Meet David Lyons | Physician, Medical Director, Doctor Homie

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Lyons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
While working as the senior resident for my team during the Dec 2020 surge during the pandemic, I was emotionally exhausted from all the tragedy around me and my heart couldn’t sink any lower. I had just discussed a large intervention for many dying patients with the hospital admin when I saw the insurrection playing in the back. I thought to myself “those people are telling my patients that covid isn’t even real”. The age of misinformation was huge. I felt that I needed to use my medical expertise platform to better educate the public. There were already so many medical influencers, but many were for fun or memes and not very educational. The ones that were educational were just soooo boring and long! I created Doctor Homie to provide an entertaining and humorous way to provide much needed medical education for the public. He is based on myself growing up in a low income and immigrant community in Long Beach during the Rodney King riot era and South San Diego near the border of Tijuana, Mexico. I gear my videos to target low income, immigrant, LGBTQIA and POC populations. My goal is to make the videos entertaining enough for people not even interested in health education. I’ve also attended several events in LA like the Queer Mercado where Doctor Homie serves as the resident doctor. I participate in public speaking opportunities such as being the keynote speaker at the Y2Y Conference hosted by the Los Angeles Trust for Student Health.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
After finishing high school, I attempted to go to community college. I was able to purchase an old car with the FAFSA grant I received. My first semester I got As, but unfortunately my home environment continued to be toxic and ultimately led to me moving out and couch surf for several months. That led to me dropping out several months into my 2nd semester. Over the next decade I became estranged from my family for several years at a time. I ultimately joined the military when my choices became bleak. I was a Navy Corpsman for 5 years and provided medical care to submariners and Marines as well as deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2008. It was then that I achieved the stability of having a roof over my head and food in my stomach without worrying if it’d be available tomorrow. Being in medical, I worked directly for and with physicians. I interviewed them and picked their brains to learn what it took to be a doctor. After leaving the military, I went back to the same community college then transferred to SDSU where I graduated with a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology. While in undergrad I volunteered with the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network and set up the inaugural and 2nd Safe School Summits.
I was accepted into UCLA for medical school where during my 2nd year I recruited others and put together the inaugural Southern California LGBT Health Conference which is now in its 6th year. I decided to obtain my masters in public policy concurrently with my MD because I wanted to make a bigger impact in healthcare and underserved communities. That’s when I connected with the California Medical Association who I am still involved with up to now. I attended legislation days where we lobbied for healthcare laws in Sacramento. Ultimately I graduated from UCLA with a Masters in Public Policy and a Medical Doctorate.
I did my family medicine residency in East LA at White Memorial where I experienced the worst of the pandemic.
Finally, I was hired by Universal Community Health Center, a community clinic that serves South Central. I became the Medical Director for School Based Clinics where I manage services and work to expand our presence in local schools to provide healthcare to the students and local community.
Doctor Homie started as a way to educate my patients. I had a few videos and they were useful and enjoyable, but didn’t get more than a couple hundred views here and there. After a year, my videos suddenly started getting 100s of thousands of views and my following on tiktok grew to over 20,000. I decided I wanted to officially expand my brand and provide more content more frequently.
My favorite quote before I believed I had the ability to pursue my high reaching goals came from my Lieutenant. He told me “You can measure the worth of a man by how much s*** they can take and how far backwards they can bend.” I did find a more PG version that was said over 100 years before him by Booker T Washington, a man born a slave and ultimately became an advisor to 2 presidents. He said “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”. Among my peers I experience what’s known as “imposter syndrome” where, despite having the same credentials and professional experience, I feel that innately I am undeserving or unqualified to be in my position with them. However, I have also learned that my past experiences no matter how traumatizing has become one of my many strengths that allows me to know what many disenfranchised people need. With Doctor Homie, I plan on reaching as wide of an audience to help bridge the gap in healthcare and wellness for underserved communities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Tacos El Gordo would probably be the first, second, and third place I’d bring an out of town friend just so they can have some delicious authentic Mexican food. I also would highly recommend the taco trucks, but I’ve never been particular about any one of them because they’re all so good. As I am a huge movie buff, I’d love to take them to The Academy Museum to see all of the amazing real movie props and and behind the scene exhibits. I would even recommend one of the celebrity tours with their fun facts and sites of entertainment history. A trip to Santa Monica Boardwalk would be necessary just to hang, see the ocean, and watch some of the many street performers and artists. I am a huge karaoke bar fan so I would definitely take them to my favorite ones: Boardwalk 11 or The Boulevard. Lastly, an LA trip for a science nerd wouldn’t be complete without going to the Griffith Observatory which has the best view of LA while exploring the the wonders of space.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Coming from my background and not knowing anyone who pursued medicine growing up, I have had the honor and privilege of coming across many mentors who’ve helped guide me to be as successful as I have become. However, the earliest I can remember that someone helped pivot me to a different path was my high school counselor, Nancy Yamada. At the time I was struggling with my sexual identity, hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing drugs, and already on my way to dropping out of school given several failures. Ms Yamada at the time noticed me and thought there was something deeper than I appeared outwardly. She would check in on me here and there just to see how my day was. One day she invited me to her office to watch a video she said reminded her of me. She sat me down at her office desk and gave me privacy despite looking like I would steal the stapler off her desk. The video was a corny motivational video that opened into a forest waterfall with the song “In the arms of an angel” playing in the background with words of validation appearing on the screen; “you are loved”, “you are worthy”, etc. Despite its corniness, I cried harder than I had in a while. With her guidance I made up my failed classes through adult school concurrently while working full time and continuing regular school. Ultimately I graduated high school on time and went on to become who I am today.

Website: www.doctorhomie.org

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedoctorhomie/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/david-lyons-8892b6a7/

Twitter: twitter.com/thedoctorhomie

Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076023818758&mibextid=ZbWKwL

Youtube: youtube.com/@doctorhomie

Other: Tiktok: vm.tiktok.com/TTPdj21sKu/

Image Credits
Pablo Peinado