Women Physicians Flourish. A Podcast About Life and Wellbeing

Understanding how our medical culture formed is an important step in unraveling the toxicity that has led to burnout and dissatisfaction, and toward building a sustainable, fulfilling, and joyful profession we can be proud to practice. Using some of the information in this paper on the historical perspective on obstacles to physicians' emotional health, this week's podcast episode takes a deep dive into the origins of some of our problems, and some possible solutions.The paper's authors propose three main categories of obstacles that have arisen as part of medical culture:Medical exceptionalism: the idea that being a physician is so special that WE have to lose ourselves.Medicalization of mental health issues: the idea that physicians with any mental health issues are “sick” and “impaired.”Individual responsibility: the idea that the responsibility for dealing with mental  or physical health problems, or one's own wellbeing, resides solely with the individual, and not the institution. You can get on my email list here .  You'll  get a free copy of my book, regular updates on the podcast,  as well as the link to the private physician-only facebook group!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/womenphysiciansflourish)

This week's podcast episode is taking a dive into two papers studying Self-Valuation behaviors in Physicians.  Listen for more on why resilience may not be the panacea for preventing burnout, because physicians already are high in resilience. What we ARE lacking is self-valuation.If you prefer to watch your podcasts on video, hop over to the Women Physicians Flourish Youtube Channel Here!Dr. Lauderdale on InstagramSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/womenphysiciansflourish)

Season 2 New episodes coming soon! Join me for more science, stories, and people who can help us on our journey to flourishing. 

Favorite things of 2021! See Transcript here for links!

Michelle Quirk is a pediatrician, who in the first year of practice, lost her father to cancer.  She was jolted by that experience, realizing the many parts of herself she had lost touch with during medical training.  She found her way back through running, which she says allowed her time to notice the world around her and to feel connected and embodied in a way she hadn't before.  Today, Dr. Quirk continues to practice pediatrics, and is a run coach. She founded Mindful Marathon to help make running easy and fun for busy professionals.  For anyone thinking that running is too hard, Michelle is ready to help them transform into a runner.  Even if you aren't planning to take up a running practice anytime soon, you will enjoy this episode - the real underlying theme here is that many of us physicians have been taught to feel that interests outside of medicine are less important, or not serious enough, when the truth is that finding the things that make us happy and light us up can fuel our ability to flourish - to be better doctors, friends, spouses, parents and leaders. You can find Dr. Quirk and Mindful Marathon  at the links below: Website: www.mindful-marathon.comFB: www.facebook.com/mindfulmarathonIG: www.instagram.com/mindful.marathonYT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs1QWRIQow5oVDl8NQtR8RA

Today's interview is with Dr. Karen Kaufman - she is an allergist/immunologist who started her career in the military, joined a group practice, and then realized she wanted something more than the impersonal, unfulfilling group practice she was in.  She made the bold, courageous step to strike out on her own and now has a thriving solo practice in Virginia where she gives patients the type of care she wants to give and is able to practice on her own terms. Dr. Kaufman is a great listener and a compassionate problem-solver who helps patients get the answers they need and feel well again like they deserve.Dr. Kaufman is double board certified in Allergy Immunology and Internal Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, and has been recognized repeatedly as a Top Doctor in the greater Washington DC area. Dr. Kaufman recently opened her own practice, Kaufman Allergy Asthma and Immunology, where she provides the highest quality of care to children and adults.Dr. Karen Kaufman links: www.kaufmanallergy.comBusiness FB page: https://www.facebook.com/kaufmanallergyRebecca's Badass Blueprint FREE  book link! Www.rebeccalauderdalemd.comThe Table: a unique group course experience for women physicians coming soon! Click the link to sign up to learn more when the course launches!  https://www.rebeccalauderdalemd.com/pl/2147524413Rebecca on social: www.instagram.com/dr.lauderdaleEmail:rebecca@rebeccalauderdalemd.comMusic used with permissionIntro: “Death Dance” by LuwaksOutro: “VHS Hero” by Lofive

This week, Dr. Judy Wright! She is a Family Physician with over 15 years of experience, writer, speaker, and co-host of the Queens On Call podcast. Last year she was diagnosed with breast cancer just before the pandemic began, and has undergone a significant personal transformation during this time.  In our episode, we talk about transitions, prioritizing joy, and her love for DIY projects!In the intro, Dr. Lauderdale discusses the invisible labor imbalance between women and men physicians, and how ignoring or minimizing that truth can be harmful.  You can find Dr. Wright at:IG : www.instagram.com/dr_judy_wrightTwitter: @dr_judy_wrightPodcast: Queens On Call (multiple platforms)Music used with permission:Intro - “Death Dance” by LuftmenschOutro - “Timeless Clouds” by LuwaksYou can find Dr. Lauderdale at:www.instagram.com/dr.lauderdalerebecca@rebeccalauderdalemd.comwww.rebeccalauderdalemd.comSupport the show

Full Transcript HereDr. Andrea Staneata is a board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician and is fellowship trained in interventional spine and pain management, and is now practicing at Cape Fear Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, in North Carolina. She has a compelling story: after medical school and two years of orthopedics residency in Romania, she immigrated with her then husband to the united states by winning a lottery sponsored by the romanian government. Upon relocating to the United States, she went on to complete her Internship and Residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Interventional Spine & Pain management at OrthoCarolina in Winston Salem, North Carolina.She is the coauthor of the anthology Warrior Women: A Sisterhood of Immigrants, and in her chapter she details her story of burnout, depression/anxiety, and an abusive marriage she courageously left while her children were young. She has a passion for sharing her story so that others can learn from her experience. FB - Andrea StaneataLinkedIn - Andrea Staneata, MDIG - @andreastaneataWarrior Women Project bookThe Road Back To You - book

Dr. Nneka Unachukwu, or Dr. Una as she is endearingly called by her patients and the many doctors she has mentored, is a pediatrician and founder of Ivy League Pediatrics, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Since founding that practice 11 years ago, she has started many other successful businesses, including teaching physicians the skills of entrepreneurship through her podcast, called EntreMD (short for Entrepreneur MD), and her group teaching program, the EntreMD Business School.  She has a goal of helping 80,000 physicians create financial freedom by building profitable businesses, and she is well on her way.  This woman is a national treasure.In our conversation today, Dr. Una talks candidly about her life as a mother, a wife, and a doctor; and the shift in thinking women physicians need to have in order to be fulfilled in all those areas of life (yes, we do talk about housework and childcare), We also talk about her perspective on the way the world has changed for physicians and how entrepreneurship and the skill of public speaking are at the top of her list as ways for physicians to continue thriving.  Dr. Una is unusually insightful and was so gracious to spend this time with me - please enjoy our interview. Dr. Una's program EntreMD  can be found at the following links:www.entremd.comwww.entremd.com/podcastwww.facebook.com/drunachukwuwww.instagram.com/entremdsMusic used with permission:Intro: “Death Dance” by LuftmenschOutro: "Timeless Clouds" by Luwaks

Dr Diana Mercado is a family physician in Texas, currently serving as clinic medical director at Jackson County Hospital District, and her passion for becoming a physician was born from her experience as the daughter of Mexican immigrant workers. She saw that many immigrants did not seek medical care, and wanted to become a physician so that minority patients would have a doctor who spoke their language and looked like them. Another passion of Diana's is helping physicians with ADHD.  She was diagnosed as a medical student and during our interview we talk about the shame that sometimes accompanies such a diagnosis, especially in a high-intensity field like medicine, and how that impacted her ability to get treatment and delayed the realization that ADHD is a neutral situation that you can choose to see as something wonderful. Because of that experience, Dr. Mercado has now gotten certified as a coach through the Life Coach School and serves Physicians with ADHD as a coach, helping them with time management, mind management, and seeing their superpowers. Many physicians, about 5%, have ADHD, and many more of us have children, spouses, loved ones and patients with it, and understanding it better can go a long way to releasing the stigma and empowering those with ADHD to use their differences as an advantage.  You can contact Diana through her email, and find her website at www.adhd-lifecoach.com . CITATION: Mammoliti M, Richards-Bentley C, Ly A, Nguyen M. Understanding attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in physicians: workplace implications and management strategies. Can J Physician Leadership 2021;7(4):160-165 https//doi.org/10.37964/cr24742  Music Used with Permission:Intro: Death Dance by LuftmenschOutro: Crossing the Rubicon

This week, Rebecca interviews Dr. Chrystene Nguyen, who has pioneered an online community of single physicians and other high-level healthcare professionals called White Coat Romance.  We talk about her experience transitioning to a new practice after 10 years, overcoming self-doubt, and what it's like to be a single physician during a pandemic. Dr. Nguyen is a shining example of a physician who is flourishing and you'll love our conversation, regardless of your relationship status!White Coat Romance Website, LinkedIn, Facebook Page and Facebook GroupChrystene Nguyen, MD, on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Full Transcript HereThis week's episode features Dr. Alicia Shelly - she is board-certified in Internal medicine as well as Obesity Medicine and practices in the Atlanta metro area.  She is also the host of the podcast: Back On Track: Overcoming Weight Regain, where she shares her advice and personal experience to help others with weight regain after significant weight loss including from bariatric surgery.  We had a wonderful conversation about her practice of exercise as self-care, her marathon-prep, and the ways she combats comparison and perfectionism.  You'll love this conversation!  You can find more about Dr. Shelly at the links below. Instagram: www.instagram.com/drshellymdPodcast: Back on Track: Overcoming Weight RegainWebsite:  https://drshellymd.com

This week, Rebecca talks about joy and our tendency to allow "dress rehearsing tragedy" to keep us from feeling joy, and the way to overcome that.  She also discusses issues of weight and body image as relates to women physicians and how being vulnerable about struggles with body image and weight can free us from shame about our bodies.  This can also help us be good examples to our patients, as people who have self-compassion in dealing with our personal struggles instead of trying to be perceived as perfect.Full Transcript HereDr. Lauderdale's Instagram hereResources:Fierce Self-Compassion by Kristin NeffThe Body Project by Joan Jacobs BrumbergMusic used with permission:Intro “Death Dance” by LuftmenschOutro: "The Softer Side" by Wave Saver

This week's episode is short and sweet, recorded while my family thought I was packing for vacation!  I talk about the "independent woman" archetype and how that can keep us from seeking support - which requires vulnerability, but is essential to letting others see who we are and what we need.  Transcript HereSummer of Self- Love Listening Party sign up here!Brene Brown's The Gifts of ImperfectionKasia Urbaniak's Unbound and her website.

In this episode, Rebecca continues the discussion of evidence-based ways to work with your inner critic - a dysfunctional version of a very normal and healthy process contributed to by our phonological loop.  Everything from personifying the critic to the surprising effect of placebos. Transcript HereRebecca Lauderdale, MD's website and instagramemail: rebecca@rebeccalauderdalemd.comTara Mohr - Playing BigEthan Kross, PhD - ChatterBrene Brown, PhD - The Gifts of ImperfectionMusic used with permission:Intro "Death Dance" by LuftmenschOutro: "Occurrence" by Martin Gauffin

In this episode, Rebecca discusses the neuroscientific basis for the inner critic - a runaway part of the phonological loop - how it arises, how to recognize it, and how to begin untangling from this dysfunctional aspect of a helpful, natural phenomenon that develops as we learn language as babies. This work can allow us to become free from unhelpful critical thoughts that we internalize from our environment throughout our lives.  It can allow us to be more willing to take healthy risks, to grow, and to take exciting leaps into greater things. It is also an essential tool for building the capacity for self-love and compassion, which in early episodes we have established as prerequisites for wellbeing and flourishing. Transcript HereRebecca Lauderdale, MD's website email me at rebecca@rebeccalauderdalemd.comTara Mohr - Playing BigEthan Kross, PhD - ChatterJill Bolte Taylor, PhD - TED Talk and book My Stroke of InsightAmee Wayton, SLP, at Hyperfocus Solutions (ADHD Coaching for adults!)Music used with permission:Intro "Death Dance" by LuftmenschOutro "Timeless Clouds" by Luwaks

In this episode, Rebecca introduces herself and talks a bit about her journey from burnout to flourishing.  She talks about her passion for helping other women physicians change the culture of medicine by first liberating themselves from unhealthy patterns and conditioning.  She lays a foundation of concepts for proceeding through a curriculum for flourishing for women physicians which includes some surprising, yet evidence-based research findings that can be liberating and life-changing.  You can find Dr. Lauderdale on instagram, or email her at rebecca@rebeccalauderdalemd.comTranscript HereResources and References:Organizational Factors Affecting Physician Well-Being. Tawfik, D.S., Profit, J., Webber, S. et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40746-019-00147-6Impact of Organizational Leadership on Physician Burnout and Satisfaction. Shanafelt, T., Gorringe, G., et al.The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brene BrownBrene Brown TED Talks Flourish by Martin SeligmanThe Body Project by Joan Jacobs BrumbergThe Meaning of Human Existence by Edward O. WilsonImmunity to change, by Robert Kegan and Lisa LaheyPassive Income MD - Peter KimDr Una's EntreMD Podcast and Business SchoolSunny Smith, MD - Empowering Women Physicians Podcast and coaching programIn the Sanctuary of Women by Jan RichardsonMusic used with permission:Intro “Death Dance” by LuftmenschOutro “ Gold among the sand” by Trevor Kowalski

Love and belonging aren't things we talk about much in medicine.  But they're irreducible needs of humans.  Join Rebecca Lauderdale, MD, for an introduction to the burgeoning science of human flourishing, and why we as physicians can benefit from understanding it. Transcript Here Resources: The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brene Brown, PhDThe Meaning of Human Existence, by Edward O. Wilson, PhDPERMA Theory of Well-beingCharacter Strengths and Virtues, A Handbook and Classification by Martin Seligman, PhD, and Christopher Peterson, PhDLearned Optimism by Martin Seligman, PhD"The Journey" in Dream Work by Mary OliverMusic Used with Permission:Intro "Death Dance" by LuftmenschOutro: "Crossing the Rubicon" by Jakob Ahlbom

My name is Rebecca Lauderdale, and I'm an internal medicine doctor in private practice in the deep south. About 7 years ago, I suffered from severe burnout and depression.  I had three kids under 12, a demanding career, and I felt like I was failing at every role in my life. This was around the time that the first big data on physician burnout was published, and nobody outside academia had much awareness about the issue, much less any physician wellness or burnout prevention programs. And even in academia, the first physician chief wellness officer wasn't hired until 2017.  All there really was were numbers about how many doctors were burned out, but not how to fix it. This also was before it was clear in the evidence, big surprise, that it's not us individually, but the organizations and systems we work within that contribute most to burnout.  Doctors are some of the most resilient people on the planet, so how was this happening to us? Without really knowing where to start, I set out on a somewhat messy, hard, rewarding, journey to figure this out because I was suffering, but I didn't have anyone to mentor me through it.  I was committed to finding out how to get from where I was, which felt like the absolute bottom,  to not just being without burnout but flourishing, living a truly fulfilling life.This podcast is about bringing the things I learned on that journey to you. It's about the science and the stories and the people that helped me heal and then flourish. The things we've learned about wellbeing as a science, a burgeoning field right now, and how those things can help you if you're struggling. If you feel like you're failing, if you feel like your life as a physician isn't what you thought it would be, and you need some hope, but also some actionable ways to help - this podcast is for you. I've directed this content toward women, because I'm a woman, and I found that a lot of the work I had to do in the beginning related directly to the fact that I was a woman living with the social and cultural conditioning  of women in America. There are strange things that happen when outdated expectations of gender roles are making you suffer,  and you try to change them.  I had to work on some of that first, before I was ready to change my practice of medicine. Regardless of your gender identification, you are welcome with open arms. I promise you it can get better, and we need each other to do it.I hope you'll join me for the first episode, out soon wherever you get your podcasts. In the meanwhile, you can click the link here at www.rebeccalauderdalemd.com/podcast  to sign up for my email list and get notified when episodes are released.