Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoshi Rothman.
Hi Yoshi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in San Diego, where I had access to both a strong education and an amazing community. Sports played a big role in my early life, and I spent much of high school on the soccer field, football field, and baseball diamond. It was through sports that I first became interested in how nutrition could enhance performance. That initial curiosity evolved into a broader interest in how nutrition impacts overall health.
I attended Pomona College for my undergraduate studies, where I planned to pursue a career in medicine. But after taking my first nutrition class, I was surprised to learn that only about 25 percent of medical schools were teaching the recommended amount of nutrition education. That realization motivated me to earn a master’s degree in nutrition before starting medical school, so I could be better equipped to support my future patients.
During my master’s program at Tufts University, I discovered the emerging field of culinary medicine. It brought together evidence-based medicine and the culinary arts to help patients and healthcare providers make practical, informed decisions about food and lifestyle. When I began medical school at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, I was eager to join a culinary medicine course. At the time, it didn’t exist. Thanks to the support of faculty mentors and the Vetri Community Partnership, I founded Penn Culinary Medicine. What began as a single course for fourth-year students grew into a longitudinal curriculum, and the school is now planning to launch a combined MD-MS program in nutrition science.
I completed my pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where I continued to focus on preventative care. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I witnessed how health systems rapidly adapted by implementing telehealth, improving communication, and using data to track trends. This experience sparked my interest in clinical informatics. Through training in this field, I’ve been able to explore how emerging AI tools can be integrated into healthcare to improve outcomes and patient experiences.
Today, I’m a board-certified academic pediatrician at UC San Diego. Returning to work at the same clinic where I was once a patient of my own pediatrician, Dr. Marty Stein, has been a full-circle moment for me. Dr. Stein remains a mentor and has deeply influenced my approach to providing compassionate, thoughtful care to every child I see.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Right now, one of the biggest challenges I face is not having enough time with my patients. Most visits are only 15 minutes, and that makes it really difficult to get through all the questions a parent might have. It also limits my ability to go deeper into important preventative topics like nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and mental health.
A recent study showed that kids in the United States are unhealthier than they’ve ever been. I know there are many reasons for that, but I truly believe that if I had more time to sit down with families, talk through lifestyle changes, and check in with them more regularly, I could help make a real difference. Unfortunately, the way the system is currently set up makes that incredibly hard to do.
I believe we need a major shift in how we deliver preventative care. One of the reasons I pursued training in clinical informatics is because I see the potential for technology, especially AI, to help change that. If I can use these tools to offload some of the documentation and administrative work, then I can spend more time focusing on what really matters: helping kids and their families make healthy choices that can impact them for the rest of their lives.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In addition to seeing patients in the outpatient clinic, I also teach medical students and pediatric residents at UC San Diego and work in clinical informatics. But one of the most meaningful parts of my work has been connecting with families beyond the clinic through social media.
I started posting on TikTok and Instagram when I noticed that many families weren’t reading the written after-visit instructions we gave them. Instead, they were turning to social media for health advice. The problem is that there’s a lot of misinformation online, and it can be hard to know what to trust. I wanted to create a space where parents could get clear, evidence-based pediatric information from a doctor they could trust. So I began recording short videos, mainly for friends and family, to explain common questions I hear in clinic.
What I didn’t expect was how quickly the platform would grow. I started sharing videos just over a year ago, and now have over 350,000 followers across platforms and more than 100 million video views. Still, my goal has always remained simple. If one video helps just one parent feel more confident in caring for their child, then it was all worth it.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think the future of pediatrics, and healthcare more broadly, depends on how well we adapt to meet families where they are. More and more parents are turning to social media for health information, and while that creates opportunities for education, it also opens the door to misinformation. As a pediatrician, I believe it’s essential that trusted voices step into that space to provide accurate, evidence-based content in a format that’s accessible and engaging.
At the same time, I see technology playing an increasingly important role in how we deliver care. With the growing demands on clinicians and limited time with patients, tools like AI and clinical informatics can help offload some of the administrative burden and give us more time to focus on prevention and patient relationships. I’m hopeful that as the industry evolves, we’ll see more creative, tech-enabled solutions that allow us to care for patients more effectively, both inside and outside the clinic.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctor_yoshi/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@doctor-yoshi
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@doctor_yoshi
