Dr. Tr'Vel T. Lyons is an associate researcher at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where he contributes to the Center for Education, Identity, and Social Justice. A first-generation education scholar, Dr. Lyons holds a Ph.D. in Urban Schooling from UCLA, where his dissertation, "Cacti in the Classroom," explored supportive learning environments for Black boys in their formative ninth-grade year.

Alongside his academic pursuits, Dr. Lyons is an avid sprinter and the founder of We Still Sprint Club, a community initiative focused on fitness, resilience, and camaraderie through hill sprints. Through the club, he emphasizes the mental and physical discipline that sprinting brings, drawing parallels between the commitment required in both his research and athletic passions.

Beyond his professional achievements, Dr. Lyons enjoys mentoring, hiking, and sharing new music every Friday. His life’s mission weaves his academic focus and love for sprinting, fostering both educational advancement and Black joy.

In part 1, we discuss his educational research background and how he got into physical activity as a tool for wellness, longevity, consistent healthy habits, and building community for healthcare professionals.

In this episode Dr. Rui Ariyapala sits down again with Dr. Tiffany Avery. Dr. Tiffany Avery is a board-certified Medical Oncologist and Lifestyle Medicine physician with a special interest in breast cancer survivorship and differences in cancer survival. After completing fellowship training at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Avery served as Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC. She also served as a Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer in the Health technology space. She is currently an Advisory Board Member of Angels Surviving Cancer, a community-based breast cancer survivorship group based in Houston, TX. In this capacity, Dr. Avery has been an invited speaker to discuss topics that include cancer prevention, treatments, clinical trials, survival disparities in cancer and has led grant writing efforts to secure funding for community-based educational efforts targeted to breast cancer survivors. Dr. Avery is also a co-host of 3 Black Docs, a podcast aimed at eliminating healthcare disparities. Dr. Avery is a proud New Orleans native currently living in Houston with her husband and two sons. She enjoys running, gardening, yoga, and learning to surf. 
In part 2, we delve deeper into clinical implications, work-life balance and the reality of becoming an attending, from a wellness perspective. We then have insightful discussions on her accomplished healthcare executive career, and how our listeners can be inspired to diversify their skillset alongside clinical practice. Dr. Avery shares that her joy is by carving out a career through personal agency.

In this episode Dr. Rui Ariyapala has an engaging conversation with Dr. Tiffany Avery. Dr. Tiffany Avery is a board-certified Medical Oncologist and Lifestyle Medicine physician with a special interest in breast cancer survivorship and differences in cancer survival. After completing fellowship training at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Avery served as Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC. She also served as a Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer in the Health technology space. She is currently an Advisory Board Member of Angels Surviving Cancer, a community-based breast cancer survivorship group based in Houston, TX. In this capacity, Dr. Avery has been an invited speaker to discuss topics that include cancer prevention, treatments, clinical trials, survival disparities in cancer and has led grant writing efforts to secure funding for community-based educational efforts targeted to breast cancer survivors. Dr. Avery is also a co-host of 3 Black Docs, a podcast aimed at eliminating healthcare disparities. Dr. Avery is a proud New Orleans native currently living in Houston with her husband and two sons. She enjoys running, gardening, yoga, and learning to surf. 
In part 1, we explore the highs and lows of her internal medicine residency, hematology oncology fellowship and the nuances of transitioning into managing responsibilities as an attending. Dr. Avery shares her advice for our listeners on how she managed all these expectations along the way, refining her lens on wellness during her medical training.

In this episode of TarHeal Wellness, host Dr. Robert Rowe continues his conversation with Dr. Damon Tweedy, psychiatrist, Duke University School of Medicine professor, and bestselling author of Black Man in a White Coat and Facing the Unseen. The two dive deeper into the history and ongoing challenges of mental health care in medicine. Dr. Tweedy shares his insights on the mind-body divide, the stigma surrounding mental health in medical training, and the systemic barriers that have shaped psychiatric care. They also explore Dr. Tweedy’s journey as an author, his advice for physicians looking to write, and his limited series podcast, Unhealed. Follow Dr. Tweedy by going to www.damontweedy.com.

Key Topics & Timestamps:
🧠 [00:01] - The historical separation of mental health from general medicine
🏥 [02:44] - How psychiatric care has been physically and culturally isolated in hospitals
📚 [10:50] - Dr. Tweedy’s journey from medical trainee to bestselling author
✍️ [16:00] - Advice for physicians who want to write and publish their own stories
🌍 [24:00] - The racial history of Duke Medicine and the inspiration behind Unhealed
🔮 [27:00] - The lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health training

In this episode of TarHeal Wellness, host Dr. Robert Rowe sits down with Dr. Damon Tweedy, psychiatrist, Duke University School of Medicine professor, and bestselling author of Black Man in a White Coat and Facing the Unseen. Dr. Tweedy shares his personal journey through education and medicine, the unique challenges he has faced as a Black male physician, and the ongoing struggles and improvements in mental health awareness within the medical community. Key Timestamps include: Dr. Tweedy’s early life, navigating racial dynamics in education (3:33), the dynamics of representation in education, including medical education and how they can affect the perspectives of physicians (18:47), how physicians can help break the stigma of mental health (27:53), changing perspectives on mental health in patient care (36:31), and how medical trainees can approach challenging patient interactions (43:23).

In this episode, Dr. Rui Ariyapala welcomes back with Dr.  Mark Martinez, who is a native New Yorker practicing Emergency Medicine at Baptist Health South Florida in Miami. He attended medical school at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn before completing his residency in Emergency Medicine at Albert Einstein/Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Dr. Martinez recently graduated with a Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Florida International University, and he shares how he developed his approach to preventing and mitigating physician burnout and discusses the utility of ‘Participative Management’. Dr. Martinez had practiced physician coaching for several years focusing on wellness and personal development. The motivation for all of that was a difficult and protracted personal battle with burnout and mental illness. Aside from practicing emergency medicine Dr. Martinez is currently working as a consultant for the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, developing a more evidence-based and specific approach to medical student selection. 

In this episode we discuss all the non-clinical aspects of attending life, including knowing your professional and financial self-worth, when negotiating contracts. Dr. Martinez articulates the difference between monetary wealth and abundance. He further explains the highs and lows of being an attending physician, and how we must empower ourselves with knowledge to prepare for scenarios that you cannot learn in a medical textbook.

Feel free to check out part 1 (Episode 62) which introduces Dr. Martinez’s background in Emergency Medicine and pragmatic residency wellness tools for burnout and part 2 (Episode 83) focusing on the clinical and administrative responsibility of an attending physician.

In this episode, Dr Rui Ariyapala welcomes back with Dr Mark Martinez, who is a native New Yorker practicing Emergency Medicine at Baptist Health South Florida in Miami. He attended medical school at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn before completing his residency in Emergency Medicine at Albert Einstein/Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Dr. Martinez recently graduated with a Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Florida International University, and he shares how he developed his approach to preventing and mitigating physician burnout and discusses the utility of ‘Participative Management’. Dr. Martinez had practiced physician coaching for several years focusing on wellness and personal development. The motivation for all of that was a difficult and protracted personal battle with burnout and mental illness. Aside from practicing emergency medicine Dr. Martinez is currently working as a consultant for the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, developing a more evidence-based and specific approach to medical student selection. 
We discuss his penultimate years as a resident, specifically making medical decisions and managing people as he prepares for attending life.  For personal and professional growth, he emphasizes that physicians should never stop reading, especially as an attending. Dr. Martinez gives advice on how to regulate emotions when taking on the burden of the ultimate clinical and administrative responsibility.

Feel free to check out part 1 (Episode 62) which introduces Dr. Martinez’s background in Emergency Medicine and pragmatic residency wellness tools for burnout.

In this episode of the Tarheel Wellness podcast, host Dr. Robert Rowe resumes his conversation with Dr. Karina Olivo-Holzl, a preventive medicine resident at UNC. Dr. Olivo-Holzl delves into her experiences with medical translating, the challenges of being apart from her family during her training, and the critical importance of listening to her body. She shares a personal health scare that led to a life-saving diagnosis and emphasizes the necessity of self-care and seeking help when needed. This episode offers valuable lessons on balancing professional demands with personal well-being and the power of resilience in the face of adversity. Tune in for an inspiring discussion that highlights the human side of medical training and the journey towards health and wellness.

In this episode of the Tarheel Wellness podcast, host Dr. Robert Rowe sits down with Dr. Karina Olivo-Holzl, a current preventive medicine resident at UNC. Dr. Olivo-Holzl shares her inspiring journey from her early days in her mother's microbiology lab in Venezuela to her medical training and practice in her home country, and the challenges and opportunities she encountered upon immigrating to the United States. She discusses her experiences working in the NICU Milk Bank, becoming an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, and her passion for addressing health disparities and social determinants of health. Dr. Olivo-Holzl also reflects on the personal and professional hurdles she faced, including adapting to a new culture and language, and the support systems that helped her along the way. Join us for an insightful conversation about resilience, dedication, and the pursuit of medical excellence.

In this episode, Dr Rui Ariyapala welcomes back with Dr. Wilson who is also known as Dr. Burnout™ and is on a mission to revolutionize workplaces and eradicate burnout culture across healthcare, mental health, public service, and government organizations. As a Speaker, Author, Organizational Consultant, and TV Host of Leadership Beyond Burnout, Dr. Wilson brings a fearless, transformative approach to building resilience and empowering women in leadership—impacting workplaces and saving millions in turnover costs. With the insight of a Therapist, Organizational Psychologist, Retired US Marine, and Executive Coach, she’s driven by personal loss to help 5,500 women overcome burnout and cultivate 1,000 thriving workplace cultures. Her acclaimed Restoration Retreats—Reignite, Revive, & Renew™—offer clients renewed purpose, stronger relationships, and a revitalized impact.

In this part, we discuss pragmatic tools that residents can use to tackle burnout. We delve into personal techniques residents can use such as habit stacking, mindfulness practices with the five senses, self-efficacy, as well as focusing on internal, specific root causes of burnout which are unique to each resident. Dr. Wilson shares her “Break free from Burnout in 3 mins per day” tool which she hopes will help residents. She closes the discussion with advice for residents and physicians on how to build their own wellness and burnout prevention platforms. 

Be sure to check out part 1, (episode 79) where we discuss Dr. Wilson’s career and background in burnout prevention and mental resilience.

Break Free From Burnout in 3 Minutes a Day
https://firststeptherapeuticservices.ac-page.com/break-free-from-burnout-in-3-minutes-a-day