Welcome to the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Smith sits down with Dr. Paul DeChant, a family physician and former CEO with decades of experience transforming healthcare organizations. Dr. DeChant shares his journey from a frontline family doctor to leading a 300-physician medical group through transformative change using the principles of Lean management—with a core focus on respecting people and restoring joy to the practice of medicine. Together, they explore the root causes of physician burnout, how aligning values and empowering local autonomy can revolutionize clinical workplaces, and the practical strategies—like daily huddles and "getting rid of stupid stuff"—that make care more efficient and sustainable for healthcare teams. If you're looking for real-world insights into creating healthier clinical environments and reclaiming work-life balance, this conversation is packed with ideas, inspiration, and actionable advice. Tune in for expert wisdom on building a medical career—and a life—worth sustaining.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

Meet Dr. Paul DeChant:

Dr. Paul F. DeChant, MD, MBA, FAAFP Principal and Co-Founder, Organizational Wellbeing Solutions, LLC Dr. Paul DeChant is a thought leader on leading organizational transformation and creating healthy workplaces. Paul advises C-level healthcare executives on managing critical problems such as financial and staffing challenges by transforming management systems and cultures to reduce the root causes of clinician burnout, improve KPI performance, and reduce burnout. He supports the AMA’s Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainment team and teaches at the University of Colorado – Denver’s Graduate School of Business. Following 25 years practicing family medicine, Dr. DeChant became CEO of the Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, where he led a transformation based on the theme of “Returning Joy to Patient Care.” After four years the group achieved recognition as the highest performing among 170 medical groups across the State of California two years in a row, while improving physician satisfaction from the 45th to 87th percentile on AMGA’s Provider Satisfaction Survey. He received his MD from the Oregon Health Sciences University and his MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver. Co-author of the book, “Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine”, Paul speaks internationally, and blogs regularly at www.pauldechantmd.com

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