Who is Dr. Goyle?
The last time I went to the doctor for my regular checkup I had a moment where I thought to myself, “wow, I have been seeing my primary care physician for years, but I really don’t know much about them.” It got me thinking about the relationship between patients and physicians and how it tends to be a little bit cold or official. Going to the doctor is probably one of the most vulnerable tasks we do as humans. You are trusting this person with the health of your body and to guide you down the road to recovery, but what do you really know about them, other than their credentials. As a physician I want to change that dynamic and bring some personal connection into our practice. I want patients who come through our door to know me not only as a physician and for my qualifications, but also on a more personal level.
When seeing patients I try to spend the time with each person to connect on that level, but unfortunately time gets in the way and we aren’t able to fully have those conversations. I decided to do a blog post dedicated to introducing myself as the human behind the white coat, and to give my patients and community a history of where I came from and how I got into the world of helping people.
Birth
Let me start by going all the way back to the beginning, when I was born. On September 8th, 1974 I was born in Milwaukee, WI to my two wonderful parents who originated from India when they were in their early twenties. My father, coming to this country for education and a better way of life, had about $20 to his name when he arrived in New York City. Not knowing many people in America, he was able to stay with a friend until he got on his feet. My dad, Rajinder went to school to become and engineer. When he was done with school he went back to India for a short time and met my mom. Introduced by family, they decided to marry after a month and move back to America together. I was born a few years later. After I was born my father got an engineering job at a company in the Virgin Islands. We moved there and lived for about a year before my dad was transferred to a small town in Ohio called, Marietta. My parents decided to plant our roots there and make this our home. A few years after settling my little sister Charu was born and we became a family of four. Marietta, OH was where I went to grade school, middle school and high school. It was a great childhood full of running through the woods, camping and being an adventurous kid. Not having a lot of money we made due with what we had and enjoyed every moment of it.
When I was in middle school I started listening to music regularly and begged my parents to buy me a guitar. Every day/night I would sit in my room listening to my favorite bands strumming along with the cords. I eventually taught myself how to play guitar and from there my love of music was born. I spent most of my days in high school studying the curriculum and also studying music. I traveled around the East Coast attending any concert that my parents would allow me to go to. My bands of choice was and still is, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Music, is what really got me through those hard teenage years and opened me up to a whole new world full of anything is possible.
College, Med School and Residency
After high school I attended Ohio University for my studies. At that time I wanted to be a rockstar and had not intentions of becoming a doctor, even thought this is the path my parents were hoping I would take. I think they saw something I didn’t 😉
My science classes always came easy to me and I had a natural talent for math, but music was still my main focus. I spent most of my college days studying and going to concerts all over the country. By my fifth year of college (yes, 5th year, I took the long path) I started volunteering to play music for a rehab facility. The patients at this facility loved the music I was playing and I felt a deep connection to helping these people feel better. I had a mentor at the time who was a physician and really showed me that you can be a doctor and still be cool. He, like myself also loved music and was as down to earth as they come. These two factors sparked my interest and curiosity for medicine and I decided to apply to medical school.
Before I knew it I was accepted as a student in the thick of all that medical school had to offer. To my surprise, I was loving every moment of it. Don’t get me wrong it was hard, but it I was also having the best time studying, making friends and playing music.
After four years it was time to apply for my residency. Being from Ohio I knew that the Cleveland Clinic was my top choice. I did all four years of residency at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. During this time I had to choose my specialty. This was the hard part because I knew I wanted a work life balance and I wasn’t seeing that from a lot of the doctors in my rotations. Then one day I did my rotation through Anesthesia. The anesthesiologist behind the curtain was talking about how he just got home from a two week vacation, how happy he was in his career and with his family. This man had an overall joy to his demeanor and you could tell, loved his job. I knew immediately this was the area I wanted to focus my time in. From there I started learning from some of the best anesthesiologists and pain doctors in the world. I saw what they were doing for people and how they were able to give people their quality of life back. After finishing my four years of residency I decided to do a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, which is basically like additional education focusing on your specific specialty. I continued to work and train with the leaders in Pain Medicine soaking up all of the knowledge and techniques that they bestowed.
Career
After I finished my fellowship I moved to Columbus and worked in private practice for a year. Driving to work each day it would be cold and gloomy. Always dark when I went to the office and dark when I drove home. It was kind of depressing and I knew I needed a change. One of my friends from residency had moved to Phoenix and raved about the quality of life. He was working for a well known group in the valley and said they were hiring doctors. After being a little persistent I had an interview and was shortly offered the position as an anesthesiologist for Valley Pain and Anesthesia. I moved out to Phoenix, leaving the only state I had ever lived in and started this new journey of my life. I only had a couple of people that I knew in Phoenix, but I wasn’t scared to make this transition. For the next few years I made more friends, built up my pain practice and attended regular concerts. I was single and loving every moment of it.
Family
Five years after moving to Phoenix my life changed. One day while working, I had a friend call me up tell me about this girl that they wanted to set me up with. I was a little reluctant, but eventually agreed thinking, “what do I have to lose.” On June 1st, 2013 I went on my first date with my now wife, Nikki. We sat at lunch for hours talking like we had known each other for years. We had an instant connection that was different from anything I had experienced in the past. From there we started dating frequently and on our third date I knew I was going to marry this woman. She was smart, sweet, tiny and my new favorite person.
Two years after we met I proposed to Nikki on my 40th birthday. She said yes (thank god) and we were married a year later. From there we traveled, worked and enjoyed life together. In 2016 we welcomed our two furry babies into our home, Davinci and Lucina Goyle. They quickly became the lights of our lives and our little soul mates. We love these two babies dearly!
Family Business
In January 2021 I decided to to take leap from the only workplace I had ever known and start my own practice. What was really the deciding factor for me is when I started to feel like patient care was being stripped away. I really wanted to get back to the small clinic experience and distance myself from corporate medicine. I wanted to practice medicine my way, really being able to have my patients as part of my extended family.
My wife, at the time had just said goodbye to her family’s business of ten years. She and her mom worked together in the salon industry and had to close the doors due to the pandemic. You know what they say, when one door closes, another door opens….
From there we decided to work together. Not knowing anything about starting or running a practice we both jumped in head first. I worked on getting all of the business logistics squared away, while Nikki focused on the construction, interior design, feel and overall branding of the practice. I really wanted to focus on not only pain medicine, but also using regenerative medicine to help heal people with chronic pain. Nikki, being an aesthetician by trade and having a passion for holistic healing and wellness, decided to incorporate that aspect into skincare and created the regenerative aesthetics side of our practice. She also began a blog at this time that showcases her love for cooking and eating well and teaches patients how to reduce chronic inflammation with food.
On June 1st (our anniversary of meeting each other) we opened our doors to patients.
Since then we have been working hard to give patients the best care possible. We strive to provide excellent and well-rounded care to each patient that walks through our doors. It’s funny how life works out and how Nikki and I ended up connecting in our professional worlds as well as our personal worlds.
I have to say that I love every moment of our life and couldn’t be more grateful for where we are right now. I am also so grateful for every patient that comes to see me and trusts me with their care. I am deeply honored. Thank you!
