Conversations With Dr Barankin: Dr Michael Gold

Michael Gold, MD, FAAD, and Benjamin Barankin, MD, FRCPC, discuss Dr Gold's favorite music, why he's thankful for streaming, and the changes his household made during the pandemic.

Dr Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr Gold is the founder of Gold Skin Care Center, Advanced Aesthetics Medical Spa, The Laser & Rejuvenation Center, and Tennessee Clinical Research Center located in Nashville, TN.

Transcript

Dr Benjamin Barankin: Hello, and welcome to the podcast, Conversations with Dr Barankin. I am Dr Benjamin Barankin, a dermatologist in Toronto, Canada. These succinct interviews with our dermatology colleagues will ask these bright and talented minds their thoughts, experiences, and pearls of wisdom that are fun, interesting, and actionable. Now, let's get started.

Hello. We have here with us today, Dr Michael Gold. He's the founder and medical director of Gold Skin Care Center, Advanced Aesthetics Medical Spa, the Laser and Rejuvenation Center, and Tennessee Clinical Research Center in Nashville, TN.

He is a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon, and oversees the various facets of the centers’ operations, a combination of medical and surgical dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, aesthetic services, and research endeavors, which began in 1990.

Dr Gold has earned worldwide recognition for providing patients with leading edge technological advances in dermatology and aesthetic skincare. He plays an integral role in the development of new pharmaceutical products, injectable fillers and toxins, skin care, and medical devices through his clinical research.

He presents results of his work regularly at national and international dermatology, plastic surgical and cosmetic meetings. Dr Gold has authored over 300 published scientific articles, 35 textbook chapters, and has edited 2 textbooks on photodynamic therapy.

He serves on most major dermatology journal boards and is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology and the editor-in-chief of Dermatological Reviews. In addition, Dr Gold helped establish the Tennessee Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery, TSLMS, a group of health care providers interested in the distribution of information and proper training for those in the cosmetic arena.

Dr Gold also helped start two international groups, the Dermatologic Aesthetic Surgery International League, DASIL, which aims to create a global community for the open exchange of knowledge and innovation by positions specializing in dermatologic and aesthetic surgery. It has become one of the most prominent and important international dermatology groups which showcases meetings all over the world, and the 5 Continent Congress, 5CC, one of the world's leading conferences on dermatologic and aesthetic surgery, where he is the current President of the Congress.

Welcome, Dr Gold. Thank you so much for joining me.

Dr Michael Gold: Thanks, Ben. A pleasure to be with you.

Dr Barankin: All right, Michael, I have a lot of questions for you. After that incredible intro., I don't know how you do all these things and where you find the time, so I'm quite curious. Let's start with your favorite book, and why?

Dr Gold: I don't have one favorite book. I have one favorite author, all the John Grisham books. I found them since early on to be fascinating reads, and things that I can sit down and read within a couple of days.

I always tell people, in the pre-COVID world, I traveled a ton. I can finish a book on one of my long plane rides, or coming and going. I like John Grisham books. Other than that, I don't read a ton for pleasure, out of whatever reasons. I have no reasons, I don't have the patience to sit down and read a book, but yeah, if I have a new John Grisham book, I'll sit there and read it.

Dr Barankin: Certainly, a great author and very popular in our household over the years. Michael, what is your favorite song, or music, or band?

Dr Gold: Song-wise, or genre-wise, I listen mainly to stuff from the 1970s, so anything in the oldies world. Obviously, I live in Nashville, TN, which is the home of country music. Although I couldn't probably tell you most of the performers, I know most of the songs. I've had the pleasure of taking care of a lot of them over the years, so obviously, I know who they are, and what their music's all about, but I'm a 70s guy, and I still like listening to those kinds of things. When I'm in the car, or when I'm around, I'll put on the oldies stations, and all that kind of music.

Dr Barankin: Rolling Stones, The Who, Fleetwood Mac?

Dr Gold: In that genre, Queen and those things, but again, things like Billy Joel and Elton John, those are the things I can sit around and listen to all day.

Dr Barankin: Any favorite movies?

Dr Gold: I haven't been to a movie theater like everybody else, in what, 13 months now. My wife and I have learned to love streaming and watching things. This year, The Trial of the Chicago 7 was a fascinating film. The Queen's Gambit was a fascinating film. I'm still a Disney fan at heart, and we watched Mulan, and I thought that well done.

Yeah, I love going to movies. I'm originally from Philadelphia, grew up in the Rocky days. I still love all the Rocky movies, and still love watching them. My Cousin Vinny is another one that comes to mind, that I watch over and over again. Those are my favorite ones.

Dr Barankin: Yeah, we greatly enjoyed The Queen's Gambit and again, Chicago 7 was terrific, Mulan. [laughs] I guess, we're all watching the same stuff in our homes, quarantined and all that.

Dr Gold: Thank goodness for Netflix, Prime, and all those things. I wasn't streaming a lot before this, and we've all learned as we have got used to Zoom and everything else, that this is a way we can still be connected out there. It's been OK.

Dr Barankin: Yeah. Michael, any morning rituals for you, anything you do every day?

Dr Gold: I'm an early riser, usually up by 5:15, 5:30 every morning. I'm actually in my office by 6:00 every morning. My morning routine is straightforward. I go to work. I'm very fortunate, I push a button to get my coffee out of the machine, and I get ground coffee.

I have about an hour of what I call "Michael time," where I can get my work done and communicate with the people that I deal with in Europe, in the Middle East, as well as those in Asia. It's a 6, 7-hour difference for Europe. If it's the morning where I am, it's early evening in Asia.

I do a lot of work with that and catch up before my staff comes. I always joke to my chairman, who always was at the office early, that he was crazy. I've turned into that, as far as being somebody who likes to get to their office and get started early and have some quiet time. That's my ritual.

Dr Barankin: What time does your day wrap up, and what time do you go to sleep?

Dr Gold: It may sound weird, by my clinic work's like clockwork. The first patient in is at 8:00, and we stop at 12:00. We start again at 1:00, and I'm out of the door at 5:00. Usually, because we're in central time, the news comes on at 10:00, and 10:30 I go to bed. It's simple. My life is straightforward.

Dr Barankin: Any hobbies or exercise that you're into, meditation, anything like that?

Dr Gold: I've actually lost about 60 pounds during the pandemic, which I'm very proud of. Basically, I did it through walking every day. My wife loves her Peloton and does that every day. She was, before an injury, a triathlete. I watch her train all the time. I don't do that. I like to walk, and I'm a golfer. On the weekends, I play golf. I just came back from a 10-days stay at a mountain home in North Carolina, and I played golf 4 times. I'm in my 60's now, I've been playing golf for over 50 years, 55 years. That's my hobby. I love to play golf, and in the pre-pandemic world, I love travel.

Most people that know me know that I spend a lot of time, or have spent a lot of time all over the world. I'm the luckiest dermatologist around, because I get to go anywhere I want to go. Most people think it's work, and I think it's vacation. If I teach or I give a lecture, no big deal, but I get to see the most incredible parts of this planet. Travel and golf are my hobbies.

Dr Barankin: Congratulations on the 60-pounds weight loss.

Dr Gold: Yeah, it's been good.

Dr Barankin: Because people are gaining, the COVID-15 or COVID-19, right?

Dr Gold: The interesting thing is, when the pandemic hit, my wife and I looked at each other and said, "OK, we're going to have every kind of cookie, cake, and whatever known to mankind." We ordered from everywhere in the country, everything that we could find. My wife and I watched always the Great British Baking Show. I've been married 40 years, my wife never baked a cake in her life. Every day, I was getting another cake.

My A1C went through the roof, so my internist said, "You have 2 options. Lose weight and lose weight." Yeah, so on August 1, both of us started a big sugar restriction diet, nothing more than just cutting out sugar, cutting out carbs, no ice cream—which was my weakness. It became sort of a game. Now, the game will be keeping it off, which is the plan. My A1C is very normal now, so that's more important.

Dr Barankin: A question for you. Which 3 people, excluding family and friends, would you want to have over for dinner? What kind of topics might you discuss? Where would the dinner be?

Dr Gold: Again, since I love golf, I would pick a golfer first. Whether it would be Jack Niklaus, or Tiger Woods, one of those, Phil Mickelson. I find golfers are truly in a different world, they live a different life than we do. I'd love to talk to them about how they did it, what drives them, their routine, like when you talked about my ritual, what's their ritual?

It would be also fascinating to sit down with Barak Obama or somebody like that. Learn what makes them tick, and figure out from their perspective, why anybody would want to be President of the United States. Those would be the people that I'd want to know about.

Dr Barankin: There may be a few golf tips they could give you, or take a look at your grip?

Dr Gold: Yeah, a little bit, I think so.

Dr Barankin: [laughs] What would your advice be to your 18-year-old self?

Dr Gold: I learned at an early age, and I guess, learn from your parents as your example, that nothing is given to you free. Nothing is given to you, just because you're you. I learned a work ethic early on, that you had to work hard. You had to be polite, be compassionate, and you had to work for what you have, and what you've been given.

I am a workaholic, but I want to think that I have provided my patients incredible care. I want to think that my employees have respected the work environment that I've created. I run a clinic that has 60 people or so, working in it. Those things, to me, are very important.

The 18-year-old person that I would be, or want to be, is somebody that sets a goal, is driven, makes mistakes, not afraid to make a mistake, but learns from those mistakes. At the end of the day, is the best in the business as you can be. Counter to that, also being the best family person you can be.

Again, I'm the luckiest guy, because I've been married to the same woman for 40 years. We have 2 incredible kids who are long out of the house. I mean, they're 35 and 32. We had the pleasure of watching them grow up and then getting on their own, and now we have the opportunity to spend time together.

That prepandemic meant a lot of travel together. During the pandemic, it meant a lot of streaming and watching TV together, because we went nowhere. We rarely have gone nowhere. Yeah, that's what I would do. As an 18-year-old now, what I'd do now, I would want to do then.

Dr Barankin: Great advice. Michael, if you weren't a physician, what do you think you might love doing, or be good at doing instead?

Dr Gold: I gave a lecture many years ago when I first started dispensing cosmeceuticals from our office. I made the comment on the stage that I was a business person. Somebody stood up after I was done and said, "That was a great lecture, but we're not business people, we're doctors. You should never talk like you're a business person."

I was shocked at that kind of comment, but again, it was a long time ago. It was 25, 28 years ago, and it was a different time in medicine. Having said that, my father who recently passed away at 93, he was an infectious disease doctor who ended up in the pharmaceutical business and then running pharmaceutical companies.

I got to see somebody that was a doctor who cared for people and took care of patients, but at the same time, switched career moves, if you will, into the business world. If I wasn't a physician, I probably would be in the business world somewhere.

I've always said to people, I'm not going to do this, but I've said to people that at some point in my career I might give up what I'm doing to go run a global medical/laser/cosmetic something, because I have the insight of the medical world as far as what we all need, but I love the business community.

I love looking at spreadsheets. I love doing budgets. I love those kinds of things. I don't think a lot of doctors love that. I actually love that stuff. I love the business world, and I actually thought about going to some of the MBA programs. My friends all told me, "Why do you need it, because you know more than most that they're going to teach you anyway?"

I don't know if that's true or not, but I love that kind of concept of the business world. If I wasn't a physician, I'd probably end up trying to run a company.

Dr Barankin: It's certainly not too late to do an MBA. It's something you might consider if this pandemic [laughs] continues much longer.

Dr Gold: At some point.

Dr Barankin: A question for you. What would you say your ideal day looks like?

Dr Gold: My ideal day is on the golf course, or in a different country, or whatever. Again, that's pre-pandemic. Hopefully, it'll be post-pandemic if it ever ends. My ideal day in the office is, honestly, as I said, I'm in the office early. I'm Zooming with people usually from 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning, 2 or 3 Zoom calls that I set up.

I see patients, I love seeing patients. I love everything about dermatology. You never know what's behind the door you're going to walk into, whether it's an acne, eczema, or skin cancer. I do all kinds of derm surgeries, so I love doing that. I love doing what I do, and so, that's my ideal day. Most people know me as a cosmetic person, and that's what I love doing, as well. I still love med derm, and I love doing clinical research. We do all that during the course of the day, and that's what keeps me going.

Something that I made a comment to with my accountant when I first set up my practice in 1990 is, "The day that I wake up and I don't have a smile on my face, I quit." Here we are, 31 years later, and I still smile every time I go to the office. It's not any issues. That's what I love to do.

Dr Barankin: Clearly, you've found the right [laughs] career choice, Michael. To wrap things up here in the interests of time, any cool websites or apps that you're using, or even a favorite quote?

Dr Gold: I'm one of these people that if you ask me how to get on Facebook, I wouldn't know how to do it, or Twitter. I don't do those things. I have people that do social media for me. I watch Instagram and LinkedIn, but that's about it. I'm not one that gets into all these kinds of things on the Internet, and the computer. It's not me. For quotes, "Do unto others as you would want them to do to you," whatever that quote's exact wording is. Treat people with respect as you want them to treat you. That's the best thing that people can do.

Dr Barankin: It's really that, I agree. Michael, you're incredibly accomplished and we're very grateful for all your incredible lectures at the AAD and all the other meetings we attend. Keep up the wonderful work. Stay healthy and safe. Thank you so much for joining me.

Dr Gold: My pleasure, and thank you for having me. Good luck with everything. As I said, I want everybody to stay safe, get vaccinated, and get back to normal soon.