and that's their slogan anyway salty Now. So when we talk about rest and sleep or sleep, move, eat, drink, sleep how many hours do you get? You have three children. You're an ER physician. You're busy, like, are you aiming like? Are you getting like five hours or getting like the full eight hours which people consider normal? What do you do there?
Dr. Laura Susi:That's a great question. That's a loaded question, but that's a great question.
Dr. Jason Littleton:All right, tell us, break it down for us.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yep. So I love my sleep and I think that one of the things that's really helped not only like my health and wellness but just my happiness and my skin and just my stress levels is getting a good amount of sleep. I can always tell when I don't get a good amount of sleep. So I will say that I am very regimented with my sleep and I think if you have a very busy schedule you know, three kids, er, physician everybody has their own busy schedules. I think trying to be sure that you have a you know, real dedication and relationship with your sleep is important.
Dr. Laura Susi:So I, you know, have three kids. My one kid goes down at seven o'clock on the dot. My second kid goes down at eight o'clock and I've got a one month old currently and his current schedule has him going down at nine and I will say that once I get my second kid down at eight, I am getting ready for bed, I'm getting in my jammies, I am ready to go, so that once I get my second kid down at eight, I am getting ready for bed, I'm getting in my jammies, I am ready to go, so that when I put my one month old down at nine o'clock, I'm in bed at nine.
Dr. Laura Susi:And that probably sounds early to some people, but you know, I just make sure that I do my very best to try to get that eight hours. I like that eight hours. My happy place is about seven. I can function on six five I'm kind of a mess, but I can make it happen and then maybe a short nap, but I really really do my very best to be in bed by nine. I don't have the TV on, I'm turning my phone off. My room is, you know, one time I read when I was in high school that a blue room will help you sleep better and for whatever reason that stuck with me. My room is a nice blue color, so I do. I think that probably, out of everything that I do, my movement and my sleep, for me personally, are probably the most important. What I put into my body, I would say, is probably second, and then hydration and food is probably second. But for me personally, if my sleep or my exercise is off, I can tell the next day.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean those are some great tips. I mean, you know, when you talk about sleep in the blue type of room, are you talking about blue light or kind of?
Dr. Laura Susi:No, so my room. I tried my very best to look like a spa.
Dr. Jason Littleton:So, the actual paint in my room is that's funny and I don't know if you've heard me say that. But I don't know if you've heard me say that, but I say that all the time.
Dr. Laura Susi:Really.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, yeah, um. It's in my book Energize Again 2012, where I talk about you want to make your bedroom like a spa so that you can relax, because you know, when people go to a spa, uh, it's like they instantly relax. I mean, they're in this kind of like you know, wellness environment. It's like you can exhale and, uh, you know if you are going to get a at a spa. I mean, they don't have, you know, tv in the massage room. They have some sort of like nice um, soft tones, low light, um some type of uh nice um like wellness music or music where you can relax I mean you don't see newspapers, bills, magazines around or anything like that.
Dr. Jason Littleton:So I always say you want to make your room like a spa. So it's funny that you said that. See, and I want to point out to my listeners see, that's another reason why, when I talk about culture and fit and harmonization, you know she's talking about something that I never told her about.
Dr. Laura Susi:And I never.
Dr. Jason Littleton:And I said you know Varsky's in the background here, my producer Ed, you know, he just smiled at me when you said that because he knows that's something that we say all the time.
Dr. Laura Susi:That's awesome. That's awesome yeah.
Dr. Jason Littleton:See, I mean you're perfect. Yeah, You're a perfect fit.
Dr. Laura Susi:Love it, love it, I'll take it.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, that's awesome, but no, you got to continue what you were saying about that, because I want to learn more about this blue room. I've not heard that before.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah, so I I was, I was in high school and I had a purple room, like a bright purple room in high school, and I remember I read in a magazine somewhere I'm like flipping through a magazine, like a health magazine right and in there it talked about how a blue room is, is calming and it's the the best color you can choose for your room If, if you need a calming environment in order to sleep the best, and I have since then. Since high school, I have had a blue room. Every single room I've had has been blue since then, like a nice light blue. Actually, it's funny, my office color is also a nice light blue. That's incredible.
Dr. Jason Littleton:I think one of the things I want to say, and I know you've seen it we have a new version of our practice website and Dr Susie is on there with her bio. You can learn more about her there. But along with our podcast being there, we have certain blogs. I think I'm going to have to have you maybe contribute as a blogger and write a blog about the blue room, because I need to know more about that myself. So I mean, that's pretty interesting, because I think that if people would sleep better, their bodies would heal better, they would feel better during the day, they'd feel more refreshed.
Dr. Jason Littleton:You know obvious things, but I just I think you know sleep is a stress reliever. Not just that, you know, it helps your body heal muscles, heal sore muscles, joints so many things happen. You know when people sleep and I just think that people operate. You know some of the intuitive things. You operate at a higher level, cognitive wise, and it just makes a difference in your attitude, everything, and so I think you know that's why you know again, it's a part of my.
Dr. Jason Littleton:You know, for you know pillars here move, eat, again it's a part of my. You know four. You know pillars here move, eat, drink, sleep because at the end of the day, you know, I just I feel like there's so many health fads out there, so many things that you can do, but if you don't do those four basics move, eat, drink, sleep I just feel like you're missing something. I mean, there's not a magic pill for out there for some of the things that people battle with and you, it all comes back to good self care, and so I just feel like those four, those four pillars, are just so important.
Dr. Laura Susi:I could not agree more and I think that those those four pillars are are things that everybody can strive to achieve right. They're achievable goals.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean again, I'm just so thrilled, I'm so excited and I know that you're getting ready to start next month we're so excited to have you on the team. And again, it's for me it's all about culture, fit, philosophy. You beat all that uh criteria. I mean I can't wait, um for my listeners and patients out there, you know, to meet you in person and to work with you, because it's really going to be um. You know, you're really a great addition and I I'm just really excited about this. So you guys, to learn more about the practice, you know, just go to jasonmdcom and you can learn more about little thing constant medicine, click around and look at, you know, the blogs, the podcast, the bios, everything like that. Again, dr Susie, thank you for coming on tonight. I can't wait to work alongside with you. I really appreciate your time and coming on.
Dr. Laura Susi:Yeah, thanks for having me Hope to be back again.
Dr. Jason Littleton:Absolutely. You know you'll be back again. We'll have to talk about, you know, the blue room and death and other things that you know that come up, and there are going to be other things in this journey that we're going to have to discuss and share with our patients and I think you know you're just a great addition to the team, so once again, thank you.
Dr. Laura Susi:Sounds fantastic, so excited.
Dr. Jason Littleton:So you know you guys, I want you to listen to this podcast and share it and listen to the other podcasts that we have. Obviously, go to Facebook, instagram, spotify, all my handles and share it like it. Leave comments. Love to hear from you. If you guys have ideas that you want to hear on the podcast, please share them Again. I just you know it's an honor to interview Dr Susie. I really think that she's going to be a great culture fit and you know again, I've always said when I think about concierge medicine it's personalized care and care that it's an investment and care that I really believe every person should have. You have to prioritize your health. If you wanna know more again, check out my website or give us a call at Littleton Concierge Medicine. Listen. Great to have you guys on. I can't wait till we talk again. I'll see you next time, thank you.
