Dr. Zubin Damania, MD is an American physician, assistant professor, comedian, internet personality, and musician. He is a UCSF/Stanford-trained hospital doctor and host of The ZDoggMD Show. He has been named one of the ”Top 14 People to watch in 2014” by Las Vegas Weekly.
Early Life
Damania was born on April 23, 1973, in New Jersey and grew up in Clovis, California.
He attended Clovis West High School and did his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, where he minored in music and majored in molecular biology and cell biology.
After that, he attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF), and graduated in 1999.
Then, he completed his internal medicine residency at Stanford University School of Medicine, from 1999 to 2002.
During school time, he performed medical-based standup routines for drug companies, hospitals, and other medical organizations.
He also gave the commencement speech at UCSF at his graduation, which has had tens of thousands of views on YouTube, and made NPR’s list of top commencement speeches of all time.
Education
Year
Institutions
1991-94
University of California, Berkeley
1995-99
University of California, San Francisco – School of Medicine
1999-02
Stanford University, California
Degree
Year
Degree
1991-94
B.A. – Molecular & Cell Biology
1995-99
Doctor of Medicine, MD
1999-02
Internal Medicine Residency
Career
After Stanford, he stayed at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation for ten years as a hospitalist from 2003 to 2012.
Where he spends 70% of his time at Stanford University Hospital and 30% of his time at Washington Hospital in Fremont, California, and received the Russell Lee Award for Clinical Teaching.
He simultaneously maintained a side hobby performing stand-up comedy for medical audiences worldwide.
Damania was disheartened by the traditional fee-for-service model on which the American medical system is based, he became increasingly frustrated with his work.
With the encouragement of Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, Damania began writing, performing, and filming musical parodies about the frustrations of work as a doctor, posting them on YouTube.
He developed a persona called ZDoggMD, fashioned as a gangsta rapper who was upset about popular misconceptions of healthcare in the US.
Damania has been named one of the ”Top 14 People to watch in 2014” by Las Vegas Weekly.
Turntable Health was also named by far the most exciting healthcare startup and revolutionary by The Next Web.
