Leaving the System, Not the Mission: Dr. Susan Baumgaertel on Healing After Medicine

What if the very system you gave your life to—decades of dedication, care, and clinical excellence—became the very thing that broke your spirit? For Dr. Susan Baumgaertel, that question wasn’t theoretical. It was personal. After more than 25 years in internal medicine, Dr. B realized the cost of staying silent in a system that was no longer aligned with healing. So, she chose something radical in today’s healthcare landscape: sovereignty.

In this moving and courageous conversation, Dr. B takes us behind the curtain of modern medicine—where consolidation, corporatization, and unchecked productivity demands are driving good clinicians out of practice and patients into despair. But instead of walking away completely, she walked toward something better. She launched myMDadvocate, a consultancy rooted in compassion, agency, and true listening. She built MenopauseMenu.com, a hub of nourishing support for women navigating the changes of midlife. She authored The Menopause Menu, a heartfelt guide that reimagines care as connection. And through it all, she reclaimed the creative, compassionate, healer within.

This episode is not just about medicine—it’s about what it means to come home to yourself. Dr. B shares practical wisdom for anyone feeling stuck or stretched thin: why sleep is sacred, how to find joy in daily rituals like walking, and the power of remembering that “no” is a full sentence. You’ll hear her reflect on burnout, moral injury, and the liberating clarity that comes when you decide to recalibrate your inner compass. Whether you’re a clinician on the edge of change or a patient desperate to be seen and heard, Dr. B’s message is universal: You’re not broken. The system is. And you have options.

Tune in to this episode of Beyond the Pills for a raw, hopeful, and deeply empowering conversation with a physician who dared to redefine what healing really means.

✨ Subscribe to Dr. B’s YouTube channel: Dr. Susan Baumgaertel

🌿 Explore her advocacy work at mymdadvocate.com

💛 Get menopause support and community at menopausemenu.com

📕 Grab her book The Menopause Menu—available on Amazon.

Let this episode be your permission slip to listen deeply, lead bravely, and live beyond the pills.