July 07, 2025

Episode 129: Finding Connection and Coping as a Clinician & Caring for the Caregivers

50 minutes

Welcome to the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Smith sits down with Dr. Jessi Gold, psychiatrist, author, and Chief Wellness Officer for the University of Tennessee system. Together, they delve into Dr. Gold’s fascinating journey through medicine—from her early days resisting the pull of psychiatry, despite her father’s influence, to finding her true calling in supporting healthcare workers and college students through mental health challenges.

Dr. Gold shares candid stories about her own mental health struggles, the barriers to seeking help in medicine, and how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped her clinical focus to frontline healthcare workers. She opens up about recognizing burnout in herself, the subtlety of its symptoms, and the lessons she learned about self-care, connection, and setting boundaries. Along the way, Dr. Gold offers practical strategies for identifying burnout early, building resilience, and creating sustainable ways to care for ourselves and each other in healthcare.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stay well while caring for others—or found yourself feeling isolated in your own struggles—this episode is for you. Join us as Dr. Gold brings wisdom, vulnerability, and humor to the vital conversation about humanity in medicine, and learn simple, actionable steps you can take to support your own mental health.

Let’s dive in!

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

Burnout Creeps in Subtly: It’s rarely one big event. The signs can include relentless fatigue, irritability with routine work tasks (like inbox overload!), and gradual withdrawal from friends and family. Often, they go unnoticed until things become critical.

Check in With Yourself—Intentionally: Gold emphasizes the importance of pausing after tough clinical interactions to genuinely ask yourself, “How am I doing?” This simple self-awareness practice is more powerful than it sounds and is a foundational skill in building emotional resilience.

Connection is Medicine, Too: Vulnerability among colleagues and strong social connections are not just “nice to have”—they’re protective against burnout. Sharing how you’re really doing creates a culture of support and reduces feelings of isolation in tough times.

Meet Dr. Jessi Gold:

Jessi Gold, MD, MS is the Chief Wellness Officer of the University of Tennessee System and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. This inaugural leadership position encompasses all five University of Tennessee campuses, UT Knoxville, UT Chattanooga, UT Southern, UT Martin, and UT Health Science Center, and includes over 62,200 students and 19,0000 faculty and staff.

In her clinical practice, she sees healthcare workers, trainees, and young adults in college. Dr. Gold is also a fierce mental health advocate and highly sought-after expert in the media on everything from burnout to celebrity self-disclosure.

She has written widely for the popular press, including for The New York Times, The Atlantic, InStyle, Slate, and Self. Her first book, HOW DO YOU FEEL? One Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine came out in October 2024 from Simon Element and is a national bestseller.

Dr. Gold is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. and M.S in Anthropology, the Yale School of Medicine, and Stanford University Department of Psychiatry, where she served as Chief Resident.

You can find her book at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-Do-You-Feel/Jessi-Gold/9781982199777

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