Meet Dr. Joyce Park | Dermatologist at Skin Refinery & Content Creator @TeawithMD

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Joyce Park and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Joyce, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking has been at the core of several pivotal moments in my career.

One was taking a gap year during medical school, not to do research, volunteer in a clinic, or any of the more established paths that would get you into the residency program of your choice. I wanted to do something different. I took a year off to do a medical journalism fellowship, spending the summer at the WHO headquarters in Geneva talking to journalists about global health, then taking a quarter of journalism classes at Stanford, and rounding that out with a 6 month rotation in the NBC News headquarters, working as part of the medical unit. I’ve always loved writing and content creation, even before social media even became a “thing.” That year cemented my interest in health communications, and though I didn’t know it at the time, set the stage for establishing my online presence, Tea with MD, down the line.

The next was deciding to apply to dermatology residency a few months before applications were due. Dermatology is one of the most competitive medical specialties to get into, and for that reason, I NEVER considered pursuing it. My board scores and clerkship grades were average (actually below average compared to successful dermatology candidates) and I did not have any mentors or any research in dermatology. But by chance I did a dermatology rotation as my last rotation of my 3rd year of medical school, and I fell in love with the field. I loved the variety of disease you see, how motivated the patients are, how you could do surgery one day and medical dermatology the next, how you can see adults and kids alike. Everyone I spoke to dissuaded me from applying, saying that I had no chance at a successful acceptance. Despite that, I wanted to go for it. I contacted every dermatology professor in Northern California to see if any of them would consider working on a small research project with me, and write me a letter of recommendation. Fortunately, a few took a chance on me. Dr. Bernice Kwong at Stanford mentored me through a research paper and Dr. Toby Maurer at UCSF allowed me to apply into an away rotation at her hospital. After a stressful application cycle, I matched into NYU, one of the top dermatology programs in the country. I am forever grateful I took a leap of faith and applied into dermatology, which is the perfect field for me.

Earlier this year, I took another major risk which was leaving my traditional hospital job to start my own practice. I wanted to have total ownership of how I see patients, and so Skin Refinery was born. My clinic is a virtual dermatology clinic seeing patients in CA, WA, and NY, for hair loss, acne, rosacea, hyperpigmentation or melasma, and skincare regimen curation. I’m able to spend more time with patients, have more flexible hours to accommodate my and my patients’ needs, and eliminate dealing with insurance. I recently also rolled out an asynchronous model where you can submit photos and I can review your skincare regimen without having to do a full video visit. I’m much happier now being self-employed and having full control over how I want the clinic to run.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’ve always dreamed of being my own boss so that I can truly execute my vision down to every detail. I didn’t know how that would play out – I thought that it would look like me opening up my own brick and mortar medical private practice, but life doesn’t always go as planned. I currently have two businesses, and am in the process of starting my third.

During medical school I was selected for a journalism fellowship, which taught me how to use social media and traditional TV and print media to educate about health. As part of that year, I was asked to start a blog. That was my introduction to social media, and thus, Tea with MD was born. During residency, I continued to build up Tea with MD, expanding my blog and also running an Instagram channel where I shared information about skincare and life in medical training. Fast forward a decade later, and now I have over 600k subscribers across social platforms including TikTok and more recently, YouTube. Tea with MD has also become its own company, which I monetize through content creation and consulting. I never thought my hobby and side passion would become a career, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to blend my interests in medicine and journalism.

After three years of working as a dermatologist in a more traditional hospital setting, I decided to take a leap this year and start my own practice summer of 2022. Skin Refinery is a 100% virtual dermatology clinic, accepting patients in Washington, New York, and California. During COVID, I realized that a lot of dermatologic care can be delivered via telemedicine, allowing patients to be treated in the comfort of their own home. Seeing patients virtually also allows me to accept patients across multiple states; this is important because many of my followers who wish to seek medical advice from me live across the country. Being my own boss is a gamechanger. I can control everything, from my day to day schedule to every aspect of every workflow. The biggest frustration I had with being an employed physician was lack of control, and through Skin Refinery, I have now solved that big pain point.

A lot of people think that if you go into medicine you are limited in your career options. I’m here to say that’s not true. Every single day looks different for me – some days I’m seeing patients virtually, some days I’m tweaking my practice website or taking care of administrative tasks, sometimes I’m flying to NYC to film content with a brand or host an influencer event, and some days I’m meeting with brands to discuss product formulations and what skincare trends to focus on for the next year. I love the variety; I’m never bored and I’m constantly challenging myself to set and meet greater milestones.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I still feel like a tourist in Seattle, so I will make an itinerary for NYC where I lived for residency, and one of my favorite places in the world!

Things to Do:
– Walk the High Line
– Picnic or boat ride in Central Park
– Shopping at the boutiques in SoHo
– Watch a Broadway musical
– Take a walk down Hudson River Park
– Ferry out to visit the Statue of Liberty
– Take an exercise cardio dance class at 305 Fitness (please open one in Seattle!)
– Sit and people watch at Washington Square Park
– Explore the little side streets in West Village
– watch a performance at Lincoln Square

To Eat:
– a slice of pizza at Prince Street Pizza
– Afternoon Tea at the Plaza Hotel
– Italian food at Via Carota
– Brunch at Laduree in SoHo
– Baked good at Mah-Ze-Dahr bakery
– Sushi at Sushi Nakazawa, Sushi Yasuda, or Kura
– Chicken Ramen at Totto Ramen

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?
My shoutout goes to my parents who raised me to believe that I could be and accomplish ANYTHING I set my mind to. My parents emigrated from Taiwan to the US in the late 80s, my dad for graduate school and my mom to join the rest of her family who had already made the move over. They were a team – my mom took care of everything at home while my dad worked hard to provide for the family. It wasn’t until I became a parent recently that I truly appreciate how difficult it must have been for them to raise two children in a culture and language they were not familiar with. My mom formed a network of other Chinese moms, and through them, she learned about all the extracurricular activities, summer camps, competitions, you name it, that she could enroll me in. I hated the speech contests the most; I remember participating in speech contests from the age of 6 and I was so nervous before each one. But now, decades later, I am so incredibly grateful for those competitions. I’m very comfortable speaking in public and being in front of a camera, because of all the piano and speech competitions I did growing up. I’m grateful for the years of Chinese school, because I’m fluent in Mandarin now, and I hope to pass that on to my son as well. My parents always supported whatever pursuits I had, whether it was taking a gap year to try medical journalism or take a risk and try setting up my own online dermatology practice. They told me they believed in me and that I can find a way to make my ideas into a reality. Now that I have a child, I want to instill that same degree of confidence, so that he too will believe the sky’s the limit.

Website: www.skinrefinery.co OR www.teawithmd.com/landing

Instagram: www.instagram.com/teawithmd

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joycehopark/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/teawithmd

Facebook: www.facebook.com/teawithmd

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/teawithmd

Other: Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@teawithmd