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This is a fantastic episode with Dr. Michael Ast, who has amazing energy and an infectious personality, you can’t help but listen to what he has to say.

Dr. Michael P. Ast is an Orthopedic Surgeon and Chief Medical Innovation Officer at HSS focusing on rapid-recovery, short-stay and outpatient joint replacement surgery includingprimary, complex and revision total joint replacement. His training includes minimally invasive hip and knee replacement, partial knee replacement, robotic surgery and computer assisted surgery.

Topics include:

-He was born and raised on blue-collar Staten island. He was a gymnast, starting at 5 years old, and attended a Division I school at Temple University. It was in his time in gymnastics when he decided to become an orthopedic surgeon. He was accepted into medical school right out of high school and was part of a 7-year program. He completed his Medical Degree at Temple University School of Medicine and returned to New York for his residency training in orthopedic surgery at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center and a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement surgery at HSS.Before returning to HSS, he previously developed and directed one of the largest and most successful outpatient joint replacement programs in the northeast.

-Dr. Ast says life is all about relationships. Don’t be afraid to network and meet people. Learn from mentors in the community and do behind-the-scenes things to elevate your game.

-How did he make the decision to go back to NYC? He initially thought they were kidding when they asked him to join HSS. Joking aside, Dr. Ast stayed in touch with his mentors to make the connection to get him back to NYC. Tune-in to hear how he was able to build his patient base after feeling like a ” teeny-tiny fish in the largest pond in the universe.”

-Dr. Ast describes his role as the Chief Medical Innovation Officer at HSS. Dr. Ast helps surgeons, who are by nature innovative, harness their ideas and figure out how to get it across the finish line to improve patient care. He describes “inside-out and outside-in” with homegrown innovation or inversely, someone bringing an idea to HSS to help get it to market.

-He closes out the interview with great advice to listeners thinking about innovation. For any back of a napkin ideas, snap pictures on your phone since it has timestamp.

Find out more about Dr. Michael Ast here.