Hidden Gems: Meet Harvey Castro, MD, MBA of DR GPT TM

Today we’d like to introduce you to Harvey Castro, MD, MBA.

Hi Harvey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My mom raised me with one line she repeated all the time: “Harvey, I want you to believe in you.” Every degree I earned, I walked off the stage and handed straight to her. In my mind we earned them together.

I got into health care through a dental chair. I spent eight years in the US Army Reserve as a dental assistant, and my rank was E4 Specialist.

At Texas A&M I studied biomedical science and founded the Texas A&M AMSA premedical society. It’s now the largest premed society at Texas A&M.

I was broke studying for the MCAT, and the textbooks cost a fortune. So I called the publishers. I told them their books had mistakes, and if they sent me a copy for free I’d find them. A lot of them said yes. I caught the errors, sent them in, and before long they were crediting me in the acknowledgments. I had publication credits before I passed the MCAT. In medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Majors Bookstore set up a shelf called “Harvey Castro’s Corner.” I could have gone into debt. I built relationships instead.

For residency I went to St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and trained in emergency medicine. It has been my home for more than 20 years, and I’m board certified in it. I worked at Parkland Hospital and Medical City, and later at Elite Care and The Colony ER Hospital. I also served as CEO of Trusted Medical and PRIME Medical Staffing. Along the way I went back for a Physician Executive MBA at the University of Tennessee, because I kept ending up in meetings where my clinical training wasn’t what was holding us back.

ChatGPT went public at the end of 2022. I wrote ChatGPT and Healthcare: The Key to the New Future of Medicine before the year was out, and it was published in January 2023. Almost no practicing physician was writing about it yet. That timing has shaped everything since.

Most people know me as DR GPT™ now. My work is helping clinicians and health system leaders decide where AI belongs in patient care. None of it was planned. Each step answered a problem the last one couldn’t solve.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not even close.

I’ve failed plenty. Years ago I put my own time and money into a medical app for cardiologists. I was sure it was a winner. Then I realized it needed far more people and money than I had, and I had a young family to feed. I let it go and wrote it off. Years later another ER doctor, backed by venture capital, built that same idea into a multimillion-dollar business. It stung. It also taught me to check whether an idea is doable before I jump in, and to trust my instincts a little more.

Then there were the doubters. A friend once told me I had too many projects going and would never find the time to write a book. I’m at 47 books now.

Today the hardest lesson I see is about pivoting. I watched one AI company keep building something I could tell AI itself would be able to do on its own within a year. They needed to change direction early. They didn’t, and the technology ended up doing the job without them. That’s what I warn hospitals and founders about now. Being early is not the same as being right forever.

When something goes sideways, I call Harry. He’s a friend and mentor, and he tells me the truth even when it isn’t what I want to hear.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about DR GPT TM?
If you’ve ever asked a chatbot about a symptom at midnight, my work is for you.

I’m an emergency physician, and I work under the name DR GPT™. My mission is simple to say and hard to do: help AI make health care better for patients and the clinicians who care for them. AI can sound very sure of itself. I help people know when to trust it, when to question it, and what a human still owes a patient when a machine is in the room.

Through DRGPT Labs, I help create different ways to use ai.

Most of my work happens on stage. I’ve given five TEDx talks about how AI can improve health care, and I’ve keynoted HIMSS Europe and HIMSS AI. I speak in English and Spanish to doctors, nurses, health leaders, and everyday people who want to understand what’s coming. One of my signature talks is AI That Survives the Workflow. A flashy demo means nothing if the tool falls apart on a busy night in a real hospital.

I’m also an advisor to Phantom Space’s CEO, and I write regularly on KevinMD and Substack. I was ranked #3 globally on the Thinkers360 Top 50 Thought Leaders and Influencers on AI (2026).

Learn more at harveycastromd.com, or ask DR GPT™ a question at harveycastromd.com/ask-dr-gpt (for education, never medical advice). If you’re planning an event and want your audience to leave hopeful and ready to use AI wisely, I’d love to hear from you at harveycastromd.com/speaker.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If AI has ever confused you or scared you about your health, you’re not alone. Ask good questions, bring what you learn to your doctor, and keep a human in the loop. If you’d like to ask me something, try DR GPT™ at harveycastromd.com/ask-dr-gpt

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.harveycastromd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harveycastromd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harveycastromd
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harveycastromd
• Twitter: https://x.com/HarveycastroMD
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/harveycastromd
• Other: https://www.harveycastromd.com/speaker