Oct 13, 2026 · 32 min · 14 segments
In this dynamic episode, host Lee Scheinbart interviews Dr. Victor Vargas, physician executive, retired U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, and founder and CEO of CrediSync. Drawing on lessons from…
Lee ScheinbartHost
Were, were there any other things that happened to you in your later medical career that moved you more towards systems and operations and thinking about leading within what we'll call civilian healthcare?
You know, as I think back, I always find myself wanting to fix inefficiencies.
And, uh, even when I, when I first, uh, started my civilian job, I had my own office, shared it with two other physicians.
You know, I'm in a healthcare system, and I'm seeing inefficiency after inefficiency within my own office.
And I was also challenged at the time, 'cause I was a reservist, with managing my office-based practice but also satisfy my military career, and I made the decision to segue into hospital medicine, 'cause that enabled me to, to divide my schedule between what I wanted to do with the reserves and my shifts as a hospitalist.
And I think that shift into hospital medicine really, really gave me the opportunity to see the complexities of the entire healthcare ecosystem.
You, you know, you have the physicians, the consultants, case managers, PT, you name it, everyone involved with the healthcare team, in addition to the families and technology, and that creates this complex ecosystem, and if nothing's firing correctly, if nothing's firing right, that's when the problems begin.
And then as your career developed, you found yourself in a director role and a vice president role, and, and then ultimately, um, chief medical officer.
And so one of the, the questions I love to ask CMOs is what were one or two of the very biggest surprises, uh, that you found when you actually sat in the CMO chair?
Um, uh, I would say one of the biggest surprises is it, it could be a lonely role.
Um, you know, you're making very high-stake decisions, and, uh, sometimes you find yourself asking, you know, "Am I making the right choice? Am I doing the right thing?" And yes, you do have some colleagues you can reach out to, but ultimately, when you're sitting by yourself reflecting on a decision you're about to make, it's, it's kinda just you.
Where, where did you turn to when you found yourself feeling that, uh, singularity, if you will?
Uh, I'm blessed enough to have a good core group of physician leaders that I can, I can rely on, bounce ideas off of.
Were, were there any other things that happened to you in your later medical career that moved you more towards systems and operations and thinking about leading within what we'll call civilian healthcare?
You know, as I think back, I always find myself wanting to fix inefficiencies.
And, uh, even when I, when I first, uh, started my civilian job, I had my own office, shared it with two other physicians.
You know, I'm in a healthcare system, and I'm seeing inefficiency after inefficiency within my own office.
And I was also challenged at the time, 'cause I was a reservist, with managing my office-based practice but also satisfy my military career, and I made the decision to segue into hospital medicine, 'cause that enabled me to, to divide my schedule between what I wanted to do with the reserves and my shifts as a hospitalist.
And I think that shift into hospital medicine really, really gave me the opportunity to see the complexities of the entire healthcare ecosystem.
You, you know, you have the physicians, the consultants, case managers, PT, you name it, everyone involved with the healthcare team, in addition to the families and technology, and that creates this complex ecosystem, and if nothing's firing correctly, if nothing's firing right, that's when the problems begin.
And then as your career developed, you found yourself in a director role and a vice president role, and, and then ultimately, um, chief medical officer.
And so one of the, the questions I love to ask CMOs is what were one or two of the very biggest surprises, uh, that you found when you actually sat in the CMO chair?
Um, uh, I would say one of the biggest surprises is it, it could be a lonely role.
Um, you know, you're making very high-stake decisions, and, uh, sometimes you find yourself asking, you know, "Am I making the right choice? Am I doing the right thing?" And yes, you do have some colleagues you can reach out to, but ultimately, when you're sitting by yourself reflecting on a decision you're about to make, it's, it's kinda just you.
Where, where did you turn to when you found yourself feeling that, uh, singularity, if you will?
Uh, I'm blessed enough to have a good core group of physician leaders that I can, I can rely on, bounce ideas off of.
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