Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There's no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Hello and welcome to Meet the Doctor today. Um, my guest is Dr. Michele Shermak, who's a plastic surgeon. Welcome Dr. Shermak. Tell us about yourself.

Michele Shermak (00:41):
I've been in plastic surgery now, it's hard to believe, since 1998. I finished my training, so it's been about 25 years, which is hard to believe.

Eva Sheie (00:52):
I know the nineties was like five minutes ago. 

Michele Shermak (00:55):
Right? And I am a Baltimore girl. I grew up in Baltimore. I trained at Hopkins in Baltimore, not necessarily cuz it was in Baltimore. It was just kind of just an amazing institution. And my family was there, which was helpful. I went on to do my residency in plastic surgery at Hopkins as well. Took a little detour down to Nashville for six months, uh, to do a breast and body fellowship with Pat Maxwell, Jack Fisher, Mary Gingrass, and came back to Baltimore in 1999 to start my practice at Hopkins, primarily at Johns Hopkins Bayview, which was, uh, where the burn unit was located and the bariatric practice was located. And I actually kind of had to shift gears from my interest in breast reconstruction to an interest in massive weight loss body contouring, which totally goes to show you that one, one door closes, another one opens and really became one of my big academic focus is foci. Um, and you know, at this meeting on Sunday I'll be, um, leading a mini symposium on massive weight loss body contouring. So that's pretty much, uh, my training in a nutshell.

Eva Sheie (02:12):
It might not seem like burn, bariatric and breast recon have very much in common. I think sort of from the patient perspective, these are all people who really need help, have gone through something really difficult. And then, uh, you're kind of there. And I don't like to use cliches around these things because cliches just bother me, cuz people are unique. And I wonder, do you have any thoughts on where I'm going in this random direction?

Michele Shermak (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, I do. And there's, there's a famous saying that of course as we get older, those sayings just go something about everybody being the same and everybody being, I just can't remember it. I'll find it. But no, it's part of the being part the journey and being part of a very important journey in people's lives. I treasure that, I respect being kind of chosen to participate in it. And I think that's what makes it so special. And when people are so happy at the end of this difficult journey, which is what plastic surgery has been such a satisfying, fulfilling profession for me. It's just so nice to kind of end the story in such a, with a happy ending basically. Right?

Eva Sheie (03:32):
Yeah. So these post weight weight loss patients are still the focus of your practice today?

Michele Shermak (03:37):
I do operate on the, on those patients, but you know, when you're in an academic institution, you're kind of like in a certain niche. And now I'm in private practice as I have been for 13 years. So I'd have to say I probably do more kind of quote unquote mommy makeover work, then weight loss work. But it's all on the same spectrum, you know, time, age, various things change the body as we get older and just kind of trying to recover after that.

Eva Sheie (04:11):
When did you know it was time to leave Hopkins and go out on your own?

Michele Shermak (04:14):
Mmm, <laugh>. Well, that's a, that's a big, uh, kettle worms. Um, but no, I think at some point you just know that it's a time to pivot. And healthcare, I I'd have to say overall healthcare was really starting to become more regulated and change in the state of Maryland, for example, we were no longer able to do cosmetic out-of-pocket plastic surgery cases in an academic institution without paying an arm and a leg. We couldn't offer some kind of different type of deal. We were committed to having to have them pay what we would ask an insurance company to pay, for example. So patients were paying way too much money for an experience. My patients were sitting in a waiting room with other patients who were going through bigger things and might make them feel like, you know, the reason they were coming wasn't worthwhile. There were just various reasons my patients weren't really kind of feeling valued. And um, and I just had another opportunity to kind of pivot and it really was a great opportunity. But having said that, I really haven't left my academic interest so much. I'm still speaking at meetings and running panels. I'm actually on the board of directors of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, which has been kind of like the crowning jewel of my rise, you know, in various organizations. So I'm still very active.

Eva Sheie (05:42):
What does the job of being on the board of the ABPS look like?

Michele Shermak (05:45):
Wow. It's a big time commitment, but it's a very valuable, it's literally, like I said, something I've wanted ever since I was a little girl. But, you know, we help run the exam, you know, the oral exam, the written exam. We help deal with ethical issues and, and basically I think the big thrust of being on the board is making sure that a board certified plastic surgeon is someone that we are proud to have joined the group and that will perform excellent patient care. That's ultimately what it's all about. So the mission is so important and the committee itself, the group itself is so eminent and, uh, wonderful. So it's just a, a joy and a privilege to be able to spend time and, and work with this group of people.

Eva Sheie (06:40):
So you're still doing, this sounds like service work. No one's paying you to be on the board of the ABPS.

Michele Shermak (06:46):
Yeah, nobody, no, but you know, the relationships are really priceless. To have close colleagues around the country is wonderful and, and patients, you know, don't stay in one place all the time. So I see people who need follow up or further care from, you know, friends of mine around the country, or if I have somebody who moves, I have somebody I can call. And that's always really a nice perk to being able to provide great patient care, is making sure that they continue to get that.

Eva Sheie (07:19):
I think, uh, we hear the words board certified all the time over and over, and I know from some of my own reading that people really just don't, the general public doesn't really understand what it means. And so I've taken to asking, um, why is board certification important? And I feel like you might actually be the best person to answer that question.

Michele Shermak (07:43):
Yeah. So there are lots of boards and people can say they're board certified. But the question is, which board certified you and what is the process toward board certification? So plastic surgery, the American Board of Plastic Surgery is one of 23 boards that are, that are part of the American Board of Medical Specialties. It's a very specific distinct group of boards and there's other types of boards that are not as kind of connected and regulated and certified. So there's like the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery that's been kind of a big thorn in the American Board of Plastic Surgery side because they don't really have important parameters for training and, and how you can actually become board certified. It's really not much of a process and people just flaunt this board certification. So the question really is what board are you certified by? And that's, that's almost like a little much for a lot of the general public to understand. It's a tough topic to cover, but it is super important.

Eva Sheie (08:52):
It is really tough <laugh> in that training piece. I think what it does represent is how much work has gone into the certification itself and what you need to know to be able to claim that and own that. So, I don't know, let's go in a different direction.

Michele Shermak (09:10):
Okay. 

Eva Sheie (09:12):
Is there a certain type of patient that you love to see?

Michele Shermak (09:17):
I love to see people who communicate well, know what they want. I feel like the chemistry between a patient and the doctor is just so important. And if it's not there, it's not there. So, you know, it's funny, I have two partners and you could probably pick, you know, which patient belonged to which partner. Uh, just by the personality. I just like someone I can connect with and we, it's a mutual respect kind of thing. It's very important. I don't, I I take people's time very seriously and their concerns very seriously. And so anyway, I think it's just very important to have that communication piece and the connection and beyond just what you say, you should kind of start feeling like, yes, this person is going to properly follow all the instructions and for them they should know. Yes, I can contact her at almost any time and, and get like the guidance I need. So you sometimes have to kind of figure out these types of things and it's better to figure it out before than after.

Eva Sheie (10:22):
So they, they can contact you anytime. What oth other kinds of things can your patients expect from you?

Michele Shermak (10:29):
I mean that I'm always trying to get the best possible procedure that I am absolutely committed to taking the best possible care of them. I'm literally in the operating room with them from the moment they go to sleep, to the moment they wake up, I'm not gonna leave them. You know that if they call in, they know that if it's something that should be seen, it'll be seen and that they should call in, even if they don't know if it should be seen. Like I'd rather have someone call in and not know than have them kind of say, oh, I don't wanna bother her, or This isn't really important and come in like a week later with something that would've been better addressed early on. So that's why it's important. I'd rather see someone and see that everything's fine than see someone a week later to something might've occurred and it would've been better to get on it quick.

Eva Sheie (11:20):
Or to go on the internet and decide that they've figured it out on their own.

Michele Shermak (11:23):
Yep. <laugh>. Yep.

Eva Sheie (11:27):
Never a good idea. In fact, I'm thinking about getting rid of the internet completely. <laugh>

Michele Shermak (11:33):
As your kids are getting older.

Eva Sheie (11:35):
I have had to delete YouTube from every device in our house cuz it's just such a monster. 

Michele Shermak (11:40):
Uhhuh <affirmative>. 

Eva Sheie (11:41):
It's like an addictive drug, I mean. There's no such thing as one video. It just keeps going. 

Michele Shermak (11:47):
Yeah. 

Eva Sheie (11:47):
Do you have kids?

Michele Shermak (11:48):
Yeah, but they're out of college. They're like 23 and 24 now, I think. Yeah. They keep getting older so I say a different age, but yeah. So they're pretty much, they've grown up with this all along, but they're boys so they're not as concerning. 

Eva Sheie (12:05):
What did they think about you being a plastic surgeon?

Michele Shermak (12:08):
I mean, that's a good, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, you know, one of my kids tends to run into more kind of medical stuff and so I've, I've kind of brought him in to do various things for him. You know, fix lacerations primarily. Like sometimes at the kitchen table it's handy as a mom <laugh> to be able to do that. But it's interesting, we don't really talk about it. I I just do what I have to do for them when they need something and yeah.

Eva Sheie (12:37):
Yeah, my sister's a wound care nurse. Uh, it's a really useful, useful specialty.

Michele Shermak (12:41):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (12:43):
And she has three girls. 

Michele Shermak (12:44):
I was one of three girls.

Eva Sheie (12:47):
So you grew up in Baltimore?

Michele Shermak (12:48):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>.

Eva Sheie (12:49):
And were your parents in medicine or were they in something completely different?

Michele Shermak (12:54):
So my dad was a pharmacist and a corner store pharmacist. He literally was about a mile away from Hopkins. So like I said, I think we had a close relationship, my father and me, although he worked all the time as it was very kind of classic, my mother was the homemaker and person to take care of the kids. And my dad was working all the time. And when I was in college, I went to Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, small school. But when I started applying for medical school, I kind of thought maybe I'd go into pharmacy, but then I decided to go into medicine. My father was thrilled and, uh, he'd literally walk into the Hopkins admissions office, I think several times a month and ask about the applications. Like did you decide? Not yet, you know, I know, but my memory about that is very warm.

(13:49)
I think another one of my sisters would've been like, horrified. I just kind of, I I like that. But, um, my mom, my mom was like never reached her full potential. I mean, back then, uh, you know, she came up in the sixties, you know, I was born in the late sixties, mid mid to late sixties and mid-century like furniture. And, um, anyway, um, you know, my father actually had a very traumatic thing happen to him in the pharmacy where he was like the victim of a terrible gunshot wound. And, you know, he was a corner store pharmacist. Things were changing. And he ended up coming to Hopkins as a patient. And I'll tell you like between, you know, my mom, who, she was just such a behind the scenes person, but she, she like ran that store from the moment he was like out of commission for a while. And her potential is just, it's really, I don't even know if you would say it's a shame or if she was bothered about it. Again, these are the questions we don't ever like ask and it's too late to ask. But she was a very, uh, self-reliant, very competent woman, and it was just amazing.

Eva Sheie (15:03):
So did he own the pharmacy?

Michele Shermak (15:05):
Yeah. I mean he literally was there all the time. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (15:10):
What a huge responsibility. And so he knew everyone in the neighborhood. 

Michele Shermak (15:13):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> 

Eva Sheie (15:14):
Yet probably knew a lot of confidential information. 

Michele Shermak (15:17):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> You know, the neighborhood was very like generational Greek. A lot of Greek people. It's kind of like you see on any Baltimore based show. But before that, you know, where it was very home oriented, very clean, marble steps, blue collar community. And he was kind of like doc to everybody. So you talk about going on Google to get medical advice, they'd go to him to get medical advice and he literally, he was like an entrepreneur. He had Western Union, like, does anybody know today what that is? Uh, Western Union, the lottery, liquor and, and soda machines. And he was, he was very entrepreneurial. So I think he enjoyed the business end of it too.

Eva Sheie (16:03):
Is he still around?

Michele Shermak (16:04):
No. Neither one. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (16:08):
I'm sure he'd be so proud of you.

Michele Shermak (16:10):
That's sweet.

Eva Sheie (16:11):
Okay, so we were talking about your sons not being interested in the fact that you're a plastic surgeon.

Michele Shermak (16:16):
Yeah.. Or medicine. 

Eva Sheie (16:17):
Or medicine. 

Michele Shermak (16:18):
Although my younger son does work for Epic, the medical record company. So. 

Eva Sheie (16:22):
Oh. Did he have to move to Wisconsin for that?

Michele Shermak (16:24):
Yes. He's in Madison.

Eva Sheie (16:25):
Huh. How about that?

Michele Shermak (16:28):
So he went to Carnegie Mellon and uh, was very kind of tech centered, tech oriented, and a lot of kids went to work for meta, Facebook, Google, you know, you name it, duo lingo, you know, all the kind of internet based companies. But I'd say like within the past year there's been this like pop and you know, no longer are these jobs as available. They're being like, let go Twitter. I mean, look at Twitter. So Epic actually has grown so much and they're actually very homey and he's done really well. He's had great mentoring and, and they're growing just because they're so good. You know, I was asking him about like Cerner or Citrix, whatever, and he is like, mom, that's like talking about Bing, you know, like we're Google <laugh>, you know. So, um, anyway, no, he's doing great there. And they really have created an amazing campus that goes far beyond what, you know, Google was starting to do, like as out of the box, like slides in the, you know, workplace and ping pong tables and food. I mean, they just really try to kind of like, I mean, in a way it's almost kind of weird. They don't have to leave the premises to get everything they need, but it's, it's a cool campus actually. They have all these sub campuses. And have you been?

Eva Sheie (17:47):
I haven't been to Epic, but my mom's from Sheboygan, so. 

Michele Shermak (17:50):
Oh.

Eva Sheie (17:50):
I know that part of Wisconsin pretty well. Yeah. And um, when I was a kid we used to go to the Kohler Design Museu.

Michele Shermak (17:56):
Ah-huh <affirmative>.

Eva Sheie (17:57):
And they had a wall of toilets that was like three stories high and they had all these like, um, dream bathrooms, like you could tour the dream bathrooms. There's like the stockbroker bathroom with the TV and the tub and it was so cool. And we went there all the time.

Michele Shermak (18:13):
Wisconsin's a hidden gem. Yeah, they actually I think have two of the top female billionaires and like, probably even near Madison, so I'm blanking on the name who of the woman who is the CEO of Epic, who developed it and maintained it as a private company. And there's another woman who runs some kind of like, catalog for I think like farm equipment and stuff.

Eva Sheie (18:37):
Yeah, that's ringing a bell.

Michele Shermak (18:39):
Yeah. So

Eva Sheie (18:40):
Yeah,

Michele Shermak (18:41):
Money to be made in Wisconsin. <laugh>

Eva Sheie (18:43):
And it's beautiful. Yes. Well, is there anything that you would like your patients to know about you that we haven't covered?

Michele Shermak (18:52):
I mean, just, uh, I guess dimensionally, you know, I'm a mom. I, you know, I love, love, love my kids, my devoted wife. I love gardening. I love cooking. I love cooking. Like to the point where sometimes I'm cooking and I don't even know what I'm gonna do with what I made. Like it just goes bad. But Sundays are just, uh, actually just wandering through, at the grocery store and spending time just kind of looking around. It's just kind of like my zen time. It's a little weird. But no, I love creative things and beautiful things and I like things where I can follow instructions and get to like a good final product. I see a lot of like comparisons between cooking and between surgery, you know, just the steps and the illustrations and the teaching and making sure you don't miss a step so you'll get the upper final product.

Eva Sheie (19:46):
Do you like Cooks Illustrated and that that whole.

Michele Shermak (19:48):
Love Cooks Illustrated. 

Eva Sheie (19:50):
I do too. There's something about a recipe already being perfect when I get it. That makes me very happy.

Michele Shermak (19:56):
Yeah. And I love Instagram. There's like food 52 and there, there's just some amazing stuff on Instagram. So yeah.

Eva Sheie (20:03):
Food 52, so good. 

Michele Shermak (20:05):
Yeah. 

Eva Sheie (20:06):
If someone's interested in coming to see you, where should they find you?

Michele Shermak (20:10):
The best places on the web at Dr Shermak, s h e r m a k.com. That's my website. I am on Instagram, I'm on Facebook, I'm on YouTube. So I have a lot of, uh, video content, some of which is personal stuff. So I think that's been a great thing. I kind of, you know, some patients will come in and they'll be like, I feel like I know you, I've stalked you on social. And I'll be like, great. That's why I put it up there. So yeah, so I think the social presence has been nice and

Eva Sheie (20:39):
Do you cook Greek food too?

Michele Shermak (20:42):
Well, I like Mediterranean. Um, you know, I'm Jewish. I, I love like Ottolenghi is one of my favorites. Ina Garton is one of my favorites, so yeah. But I do love Mediterranean stuff, so, so Greek would fall into that. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (20:56):
Sounds good. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us today. 

Michele Shermak (21:00):
Yeah. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Eva Sheie (21:06):
If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet The Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at Meet the Doctor podcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, t h e a x i s.io.