Empowering Women Physicians

In this episode we learn about Marty Seligman's initial experiments on Learned Helplessness.  This context can help us better understand ourselves and why we may sometimes not believe that we have power to take action to decrease our own suffering.   In person event: EWP Toronto 2024 with Liz Gilbert and Marta Beck - click here  Coaching Guide: To download click here  Podcast link:  To send to a friend click here. We'll be placing links to references here soon.

In this episode we talk about the indoctrination all of us went through during our medical training.  In the next episode we will discuss learned helplessness, unlearning, and re-learning agency and self-efficacy. References and resources mentioned in this podcast References 1. Greenawald MH MD, FAAFP, Pipas CF MD, MPH, FAAFP.  The Power Of Coaching: Supercharge Your Personal and Professional Well-being.   Fam Pract Manag. 2022 Sep-Oct;29(5):12-16. 2. Shanafelt TD, West CP, Dyrbye LN, Trockel M, Tutty M, Wang H, Carlasare LE, Sinsky C. Changes in Burnout and Satisfaction With Work-Life Integration in Physicians During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Mayo Clin Proc. 2022 Sep 14;S0025-6196(22)00515-8. Empowering Women Physicians resources for you Sign up for the EWP Coaching Program Waitlist The Ultimate Coaching Guide for Women Physicians Books We Love Guide References (RCT & academic journal articles on physician coaching) Dr. Katrina Ubell session inside EWP Dr. Katrina Ubell's book

In this episode we talk about the important role of "micro-mentoring" in facebook groups for women physicians.      We also discuss one such example where women physicians reflect on and call out beliefs we have or actions we take, as if there were a badge of honor for sacrificing ourselves for others. Let's tell the truth - from our own painfully gained knowledge that there is NO badge of honor for .... (insert some BS thing here that we have been led to believe we "should" do. References Knoll, Miriam A. MD; Jagsi, Reshma MD, Phil. Cumulative Micro-Mentorship: How Social Media Is Facilitating the Advancement of Female Physicians. Academic Medicine: October 2019 - Volume 94 - Issue 10 - p 1404-1405.

Human beings are enthralled by stories and use them as tools to connect, to make sense of the world, to engage and transmit information from one person to another, one community to another, and one generation to another.  Our stories influence our beliefs and our culture.  Personal heartfelt stories engage our brain in unique and powerful ways.  We'll talk about why we encourage others to tell their stories inside EWP, why micro-mentoring matters, and why Social Learning Theory suggests most human learning occurs observationally through modeling.   One woman physician telling her story has the power to change the world around her.  Thousands of women physicians telling their story has the power to change the culture of medicine.  References Dr. Uri Hasson Lab at Princeton (Suzuki et al.  Dialogues: Science and Power of Storytelling. J Neuroscience 2018 Oct 31; 38(44): 9468–9470.  TED talk , Youtube Storytelling impacts our future) & Dr. Paul Zak.  (Neuroscience of stories) Bandura A. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1977. EWP website: https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/ To notify us you left a podcast review - click here. To join the coaching program or the waitlist - click here.

We are thrilled to be back after a year long break from releasing new episodes to bring you more of the Empowering Women Physicians podcast.  In this episode, we hope to help you reflect on what you really do and the meaning and impact you have on people's lives.   If you'd like to submit an audio, video, or written file for consideration in a compilation of what women physicians REALLY do, please feel free to email your submission to admin@empoweringwomenphysicians.com or now.  (We will create a web page for easier submission shortly.)  Dr. Edith Eger's powerful book The Choice can be found here. The free anonymous confidential Physician Support Line can be found at 1.888.409.0141. For more information on EWP coaching go to:  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/coaching/

Dr. Milene Argo started her journey with coaching 3 years ago, which started with 80 lb weight loss, she then applied this work to optimizing her clinical practice, to managing her inbox, finally leaving work at work, no more charting at home, self acceptance,  COVID, and even recent anti-racism awareness.    She is one of the best I know in using coaching techniques with her patients during routine office visits and helping them get real results. She is now not only a client of mine for well over a year, but is now also a colleague and coach in the EWP program in addition to having her own coaching practice. Check out her physical transformation in this video, which now matches the internal changes she has created through applying this work to all aspects of her life. https://thedoctor-coach.com/start-here  Milene's coaching can be found in her own practice at https://thedoctor-coach.com/ and as a part of EWP coaching at https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/coaching/

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Sonia Wright about her journey, continuous transformation from her time in college, postbacc, residency, fellowship, parenting, mentoring, coaching, sex, intimacy, racism, and her experience living in the Twin Cities, MN during recent months and the anti-racism movement. https://soniawrightmd.com/ PDF guide: bit.ly/sexualintimacyguide

Dr. Stella Evans reflects on the last few months and how our paths crossed when she reached out while she was on quarantine for fever and cough.   She then found herself at the epicenter of the world's attention as the recent anti-racism uprisings literally came to the streets in front of her home and clinic.  She reflects on how examining her thoughts, feelings, and actions  during this historic time impacted what she did with her children and her family, and how she showed up in her neighborhood, her clinic, and her community.

Dr. Sarah Watler is one of my former medical students who has spent the last year as an Intern in New York City in the largest medical center in the area hardest hit by COVID (the Bronx). She speaks openly about her experiences this year.  As a Family Medicine intern focused on social justice she never expected to be doing months of critical care at the epicenter of an international pandemic.  She shares her thoughts about being a Black woman physician during this time, raising awareness, and advocating for change.

How are you feeling? No really, how are you feeling. Pick a word. See if you can name how you are feeling right now. Affect labelling (naming an emotion) has been shown to decrease distress.  In this episode, we talk about the neuroscience behind using your own brain to feel better.   Download the feelings list here https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/feelings/ Virtual summit link here Affect labeling article here  Free COVID related coaching sessions here

While the COVID pandemic is spreading, I wanted to encourage us to manage what is within our control, including flattening the curve. This episode also includes reminders that now more than ever caring for yourself IS caring for others. We can accept reality while offering hope. You'll hear from Dr. Krista Olsen, a full time obstetrician and certified coach in our program.  She was COVID positive with fever, cough, and myalgia.  She and her family fully recovered and she is back to clinical care.   Her story serves as a reminder that this is actually the expected and most common course of this disease.  While we can learn to prepare for other scenarios, we must purposefully remind our brains that most who get sick will recover.  Listen in to hear how she managed her mind through the symptoms, diagnosis, and recovery. Links mentioned in this episode Free coaching for physicians during the COVID pandemic https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/covid/ TED talk.  How we must respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. Bill Gates https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_how_we_must_respond_to_the_coronavirus_pandemic There is no emergency in a pandemic https://acanticleforlazarus.com/2020/03/23/there-is-no-emergency-in-a-pandemic/ That feeling you are feeling is grief.  Scott Berinato. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief Hidden brain.  Shankar Vedantam https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain Dr. Krista Olsen.  True Life MD. https://www.truelifemd.com/about   American Foundation for Suicide Prevention https://afsp.org/our-work/education/healthcare-professional-burnout-depression-suicide-prevention/ You can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Today, March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency. This has impacted all of us. Particularly physicians. We talk about how you can see this as an opportunity to use your voice, to speak, to lead, to work together.   WHO announcemement of pandemic is here.  The link to sign up for free COVID-19 related group coaching resources for physicians by physicians is here. Image by #joseflee @joseflee.stories   

In this very special episode, Dr. Megan Galaske tells her story. Her journey of transformation, from suffering to thriving in just a few short months. She attributes this change to finding women physician groups who offered support, podcasts, and coaching.  She implemented these changes in her life and you'll love to hear from her. Her words. Her journey. Her transformation. And...we do have a special time limited offer bringing many women physician coaches who trained where I did, at The Life Coach School, to bring you the very best that coaching has offer all in one space.    For more details visit  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/pmg/

In this episode, we learn how National Women Physicians Day became a holiday four years ago from one of the women that made this happen.   On February 3 of each year, we now celebrate the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell MD the first woman physician in the United States. See the original press release here

Welcome the beloved Hala Sabry, founder of PMG.  You'll hear how PMG came to exist from a night she was feeling worry and anxiety sitting all alone on her sofa at night worrying about how she could possibly figure out how to take care of 3 small children (including twins about to be born) while being an Emergency Dept physician with unpredictable shifts and high demands.  She reached out to her friend Dina and they agreed to put together a small group of friends...and the rest is history.     If you want to let me know a "big no" that you are making in your life, I'd love to hear about it and why it's important to you.  I absolutely love seeing the real change that you, a real woman physician, are making in your life.  That's how we change the culture of medicine, one person at a time.  You become an example of what is possible. https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/bigno/   If you want to get info about the 2019 or 2020 Bora Bora retreat to receive updates as soon as they are available (wanna be the first to know?) then click on the "send me the details" button on this site to enter your email   https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/boraboraretreat/   If you want to donate to PMGs efforts with Unicef to work towards eradicating tetanus click here https://www.unicefusa.org/pmg.

It's now officially a year since this podcast started! This episode will start a series of interviews of real clients, real women physicians, who have all changed their lives in some way through coaching. Bonnie Koo MD has been coaching with Sunny for over a year and went from feeling trapped to realizing she had much more freedom than she realized. She has gone from a new mother and employed dermatologist feeling trapped to finding she had much more freedom than she realized.  She is doing locums on her terms (next assignment - Hawaii) with and serves as a guide to many women physicians in personal finances. Her program Money For Women Physicians is open for enrollment through Monday October 14th at 9pm EST. Empowering Women Physicians affiliate link to enroll: https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/money

In this episode, Dr Sunny Smith shares the brand new Randomized Controlled Trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine documenting that coaching decreases distress and improves physician well-being.   Download your free self coaching guide here:  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/guide/   Main reference discussed in this podcast: Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD, Gill PR, Satele DV, West CP. Effect of a Professional Coaching Intervention on the Well-being and Distress of Physicians: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 05, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2425 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2740206   Other references mentioned in this podcast:  West CP, Dyrbye LN, Rabatin JT, et al. Intervention to Promote Physician Well-being, Job Satisfaction, and Professionalism: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(4):527–533. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.14387 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1828744 Shanafelt T, Goh J, Sinsky C. The Business Case for Investing in Physician Well-being. JAMA Intern Med.2017;177(12):1826–1832. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.4340 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2653912  Atul Gawande New Yorker article on coaching physicians. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best

I encourage you to consider periodically looking at your life with the playful childlike lens of a "Choose your own adventure" story. Maybe find a children's book or even an adult book in this genre or watch the Netflix interactive narrative Banderdash  https://www.netflix.com/title/80988062  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror:_Bandersnatch It might just start to change the way you see things is you start to practice some autonomy, agency, self-efficacy, control.  Awareness of this can spill over into your personal and professional live so that you start to create your life more on purpose. Speaking of choosing your own adventure... in this episode we also talk about the Steamy Stethoscopes conference and tips from some strong women physicians.  Marcia Walker the conference host and Sonia Wright, midlife sex coach for women  https://www.themidlifesexcoach.com/ Oh...and of course... I have to mention - registration for the next Bora Bora retreat is now open!!! Limited space of course so let me know if you are thinking of coming so I can reserve a bungalow for you : )  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/boraboraretreat/

What you think over and over, your automatic thoughts, become your beliefs. What you believe is possible for your life is often what you create in your life. What would you like to believe? If you could believe anything was possible? If I had a platter of beliefs and you could choose any one you wanted. If you could teach yourself it's possible that __________, what would you like to believe you could create in your life? You believed you could become a doctor, so you did. What's next? Anything you want. Less time spent charting, less stress, more time for yourself.  Who has the power to make these things happen for you?  You do.     Links: Retreat: https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/boraboraretreat/   Guide:  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/guide/   CME:  https://empoweringwomenphysicians.com/cme/   References This reference describes the Listen Act Develop model that encourages organizations to listen to their physicians regarding changes they want to see, to act on them, to report outcomes of these actions (whether they succeeded or failed) and develop physician leaders.  This offers physicians choice, a sense of community, empowerment, and encourages contribution improvement. Swensen S, Kabcenell A, Shanafelt T.  Physician-Organization Collaboration Reduces Physician Burnout and Promotes Engagement: The Mayo Clinic Experience. J Healthcare Management. 2016 Mar-Apr;61(2):105-27. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27111930   AMA Coaching in Medical Education: A Faculty Handbook  https://www.ama-assn.org/education/accelerating-change-medical-education/coaching-medical-education-faculty-handbook          

In this episode, we celebrate the arrival of the first woman physician in Congress, Dr. Kim Schrier.   Woo hooooo!!!   As well as celebrating  over 100 women now representing us in congress (127 to be exact; 102 in the House and 25 in the Senate).    We also ask you to consider looking for opportunities.  There are many places where you may feel powerless but may be able to start to take back your power.   References Shanafelt TD, Dyrbye LN, West CP. Addressing Physician Burnout: The Way Forward. JAMA. 2017;317(9):901–902. Shanafelt, Tait D. et al.  Changes in Burnout and Satisfaction With Work-Life Balance in Physicians and the General US Working Population Between 2011 and 2014.  Mayo Clinic Proceedings , Volume 90 , Issue 12 , 1600 - 1613. West CP, Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; and Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, USA). Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions (Review). J Intern Med2018; 283: 516–529. Tait Shanafelt video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rFduk1xqM   Physician Wellness Opportunities Chief Wellness Officer course.  Application deadline January 20, 2019. http://wellmd.stanford.edu/center1/cwocourse.html   American Conference on Physician Health. (AMA-Mayo-Stanford).  Sept 19-21, 2019. Abstract deadline March 29.  https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/american-conference-physician-health-2019   AAFP Physician Health and Wellbeing conference. June 5 - 8, 2019.  Phoenix, AZ.  https://www.aafp.org/events/fpwb-conf.html   Other Stanford WellMD opportunities https://wellmd.stanford.edu/connected/classes-cme.html        

In this episode we reflect on the past year and how to get the results we want in the New Year.  We reinforce, review, and build on some of the tools and information we have discussed thus far in the podcast and put them all together to purposefully create a great new year. References https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions Xu JQ, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD, Bastian B, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2016. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 67 no 5. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2018. Yaghmour, N, Brigham, T, Richter, T; Miller, R, Philibert, I, Baldwin, D, Nasca, T. Causes of Death of Residents in ACGME-Accredited Programs 2000 Through 2014: Implications for the Learning Environment. Acad Med. 2017;92:976–983. This episode also offers an opportunity to win $100 gift cards by leaving an itunes review and letting me know you did so by entering your information at empoweringwomenphysicians.com/reviews. If you have any trouble accessing that site, just email me at sunny@empoweringwomenphysicians.com.

In this episode, we discuss how you can apply the scientific method to your life.  As children we are natural scientists and experiment with the world to learn how things work.  As we physicians we are trained scientists. We want to cultivate that intellectual curiosity and start to apply what we have learned thus far about our power, our control, our choices, our ability to improve our own lives with purposeful experiments.  We then examine the results and move forward better informed.   Scientific Method  Make observations. (Do background research) Ask a question Construct a hypothesis Test (variable) with an experiment  Gather data/results. Analyze data. Conclusion: results support or do not support hypothesis  Proceed further in an iterative fashion (use the results to make a new hypothesis or prediction, cyclical, feeds back into more questions, more hypotheses, more experiments) Reference: Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, Janet N. Ahn, Jondou Chen, Fu-Fen Anny Fang, Myra Luna-Lucero. Even Einstein struggled: Effects of learning about great scientists’ struggles on high school students’ motivation to learn science.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2016; 108 (3): 314-328.

We discuss how important it is to have control of our own narrative. We also discuss how cognitive psychology studies reveal that we notice things only when we purposefully focus our attention on looking for them.   We also look at what questions we are often asking ourselves, how our brain seeks to answer questions, and how we can utilize that to our advantage to ask more empowering questions to create better results in our lives.   References: The Monkey Business Illusion (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY Book: Chris Chabris, Daniel Simons. The Invisible Gorilla: How our Intuitions Deceive Us.  Brancati FL. The art of pimping. JAMA. 1989;262(1):89–90. Stoddard HA, O'Dell DV. Would Socrates Have Actually Used the "Socratic Method" for Clinical Teaching?. J Gen Intern Med. 2016;31(9):1092-6. https://www.biography.com/people/socrates-9488126    

This episode discusses how women can speak up and advocate for themselves by advocating for others (the mama bear effect).   We then discuss key take home points from a recent Women In Medicine conference that many women physicians could find useful.   References Book: Friend & Foe: When to cooperate, when to compete, and how to succeed at both by Adam Galinsky.   Summary of his Ted Talk:  https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-speak-up-for-yourself/ Conference: Southern California Women in Medicine  https://www.socalwomeninmedicine.com/    

In this episode, Dr Sunny Smith describes how she quite literally fell into a situation that left her realizing she didn't really HAVE to do all the things she usually did that kept her so busy. We make choices about our lives every single day without even realizing it.  We all have much more power than we have ever realized to make choices to create our lives more intentionally. 

Just as we are used to making an assessment and plan in medicine, we are going to talk about making an assessment and plan for your life. This episode encourages women physicians to set goals, decide what results they'd like to see in their lives, then commit to creating their life with intention.

This episode describes how to separate facts from the stories we are telling ourselves about them. It helps us identify the narrative and empowers us to CHANGE the narrative. In medicine we have subjective versus objective sections of our notes for a reason.  Let's apply the same logic to our lives and see where it takes us.

This episode talks about the need to become aware of your thoughts about your life right now. There are perhaps some things you love, some things that are okay, and things that you'd like to change. In medicine, our first step is to take a good history before we make an assessment.  An accurate and well informed assessment is necessary before embarking on making a plan.  We will use the same format in our coaching work and begin with taking an assessment of where you are right now.    Images referenced in this podcast Norman Rockwell images of doctors https://www.nrm.org/ https://www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/doctor       Detailed image of a medical visit drawn by and 8 year old girl in the era of the Electronic Health Record.  The physician faces away from the family and the patient, looking down at a keyboard. Toll E. The Cost of Technology. JAMA. 2012;307(23):2497–2498.  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1187932    

In this episode, we'll talk about a little bit about the context in which we current practice medicine, history, the Hippocratic Oath, and what you can do to start maintaining the utmost respect for your OWN human life and its quality.   References discussed in this podcast Desai T, Ali S, Fang X, et al.  Equal work for unequal pay: the gender reimbursement gap for healthcare providers in the United States.  Postgraduate Medical Journal 2016;92:571-575. Jena AB, Olenski AR, Blumenthal DM. Sex Differences in Physician Salary in US Public Medical Schools. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(9):1294–1304. Ly DP, Seabury SA, Jena AB. Characteristics of U.S. Physician Marriages, 2000–2015: An Analysis of Data From a U.S. Census Survey. Ann Intern Med. ;168:375–376.  McMahon G.  Managing the Most Precious Resource in Medicine.  N Engl J Med 2018; 378. Guille C, Zhao Z, Krystal J, Nichols B, Brady K, Sen S. Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention for the Prevention of Suicidal Ideation in Medical Interns. A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry.2015;72(12):1192–1198. Mata DA, Ramos MA, Bansal N, et al. Prevalence of Depression and Depressive Symptoms Among Resident Physicians.  A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2015;314(22):2373–2383.  Linzer M. Clinician Burnout and the Quality of Care. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(10):1331–1332. Dyrbye, L.N., T.D. Shanafelt, C.A. Sinsky, P.F. Cipriano, J. Bhatt, A. Ommaya, C.P. West, and D. Meyers. 2017. Burnout among health care professionals: A call to explore and address this underrecognized threat to safe, high-quality care. NAM Perspectives. Discussion Paper, National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC.  ACGME Physician Well Being Initiative:  https://www.acgme.org/What-We-Do/Initiatives/Physician-Well-Being Bodenheimer T, Sinsky C. From triple to quadruple aim: care of the patient requires care of the provider. Ann Fam Med. 2014;12(6):573-6. AMA Women in Medicine month:  https://www.ama-assn.org/about/women-medicine includes their video Women in Medicine by the Numbers:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEFnCpraCQI&feature=youtu.be   Helpful website by AAMC that is kept up to date with new emerging research on medical student, resident, and physician wellness   https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/462280/well-being-academic-medicine.html   American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is a VERY helpful resource.  They are truly the expert guides for us in medical student, resident, and physician burnout, depression, and suicide prevention.  Please refer to information at this link https://afsp.org/our-work/education/healthcare-professional-burnout-depression-suicide-prevention/#section2  If you are struggling, you are not alone.  There is hope.  Really.  Things can and do get better.  No matter what, it's okay to take a break for self-care.  Click on the link above for more information and don't be afraid to call the national suicide prevention hotline for help if you think you may need it.  1.800.273.TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741