EECP is one of the most evidence-backed therapies in cardiology that many physicians still don’t fully understand, and even fewer feel confident explaining to patients.

Guest & Resources:

Michael Gratch - Founder & CEO, Flow Therapy

Website: https://flowtherapy.com/about-us/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gratch-8557266/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/flow-therapy-eecp/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/flowtherapyeecp/

https://www.instagram.com/mbgratch/

X (Twitter): https://x.com/FlowTherapyEECP

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlowTherapyEECP/

YouTube: @TrinityHeartCare

KEY MOMENTS

00:00 Introduction to Flow Therapy

01:18 Michael Atch's Personal Journey

03:06 Founding Flow Therapy

07:12 Challenges and Triumphs

21:51 The Technology Behind Flow Therapy

26:29 Flow in Life and Medicine

26:59 Exploring Healing Modalities and Rural Medicine

27:31 Incorporating Flow State into Therapy

28:50 Biofeedback and Patient Experience

30:39 The Interrelationship of Focus and Behavior

32:36 Challenges in the Healthcare System

34:51 The Role of Food and Parenting in Health

37:15 The Impact of Stress and Emotional Health

39:41 The Influence of Technology on Society

49:13 Advice for Navigating Life's Challenges

51:56 Living with an Open Heart

In this conversation, I sit down with Michael Gratch, Founder and President of Flow Therapy, to talk about what it actually takes to build a healthcare company centered on EECP, or enhanced external counterpulsation, inside a complex medical system. Michael’s journey began with one patient, his grandfather, who had undergone multiple bypass surgeries, stents, and had no remaining revascularization options. Quality of life mattered, and there were few answers being offered.

EECP is not alternative medicine. It is a noninvasive cardiovascular therapy supported by decades of research, offered at major academic centers, and covered by Medicare. And yet, access remains limited, adoption uneven, and understanding incomplete. Michael shares how that gap between evidence and availability became the catalyst for building what is now Flow Therapy.

If you are a doctor who has ever struggled to explain EECP to a patient, questioned why effective therapies remain underutilized, or felt the strain of practicing inside a system resistant to change, this conversation will resonate.

✨ Subscribe to Open Heart with Priya Rao, MD to hear more conversations where modern medicine and spirituality meet, where we remember that healing is as much about consciousness as it is about care.

Follow Priya & Open Heart:

Instagram: Instagram.com/openheartthepod

Website: https://openheartpodcast.com/

© 2025 Priya Rao Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

What if the most powerful thing a plastic surgeon could say is no?

In a world that rewards more, more procedures, more perfection, more transformation, restraint feels almost radical. Especially in medicine. Especially in plastic surgery. And especially when your livelihood is built on being able to change the human face.

KEY MOMENTS

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Deepak Duggar

01:51 Journey into Rhinoplasty

05:56 Emotional Intelligence in Plastic Surgery

11:40 Balancing Professional and Personal Life

19:11 Acts of Kindness and Service

29:22 Gender Disparities in Plastic Surgery

29:54 The Demands and Expectations of Medical Professionals

30:52 Underserved Communities and the Importance of Medical Presence

32:05 The Emotional Impact of Plastic Surgery

34:39 The Power of Positive Change and Patient Testimonials

37:45 Energy, Intuition, and Patient Relationships

40:47 The Importance of Therapy and Self-Reflection

43:23 Balancing Professional and Personal Life

49:45 Final Thoughts and Reflections

In this episode of Open Heart, Priya Rao, MD, interventional cardiologist and host of the Open Heart Podcast, sits down with Deepak Dugar, MD, a world-renowned Beverly Hills facial plastic surgeon whose reputation has been built not only on extraordinary technical skill, but on something far rarer: ethical clarity, humility, and the courage to refuse surgery when it is not truly needed.

Dr. Dugar specializes exclusively in rhinoplasty, one of the most complex and psychologically charged procedures in all of medicine. He spent nearly a decade training under elite mentors, studying anatomy obsessively, shadowing cases while others vacationed, and committing himself fully to mastery. Yet what ultimately distinguishes him is not just what he can do with a scalpel. It is when he chooses not to use one.

Guest Links: Deepak Dugar, MD

Website: https://www.scarlessnose.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDeepakDugar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deepakdugarmd

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-dugar-05a16059

📘 Deepak’s Book: Be You To Full, So Beautiful

Purchase here: https://a.co/d/9LO2KIP

Follow Priya & Open Heart on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@openheartthepod

Instagram: Instagram.com/openheartthepod

Website: https://openheartpodcast.com/

Priya Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.kothapalli

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkothapallimd/

Thank you to our sponsor, Don’t Miss a Beat, for supporting this episode:

https://linktr.ee/dontmissabeat

© 2025 Priya Rao Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

There’s a moment every physician and clinician knows.

If you’ve spent time in a cath lab, an ICU, an OR, or making high-stakes decisions under pressure, you’ve felt it. A tightening in the chest. A quiet pause at the table. A sense that something isn’t right, even when the vitals look stable and the protocol says proceed.

And too often, we override it.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Sam Propper

01:13 Sam's Journey and Career Pivots

03:57 Navigating Challenges and Doubts

05:06 The Cath Lab Experience

12:08 Becoming an Educator

18:18 Creativity and Intuition in Medicine

24:47 Magical Synergy in the Cath Lab

26:00 The Importance of Intuition and Gut Checks

26:52 Creating Educational Resources for Medical Training

27:25 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Creativity

28:22 Challenges and Rewards of Teaching

29:01 The Impact of Visual Learning

30:55 Balancing Compassion and Professionalism

32:46 Navigating the Medical Field with Intuition

38:29 Encouraging Change and Self-Trust

41:03 Personal Stories and Emotional Connections

44:23 Living with an Open Heart

45:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In modern medicine, clinical intuition is rarely named, rarely taught, and often dismissed. Training rewards certainty, speed, and control. But intuition quietly informs some of the most consequential decisions we make as physicians and clinicians. Ignoring it doesn’t just cost alignment. It can cost safety, creativity, and connection to the patient in front of us.

In this conversation, I sit down with Samantha Propper, a cath lab technologist turned award-winning educator and entrepreneur, and one of the earliest supporters of Open Heart. Sam’s path didn’t follow a straight line, and that’s the point. From years at the cath lab table to the classroom to founding Don’t Miss a Beat, her work has shaped how cardiac teams are trained, how they communicate, and how they advocate for patients.

At its core, this is a reminder for those of us practicing medicine today. Healing is not purely mechanical. It is relational. It is embodied.

If you are a physician, cardiologist, nurse, technologist, or clinician who has ever felt that quiet inner pull during patient care and wondered whether it belonged in medicine at all, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Samantha Propper and Don’t Miss a Beat

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dontmissabeat.youtube

Website and Textbooks: https://dontmissabeat.store

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontmissabeat

Facebook: https://facebook.com/dontmissabeat

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/dontmissabeat/posts/?feedView=all

✨ Subscribe to Open Heart with Priya Rao, MD on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@openheartthepod

Instagram: Instagram.com/openheartthepod

Website: https://openheartpodcast.com/

© 2025 Priya Rao Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.