At Lucens, we often ask physicians not just what drives their clinical work, but what sparks their thinking outside of medicine. Inspiration can come from unexpected places—and often informs how they approach care, leadership, or innovation.

This week, we asked Jay Mathur, MD, to share someone who’s influenced his thinking in a meaningful way.

Question:

Who or what inspires you outside of medicine?
– L.L., San Diego

Jay:

One of my favorite people is Muhammad Yunus. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for finding a way to help the most people and to help the most society. And he did it with microloans.

So, what he would do is give out loans of about 20 to 50 bucks in Bangladesh because he realized that’s how many people were in small amounts of debt. He’s like, “This is not hard. I can charge a very minimal interest. And if I give them 20 bucks to get out of this debt, that frees them up to do so many new things.”

I love that idea. Like, what’s the simple thing that you can do to help a bunch of people at once?

The Bottom Line

For Dr. Jay Mathur, a single idea—microloans—offers a powerful reminder: small interventions can have an outsized impact. Sometimes helping many starts with helping one, the right way.

Want to share what inspires you?

Whether it’s a thinker, artist, activist, or athlete—tell us who’s shaped the way you practice or lead. We may feature your perspective in an upcoming issue.

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