Balancing the Scales of Medicine, Family, and Real Estate: Dr. Harry Nima Zegarra’s Journey to a Fulfilled Life
Apr 26, 2024Episode 34
Dr. Suleiman Ijani
How does a full-time pulmonary and critical care physician find the perfect balance between saving lives, nurturing family ties, and investing in real estate? Dr. Harry Nima Zegarra, practicing in the heart of Dallas, Texas, joins us to weave the tale of his remarkable journey from Peru to the U.S., where alongside his physician wife, he has learned the art of juggling an intense medical career with a thriving family life.
This episode of Dad Puzzles is brimming with personal anecdotes and wisdom as Dr. Zegarra pulls back the curtain on the strategies that help him maintain presence and support at home despite an unpredictable schedule. Discover the pivotal role of communication in managing the complexities of life as a physician-dad, and how he and his wife, with shared aspirations and mutual support, navigate the ever-changing landscape of responsibilities. Dr. Zegarra's story is not just inspiring—it's a blueprint for fathers in high-stakes careers striving for personal fulfillment.
How does a full-time pulmonary and critical care physician find the perfect balance between saving lives, nurturing family ties, and investing in real estate? Dr. Harry Nima Zegarra, practicing in the heart of Dallas, Texas, joins us to weave the tale of his remarkable journey from Peru to the U.S., where alongside his physician wife, he has learned the art of juggling an intense medical career with a thriving family life.
This episode of Dad Puzzles is brimming with personal anecdotes and wisdom as Dr. Zegarra pulls back the curtain on the strategies that help him maintain presence and support at home despite an unpredictable schedule. Discover the pivotal role of communication in managing the complexities of life as a physician-dad, and how he and his wife, with shared aspirations and mutual support, navigate the ever-changing landscape of responsibilities. Dr. Zegarra's story is not just inspiring—it's a blueprint for fathers in high-stakes careers striving for personal fulfillment.
Absolutely so. I'm a pulmonary and critical care doc, full time, right Like my family and I. We live here in Dallas, in Dallas, texas. I mean. Actually, like my wife and I, we both are physicians and we both are from South America. We're both from Peru. We came here to the US probably around like 17 years ago, right, like to continue our training and education. We did our medical school together back in Peru. So we came here like we did, like a residency and fellowship.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Dad Puzzles everything, dad. If you're questioning yourself about dad functions, duties and life in general, you've come to the right place. Parenthood can be tough. Learning to juggle caring for your baby with your career and also keeping things fresh with your partner can be a struggle, but we're here to make things easier with helpful tips for making the most of your situation. Being a dad may seem like a puzzle, but it's one you can definitely solve. Now here's your host, Dr Suleiman Ijani.
Speaker 3:
Hello, welcome back to Dad Puzzles. Today we are very honored to have a good friend of mine.
Speaker 1:
Dr Hari Nima Zagara. So thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 3:
Boss hey Sule, thank you so much for having us today, boss, hey, sully, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. Thank you, harry. Thank you, Can you tell dads a little?
Speaker 1:
bit about your background. Yes, man, absolutely, absolutely. So I'm a pulmonary and critical care doc, full time. Right Like my family and I, we live here in Dallas, in Dallas, Texas. I mean, actually, like my wife and I, we both are physicians and we both are from South America. We're both from Peru. We came here to the US probably around like 17 years ago, right Like to continue our training and education. We did our medical school together back in Peru, so we came here like we did, like a residency and fellowship, and we have it like in different like states, right like, as you can imagine, right like like in training, right like in Pennsylvania, virginia, texas. And finally, about seven years ago, we end up coming here like to Dallas and we really like the area, so we decided to stay here.
Speaker 3:
Oh, that's beautiful. That's beautiful. Thank you, sir. And you know, like when we were chatting before, I was like you know, this is something amazing, because somebody will imagine you know in your field, you know you don't have time for anything, you know. So how does it happen that you have family? You know like you take care of the family and you also have to be able to work. And on top of that, in addition to medicine, I think, you're also involved in real estate. So can you tell us a little bit about that? This is too much.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, estate.
Speaker 1:
So can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 1:
This is this yeah, yeah, that's a lot sometimes, uh, no, yeah, yeah, that's true, right like. I mean like, uh, so, full, full, full-time pulmon critical care, um like, as I was telling you a little bit like like before, I'm very grateful and blessed that, uh, fortunately, in my practice there's a good number of physicians and we also have a nice schedule and and split like in different shifts, right Like. So, thankfully, I work like probably 17 to 18 shifts a month, so that gives me the flexibility for the other days to do other things, like again, like a side hassle or real estate, but also especially like to be with a family, right Like. And, again like, our shifts and schedule changes every week is kind of crazy, right Like. But one of the important things, uh, I mean I usually believe, is like again like to have a good communication with with your family, with your wife, especially like like regarding with all the responsibilities and chores that you need to do, and especially like to be also present there for your family and kids right, oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3:
So. So I think you know like one of the things that helps you is definitely your family, the cooperation with your wife to take care of things together. You know like you help each other so that you're able to manage that front and also with work, you have that good communication with your colleagues and maybe like a better schedule, like you mentioned.
Speaker 1:
Like you mentioned, Absolutely yeah, no, and like again, as I mentioned, we so, my wife and I, we have been married for already like 14 years, since 2007,. Right Like so, but we know each other like even longer. Like, right Like so we were friends like before, so we knew each other. So, like, the communication is there and the trust is there, right Like, and we're a team. Right Like so we.
Speaker 3:
That's beautiful, my friend. Thank you so much. And can you demystify for dads one of the things that you think dads think about? Critical care and they have this imagination of something dangerous and scary and somebody's about to die. So maybe is there anything that you want to share with dads that they should think about it think that you want to share with dads, that they should think about it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, no, and uh, it is.
Speaker 1:
It is part true, right like.
Speaker 1:
And actually when I was doing the residency, right like, in my second or third year, um, there were many other residents that they they didn't, they didn't really want to go in that rotation because it's time, demanding, consuming, and also it takes a lot of uh effort on you like, a psychological toll on you, right Like, because you're dealing with life or death that you're saying right, and with patients, and not just with patients, but also with families.
Speaker 1:
And many times we don't understand that and we don't realize that for anyone to go to the intensive care unit, that's a big thing, right Like. So for us it's like the day toto-day and we do that every day. But for anyone else who goes to the ICU, for him or her or their loved ones, it's a huge thing. So, again like, we should again like treat the medical problem but also the whole as a person and also their families, right Like so, and yeah, I mean like it's, it's it's not necessarily easy, but at some point you get used to that, at some point you're able like to again like to to follow with your patients and also, like they, they take care of all these things together, right, like I mean, it takes time, but again, like, like, at the end it, it becomes more part of you.
Speaker 3:
Oh, that's, that's amazing. So let's say, can you, you know, what are the things that you do to be able to stay sane, besides the support that you get? You know, because you know this is a dad hack, that you know folks will be very happy to learn how to cope with the hardships. You know, in terms of no time, or you know, or they have you know, like other problems. They say that you know they have somebody sick at home, or you know like they're raising their elderly parents, you know. So you have all these things in your. You know that you have to like deal with. You know what's the secret that you have that you deal with. You know that helps you to come across your life difficulties.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely yeah, no, and that's important, right Like, because we, as physicians, we all deal with that right Like, so one of the things is like to try to manage your time, try to manage well your time, right Like so be mindful about that.
Speaker 1:
Time is something that we're not going to get back.
Speaker 1:
We can always go and work more, we can always go and do more investments or do side hassles or things, but time is not coming back right for you and, of course, it's like your, your career and and and your medic and the medical field, but also like the people who is around you, right like again, like your family, your loved ones, your friends and all of that right on top of that, uh, and there's also like something that I mentioned to you before in our prior conversation is that, again, like, we are physicians and I love being a physician, I really enjoy still that but but we are not only just physicians, right Like we, we need to have other other, you know other interests, other passions in life, right Like in my case, for example, right so I have a side hustle.
Speaker 1:
Right Like, I do real estate too. Right, and also I like running. Right so, like in the last two years, I have run a couple of half marathons and full marathons, right, and also we also enjoy spending time together as a family, right, like. Every time we have free for us, we try to go on vacation, or we just try to go for a walk in the park, or we go like to the weekend game with the kids and all of that, right Like so, yeah, so again like try to find also time for you and your loved ones outside medicine, and that's really powerful, right Like, and recharge you at the end of the day.
Speaker 3:
Oh, that's amazing. Oh, you know just a side story I did marathon before Is that?
Speaker 1:
right.
Speaker 3:
Awesome. And then I stopped and now I'm not in good shape. I need to get back to it again. Oh, you can get there. You can get there.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I mean, actually something very similar happened to me. So I I did a couple of half marathons in 2011, I think like, and then, like I have two kids, I went to fellowship and all of that and I stopped doing that until just two years ago that I started like doing that again.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, okay, so that's the inspiration. I definitely have to look. You know, I have to try to come back to it slowly again. You know, yes, man, yeah are you taking? Any supplements on this like?
Speaker 1:
uh, no, just mainly, just mainly. I mean, like when you're at our age, I mean obviously, right, uh, it's not as easy as 10 or 20 years ago, right? Like so um, I make sure that I always am hydrated and I bring water and the second thing I bring also like electrolytes and sugar, right so because after seven to eight miles or 10 miles, you start feeling that and your muscles feel that too, right. So, yeah, I get prepared for that before any training.
Speaker 3:
Awesome Good job, my friend. I'm so proud of you. You know I'll let you know in a couple weeks how I'm doing, because I definitely have to, like, start slowly Now. The weather is good. Yeah, definitely, my friend, absolutely so. Is there anything else you'd like to share with dads that they should remember in terms of their time with their family? I think you mentioned how we have to be aware of the time. We don't have much time, yeah, of the time.
Speaker 1:
You know that is really. We don't have much time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's. That's, for me, probably the most important part. Um, this is part of the reason why I'm still happy doing medicine. I'm still happy doing other things outside medicine, because I have the great support from my family and um and this is something I mentioned before right Like. So again, like in 10 or 15 years from now, the only people who remember if you are doing now extra hours, if you take an extra shift, if you work too much, it's going to be your family only, it's not going to be your hospital, it's not going to be your practice, it's not going to be like your boss, it's going to be your family, right, and time doesn't come back, right. So something to be very aware of.
Speaker 3:
My friend thanks so much for doing this. Do you have?
Speaker 1:
any other questions that you'd like to pose to the next guest, that is, a dad on this podcast. No, no, I mean. Again, thank you so much for the invitation. I'm very grateful.
Speaker 3:
I have a great time with you, awesome. Thanks so much, my friend. I appreciate you. So folks, uh, uh, go ahead. And you know, you know, how can folks find you that?
Speaker 1:
you know, you know, harry yeah, so I mean like, uh, like, as like, as you know, like, so I'm a full-time doctor, but also I do real estate right, like and and again, like we we have my wife and I, we have a passion for that. So we're very active in LinkedIn. We have also a YouTube channel and all of that and I can share the links with you so for people to be aware of a little bit of more financial independence and doing real estate independently, but also with other doctors. So, yeah, fantastic, thank you. So thank you, guys, for tuning in. We'll see you into the next episode.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. So thank you, guys for tuning in. We'll see you into the next episode. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:
Oh, perfect, this is good. Thanks for listening to Dad Puzzles. We hope you learned something from today's podcast. Please leave us a review and give us a thumbs up, and don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list and YouTube channel Plus, follow and like our Instagram and Facebook pages or any social media of your choice. You can also visit dadpuzzlescom for more resources that will help ease you into your parenthood journey. Thanks again for listening to Dad Puzzles.
