Spilling the tea
In Practice
By Emily Margosian, assistant editor, November 1, 2018
Sometimes all it takes is a little serendipity in the spam folder. Dina Strachan, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in New York, attributes her recurring role on the literary web series The Tea, as part-chance, part-whim when a casting call appeared in her inbox. “I’m in New York, where there are a lot of creative projects and industries going on,” she says. “I was like, well you know what, I could apply for this.” Looking to recreate the camaraderie she enjoyed as part of an informal book club during her medical school days, Dr. Strachan recalls being the only physician who showed up to casting. “There were initially a lot of actresses, a lot of English teachers, but they actually picked me as one of the cast members,” she says.
Since then, Dr. Strachan has been a part of The Tea’s monthly lineup for the past two years. “We try to focus on recent releases, and books that we think would generate good conversation. It’s a work in progress to get the balance of people right and keep the discussion organic.” Episodes span about 20 minutes and filming occurs once a month — covering several episodes-worth of material in a single session. According to Dr. Strachan, filming rarely interferes with her day job as a dermatologist. “The shooting doesn’t interfere — it’s reading the books! I love reading, but depending on what we pick and what I have going on — I just try to make it work.”
Dr. Strachan on-set with her co-hosts of The Tea.
The series has built audiences on YouTube and Facebook, and Dr. Strachan has become no stranger to social media herself, embracing the moniker #TheBookDerm, which she says helps promote a more rounded view of physicians in the public eye. “Doctors are often seen as one-dimensional, but we can be very interesting people. We often talk about seeing patients as the whole person, and I think that goes for physicians as well.”
Far from being camera-shy, Dr. Strachan has brought a background in media work to her role on The Tea. “There’s always a little nervousness, but I’ve been on live television, been asked to speak at things. I actually built my business doing YouTube videos early on before the platform really took off, so I’m a little more practiced. I did have aspirations to be an actress when I was a child, and took theater classes all the time, so this has been a fun way to revisit that.”
Inside the clinic, the series has also helped Dr. Strachan bond with patients in new ways. “It’s a good way to connect with people. I often get good book recommendations from patients,” she says. In fact, Dr. Strachan discovered one of her favorite books based on a recommendation from a patient. “It’s called The 48 Laws of Power. It was written by two business school professors about the principles of power and human dynamics,” she says. “In New York City a lot of people will sell books on the street, and around the year 2000, I’d see it out there a lot. I remember a patient came in and was reading it while I was treating his warts, and I was like, I see everybody reading that. What’s the big deal?’ I ended up reading it, and thought it was really fascinating. My dermatology patient recommended one of my favorite books!”
