Doctors at Work

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You are coming to the end of your training, what next? Many doctors choose to do a fellowship. In this episode of Doctors At Work, Simon talks about the different reasons for doing a fellowship, the different fellowship types, and we discuss how to actually obtain one. The key is to recognise that fellowships are a deeply personal decision, so really know what you are wanting out of one, and start planning early.

Simon Fleming is an orthopaedic hand and wrist surgeon, medical education Ph.D and culture change advocate, with an international reputation for his work. He is a founding and Executive board member of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance (IODA). He also sits on the Executive board for the NIHR Clinical Education Incubator and is an Associate Editor for Medical Education, The Clinical Teacher and the British Journal of Surgery. He is a past-Vice Chair of the United Kingdom’s Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Trainee Doctors’ Group (ATDG) and past-President of the British Orthopaedic Trainees’ Association (BOTA). He is Clinical Advisor to the Methuselah Foundation, supporting the NASA Deep Space Food Challenge. He has delivered over 250 keynotes globally on his landmark work around diversity, inclusion, improving medical and surgical training as well as challenging toxic cultures. He works with individuals and organisations to transform healthcare education and culture, as well as how to start having those uncomfortable conversations. Find him on X @orthopodreg and on www.simonfleming.co.uk.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
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You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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Greg tells me that perfectionist tendencies can be very useful, but when they get in the way of a good career or patient care there is a problem. At the core, perfectionism is about excess expectations and rigid thinking. In this episode of Doctors at Work, we talk about how perfectionism shows up in clinical work, we talk about fear of failure, and discuss some ways that we can help ourselves and others. See transcript for meeting summary.

Gregory S. Chasson, PhD, ABPP, is an esteemed psychologist, board-certified cognitive-behavioral therapist, researcher, educator, and international invited speaker helping organizations, communities, and individuals address mental health challenges, such as perfectionism, using practical and feasible strategies. He sees the inner workings of perfectionism and its pitfalls, as well as how best to dismantle it with tips and insights grounded in science and honed through real world practice. He is the author of Flawed: Why Perfectionism is a Challenge for Management. He has served on the Board of Directors for a variety of professional non-profit organizations (e.g., Maryland Psychological Association) and owned and operated two mental health practices, giving him an intimate familiarity with how organizations and teams function. Dr. Chasson is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, where he’s also the Director of Behavioral Interventions of the Obsessive-Compulsive & Related Disorders Clinic. He specializes in the nature and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions (including perfectionism), high-functioning autism spectrum conditions, and anxiety disorders. He has provided cognitive-behavioral therapy for clinically severe perfectionism for nearly 20 years. As an active scholar, Dr. Chasson has authored or co-authored more than 70 scientific publications and one academic book (Hoarding Disorder: Advances in Psychotherapy – Evidence-Based Practice). He serves as the Editor of the scientific journal, the Behavior Therapist. Find him at www.gregchasson.com, Twitter GregChasson, www.facebook.com/DrChasson, www.linkedin.com/in/gregchasson, and www.instagram.com/gregorychasson

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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All of us are leaders and need to have good leadership skills. In this episode of Doctors at Work, Nitin and I reflect on how we learnt about leadership, the challenges we faced, and we discuss what good leadership looks like. Top tips include learning to manage yourself, knowing what success means to you personally, observing others, and asking for others' critical feedback. See transcript for meeting summary.

You might also like episode 98 on impostor syndrome, and Doctors at Work has multiple other podcast episodes on leadership.

Nitin Shrotri is a Consultant Urologist, who was awarded the BAUS Gold Medal for 2022, and has recently been appointed as Visiting Professor at the Institute of Medicine at the University of Bolton and also as Vice Chair at the Centre for Race Equality in Medicine. Before this he was BMA UK Council member between 2020-22 and a member of the GMC BME Forum last year. You can connect with Nitin on LinkedIn, on X and Insta (both @PeaPeaspot), and read his writings at nitinshrotri.com.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
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You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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Great leadership at all levels is essential. In this episode of Doctors at Work, Fiona Day tells me that it start with knowing your own values and strengths, and consciously choosing the behaviours that you display. Much of what senior leaders do is highly complex, and this potentially can contribute to burnout - so regularly checking your own stress levels and proactively managing these is really important. We are all leaders, and leadership is an ongoing journey of learning, and she encourages us all to always have some leadership development in our personal learning plans.

Dr Fiona Day is the world’s only Leadership Coach with advanced coaching psychology, medical and public health qualifications (MBChB, FFPH, BPS Chartered Psychologist in Coaching Psychology, EMCC Master Practitioner Coach & Mentor) and is in a unique position to help medical leaders and their teams to flourish. She specialises in coaching medical and public health leaders, is an accredited Coach Supervisor and Coach Educator, and holds EMCC’s EQA Foundation Training Award. Get 3 hours of FREE CPD with Fiona’s ‘Health Career Success Programme’ here. Find out more www.fionadayconsulting.co.uk ; read her three recent peer-reviewed articles in BMJ leader here; and connect on @fionadayconsulting.bsky.social and https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionadayconsulting/

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
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Michael Akadiri is a doctor and a comedian. In this episode of Doctors at Work, we talk about how he made career decisions that pivoted from full time surgery into mostly comedy. He tells me that managing uncertainty can be challenging, and this can be helped by focusing on what he can influence. We talk about the importance of recognising how a career fits into one's whole life, and the need to marry up your passion with realistic career prospects in the future. See transcript for meeting summary.

Michael Akadiri is multi-award winning comedian and junior doctor who has starred in Comedy Central LIVE, ITVs Stand Up Sketch and most recently Channel 4s Stand Up to Cancer. His natural charm and charisma saw his debut show, No Scrubs nominated for the Biggest Award in Comedy. He is touring his sophomore show, Trust Me I'm a Daddy, around the UK Sept-Nov 2024. Find him at https://www.instagram.com/michaelakadiri/; https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelakadiri; https://x.com/MichaelAkadiri; https://youtube.com/@michaelakadiricomedy?si=WoCuuL0TkCqB1GPR

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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Charles is a core trainee, and recently won two prizes with different projects. In this episode of Doctors at Work, he tells me that great ideas often come from noticing an issue and doing something about it; but you need time and headspace. Great ideas can also come from consultant supervisors, but it's important to assess whether the project idea meets your needs. When you present, your enthusiasm and the quality of the presentation matters, and each poster or presentation should be tailored to your audience. Telling a story is a great way to get your message across. Projects often take over a year to come to fruition, so start early. Find others that can help, and aim not just for the next application cycle but maybe also for ones after that. And finally, if you can do a project that ticks multiple boxes at the same time, this will help your appraisals and career progression.

Charles Carey is a core surgical trainee working in the South East and pursuing a career in urology. He has completed multiple projects and has been able to present and win prizes for some of them. He enjoys contributing to medical research and education and hopes to fulfil these alongside his training going forward. Outside of medicine he enjoys playing and watching football, playing music and travelling. You can connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-carey-sots/.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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Steve and I discuss the parallels between high performance sport and the medical world. He tells me that high performance requires focus on the individual, the team, and the whole organisation. As doctors, we need to know ourselves well, including our strengths, identities, and how we deal with stress. Performance, whether operating, an on call, the ward round, or something else, requires preparation, and routine, including ensuring that we arrive in the optimum state. He shares a simple breath technique that helps us transition from one context to the next, and need not take more than a minute or so. We cannot just keep trying to go faster and faster, we need to refocus on human sustainability, and as leaders we need to look at both excellence and compassionate care.

Wellbeing Science Institute CEO and presenter, Steve Johnson, is a leading wellbeing expert. He is a qualified and registered psychologist. Steve consults with leading organisations including elite sport, defence, government and corporate sectors.  He is the current Wellbeing Advisor to the National Rugby League (NRL) (AUS), the EPL (UK), the League Managers Association (LMA) (UK) and the Football Association (F.A.) (UK) Steve also developed the world’s first Elite Athlete Wellbeing Management qualification for people who work with elite athletes. The program currently runs in Australia and the UK. In addition to his extensive experience working as a performance psychologist and wellbeing advisor in the elite sport sector, Steve has spent over a decade working as a senior executive with leading global organisations across a range of sectors in Australia, UAE, Europe and the United States. Steve’s academic credentials include M.A. Management and B.A. M.Sc Psychology.  He spent 7 years as a University Lecturer; was the course author of Australia’s first undergraduate sport psychology degree and was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Post Graduate Leadership Program in Boston, USA.

About the Wellbeing Science Institute

The Wellbeing Science Institute is one of the worlds leading wellbeing organisations. The backbone of the Institute’s approach lies in their holistic, positive and developmental wellbeing perspective that is supported by evidence-based science. The Wellbeing Science Institute strongly believes that self-determination leads to higher levels of engagement motivation and higher quality wellbeing outcomes. Therefore, learning and capability transfer is central to everything they do.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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We will all know that a certain department or hospital feels a specific way. But what is culture and how can it be changed? In this episode, Simon Fleming and I talk about culture, how it develops, and we discuss both good and bad aspects. Simon shares tips for changing culture, whether as a senior doctor or as someone early in their career.

Simon Fleming is an orthopaedic hand and wrist fellow, medical education Ph.D and culture change advocate, with an international reputation for his work. He is a founding and Executive board member of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance (IODA). He also sits on the Executive board for the NIHR Clinical Education Incubator and is an Associate Editor for Medical Education, The Clinical Teacher and the British Journal of Surgery. He is a past-Vice Chair of the United Kingdom’s Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Trainee Doctors’ Group (ATDG) and past-President of the British Orthopaedic Trainees’ Association (BOTA). He is Clinical Advisor to the Methuselah Foundation, supporting the NASA Deep Space Food Challenge. He has delivered over 250 keynotes globally on his landmark work around diversity, inclusion, improving medical and surgical training as well as challenging toxic cultures. He works with individuals and organisations to transform healthcare education and culture, as well as how to start having those uncomfortable conversations.

Find him on X @orthopodreg and on www.simonfleming.co.uk.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

Send us a text

In this episode, Ross and I talk about how to set yourself up for a satisfying career, and not be a medic zombie going through life without noticing what's going on. He talks about the importance of reflection, of actively setting up strategies to protect you from inevitable stresses, and of having quality connection with others. We discuss how important it is to notice what's going on, make conscious decision, and actively be aware of the choices that we have. And whilst planning for the future matters, this cannot be done at the expense of blindly sacrificing the present.

Ross, a recently qualified GP, is the visionary founder of Medizom, a resource dedicated to revitalising the spirit of doctors at every stage of their training. Medizom's mission is to offer hope and inspire doctors to REFLECT on their values, PROTECT against systemic threats and personal ego, and CONNECT with peers, mentors, and career coaches. With its tagline "Be more human, and find your own path," Medizom emphasises a holistic approach to medical careers through the principles of REFLECTION, PROTECTION and CONNECTION. Ross created Medizom.com after facing burnout during his work as a medical registrar in New Zealand, realising the urgent need for a supportive platform for healthcare professionals that flipped the tired out concept of burnout, instead introducing people to the idea of doctors becoming ‘medic zombies’ when exposed to ‘zombigenic’ environments, and offered solutions on how to be more human. Medizom offers online resources aimed at helping doctors navigate their careers with resilience and purpose. Ross's vision is to extend Medizom's impact beyond the digital space by delivering workshops at medical schools and conferences ‘IRL’, fostering face-to-face connections and inspiring the medical community.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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As doctors many of us have things we wish to change, be it life balance, our exercise, or our work. Yet change itself is often difficult. In this episode, Michael and I discuss why change is so tricky, what holds us back, and how the beliefs that we have get in the way. He tells me that change is most certainly possible, and it is necessary to identify what you want to change, and why.

Dr. Michael Hersh is a Gastroenterologist, husband, father, podcaster, and physician coach at Better Physician Life Coaching.  He coaches physicians on creating work-life balance, goal setting, stress management, reducing overwhelm, and feeling more present at home and less annoyed at work.  His goal is to help physicians stop feeling trapped in medicine so that they can finally enjoy the life they worked so hard to build.  He also co-hosted a podcast called Doctors Living Deliberately, highlighting physicians changing medicine by learning to live life with intention and purpose.

Website: www.betterphysicianlife.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterphysicianlifecoaching
IG: https://www.instagram.com/betterphysicianlife/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hersh-md/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@doctorslivingdeliberately

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.
Production: Shot by Polachek

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net.