Dear Doctor: Lainie Hurst
The endocrinologist at New York Physicians on collaboration, mentorship and forming long lasting relationships with patients.
I met Dr. Lainie Hurst at New York Physicians in Midtown Manhattan. The bustling office was filled with people seeing physicians of all specialties. Dr. Hurst welcomed me into her office with a warm and excited smile. We discussed how collaboration is key in her work, and how forming strong relationships with her patients makes her job so gratifying. Read on to learn more about her and her time-saving tricks as both a mom and a doctor!
“I come from a large medical family; there are a lot of doctors. In my immediate family, my father was a physician — a nephrologist — and my sister is an OB-GYN. However, what I thought was really cool growing up was that my mom’s sister was a dermatologist. That was a big influence on me. It was really inspiring for me to have an aunt who was a mom and a doctor.”
Getting Started in Medicine
For undergrad, I went to Duke University, and then I came back to New York for medical school at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. I did both my residency and fellowship at NYU Langone/Bellevue Hospitals. During medical school, I really liked internal medicine and had thought about sub-specializing. I had a wonderful mentor, Dr. Ellen Ginzler, who introduced me to rheumatology, and I also thought about gastroenterology since I had done some basic science GI research at Duke.
Then, one summer in medical school, we had a block of time off, and there was a nutritional fellowship at St. Luke’s Hospital that I thought would complement the research I had done in college. To my surprise, it turned out that most of the doctors I shadowed were endocrinologists. I was really hooked after that internship. There was so much going on — from bench research in morbid obesity to bone density studies in patients with eating disorders. This was also the first time I witnessed how educating diabetics patients about healthy diets can really change the course of their disease. After that, I was sure that I wanted to pursue endocrinology. So after my residency at NYU/Bellevue, I stayed on to do my endocrinology fellowship.
Following my fellowship, I was very lucky to join one of my NYU attendings, Dr. Larry Rosman in his endocrinology private practice in Forest Hills, Queens. I worked there from 2005 to 2016, and it was an incredible opportunity. I was part of this very busy endocrine practice, where I saw everything under the sun. This gave me a solid foundation in managing endocrine patients, diabetes in particular, and I got a lot of great hands-on experience.
Larry was and still is a great mentor. He used to teach the NYU fellows every week at the VA clinic. He suggested I too try to maintain my credentials at NYU and teach to have some variety in my work. So I did — I’ve been teaching in the Bellevue clinic since then. I oversee the endocrinology fellows with their cases, and it is also a great opportunity to discuss any interesting cases I may need help working through. I’ve actually gained a lot of great friendships with the doctors that I’ve met through teaching over the years, and I really value these friendships.
Joining New York Physicians
I have two boys and we live in Manhattan. I always thought it would be nice to integrate my personal life and my work life a bit better. A few of my former Bellevue Internal Medicine attendings were at New York Physicians, and an opportunity had come up for an endocrinology position. The timing was right. So in 2016, I joined the practice. It’s been amazing — I haven’t had the experience of working with so many different specialists since I was working as a training physician in the hospital. It’s great in that if I have a patient who has diabetic kidney disease, I can go down the hall and speak with the nephrologist, or if patient has a positive ANA I can go around the corner and speak to the rheumatologist. There are cardiologists downstairs, and the OB-GYNs are down the hall. There’s also a separate reproductive endocrinology practice upstairs, and we work together a lot.
It’s really nice to be collaborative with my colleagues and have them right at my fingertips. If I have a tough case, I can just walk over and we can discuss in person.
Alternatively, I can provide services to the other doctors here if they need it — I love it when I can help out one of my colleagues with their endocrine questions or cases. There’s also been a learning curve for me personally being the sole endocrinologist — I have to spend a lot of time learning and self-educating. When I first joined and things were quieter, there were opportunities to go different conferences to be sure I was staying up-to-date on everything and taking in as much as I could. That way, when other physicians come to me asking about various different endocrine issues, I was ready.
At New York Physicians, the emphasis is on high quality interactions with the patients. (For new patients, I usually block off an hour). We all work very hard, but we also try to be well-balanced individuals which makes us happier and I think better doctors.
Patient Care and Technology
I love the relationships I have with the patients. As an endocrinologist, you know going in you’ll have a lot of longitudinal care with the patients, and I really enjoy that aspect of medicine. It’s rewarding seeing the results — taking someone new with uncontrolled diabetes and navigating all of the options not just with medications but with an overhaul of their diet and lifestyle.
I definitely embrace technology, especially for my diabetic patients. This aspect of endocrinology has really exploded in the last year, with all the developments with continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and other things that make diabetes more manageable and less stressful. Patients automatically do better with these new technologies.
Being open to new changes makes their lives so much better, and you as the doctor can take everything so much farther. It’s a win-win for everyone.
On Women’s Health
When I was at the practice in Queens, I would get a lot of referrals from reproductive endocrinologists and the gynecologists in the area. Many of these patients wanted to get pregnant. At the same time, I was starting a family myself, so my patients and I could more easily relate to one another. Having that personal experience helped me as I navigated them through pregnancy and afterward. I really enjoy the reproductive side of endocrinology, and it’s gratifying to be a part of the journey to starting a family. I think my patients can tell how much joy it gives me.
Being a part of a patient’s life is truly special in any form, but helping them get pregnant — it doesn’t get much better than that!
On Healthy Eating
People often think that eliminating certain things — or diets that eliminates this-or-that — can be a fix-all, and that’s often just not true. Maybe patients think gluten-free and healthy is good, but often a diet like that can be a lot of calories. A true healthy or successful diet consists of a little bit of everything. Also, if you want to lose weight, you have to watch calories and exercise. Moderation is important, and not going overboard on either extreme with diets is the right foundation, whether the goal is to lose weight or improve overall health.
Lightning Round
If I weren’t a doctor I’d be…The host of Saturday Night Live? Maybe not, but I like comedy, so I’d settle for being in the audience.
Everyone could use a bit more…“me” time. Especially if you’re a mom.
If feel looked after when…I get hugs from my boys at bedtime, nothing better!
Favorites
NYC summer activity: Walking around the quiet streets of New York when the rest of the city has left for the weekend. Summer weekends are the best time to try out the trendiest restaurants!
NYC restaurant: There are too many! I recently went to Casa Enrique in Long Island City which was great, and I love Taverna Kyclades downtown and the original in Astoria.
Time saver: Fresh Direct for groceries, and Amazon Prime and Seamless for dinner delivery — these are the greatest gifts ever to a working mom (or any mom for that matter)!
App: Classpass helps me motivate to squeeze in a last minute workout, especially barre classes. Also, as I mentioned, I can’t live without Amazon. Lastly, Up to Date is the bible for all doctors is my go-to app.
You can learn more about Dr. Lainie Hurst and New York Physicians here!
Know a great female doctor in NYC? We’d love to meet her, introduce us here!
