What happens when a corporate lawyer leaves law behind to become an orthopedic surgeon?

On this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei Hardin, MD, sits down with Christina “Dr. Chrissy” Greenfield, MD, JD—an orthopedic surgery resident, new mother, and former corporate attorney who applied to medical school four times before finally getting accepted.

They discuss failing the bar exam, surviving rejection, gender bias in surgery, motherhood during residency, and why female surgeons are often expected to be both excellent and endlessly accommodating.

Dr. Chrissy also shares practical strategies from her legal career for handling conflict in the hospital, negotiating with other services, documenting difficult interactions, and de-escalating tense conversations.

In this episode:

• Going from corporate law to orthopedic surgery

• Applying to medical school four times

• Recovering from failure and rejection

• Gender bias and double standards in surgery

• Pregnancy and motherhood during residency

• Women undermining other women in medicine

• How to disagree effectively in the hospital

• Negotiation and de-escalation strategies for residents

• Why persistence matters more than a perfect path

Whether you are a medical student, resident, physician, lawyer considering medicine, or anyone navigating a nonlinear career, this conversation is a reminder to keep going—even when the path looks nothing like you planned.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Dr. Chrissy Greenfield, MD, LL.L, JD

Connect with Chrissy: @dr.chrissymd

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

One of the most accomplished neurosurgeons in Europe joins Surgeon, Interrupted.

Dr. Yu-Mi Ryang is President-Elect of the German Spine Society, Chair-Elect of the EuroSpine Education Council, and one of the first women of color to rise to the highest levels of leadership in German neurosurgery. But her journey was anything but straightforward.

In this conversation with Dr. Frances Mei Hardin, she shares what twenty years of surgical training, leadership, and perseverance taught her about excellence, mentorship, competition, and staying true to yourself in a profession that often rewards conformity.

Together, they discuss:

• Why so many people told her not to become a neurosurgeon
• Working 100+ hour weeks during surgical training
• The unique challenges of being an Asian woman in medicine
• Competition, scarcity mindset, and surgical culture
• Why mentorship matters—and why it sometimes fails
• People pleasing, authenticity, and leadership
• Building a reputation through excellence instead of ego
• How passion sustains a career in medicine

Whether you're a medical student, resident, attending physician, or simply interested in leadership and personal growth, this episode is a candid look at what it really takes to build a meaningful career in surgery.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Yu-Mi Ryang, MD

Connect with Dr. Ryang: https://de.linkedin.com/in/prof-dr-med-yu-mi-ryang-949310135

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Can someone still change medicine after they've left it?

After returning from Hippocratic Collective's Los Angeles End of Academic Year celebration, Frances Mei shares a comment that stopped her in her tracks:

"You walked away. Your credibility is gone."

That criticism sparks a deeper conversation about one of the biggest questions in medicine today. Does meaningful change only come from people still inside the system, or are outsiders sometimes the ones most able to challenge it?

Frances Mei and Colin discuss the backlash that comes with speaking publicly about residency culture, why doctors often police each other more than the system itself, and why they believe lasting change requires people working both inside and outside of medicine.

They also share updates on the LA event, the newest issue of ex vivo, and why protecting your identity outside of medicine may make you a better physician.

In this episode:

• Highlights from Hippocratic Collective's LA End of Academic Year celebration

• The release of the Summer issue of Ex Vivo

• The comment that questioned Frances Mei's credibility after leaving surgery

• Why "fix it from the inside" isn't the only path to change

• The hidden cost of sacrificing creativity during medical training

• Why building lasting resources for physicians matters more than social media

EX VIVO 2026: https://www.hippocratic-collective.com/ex-vivo/2026

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Following Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What happens when grief collides with medical training?

In this deeply personal episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with family physician, educator, and author Dr. Shanda McManus to discuss loss, caregiving, resilience, and the hidden emotional costs of becoming a doctor.

Growing up in North Philadelphia, Shonda helped care for her mother through advanced ovarian cancer before eventually becoming the first person in her family to attend college and pursue medicine. During medical school, her brother was murdered, a loss that would shape her life in profound ways. Like many physicians, she learned to keep moving, keep performing, and keep achieving—even while carrying unprocessed grief.

Together, Frances and Shanda explore the culture of medicine that often rewards endurance while leaving little room for healing, and why creating space for grief may be one of the most important acts of self-preservation for physicians.

Topics include:

• Growing up in North Philadelphia

• Caring for a parent with cancer as a child

• Becoming the first person in your family to attend college

• Pregnancy and parenthood during medical training

• Taking time away from medicine without derailing your career

• The murder of a sibling during medical school

• Unprocessed grief and emotional survival in medicine

• Why physicians deserve space to heal

• Writing, memoir, and finding meaning through storytelling

• The inspiration behind Shanda's new book

This conversation is about loss, love, family, identity, and the ways medicine sometimes asks us to be less human when we need humanity most.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Shanda McManus, MD

Connect with Shanda: https://www.shandamcmanus.com/

Brother Epistles - https://www.splitlippress.com/product-page/brother-epistles

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What happens when your residency program suddenly shuts down mid-training?

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with internal medicine physician Dr. Julia Torrellas to discuss one of the most destabilizing experiences a trainee can face: the closure of a residency program during training.

Julia shares what it was like to learn that her hospital was shutting down, how residents were absorbed into a new program, and the emotional fallout of losing mentors, support systems, routines, and a sense of stability overnight. The conversation explores burnout, identity, self-sacrifice, boundaries, and what happens when medicine becomes your entire sense of self.

Topics include:

• What it feels like when a residency program closes

• Starting over in a new hospital as a senior resident

• Burnout and emotional exhaustion in training

• Why many physicians tie their identity to their career

• Self-abandonment and self-sacrifice in medicine

• Setting boundaries without sabotaging your career

• Navigating residency politics and power dynamics

• Finding agency during uncertainty and disruption

• Lessons learned from career setbacks and unexpected change

Whether you're a medical student, resident, attending physician, or someone navigating a major life transition, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at resilience, identity, and rebuilding after disruption.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Julia Torrellas, MD

Connect with Julia: @drjuliatorrellas

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What does it actually feel like to finish a plastic surgery residency in 2026?

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with graduating plastic surgery resident Dr. Liz Malphrus just days before graduation to reflect on the end of a six-year journey through surgical training. Together, they discuss burnout, confidence, identity, career choices, and what comes next after residency.

Liz shares how her perspective on medicine evolved during training, why she ultimately chose private practice over academia, and the lessons she wishes she could tell her intern-year self. The conversation explores everything from comparison culture and perfectionism to finding agency, building a meaningful career, and the role supportive partners play in surviving medicine.

They also discuss:

• What residency teaches you about yourself

• The surprising parts of surgical training

• Why comparison is the thief of joy in residency

• Academic medicine vs. private practice

• The power of mentorship outside institutions

• Marriage, support systems, and surviving training together

• What happens when you finally get your life back

• Why physicians may be more capable than they realize

Whether you're a medical student, resident, attending physician, or simply curious about life behind the curtain of medical training, this episode offers an honest look at one of the biggest transitions in a physician's career.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Liz Malphrus, MD

Connect with Liz: https://www.hippocratic-collective.com/members/liz-malphrus-md

@dr.malphrus

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Why does the United States spend more on healthcare than ever before while chronic disease continues to rise?

In this episode of Surgeon Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with reconstructive plastic surgeon Dr. Joshua Mirrer to explore the systems behind modern healthcare. From residency burnout and preventive medicine to agriculture, economics, chronic disease, and the incentive structures shaping American health, this conversation goes far beyond the operating room.

Dr. Mirrer shares how his experiences in surgical training led him to study the larger forces influencing health outcomes, and why he believes meaningful change will require both individual action and community-level solutions.

Topics include:

• Why healthcare is built around treating disease rather than preventing it
• The rising cost of chronic illness in America
• How food systems and healthcare incentives intersect
• The role of community in improving health outcomes
• Lessons from diabetes prevention programs
• Writing, medicine, and making sense of complex systems
• What surgeons can teach us about long-term thinking

If you've ever wondered why healthcare feels broken, or what it might take to fix it, this conversation offers a thoughtful place to start.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Joshua Mirrer, MD

Connect with Joshua: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-mirrer-ab27436b

https://substack.com/@jmirrer

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What happens when a longtime magazine editor leaves the world of celebrity journalism and finds herself at the forefront of narrative medicine?

This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Donna Bulseco, editor of the literary and arts journal Intima and co-editor of Where It Hurts: Dispatches from the Emotional Front Lines of Medicine. Together, they explore the power of storytelling in healthcare, why medicine needs the humanities, and what physicians can learn from writers, poets, and artists.

Donna reflects on her journey from InStyle magazine to Columbia University's Narrative Medicine program, the lessons she's learned from editing thousands of submissions from clinicians, and the common writing mistakes physicians make when trying to tell meaningful stories. The conversation also dives into creativity, taste, ego, revision, and why the most powerful stories often trust the reader enough to leave conclusions unsaid.

Whether you're a clinician, writer, artist, or simply someone interested in the human experience of healthcare, this episode offers a thoughtful look at the stories that shape us, and the ones that help us heal.

Topics discussed:

• Narrative medicine and physician storytelling
• The transition from publishing to healthcare humanities
• Why doctors need art, literature, and philosophy
• Developing taste, voice, and creativity
• Common pitfalls in physician writing
• The making of Where It Hurts
• Finding humanity in modern medicine
• Trusting the reader and embracing revision

Books Mentioned:

Where It Hurts: Dispatches from the Emotional Front Lines of Medicine

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Donna Bulseco

Connect with Donna: @dbulseco

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down again with her husband Colin for an unfiltered conversation about residency culture, hyper-productivity, and the psychological habits that follow physicians long after they leave the hospital.

What begins as a discussion about planning Hippocratic Collective’s first West Coast event in the Hollywood Hills evolves into a broader examination of how medicine conditions people to equate suffering with value. Frances Mei and Colin unpack the “culture of sacrifice” mentality in residency — bragging about missed weddings, sleepless nights, impossible workloads, and constant exhaustion — and question whether any of it actually makes better doctors.

The episode explores:

• Why suffering is often mistaken for productivity in medicine
• The toxic martyrdom culture embedded in residency training
• How physicians lose the ability to rest guilt-free
• Hyper-vigilance, comparison, and the “zero-sum game” mindset in surgical culture
• Why high-achieving people struggle to play, relax, or exist without output
• The long-term effects of residency on identity, nervous system regulation, and self-worth
• The difference between loving medicine vs. loving the culture surrounding medicine
• How Frances Mei still carries residency habits into entrepreneurship and creative work, even a year after leaving clinical practice
• A recent study showing physicians are leaving medicine at younger ages than ever before

Through stories about migraines, video games, art, childhood conditioning, and even a neighborhood encounter with children playing outside, the conversation becomes a larger meditation on adulthood, performance, and what it means to reclaim joy after years of survival mode.

This episode is for physicians, trainees, and high-achieving professionals who feel trapped in cycles of overwork — and for anyone trying to learn that rest, creativity, and play do not need to be earned.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Following Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with family physician and educator Dr. Joan Chan for a conversation about ambition, burnout, identity, and the myth of “having it all.”

Together, they unpack the pressure many physicians feel to optimize every area of life at once — career, relationships, creativity, wellness, leadership — and why that mindset so often leads to exhaustion and loss of self. Joan shares what she’s learning while helping build a new residency training site from the ground up, including the tension between preserving institutions and protecting the humans inside them.

The conversation explores medical education, agency, tradeoffs, focus, seasons of life, and the difference between suffering for something aligned versus suffering inside deep misalignment.

Topics include:

• Why “you can have it all” is incomplete advice
• The hidden cost of trying to do everything simultaneously
• Burnout in medicine and academic systems
• Building residency programs differently
• Institutional culture vs. human sustainability
• Creativity, fulfillment, and feeling “alive” again
• Why protecting people matters more than preserving systems

A thoughtful, funny, and deeply honest conversation about building a life intentionally — and what medicine gets wrong about success.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Joan Chan, MD

Connect with Joan: https://www.hippocratic-collective.com/members/joan-chan-md

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.