MedStory Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Michelle Cooke talk about making a lasting impact in healthcare and beyond.

- How to challenge the traditional approach to healthcare delivery

- Why human based care matters more than ever for patients

- The journey of bridging the gap between an idea and a published book

- Behind the scenes of writing "What No One Told Us"

Grab your copy of "What No One Told Us" by Dr. Michelle Cooke on Amazon today.

Want to share your story or launch your own medical podcast? Visit https://www.medstorystudio.com to learn how MedStory Studio helps physicians build their voice and expand their impact.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

Dr. Russell Kennedy grew up watching his father, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, deteriorate into psychiatric crisis, and spent decades trying to outrun the same fate. In this raw and wide-ranging conversation, the physician, neuroscientist, and former stand-up comedian shares how an LSD trip in 2013 cracked open what years of cognitive therapy couldn't: that anxiety lives in the body, not the mind.

From a moment of accidental enlightenment on a rooftop in India to nearly losing himself when he left medicine, Dr. Kennedy walks us through his framework for healing, reconnecting with your younger self, breaking the alarm-worry cycle, and learning to sit with uncertainty through faith rather than force. Whether you're a healthcare worker running on empty or someone who's tried every coping strategy in the book, this episode offers a genuinely different way in.

In this episode, Jessica McIntyre, MD shares the 2:00 AM moment during a 28-hour ICU shift when everything cracked. After intubating a critically ill baby, she walked into the call room and had her first panic attack. That moment forced her to confront a painful truth: medicine had disconnected her from herself.

What followed was unexpected. A late-night Google search led her to the Wild Woman Project, a mountaintop retreat that changed the trajectory of her career and identity. She opens up about physician mental health, infertility, societal expectations placed on women, and why creating safe spaces for women physicians may be one of the most important forms of healing in medicine.

This conversation is about vulnerability, burnout, identity, and reclaiming the parts of ourselves that medicine tries to tame.

Want to share your story or launch your own medical podcast? Visit https://www.medstorystudio.com to learn how MedStory Studio helps physicians build their voice and expand their impact.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

In this episode, Dr. Devika Bhushan shares her journey from practicing pediatrician to serving as California’s Acting Surgeon General during one of the most turbulent periods in modern public health. Stepping into the role in the middle of COVID, she helped lead statewide efforts around trauma-informed care, crisis response, and rebuilding trust in health systems.

She explains the science behind childhood trauma and stress biology, how misinformation erodes public confidence, and what it takes to communicate evidence with empathy. Dr. Bhushan also reflects on leadership, resilience, and why embracing our humanity may be the most important shift medicine needs right now.

Want to share your story or launch your own medical podcast? Visit https://medstorystudio.com/ to learn how MedStory Studio helps physicians build their voice and expand their impact.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

What happens when a personal diagnosis changes the way you see medicine?

In this episode of the MedStory Podcast, Dr. Basma Faris shares how being diagnosed with endometriosis and living through 9/11 in the same month reshaped her career and purpose. After starting as a dietician, she chose to pursue medicine, determined to make a deeper impact from inside the system.

She opens up about not getting into medical school on her first attempt, entering the field later than her peers, and ultimately building a career that bridges OB-GYN, nutrition, and telemedicine. The conversation also explores why women’s health outcomes in the United States continue to lag, the rise of chronic disease in younger women, the silence surrounding menopause, and the realities of the supplement industry.

This episode is about resilience, reinvention, and improving women’s health from the inside out.

Want to share your story or launch your own medical podcast? Visit https://www.medstorystudio.com to learn how MedStory Studio helps physicians build their voice and expand their impact.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

What happens when a pediatrician realizes the biggest threats to her patients are not medical problems at all, but policy failures? In this episode, we follow Dr. Annie Andrews as she reflects on years spent caring for children facing circumstances no child should ever experience. She treated gunshot wounds, watched families struggle to afford basic care, and saw how broken systems kept harming the same kids again and again.

She never planned on entering politics, but the turning point came when she understood that the most powerful way to protect her patients might not be inside the hospital, but inside the Senate chamber. This episode shares the moment Dr. Andrews decided to step forward and fight for children through policy, advocacy, and a platform that could create change on a national level.

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📚 Access free tools and downloads⁠. ⁠Click 👉 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

Most doctors are trained to save lives, not read contracts. Yet more than 70 percent of physicians are now employed by large institutions, working under compensation models and clauses that few were ever taught to navigate. In this episode, Spencer sits down with Cynthia Chen-Joea, DO, MPH, FAAFP, and Peter Baum, DO, the founders of Physician Contract Negotiation.

They unpack how modern physician pay really works, why RVU-based incentives can erode quality and accelerate burnout, and how sign-on bonuses and relocation stipends quietly lock doctors into jobs that no longer serve them. More importantly, they reveal what physicians can negotiate, how to align a contract with your personal values, and why reclaiming agency is essential for staying in medicine long-term.

If you’ve ever felt overworked, undervalued, or unsure how to advocate for yourself, this episode offers a clear, empowering roadmap for creating a career in medicine that works for you, not just the system.

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📚 Access free tools and downloads⁠. ⁠Click 👉 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

Dr. Sandra Fernandes, MD spent years chasing the version of success she thought she was supposed to live. She worked nonstop, pushed through exhaustion, and convinced herself that being overwhelmed was just part of being a doctor and a mom. But when she finally became pregnant after her own struggles with fertility, she faced a painful truth. She was too busy, too stressed, and too depleted to enjoy the very baby she had prayed for.

In this raw and honest conversation, Dr. Fernandes opens up about losing her identity in medicine, burning out twice, and the moment that forced her to reevaluate everything she believed about achievement, motherhood, and worth. Her story is a powerful reminder that stress does not have to be your normal and that finding your way back to yourself is not only possible but necessary.

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📚 Access free tools and downloads⁠. ⁠Click 👉 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

Dr. Ariela Marshall didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a doctor, and she didn’t follow the traditional path. But the moment she stepped into the clinic, she realized medicine wasn’t just science, it was a system with cracks she could no longer ignore. From witnessing a culture that prized endurance over empathy, to facing gender bias head-on, to navigating the painful reality of infertility as a physician, Dr. Marshall’s journey forced her to confront the uncomfortable truth about what the profession demands from women.

In this episode, she shares the day everything changed, the moment that pushed her to question the rules she'd been taught to follow and start imagining a different path forward. Her story is raw, honest, and deeply human. It’s about what happens when a doctor stops accepting the system as it is and decides to challenge it instead.

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📚 Access free tools and downloads⁠. ⁠Click 👉 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.

In this powerful episode, Dr. Andrea Austin shares how her deployment to Iraq shaped the way she practices medicine today. From activating walking blood banks on the battlefield to watching every injured patient survive an explosion, she learned how preparation, teamwork, and emotional clarity can save lives. But what she did not expect was how quietly those experiences would follow her home. Years later, standing in front of a grieving mother whose son had just died, she felt nothing. That moment forced her to confront a truth she had been avoiding for years. She was burned out, shut down, and losing the part of herself that made her a healer.

What happened next became the defining mission of her career. Dr. Austin dove into therapy, reflection, and the science of emotional resilience. She rebuilt her identity as a physician and created a framework to teach others how to protect their own humanity in a broken system. Today she is launching a new emergency medicine residency designed to train doctors without destroying them. This episode is about war, loss, identity, and the courage it takes to redesign a culture that has pushed too many physicians past their breaking point. It is a story every future doctor needs to hear.

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📚 Access free tools and downloads⁠. ⁠Click 👉 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://medstorymedia.com/resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views of their employers. This episode is for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any personal medical concerns.

Music Credits: Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions and the Descript Audio Library.

Production Note: The MedStory Podcast is made possible by MedStory Studios and listeners like you.