Operate with Zen

Paul Maroni, MD is a urologic oncologist at the University of Colorado in Denver. He is a repeat guest on OWZ (#41. Joy in the Service of Others… https://www.buzzsprout.com/1811662/10549621) and a good friend. We share an interest in the physical health of our patients and ourselves as physicians and surgeons. This conversation focuses on practical strategies (and the science behind them) to optimize physical health and well-being through movement, exercise, and nutrition.&n...

Scott MacDiarmid, MD is a private practice urologist in Greensboro, North Carolina and the author of “Fist Pumps” – a self-help book to lift up physicians and healthcare providers who serve (https://www.amazon.com/Fist-Pumps-Scott-MacDiarmid/dp/1088078184). Similar to my journey in Operative with Zen, Scott wrote the book thinking, “If I can help one other person.” We talk about the stresses of being a physician and surgeon in modern American healthcare and strategies to deal with...

Caprice Greenberg, MD, MPH is the Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Surgical Oncologist. She is the President and Co-founder of the Academy for Surgical Coaching (https://surgicalcoaching.org/) and is responsible for most of the academic literature regarding surgical coaching and outcomes directly or inspirationally. We talk through the basics of surgical coaching from the operating room to the clinic, executive coaching th...

Ms. Nadine Coull, MBBS, MS, FRCS (Urol) is the Deputy Medical Director of the National Health Services (NHS) and President of the Urology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. In addition, she is the Deputy Medical Director of Kingston Hospital. Nadine never envisioned herself as a leader of a hospital, hospital system, or the NHS – but through deep beliefs in compassion and kindness found herself rising through the leadership ranks first locally then nationally. ...

Dr. Mick Malotte, MD is a retired ENT surgeon from California who has been practicing mindfulness as a surgeon for over 30 years. Not only does Mick practice mindfulness through a daily practice and retreats, but he teaches mindfulness to physicians and surgeons around the country! Mick gives us a brief history of mindfulness in medicine and helps us understand how mindfulness practices are adopted to medicine and surgery. We talk about burnout, data and physiology, and the ...

“All healthcare is delivered through relationships.” This is the key statement from this episode of OWZ and highlights that effective communication is a key component of delivering excellent patient care. Marissa Theofanides, MD is a urologist at Montefiore in the Bronx and expert in communication skills. She is certified by the Academy of Communication in Healthcare (https://achonline.org/) whose motto is “Better Communication. Better Relationships. Better Care.” In t...

Dr. Angela Smith is a frequent flyer on the Operate with Zen podcast. She is guru to me and many others for life hacks and practical, personal improvements to be more efficient and to have more ease and enjoyment in our daily routine. In this podcast, we discuss “A Day of Reflection” – what exactly that means, how to set one up, and how to make it successful. A day of reflection creates the opportunity to be present for oneself, to assess prior performance (in a non-judgment...

Dr. Kelly Casperson, MD is a surgical rockstar!!! … a urologist and sexual medicine expert, a extremely successful podcaster, author and now Ted-Talker! Kelly hosts the “You Are Not Broken” podcast (https://www.kellycaspersonmd.com/podcast) which empowers women (“and the partners who love them”) with science and conversations to break down sexuality improve the intimate lives of the tens of thousands who listen each month! But we are not talking about sexuality in today’s po...

Being a cancer surgeon can be tough. Being a cancer patient even tougher. Brian Lane, MD is facing both daily. He is an accomplished surgeon and academic urologic oncologist. In this thoughtful and honest discussion, we cover facing tough diagnoses as a patient and a surgeon; developing perspective as a patient to help our patients; finding purpose and meaning despite tough circumstances; and ultimately finding peace in faith and community. This conversation is i...

Kevin Turner, MA, DM, FRCS (Urology) is a Consultant Urological Surgeon at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. In 2015, he helped to start the Surgeon Wellbeing Research Team with colleagues from the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University. Kevin and team ran a UK national survey from 2016-2019 – data from which has helped us understand how complications affect surgeons, the pervasiveness of this issue, and helped to create important objective measures and definitions in the fi...