About Dr. Michael (Mike) Woo-Ming, MD, MPH

I'm Michael Woo-Ming, MD, MPH. Most people call me Mike. I'm a physician, a clinic owner, and the CEO of Doctor Podcast Network. Most weeks I'm doing two things: looking after the clinics I own, and helping other doctors build businesses they actually control.

My training

I studied biochemistry and cell biology at the University of California, San Diego. I earned my MD at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health at the University of Michigan. I did my residency in family medicine at Mayo Clinic and finished in 1999.

After residency I practiced as a family physician in Southern California. I loved the patients. I didn't love what the job turned into: shorter visits, longer notes, and a schedule where the only way to earn more was to see more people.

The detour

I'd actually started my first online business in 1997, as an intern making intern money. It was a guide to help medical students get into the residency they wanted. All it really did was cover the payment on my truck. But it taught me that what was in my head could earn something without me standing in an exam room.

In 2003 our son Ryan was diagnosed with autism, and I wanted to be home far more than a 70-hour work week allowed. So I built an online software business, grew it, and sold it. After that came a medical marketing company and a publishing business. Some of it worked. Some of it was expensive education.

Coming back to medicine

Once I stepped away from clinical work, I found out I missed it. Not the charting. The patients. So I came back, this time as an owner instead of an employee.

Today I own Executive Medical Spa, with clinics in Santa Ana and Murrieta, California. We run a cash-pay model focused on medical weight loss, hormone therapy, and aesthetic medicine, and I get to decide how long a visit takes. I'm licensed to practice medicine in more than 20 states.

The first two years of that practice were hard. Payroll every two weeks felt like a wave I could see coming from a long way off. I don't have an MBA. I learned the business by making mistakes in front of people who were counting on me, and that's a big part of why I teach what I teach.

Helping physicians build their own businesses

I host the BootstrapMD podcast, where I talk with physicians who have built practices, companies, and careers on their own terms. Through BootstrapMD I also coach doctors who want to do the same. My advice usually comes down to a few things. Start before you feel ready. Stay close to what you already know. And learn the business side instead of hoping someone else will handle it.

I wrote a book on this too, The Positioned Physician. You can find it on my Amazon author page.

Doctor Podcast Network, NAVP, and writing

In April 2026 I became CEO of Doctor Podcast Network (DPN), a network of physician-hosted shows. I work alongside our COO, Desiree Leos, to help physician podcasters grow their shows and reach more people with good information.

I also serve on the board of the National Alliance of Virtual Physicians (NAVP).

I write when I have something useful to say. My essays have run on KevinMD, most recently "Why I left insurance-based medicine and came back" (August 2026), and in Physicians Practice. I also post weekly on my blog about practice ownership, pricing, contracts, and how to use AI sensibly in a medical business. I speak at physician-entrepreneur events such as PIMDCON.

Why I do this

I'm not against insurance-based medicine. There are excellent doctors building great careers inside it. I just believe physicians should have choices, and that the skills to run a business can be learned like anything else. If you're a doctor who wants different terms, I hope something here helps. And if you want to talk, get in touch.

Find me elsewhere

• LinkedIn

• KevinMD author page

• BootstrapMD

• BootstrapMD podcast on Apple Podcasts

• Amazon author page