Episode 17: From Pebble Beach to Astrid — Samir Qamar on 25 Years of Reinventing Primary Care
Dr. Samir Qamar — one of the original founders of the Direct Primary Care movement and creator of MedLion, MedWand, and AstroDoc, joins Brothers, Dr. Erik Lundquist and Dr. Davin Lundquist, for a wide-ranging conversation shaped by a childhood spent across four continents with a UN-diplomat father. Samir traces his arc from Ross University to England's socialized NHS to Penn Medicine-Lancaster General, where as an intern he cold-called MDVIP from his scrubs after discovering concierge medicine. His first post-residency role was House Physician for Pebble Beach Resorts; that seeded MedLion, the nation's largest DPC network across 27 states, which in turn led to the MedWand — a handheld telemedicine device that lets remote clinicians capture real physical-exam data.
His current obsession is AstroDoc and its AI health agent Astrid ("A System To Reinforce Infinite Doctors"), designed to be for billions of patients what Samir became for his own parents when they were sick. The conversation digs into healthcare versus sick care, why AI will change the physician's role without replacing it, the ethics of non-clinicians building medical AI, and Samir's view that the next generation of doctors will function as coaches and cheerleaders — not gatekeepers of knowledge.
For physicians weighing DPC, founders building health AI, or anyone thinking about how the doctor-patient relationship evolves in an era of voice-enabled, multilingual, clinician-led tooling.
His current obsession is AstroDoc and its AI health agent Astrid ("A System To Reinforce Infinite Doctors"), designed to be for billions of patients what Samir became for his own parents when they were sick. The conversation digs into healthcare versus sick care, why AI will change the physician's role without replacing it, the ethics of non-clinicians building medical AI, and Samir's view that the next generation of doctors will function as coaches and cheerleaders — not gatekeepers of knowledge.
For physicians weighing DPC, founders building health AI, or anyone thinking about how the doctor-patient relationship evolves in an era of voice-enabled, multilingual, clinician-led tooling.
Creators and Guests
Host
Dr. Davin Lundquist
Dr. Davin Lundquist is a board-certified family physician, innovator, and healthcare leader with over 25 years of experience integrating medicine, technology, and holistic wellness. A graduate of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, he has held senior leadership roles at CommonSpirit Health, Dignity Health, and Augmedix, where he advanced the use of technology to enhance patient care. Driven by a passion to move beyond symptom management, Dr. Lundquist founded the Quantum Advantage Method™, a science-based, holistic framework designed to help individuals restore vitality and reverse dysfunction. His approach blends functional medicine, advanced diagnostics, and principles of quantum science to empower patients to achieve optimal health and lasting transformation.
Host
Dr. Erik Lundquist
Dr. Erik Lundquist, MD, ABFM, ABoIM, IFMCP Dr. Erik Lundquist is the founder and medical director of the Temecula Center for Integrative Medicine, where he blends conventional, holistic, and functional approaches to help patients achieve lasting wellness. Board-certified in Family and Integrative Medicine, he specializes in endocrine disorders, chronic fatigue, migraine management, cardiometabolic health, and chronic pain. A graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine, Dr. Lundquist completed his Family Medicine residency at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, where he served as chief resident. He spent eight years on active duty with the U.S. Navy, including service as a battalion surgeon in Iraq and at the Naval Hospital in Naples, Italy. Certified by the Institute for Functional Medicine, Dr. Lundquist is passionate about empowering patients to take charge of their health and teaching fellow clinicians integrative approaches to chronic disease. Outside of medicine, he enjoys the outdoors, singing, dancing, acting, and spending time with his wife and three children.
Guest
Dr. Samir Qamar
M. Samir Qamar, MD is a board-certified family physician, serial healthcare entrepreneur, and one of the original founders of the Direct Primary Care movement. Born in Beirut and raised across Europe, Asia, and the United States, he completed medical school at Ross University, family medicine residency at Penn Medicine–Lancaster General Health, and additional leadership training at Harvard Business School. Dr. Qamar launched the first concierge medical practice in central California and served as House Physician for Pebble Beach Resorts before founding MedLion Direct Primary Care in 2009, scaling it to 27 states and helping to write DPC legislation in multiple states. In 2014, while consulting with Google on telemedicine, he invented the MedWand — a handheld digital examination device that lets remote clinicians capture vitals, auscultate heart and lungs, perform ENT exams, and run EKGs over the Internet — and now leads MedWand Solutions as founder and CEO. His newest venture, AstroDoc, delivers virtual primary care for a flat $35 per month for adults and $5 for children, with an AI-powered health agent, ASTRID, launching in Spring 2026. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times, Time, and Fox Business News. Dr. Qamar lives in Summerlin, Nevada, with his wife Dr. Hisana Qamar, MD, and is a lifelong auto enthusiast, amateur painter, and voracious reader.
