How educating clients by creating games in the metaverse can help you gain a business edge (podcast episode)

In today’s episode of the Brains Byte Back podcast, we are joined by Dr. Bilge Gregory, CEO and Founder of Vital Connection MD, a state-of-the-art health clinic, to talk about how she is using the metaverse to educate and build connections with her clients.

During the discussion, we cover why Dr.Gregory likes to focus on a variety of medicines from East to West, and how she uses the metaverse to create a digital operating room where players can carry out a virtual liposuction procedure, in order to educate her audience. Alongside, advice for other business owners who want to take their businesses into the metaverse.

You can listen to the episode below, or on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, Listen Notes, PodBean, and Radio Public.

Alternatively, you can find a transcript below:

Dr.Gregory: Thanks for having me. Basically, I’m a medical doctor. I’m actually board certified and very experienced in the field of Emergency Medicine. I practiced from the start of training in 2000, or when I graduated medical school all the way up until 2018. I actually left the practice and we could probably spend the entire hour as to why, but ultimately, it was a consequence of burnout. And I was hospitalized twice in one year. And basically, the universe was showing me messages that I needed to change my focus on my direction. And at the time, and as I’ve always felt I never wanted to stop being a doctor, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. But I wasn’t quite sure where I’d end up. So ultimately, through a lot of personal development, and a lot of healing, I started discovering more about procedures in cosmetic surgery, I was introduced to it by actually a co worker in the emergency department at the time and got trained and certified in high definition, liposuction, and then started learning more about cosmetic injectables. And ultimately, once I left the hospital system, I basically opened this company up from the square one with no patients, because I had to change my life in a very drastic way. So it was a labour of love, and still is, I very much enjoy what I do. In fact, I feel like I have more of an impact on patients than I did in the emergency department. Of course, my interactions with them were very brief there, and there’d be a lot of fear and pain involved. So a lot of times I wasn’t there last stop. And I didn’t necessarily feel like they remembered me in particular, as a practitioner, more so maybe the consultant in the hospital or whoever did their procedure at the end, right. So for me, I’m opening up Vital Connection MD. And the reason I termed it as such is because I love connecting with people. And if I can’t help them in the capacities I have, then I refer them out to another expert in another field. And I basically reinvented a little bit in my eyes, how I practice medicine, I actually did, to a degree abandon some of the things I was taught in medical school, a lot of it is about pushing drugs and surgery, a lot about pharmaceuticals. And over the course of time, as I said before, because I was hospitalized twice in one year, I was the patient.

So I was introduced to a variety of drugs and some surgery. And having had impacts that were in some cases negative from that, I started to understand the power of the mind in the body and how it heals. And there were some things that I was actually able to improve upon in my life through the more of mindful techniques and behavioral and thoughts and things of that nature, as opposed to what I would say would be the classical medical school training of drugs and surgery. So even though I do provide a three dimensional transformation in patients, I don’t consider that the majority of what I do in terms of helping people. A lot of times in my consultations, I spend a lot of time talking to them about the emotional impacts of chronic illness, and why they’re, they’re in fear with me in the first place. You know what brought them here. And a lot of times, it’s because, you know, a lot of people spend a lot of their lives, doing things out of obligation, and their fear, fearful of making a change. So basically, I started teaching them some things about where I’ve come from, because that’s what makes me unique, right? How I can help people. The best thing I can offer people is my life experiences. And that’s unique to me, and how I can find myself in every person I meet. And that’s how I choose to help them in a lot of ways. And again, like I said, I don’t literally just talk about the lipo, although that’s what they’re there for. We do talk a lot about perception, we talk about chronic illnesses being spent 20 years in the ER, one of the biggest lessons I learned is, like I mentioned before, people come there for fear and pain, and who knows their body better than them. And so many times people our patients are being dismissed, in terms of what they feel intuitively is going on with their body. And the doctor dismisses them and says no, and you don’t know what you’re talking about and things of that nature. And so perhaps that medical workup is being compromised because of that, you know, and that the patient is fearing, let’s say one disease process and the doctor is looking for a different one, because they don’t trust the patient’s intuition about their own body. And maybe they miss something right? Or maybe they miss diagnose, or maybe the patient just doesn’t really have, has lost their trusting relationship in that physician. And it’s very hard to heal because it is the job of the purge patient to heal not the doctor, when you don’t have that trusting relationship with your healer.

I’m very much a follower of people like Joe Dispenza. And Dr. Bruce Lipton. And Dr. Bruce Lipton is known for a book called The Biology of Belief. It’s excellent, because it uses a lot of science to back up his theories, which I think are exquisite. It uses quantum physics as opposed to Newtonian physics as the basis for his understanding of the cellular system, because he’s a cellular biologist. And the cells are literally just the substrate that make up the body. So he says, what you see in the cellular level is what’s happening in the general body level. And we can actually prove how the mind and the belief system, activate or deactivate certain genes, which is what epigenetics is about, and how chemical cascades and hormone Cascades are very profoundly affected by lot processes, and therefore physical consequences occur. Hence, disease. So the Biology of Belief is all about your belief system impacts your health, your physical wellness, that’s where I’m most fascinated about in general. And that’s where we can go into more about what the technology that we were about. We’re about to discuss, which is the metaverse.

Sam: Could you get into a bit like, explain a little bit about how you work with patients in the metaverse and how you use it to get close to your patients?

Dr.Gregory: Yeah, let’s let’s talk about that. So again, you I haven’t done and I’m not supposed to as of yet, do direct patient contact because it’s not a HIPAA compliant yet, the privacy is of primary concern. And since they have not been able to optimise that realm, yet, we’ve used the metaverse more as a tool for patient empowerment and education. So what I’ve done in the meantime, is built a digital office, which is open to the public. And it’s in horizon worlds, which is an app on meta, which is basically the company that hosts the virtual reality mask called the Oculus quest tw o. And so that is how somebody would be able to find me in the metaverse is by having an Oculus machine, they would put the mask on, they would have to hand pieces, and they would enter the realm. And what’s kind of cool about it is I consider it kind of similar to social media, it’s just a different way of engaging in social media. So when I’m on Instagram, for instance, I’m going to be educating my public a lot and I do a lot of videos about what I call meta moments. So you know about the metaphysical and how it impacts the health. I do videos called Door Dash consultations. And I’m basically talking about the services that I offer and, and just little words of wisdom that I might have said in a consult, I say on the video. And then of course I also show before and after videos, etc. Because people like to see that.

So in the metaverse what’s cool about that is I can provide a similar kind of educational service. But it’s a little more directed to the people that are in the metaverse with me. And I could have one on one contact with them if we so choose. Or I can speak to an audience in a digital auditorium and have, you know, people interacting with me directly. And I can answer their questions, but I typically I definitely keep it general. I cannot give medical advice in the metaverse, right. That’s not quite. It’s we’re not quite there yet. And it’s not that it’s not a plan for the future. It’s just that I need to be very mindful of what I’m offering in the metaverse at this point in order to be what’s the word to maintain my integrity, right and the integrity of the platform. Because the founder Linda Ciavarelli and they’re I think there’s some other co founders is a very conscientious podiatrist and some really cool things. So if you throw that mask on, you go into the horizon worlds app, and then you go into her particular platform, which is called House Call VR. And she has the auditorium right there when you walk in And then she has almost like these digital billboards, and it has the office name. And then the physician who’s running that office in a bunch of billboards, like along along the hallway.

And so you can enter the world of each individual person or doctor that’s hosting in that, in that audit in that office system, you know, in housecall VR, so, which is really cool. So you could go in and do a dentistry one. And, and in mine included, in order to keep it fun and interactive, they have tend to have little games involved. So the dentist one you could shoot with toothpaste, tooth decay, you know, and shoot at it and make it a little video game kind of thing. And, and then mine for instance, she created a digital operating room for me, and there’s a patient on an operating room table with a monitor beeping, and there’s a LiPo cannula right there and you can pick it up. And you can basically put it, direct it towards the patient’s abdomen. And then you’ll see the little fat cell digital fat cells getting sucked into the cannula and down at like a tube system. And then the patient’s abdomen shrinks. It’s really fun.

Sam: That sounds fun. That sounds like a very entertaining way of just engaging in this world. And I think Yeah, it sounds really interesting what you folks are doing, and I can imagine there’s lots of other people out there that would love to implement the metaverse in their business. I mean, what advice would you give to other business owners looking to take their business into the metaverse

Dr.Gregory: Keep an open mind. I love trailblazing, I love finding new ways to engage with people. And this was perfect for me. Because, again, what’s what’s cooler than being in a space that few people have an even know about. And once they do when you get in there, that feeling you have when you have when you’re directly across the avatar of another person and you’re talking to them, believe it or not, the more human side comes out of you. Because your words become a primary importance, little bit of body language because they can see your hands move and your mouth move. But you’re still digital, right? So that does nobody knows that you’re wearing pyjamas and you don’t have makeup on or your food in your teeth. They just see the digital wet way of you. And so your what you’re saying to them is so impactful. Because, again, it’s so new to you to see somebody in that capacity. So you’re watching and you’re, you’re really connecting with their words and their and what they’re trying to explain. So I think it’s really impactful to engage with people in that way. It’s fun to Yeah, and like I said, since privacy is still an issue, I can still speak in generalities. And I’m again, oftentimes, even though lipo is like I said, one of the primary services I offer in the clinic, it doesn’t mean I don’t love to talk about personal development and psychology, etc.

So we could go we could go on for a really long time talking about personal development things in the metaverse that don’t require a privacy because we’re talking in generalities. You know, I’m not giving them therapy advice, you know, that degree. So education is my primary goal. And I’ll just give you an analogy based on my personal experience, even as a patient, how many times have you perhaps been to a healthcare practitioner, whether it be a PA, NP, MD, DO and they barely had enough time for you? They double booked you, you know, you go in there, you get diagnosed with something, you have very little time for education and support. Perhaps it’s a disease process that is stigmatised. Perhaps it’s something that has a profound psychological impact on you. Yet, you will expect no help in that realm, and then walk away with a few scripts and a lot of questions. What a great opportunity for me to help people in that way to the field and empower them. Because again, because I have an ER background, I have a really broad knowledge base about a lot of diseases and issues that I can talk about in general and really empower a patient into understanding what they’re dealing with, whether it be a kidney stone or a heart attack or a stroke, or a medication induced side effect.

So many topics that I can cover, and then feel Like, wow, and then they feel like, wow, you know, it’s like, the doctor is talking to me, you know, and then I’ll have time for that I’ll make time for that. And they can walk away with, with my understanding, not just theirs to like somebody who’s really hearing and seeing them. So that’s my primary goal. The concept is if you can have a level of discernment, and you have a level of understanding, you can still learn from a Metaverse about your body and your your wellness. And you don’t have to have a medical degree to do that.

Sam: It’s a fantastic use of the metaverse and it’s wonderful to hear like, how much you care about the people that you’re trying to help with this. I really feel that way. And I’m really happy to see that you folks are Vital Connection, MD are having such an impact on the people you’re working with, from the sounds of things like what is next on the horizon? For you, folks? What are you looking to do in the future in general?

Dr.Gregory: Well, I definitely would love to have the opportunity to eventually engage with people on a more private level if I need to. I do offer in fact, and I have started offering not just only cosmetic procedures as a way of helping people. But since a lot of my conversations with patients involve psychology and personal development, I’ve also created a mentorship. And I call it the MBS mentorship, which is mind body spirit. And they’re all connected, obviously. And so that is a way for me to engage with people. Almost like I guess I would say life coaching. But it’s so much more than that to me. So I don’t like to use the phrase other than to help people understand and recognise where I’m coming from about it. So that’s certainly something I’d like to see in the future of Vital Connection MD In the metaverse, I certainly offer it in person and then also HIPAA compliant platforms that are current, which would be you know, Zoom is still HIPAA compliant. And believe it or not FaceTime, is still HIPAA compliant, so I can offer it in that way, support groups would be a really other great way. So collaborating with other professionals would be amazing for our future. And I’m doing that in a way, right, because how it’s called VR has a variety of specialties involved.

So that’s the collaboration, it’s so empowering, like I have one of the colleagues, that’s collaborating is an OBGYN. And so she talks a lot about very stigmatised diseases systems in the genital region of females, right. So that’s pretty interesting. But also just in general, that’s why I’m called Vital Connection MD. I like to connect with a variety of professionals and feel like together, we can support the patient in a variety of ways. So my ultimate dream would be to have an institute where I could offer a tonne of different services, and not just medical doctor related I’m very much into energy work and more than Western medicine. I like Eastern I like spiritual. I like energy work, I like energy healers, so I would ideally love to have an institute that had all of those available. And so I can only hope someday that I could involve maybe things like Reiki, acupuncture, nutritional advice, personal training, lectures and auditoriums, cosmetic procedures, but just imagine any sort of possibility in terms of how to feel better both inside and out. Within one system, it would be incredible to be able to offer something like that, but in the near future, in the near future, I’m more into focusing and building my high definition lipo procedures, I really love doing it. It’s an art to me. Um, it’s really exciting. I get in the zone like perhaps like, you know, when people are doing their passion, you know, so imagine being able to do what you love for a living and get paid for it. So I do love it. And so I’m Yeah, and the bottom line is I’m I’m learning some new procedures and that’s what I’m in the near future wanting to offer you new procedures like cellulite reduction, that surgical and some a variety of other things.

So that would be in the near future for me, and I literally just moved. I was in a smaller Med Spa type space. I’m in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I moved and by by moving from a rental to now this is my building I own it’s much bigger. It’s a huge surgical, it’s a surgical centre and it’s me, I’m the only doctor here I’m the founder and the CEO, and my husband is the COO and he’s also the head of IV therapy as a paramedic. So we do offer that as well. So we’re just basically growing from that aspect and bringing in more professionals like estheticians things of that nature. I wonder down the line, you know, when I might bring in other doctors, etc. But for now, it’s it’s me.

Sam: Okay, cool. Well, it sounds like you got a lot on. And it sounds like you’re doing really good work. And we’re gonna include all the links to what you’ve mentioned in the show notes. So I really do just want to say thank you for joining us today on the show Bilge, and yeah, I wish you the best of luck in everything that you’re doing.

Dr.Gregory: I really appreciate your time. Thanks, Sam.

Disclosure: This episode includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company