The biggest impediment to career transition is inertia.
Meet Our Conference Faculty
Our faculty consists of your colleagues who have transitioned to a non-clinical career and will discuss the opportunities available in their field or industry. Many of our faculty members are alumni of the conference.
David J. Berube, MD, MPH serves as Chief Medical Officer, VP at Lincoln Financial Group. He is also an assistant clinical professor at both Yale and UConn. He has vast experience in the field of disability insurance including Chief Medical Officer, VP, Liberty Mutual Benefits and National Medical Director, Group Insurance at Aetna. Dr. Berube completed his Occupational and Environmental Medicine Fellowship at Yale and earned his MD at the University of Vermont and his BA at Wesleyan.
Juan Daccach, MD has over 10 years’ experience in the medical device industry, including Medical Safety Officer, Global Orthopedics, Joint Reconstruction for Johnson & Johnson and currently as VP Global Product Safety for Merz Aesthetics. Dr. Daccach is an Orthopedic Surgeon with fellowships on both total knee and hip replacements and prosthetic joint infection management. He received his MD at Pontificia Universidad Javieriana in Colombia and completed his fellowships at the Universidad de Barcelona in Spain. Dr. Daccach is also a certified personal, executive, and health coach.
Timothy Grant, MD, MBA, FACHE is the Chief Medical Officer of Parkridge Health System – a five hospital system in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His previous administrative roles include being CEO of Parkridge Valley and Parkridge West Hospitals, and Chief Medical Officer for Coliseum Health in Macon, Georgia. Prior to transitioning to non-clinical work Dr. Grant practiced as an anesthesiologist for 15 years, where he also served as operating room medical director. Dr. Grant earned his BA and MS from Clemson University and his MD from the University of South Carolina. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at Duke University, and a fellowship in pediatric anesthesia at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Grant earned an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Lisa Herbert, MD is a physician leadership coach who specializes in helping physicians successfully transition to non-clinical roles. She is an experienced public speaker and podcaster who also serves as a certified DEI consultant and as a recruiter of physicians for non-clinical leadership roles. Prior to starting her own businesses, Dr. Herbert worked as a health insurance medical director and as a physician advisor. Prior to her transition she was in private practice as a family physician. Dr. Herbert grew up in New York City and earned her BA from Stony Brook and her MD from SUNY Upstate in Syracuse.
Nabhan Islam, MD is a Medical Science Liaison for Syneos Health. His therapeutic area is Vaccines & Infectious Diseases. Prior to joining industry, he worked as a well-known medical instructor in the Greater Toronto Area and previously served as a medic with the Canadian Armed Forces. Dr. Islam earned his undergraduate degree at Western University and his MD from St. George’s University. He is an active professional member and regular speaker for the Medical Science Liaison Society (MSLS).
Jonathan Jaffin, MD has 10+ years’ experience as a Specialist Executive with Deloitte – a top global advisory firm which employs dozens of physicians. Prior to transitioning to consulting, he served in the United States Army for over 30 years and his roles included Chief of Staff of the Dismounted Battle Injury Task Force, Director, Health Policy and Services, Deputy Commander and Acting Commander US Army Medical Research and Material Command, and Commander (CEO) of the Walter Reed Health Care System. Dr. Jaffin is a trauma surgeon who earned his MD at Johns Hopkins and his AB at Princeton.
Alice Kochunov, MD serves as Chief Medical Officer at CuriMeta where she delivers data management and technology solutions to solve the most complex challenges for life science and healthcare organizations. Dr. Kochunov transitioned to non-clinical work shortly after medical school. Her career has included serving as Associate Chief Health Officer for IBM Watson, Interim Informatics Director at Stanford, Physician Consultant/Executive at Allscripts as well as consulting roles at The Advisory Board Company and Deloitte. She has had the pleasure to informally mentor and advise multiple physicians looking to break into healthcare IT. Dr. Kochunov earned her MD at Penn and her BA at Franklin & Marshall College.
Robert Levin, MD, CFP, CEPA is a Senior Vice-President – Wealth Management and Senior Portfolio Manager at UBS, Inc. in Beverly Hills, California. He and his partners direct a multibillion dollar wealth management practice. Dr. Levin’s clients are mostly physicians, health care executives and their companies. His team provides comprehensive wealth management including investments, retirement and complex estate/tax planning, insurance advice and lending. They also advise their clients about exit strategies and liquidity events for their companies and shareholders. Dr. Levin practiced pediatrics for 12 years prior to his transition in 2001. His prior financial services experience includes serving as a healthcare financial analyst at JPMorgan Chase on Wall Street and a brief stint as a medical consultant to a venture capital fund. Dr. Levin earned both his BS and MD from the University of Michigan and later trained in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.
Brian Lewis, MD is a Senior Reviewer at USFDA’s Center for Devices and radiological Health in cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators and a Captain in the USPHS. Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Lewis was in the private practice of arrhythmia cardiology in Washington, DC. Dr. Lewis provides lead clinical regulatory FDA guidance to industry to facilitate clinical trials to provide a meaningful picture of pacemaker, defibrillator and lead safety and effectiveness to support market approval. He is board certified in cardiology and sees arrhythmia patients and performs surgery weekly at the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Lewis earned his BA at Johns Hopkins and MD at Northwestern and completed fellowships in Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at St. Louis University Health Sciences Center.
Elizabeth Mack, MD, MS is a pediatric intensivist seeking to improve the quality of care and life with interests in quality improvement and patient safety, patient and family engagement, global health, medical education, communication, media, child advocacy, and joy in work. In addition to her clinical work, she serves as Senior Medical Director for Children’s Quality & Safety and the University Faculty Ombuds for the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Mack earned her BS and MD from the University of South Carolina and completed her fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Dr. Mack frequently provides media interviews and also frequently testifies in front of legislators. She is a SEAK alumna and a Full Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Mehul Mankad, MD serves as the full time Chief Medical Officer for two related startups: PeeqHealth and Nevada Behavioral Health. Both of these organizations are innovators in value based behavioral health care. Formerly Dr. Mankad served as CMO for the health insurer Alliance Health. Dr. Mankad is a Duke and Rush trained forensic psychiatrist who earned both this BA and MD from Northwestern. In addition to his CMO work, Dr. Mehul serves as an expert witness in cases of impaired professionals and stays clinically active practicing at the VA one day per month.
Laura McKain, MD is a thought leader on non-clinical and alternative careers for physicians and is the founder and moderator of the highlyacclaimed Physician Nonclinical Career Hunter Facebook Group as well as a sought after coach for physicians looking to transition (www.mckainconsulting.com). Dr. McKain has enjoyed an extremely successful non-clinical career since transitioning from her OB/Gyn clinical work. She spent 8 years at the CRO PPD where she started as a medical monitor/safety physician and was later promoted to senior medical director where she built and led a global team of safety physicians. Later, Dr. McKain served as a senior medical director with Myovant Sciences.
Devi E. Nampiaparampil, MD, MS is an on-air medical contributor for Fox 5 New York as well as ITV’s “Good Morning Britain.” She has contributed to over 500 national and international television news segments and has published articles in Newsweek. She and her husband are also the producers of an award-winning documentary. Prior to becoming a physician, Dr. Nampiaparampil appeared as a doctor on General Hospital and earned her SAG-AFTRA card. Dr. Nampiaparampil is board-certified in Pain Medicine, Sports Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. She runs her private practice in the New York City Financial District, performing minimally invasive spine procedures, and also works as a consultant for medicolegal cases and for direct-to-consumer medical device companies. Dr. Nampiaparampil earned her BA and MD from Northwestern and her MS in Journalism from Columbia. She is a SEAK alumna.
Robert Nordness, MD, MPH is a Vice President in Safety and Pharmacovigilance at Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, Dr. Nordness has experience in diverse roles in various-sized companies; Alexion, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Pfizer. Dr. Nordness is Triple-Board Certified (Emergency Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine). He graduated from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical Engineering and received his MD from the University of Minnesota Medical School. He earned his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Nordness served 10 years of active duty with the US Navy and remains an active Reservist in Undersea Medicine. He is the former Officer in Charge of the Naval Undersea Medical Institute. Dr. Nordness has special interest and experience in mentoring and assisting physicians who wish to break into pharma.
Trilok Pathak, MD, MBA, FHM is a hospitalist and Physician Advisor with the Franciscan Physician Network in Indiana. He received his BA and MD from Northwestern and his MBA from UMass-Amherst. He is a certified physician executive and a SEAK alumnus.
Kirk A. Roberts, MD is the Lead Medical Review Officer at Cynergy MRO where he heads a team of 4 other physicians. Dr. Roberts earned his MD directly from high school in the 6 year program offered by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Before leaving clinical medicine, Dr. Roberts practiced emergency medicine and wound care. His clinical experience includes sports medicine and he has served as a sideline physician for the Kansas City Chiefs. Dr. Roberts also has significant experience as an expert witness.
Stanley Sack, MD is a freelance medical writer for professional and lay audiences, and is the Senior Editor of Medical Joyworks, LLC. His freelance writing experience includes CME, blogging, marketing copy, health journalism and web content marketing. He transitioned to medical writing after 30 years of experience as a pediatrician. Dr. Sack is a former community faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College. In addition, he received his M.D. at Hahnemann University and completed his pediatric residency at Tulane University Affiliated Hospitals. Dr. Sack is a member of the American Medical Writer’s Association and the Association of Health Care Journalists. He is a SEAK Alumnus.
Tahlia Spector, MD, FACEP is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She currently serves as Director, Longitudinal Clinical Experiences (LCE); Chair, 3rd Year Longitudinal Preceptorship, and one of 40 Educators for Excellence in the Foundations of Practice 1st year course. Dr. Spector is Board Certified in both internal medicine and emergency medicine. She transitioned to an exclusively non-clinical career in education after suffering a disabling injury. Dr. Spector earned her BA at Vassar and her MD at UCLA. She is a SEAK alumna.
Katrina Ubell, MD is the founder and CEO of Weight Loss for Busy Physicians (katrinaubellmd.com), a highly-successful and 100% remote niche coaching firm of 22 employees dedicated exclusively to the needs of practicing women physicians. Dr. Ubell is the creator of the popular Weight Loss for Busy Physicians podcast, which has over 300 episodes and the author of the book How to Lose Weight for the
Last Time. Dr. Ubell founded her coaching firm after becoming dissatisfied in the private practice of pediatrics. She is the mother of three school aged children. Dr. Ubell earned her BS at Johns Hopkins and her MD at Michigan.
Last Time. Dr. Ubell founded her coaching firm after becoming dissatisfied in the private practice of pediatrics. She is the mother of three school aged children. Dr. Ubell earned her BS at Johns Hopkins and her MD at Michigan.
Lauren Wasielesky, MD, MBA is a remote based Medical Affairs Manager with Veristat having previously served as Medical Affairs Specialist and Medical Affairs Associate. Dr. Wasielesky completed fellowship training in radiology at McMaster University later earning her MBA at McMaster as well. She earned her medical degree at Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Pelotas. She also has over two years’ experience as a financial advisor. Dr. Wasielesky is a SEAK alumna.
Maureen Watson, MD, CHCQM-PHYADV, MBA serves as a physician advisor for the Franciscan Alliance Health System. In addition to this work, Dr. Watson has been a licensed Realtor since 2016, first with Century 21 Scheetz and presently with eXp Realty. She is also the author of the books Who Am I Now?: Spiritual Perspectives for Seasons of Change and Realtor, M.D.: Real Estate Opportunities for High-Earning Professionals. Dr. Watson earned her BA from DePauw and her MD from Indiana University. Dr. Watson practiced radiology before transitioning to her non-clinical endeavors.
Michael H. Wetzel, MD, DBIM, CLU® is the Chief Medical Director for Equitable Financial. Prior to Equitable, Dr. Wetzel was a VP, Medical Director with Prudential and an AVP, Associate Medical Director with the Hartford. He is board certified in Family Medicine and Insurance Medicine. Dr. Wetzel earned his BS at Penn State and his MD from Thomas Jefferson Medical College.
Judy Wright, MD is a full time remote LTSS Medical Director with Molina Healthcare who specializes in long term social support and complex cases. Her duties at Molina are diverse and include utilization management, appeals, and training. Dr. Wright has over 10 years’ experience in the health insurance field and previously worked for both Magellan Healthcare and United Healthcare. She is a SEAK alumna who was recruited for her first non-clinical role as a per diem physician advisor at the 2009 SEAK Conference. Prior to her transition to non-clinical work Dr. Wright practiced family medicine in a variety of settings including a community health center, a correctional facility, and an academic medical center.
Meet Our Conference Mentors
You will find our faculty very giving of their time and very willing to answer your individual questions after their presentations, at the networking functions and when not presenting. To increase your networking experience and increase one-on-one attention, we have also assembled a team of mentors to be available to talk one-on-one with the attendees (at no additional charge).
Ryan Bayley, MD is a successful physician coach specializing in non-clinical career transition. Through his company, Bayley
Coaching Solutions (solvingcareers.com), he helps physicians figure out what they really want and exactly what steps are
needed to make that transition happen and has worked with hundreds of SEAK alumni to make that happen. He is the author of Physician Non-Grata: A Survival Guide for Physicians Accused of Poor Communication, Boundary Issues, and Disruptive Behavior. Dr. Bayley is also a SEAK alumnus and a former SEAK keynote speaker.
Coaching Solutions (solvingcareers.com), he helps physicians figure out what they really want and exactly what steps are
needed to make that transition happen and has worked with hundreds of SEAK alumni to make that happen. He is the author of Physician Non-Grata: A Survival Guide for Physicians Accused of Poor Communication, Boundary Issues, and Disruptive Behavior. Dr. Bayley is also a SEAK alumnus and a former SEAK keynote speaker.
David Best, MD, MBA is the CEO and Co-Founder of the MDea family of companies, including BESTMSLs (BESTMSLs.com), a contract medical science liaison organization, The Doctor’s Channel (TheDoctorsChannel.com), the world’s largest short form video site for doctors including CME, The Almost Doctor’s Channel (TheAlmostDoctorsChannel.com) for premeds, med students, residents and fellows, MDea (MDeaNY.com) a medical communications agency and Dr. Cruiter (DrCruiter.com) a physician placement service.
Joe Bormel, MD, MPH is an internist who has broad experience in the healthcare IT/informatics field including industry, regulatory policy, public health and independent consulting.
Stephanie Brown, MD is a coach who specializes in assisting professional women and physicians who feel there is something more for them in life. Dr. Brown is a family physician with over 20 years’ experience and a SEAK alumna.
Garson M. Caruso, MD, MPH, CLCP, CMLE, FACOEM, FIAIME is a board certified Occupational Physician in private consulting practice in Harrisburg, PA. He practiced emergency medicine from 1986 to 2000, then switched specialties to occupational medicine. His non-clinical experience includes complex disability case review, medical direction in workers’ compensation and short-term disability, remote supervision of worker health and wellness clinics, occupational medicine consultation, and work as a Medical Review Officer and medicolegal expert witness in occupational medicine, life expectancy determination, and physician life care planning. Dr. Caruso is a SEAK alumnus.
Savi Chadha, MD, MPH is a senior regional medical manager and medical science liaison with Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He received his MD from St. James School of Medicine, a Master’s in Public Health from Benedictine University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Chadha is a member of the MSL Society, the Medical Affairs Professional Society, and is a SEAK alumnus.
Juan Daccach, MD is an orthopedic surgeon who has over 10 years’ experience in the medical device industry. Dr. Daccach is also a certified personal, executive, and health coach.
Judy L. Finney, MD, FACC has been an Associate Medical Director with Allstate Financial in Chicago since 2012 where her responsibilities mainly involve life insurance underwriting. Dr. Finney is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Interventional Cardiology.
Lisa Herbert, MD is a physician leadership coach who specializes in helping physicians successfully transition to non-clinical roles. She is an experienced public speaker and podcaster who also serves as a certified DEI consultant and as a recruiter of physicians for non-clinical leadership roles. Her clinical career was in private practice family medicine.
Carrie Holland, MD, CPT is a life and career coach at carriehollandmd.com, and host of the Strong as a Working Mom weekly podcast. She works with successful professionals who have checked all the boxes decide ‘Now what?’ and go after it. For those who know there is more available to them beyond their current roles, Carrie provides a transformative personal growth experience. She guides people to blow their own minds with what they can accomplish by achieving big health, personal, and professional goals. She is a SEAK alumna.
Jacqueline Huntly, MD, MPH is a career and leadership development coach (www.thrivetoleadmd.com). She has extensive experience helping physicians bring energy, purpose and joy back into their lives through career transformation both in clinical and non-clinical fields.
Julia Pewitt Kinder, D.O. is a physician career consultant who specializes in working with fellow physicians to teach the exact steps to find a new career (www.physiciancareeropportunities.com). She is a SEAK alumna and four-time SEAK keynote speaker. She is board-certified in family medicine and serves as medical director for a national health plan.
Stacie Laff, MD is a pediatrician whose non-clinical experience includes health insurance medical director, telehealth, and expert witnessing. Dr. Laff is a SEAK alumna.
Morgan Leafe, MD, MHA is double board-certified in pediatrics and clinical informatics and her non-clinical experience includes professional resume and Linkedin profile writing, freelance medical writing, editing, and copywriting, and clinical informatics. Dr. Leafe is a SEAK alumna.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD, is a physician who became financially free at the age of 29 and retired early at the age of 38 as a result of making strategic investments after the 2008 financial crisis. He serves as a consultant teaching physicians how to leverage social media marketing to uniquely position themselves in today’s economy. He is a graduate of the MD-PhD program, offered jointly through the Baylor College of Medicine and Department of Bioengineering at Rice University, and is the Founder and CEO of Financial Freedom for Physicians. Dr. Loo is a SEAK alumnus.
John C. Lundell, MD is a practicing anesthesiologist whose non-clinical activities include serving as an expert witness, public speaking and authoring the books Anesthesia Basics for Perioperative Nurses and Anesthesia Basics for Medical Students and Resident Rotators. Doctor Lundell is a SEAK alumnus.
David Jonathan Lutz, MD, FAAPMR is a Utilization Review Medical Director for Anthem in the field of Interventional Pain Medicine/PM&R. Dr. Lutz is also a real estate investor in single family homes. Dr. Lutz is a SEAK Alumnus.
Elizabeth Mack, MD, MS is a pediatric intensivist whose non-clinical experience includes Medical Director for Quality/Safety and University Faculty Ombuds. Dr. Mack frequently provides media interviews and also frequently testifies in front of state legislators. She is a SEAK alumna and a Full Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Robert Mcdermott, MD is an allergist whose non-clinical endeavors include coaching other physicians and paid speaking engagements on physician burnout. Dr. Mcdermott is a SEAK alumnus.
Laura McKain, MD is the founder and moderator of the highly-acclaimed Physician Nonclinical Career Hunter Facebook Group as well as a sought after coach for physicians looking to transition (www.mckainconsulting.com). Dr. McKain is an OB/Gyn who has enjoyed a very successful career with contract research organizations.
Amit Mehta, MD is a hematologist/oncologist whose non-clinical endeavors include: physician consultant advising investors in the hematology & oncology space, author of The 7 Types of Doctors (dealing with the impact of insurance-based medicine), expert witness, and entrepreneur — CMO and Founder of FoodyMD which empowers physicians and the public with data-driven knowledge of foods with anti-cancer nutritional value.
R. Brian Mitchell, MD is a part-time practicing hematology/oncology physician who has experience with expert witnessing, file reviews, and locums tenens.
Rebecca Lynne Moles, MD, CPC is a child abuse pediatrician who now serves as a remote based health insurance utilization management medical director and a certified professional coach with a special interest in physician burnout in early and midcareer physicians. Dr. Moles is a SEAK alumna.
Steven W. Parkes, MD, MBA, MPH, PCC is the President and Founder of the Clinician Coaching Institute, LLC (www.cliniciancoachinginstitute.com), where he specializes in coaching physicians in career transformation and leadership development. He is a SEAK alumnus.
J. Bruce Robertson, MD, FACS, CPE, AME is a urologist and SEAK alumnus whose non-clinical experience includes utilization review, disability review, being the founder, CEO, and chairman of a 2,000 member health insurance trust, life care planning, and aviation medical examinations (AMES).
Jennifer Roux, MD is a pain medicine physician who works remotely in utilization review while being a full-time mom with two school age kids. Dr. Roux is a SEAK alumna.
Stanley Sack, MD is a retired pediatrician who now works as a freelance medical writer with experience in CME, blogging, marketing copy, health journalism and web content marketing. Dr. Sack is a SEAK alumnus.
David E. Saintsing, MD is a practicing emergency medicine physician whose non-clinical pursuits include board member, startup advisor, business development advisor, PA educator, medical school faculty, hypothermia expert, malpractice insurance company faculty, expert witness, and triathlon coach. Dr. Saintsing is a SEAK alumnus.
Sushama A. Scalera, MD is an emergency medicine physician who transitioned to become a pharmacovigilance (drug safety) physician in 2018. After serving as a Global Safety Lead, most recently with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, she became Managing Director of Scalera Consulting Group, a consulting firm to biotechnology companies. She provides medical consulting services to several companies on products across the development lifecycle and broad therapeutic areas. Dr. Scalera employs clinical physicians on consulting contracts and provides training in medical review of global case safety reports, pharmacovigilance procedures, and health authority regulations.
Tahlia Spector, MD, FACEP is an internist and emergency medicine physician who transitioned to a career in medical education and administration after suffering a disabling injury. She is a SEAK alumna.
Jonathan Terry, DO, QME, ABIHM, IFMCP is an employed and private practice psychiatrist whose non-clinical pursuits include expert witnessing, teaching in medical schools and residencies, authoring/publishing books, consulting for nonprofits, and coaching physicians seeking to empower their clinical or nonclinical practices. Dr. Terry is a SEAK alumnus.
Katrina Ubell, MD is the founder and CEO of Weight Loss for Busy Physicians (katrinaubellmd.com), a highly-successful and 100% remote niche coaching firm of 22 employees dedicated exclusively to the needs of practicing women physicians. She
previously was in the private practice of pediatrics.
previously was in the private practice of pediatrics.
Lauren Wasielesky, MD, MBA is a radiologist who has experience in a series of positions at the contract research organization (CRO) Veristat and also has over two years’ experience as a financial advisor. Dr. Wasielesky is a SEAK alumna.
Steve Wininger, MD, FACOG, CMQ is an OB/GYN who successfully transitioned to Humana in 2014, first in utilization management and currently in the areas of quality and peer review. Dr. Wininger is a SEAK alumnus who was recruited by Humana at the SEAK conference.
Magdalena (“Maggie”) Wolanin, MD has insight and experience regarding breaking into the pharma industry as a foreign medical graduate (medical science liaison & pharmacovigilance). Dr. Wolanin is a SEAK alumna.
Judy Wright, MD is a full time remote LTSS Medical Director with Molina Healthcare. Dr. Wright has over 10 years’ experience in the health insurance field and previously worked for both Magellan Healthcare and United Healthcare. She is a SEAK alumna
who previously practiced family medicine.
who previously practiced family medicine.
David Yeh, MD is a nuclear physician (still practices part time), investment professional and the author of the book The Busy Doctor’s Investment Guide. His Wealthy Doctor Institute, LLC, (www.wealthydoctorinstitute.com) is a registered investment advisor. Dr. Yeh also manages the Praetorian Archimedes, LP hedge fund for qualified investors. Dr. Yeh is a SEAK alumnus.