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:…

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 gaine…

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…

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. Dr. Edith Eger's powerful book The Choice can be found here. The free anonymous confide…

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 coac…

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…

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 thought…

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…

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.c…

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 certif…

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 her…

By Sunny Smith MD

By Sunny Smith MD

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 sh…

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…

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 …

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 I…

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 tha…

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 b…

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…

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, ou…

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 ou…

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…

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 creat…

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 embark…

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 reimbur…