photograph courtesy shea clinic
Editor’s Note: Every year, the national medical group Castle Connolly compiles a list of the best doctors in America. In the Memphis area, the 2023 Top Doctors list comprises 350 physicians, representing 59 specialties. Here, we introduce you to one of the caregivers who have been named a Top Doc time and again.
Anything above the diaphragm — that’s what interests Dr. Victoria Lim. From swallowing issues to dizziness, this area has some of the most complex anatomy in the human body and can present a number of problems, and as an otolaryngologist (or ear, nose, and throat doctor) at Shea Clinic, Lim is ready to solve them.
“This will sound very corny,” says Lim, “but my passion is helping people improve their health. Unfortunately, though, as a physician, you don’t just get to practice the art of medicine. You deal with all the business side of it, too, which is a shame, but it’s necessary. I think sometimes we lose sight of the individual, so I try to stress in my practice that I’m taking care of someone’s son, someone’s daughter, someone who has a life outside of this visit.”
Though passionate about her practice now, Lim initially pursued medicine reluctantly, mostly because her parents wanted her to. But while she was going through the motions of her residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, her dad became sick and passed away. “That’s what inspired me to want to be a doctor,” Lim says. “As ENTs, we do see our patients get better the vast majority of the time, and so that’s really rewarding for me.”
But no matter if it’s dizziness arising from Covid or issues with speech, Lim says, “If you really listen to the patient, they will point you to what the problem is. And no one knows your body better than you.”
In addition to her practice at Shea Clinic, Lim has volunteered with Church Health for nearly a decade, which offers healthcare to the working uninsured at an affordable cost — an effort that she finds highly rewarding. “I tend to see more severe disease there than I do at Shea,” Lim says, noting that the cost of healthcare often deters uninsured patients from seeking help until the problem becomes too severe to manage on their own. “These are patients who are working hard and they just can’t afford insurance,” she says. “They don’t need a handout; they just need a hand up. I know that’s corny, too, but that’s really how I feel. I feel privileged to be able to help these people.”
Since she began practicing in Memphis in 1999, Lim has kept learning and embracing new technologies, she says. In fact, she became one of the first otolaryngologists in the Memphis area to perform in-office balloon sinus surgery, and the first to perform in-office Eustachian tube balloon dilation for the treatment of Eustachian tube dysfunction.
In the coming months, she plans to launch a public health initiative over social media with her nurse Kirby Gross at Shea Clinic. The goal is to promote awareness for Covid’s link to ear and balance problems. “We have seen a dramatic increase in patients with dizziness and even hearing loss due to Covid,” Lim says, “and a lot of people just don’t know about it.”
But no matter if it’s dizziness arising from Covid or issues with speech, Lim says, “If you really listen to the patient, they will point you to what the problem is. And no one knows your body better than you. I absolutely love it when my patients take an active interest in their health, and I have to brag on my patients. I do have the best patients.”
