All of us wish to encourage others but most of us feel inadequate around it. What you say and do for others to encourage them carries tremendous impact--think of the people that have influenced or even discouraged you during your life and you will know that this is true.

In today's episode, Dr. Dianne interviews James E. Brown, Jr. who is the founder and CEO of Encourage X, which is truly unlike any internet website/platform that has been created to date. In Encourage X, there is wealth of knowledge on how to encourage people during not only grief and loss, but events that we celebrate as well. With a catalog of guides written by experts on over 1800 human experiences, if someone has gone through it and you want to know how to encourage them, Encourage X (encouragex.com) is your place.

They start the conversation with James describing his personal journey through the corporate world to launching Encourage X (encouragex.com) which began with being encouraged in his freshman year in high school from a surprising source, and the details of what EncourageX has to offer to both individuals and organizations, including health care organizations.

The platform has been white labeled and adopted by companies and health care systems to provide encouragement for their employees.

Some exciting developments have been the opportunity for individual curators to publish their own helpful content, thereby essentially creating their own membership platform within EncourageX.

In addition, there are way to create your own community and additional ways to curate your own family's content.

They also have a detailed discussion about the confidentiality, privacy protection and standards of EncourageX and how it is distinguished well beyond social media sites in the community and family connections spaces.

You can find EncourageX at www.encouragex.com.

Contact James E. Brown, Jr. CEO at [email protected]

Did you like this episode? Please subscribe on your podcast app. Have suggestions for other episodes? Contact us at [email protected]

We have such a great episode today! Dr. Carolyn Fitzpatrick is a busy family practitioner in an academic center where she is a medical director and residency program director. She also has 4 children, the first of which she had as an intern (!?!). She is a superwoman! However, you will be captivated by her down-to-earth sharing of her experiences of having 4 children while developing and maintaining her career, including how to choose a residency that is supportive for families. Dr. Dianne and Dr. Carolyn first discuss how Dr. Carolyn got into medicine as a non-traditional student, including her experiences of being pregnant as a medical student and giving birth as an intern, and everything that goes with it--including breastfeeding and pumping while at work--oh yes, we talk about it all! Our talk progresses into how to manage child care, paternity leave, how much to be available to home when you are at work, and even the basic question of whether or not children can hinder one's medical career. You will not want to miss this podcast, which is filled with great stories and advice as well as being enlightening, encouraging and inspirational.

If you think social media is not for physicians, you are wrong! Sue Koch, a nationally recognized media consultant and I discuss why social media is a must for physicians. In our conversation, Dr. Dianne and Sue break down the myths around social media, explain its value and how it works, and give you a roadmap for starting in social media if you haven't used it much before. We start with a broad overview of what social media is and why physicians need to use it, including managing your personal brand (yes, you have one even if you don't think you do, and we discuss what a personal brand is), and your business brand (do you work? then you have a business brand as well). Sue explains the 4 major social media outlets (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter) and their unique characteristics and uses. Sue counsels on if you can do social media by yourself or if you need a team, and how to hire a social media manager. Sue then goes on to describe how to use social media in a safe way and how to get started if you haven't done social media before and you want to do it yourself. For those of you who are active, find out if you are doing it right!!! Learn the ABC's of how to create an effective social media post. For those of you who have been using social media, you will learn if you have been using it effectively and how to improve your presence if you already have one. There is so much rich content in this episode you will likely listen to it over and over again! Learn more about Sue Koch, Social Media Success Catalyst, Speaker and Consultant at: www.suekoch.com Email her at [email protected] all social media at @suekochcatalyst Learn more about Dr. Dianne and her work as a coach, coach trainer, speaker, and author of her bestselling book at www.drdianne.com. If you like this episode, subscribe, listen to other episodes, and recommend it to others! If you have suggestions, send them to [email protected]

Empty nesting isn't just a "syndrome"--it's a life changing event in so many ways! Dr. Dianne Ansari-Winn and Dr. Toyin Felusi are empty nesters and living on their own after their kids have gone to college. It is a positive time for kids, but can be a hard time for parents. There is so much in this episode--personal experiences and practical advice for parents who are going through this experience or know someone who is going through it. Dr. Dianne and Dr. Toyin, who have become great friends since they did their first podcast in November 2017 where they discussed Dr. Toyin's book on divorce, candidly discuss their experiences with having first one child, then 2 years later a second child leave for college, their experiences of loss afterward, and their strategies to maintain their health and well-being, and eventually thrive in their new lives. They suggest how to best support your child when they do launch as well as how they are learning and navigating their new identities as parents without children living with them. They also share what it's like to live by themselves after decades of living with family. Dr. Toyin shows how one can use Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" as a guide to develop your own strategies and personal development into adjusting to the changes in life and a new way of being in multiple new roles and a new place in life. Dr. Dianne discusses empty nest as a loss with accompanying grief as well as change in parenting style and identity. She gives advice on how to be with, embrace and accept where you are, even if it hurts, so that you can move forward, including seeing a mental health professional if needed, as depression is a concern and the symptoms can look a lot like grief. Dr. Toyin and Dr. Dianne then discuss things that worked for them to work through their experiences of empty nest changes, and embrace their new lives, including adding more activities that satisfy their need to give to the world at large. Examples include Dr. Toyin's volunteering, mentoring, podcasting, and her book, and through Dr. Dianne's work as a coach, book author, speaker and training physicians in how to be peer coaches. ----------------------- Want to learn more and hear more from Dr. Toyin? Read her book The Decade After--Thriving After Divorce www.thedecadeafter.com on Amazon in print, Kindle and audiobook. You can find Dr. Toyin's podcast "10 minutes with TmFal" on your favorite podcast app--iTunes, Spotify, Anchor, Google podcast to name a few. Reach Dr. Toyin on Facebook at thedecadeafter Want to learn more about Dr. Dianne's work, read her book "Doctor, Heal Thyself", get in touch with her to work with her, learn more about becoming a coach yourself, or having Dr. Dianne come an speak to your group or give a workshop? Go to www.drdianne.com. Did you like this episode? Don't forget to subscribe, listen to other episodes, and share! Do you have suggestions for podcast episodes? Send them to [email protected].

Are you interested in Physician Wellness, want to connect with like-minded physicians, go to an academic conference with national academicians and thought leaders in the field and get to know them, AND have fun and relaxation in an amazing resort in Santa Fe, New Mexico? The founders of the Burnout to Brilliance conference which is April 2-5, 2020 discuss their passion for physician wellness, the need for physicians to make a difference for themselves and each other. They also discuss their process and passion for creating this conference, which is in its 4th year, as well as why the B to B conference is different than other physician wellness conferences.

website address: www.burnouttobrilliancecme.com If you mention that you heard about the conference via the podcast, you will receive 100 dollars off of the registration fee. Early registration ends on February 3rd, 2020. The B to B conference is accepting abstracts. More information at www.burnouttobrilliancecme.com There is also a scholarship for residents called the Charles S. DeJohn, MD, PhD Scholarship fund for Physician Education for Wellness and Career Sustainability. More information at www.burnouttobrilliancecme.com

Have you wondered what coaching is about? Have you had a goal that you wanted to reach or something that you want to change in your life but really didn't have a systematic way to do so?

Today Dr. Ansari-Winn discusses what coaching is, what coaching is not, and gives you a model of coaching which you can easily use to self-coach.

You can reach Dr. Ansari-Winn at www.drdianne.com or on social media at @drdiannemd.

What you need to know about transitioning from clinical medicine part 1 of 2. I'm Dr. Dianne and nd have a successful post-clinical career. Want to learn how I did it? Check this podcast out! Learn how to be a doctor on your terms with joy and health in mind, body and spirit.

In this episode of The Doctor’s Life podcast, host Dr. Dianne Ansari-Winn sits down with Dr. Katrina Ubell for a continued discussion on the topic of entrepreneurship, what it looks like to have a successful coaching practice and how to successfully transition out of full-time clinical medicine. In this continuation of their prior conversation Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina discuss what it looked like for each of them to finally transition from clinical medicine to an entrepreneurial endeavor in coaching. While part 1 of their discussion looked at the steps and process it will likely take to make the decision to leave a clinical practice, this accompanying discussion focuses more on the practical aspects of what it looks like to do that successfully. The aim here is to help doctors who may be considering a transition to know the crucial things they will need to assess before making the jump into another business venture as they try to do it as smoothly and successfully as possible

As Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina discuss, they both decided to leave clinical medicine for a number of reasons, but prior to making the change, both had given the overall transition a lot of time and attention. Dr. Katrina, who was a pediatrician for a number of years prior to leaving her practice in 2015, made the change to life-coaching as a way to improve her overall health and wellness while still finding enjoyment doing something she highly valued. But as she shares, there were a number of things that she needed to consider before making the jump, including the financial implications of a major change like this. While both Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina were able to make the transition out of clinical medicine with little impact to their overall economic well being, they identify that many in this position are not as easily able to do that. The encouragement then is to decide what style of life you will want and need during the transition and to make sure you have a concrete plan moving forward before you start. While having a working spouse or significant other may be of great benefit, there are still realistic conversations that will need to take place prior to making the change as you plan for the worst case scenario. The reality for most, as they admit, may be to keep working your day job until you can financially make the transition through creating a nest egg to carry you through. Similarly, there will also need to be a change in your overall mindset as you leave a steadily paying opportunity while you look to “earn back” your newfound investment through hustling and working in a way where you wouldn’t want to fire yourself. The reality, as they propose, is that in order to succeed you need to be investing your time and effort in a way that will help make sure you succeed.

Another focal point of their conversation is reviewing both the realistic positives and negatives of making the transition into full-time entrepreneurship. While many think that working for yourself or being your own boss comes with few (if any) challenges, this is not the reality. To be clear, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina do offer some talking points about the great benefits of entrepreneurial ventures like having uncapped growth opportunity, always having the ability to improve or change things you don’t like and getting to do what you do like. But aside from these there are also opportunities to see your strengths played out in a new way which can be personally fulfilling. But these positives are also met with some real challenges, such as a temptation to over work and a consistent need to hold yourself accountable while you’re being stretched (at times, uncomfortably). While trying to bring a realistic perspective, the two posit that the reality is that non-clinical work is still work. And while there is tremendous benefit to making the change out of clinical medicine and into an entrepreneurial or coaching role, there is still tremendous need to find the right balance while working diligently to take care of yourself.

Learn more about Dr. Katrina:

https://www.katrinaubellmd.com/about-me/

Learn more about her program Weight Loss for Busy Physicians:

https://www.katrinaubellmd.com/

Sign up for her program:

https://www.katrinaubellmd.com/work-with-me/

Learn more about the Weight Loss for Busy Physicians Podcast:

https://www.katrinaubellmd.com/podcast/

Connect with Dr. Katrina on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/katrinaubellmd/

Connect with Dr. Katrina on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-ubell-md-11516a127/

Follow her on Instagram:

@coachkatrinaubellmd or https://www.instagram.com/coachkatrinaubellmd/

Follow her on Twitter:

@katrinaubellmd or https://twitter.com/katrinaubellmd

Follow her on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/katrinaubellmd/

In this episode of The Doctor’s Life podcast, host Dr. Dianne Ansari-Winn sits down with Dr. Katrina Ubell for an interesting discussion on how to approach making the decision to either leave or stay in the field of clinical medicine, and the individual journeys that led to them each leaving behind their calling as traditional physicians to become full-time life coaches. Dr. Katrina is a pediatrician and a certified life and weight loss coach who helps others through her program Weight Loss for Busy Physicians. Through this conversation, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina build on their own experiences to share how the paths of their journeys led them to clinical medicine, but has since ultimately led them to leave the field as well. Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina, who were both experiencing varying degrees of depletion due to their work life, give personal insight into how they came to the decision to leave the field of medicine while not leaving their calling to still give back and help others.

To begin the conversation, Dr. Katrina describes what her life was like at the point that she found herself handing in her resignation at a successful private practice she’d worked at for 10 years. As she recalls, she feared her work life was becoming too stagnant for her to grow. Similarly, she also found herself being viewed as more of an instrument in a “money making machine”, rather than as a human being amongst a community of fellow physicians. After wrestling with these issues she knew she needed to make a life change, for her family’s sake and her own wellbeing. As she and Dr. Dianne discuss, having had previous exposure to life coaching (and finding it interesting), she began to give serious thought to what it would mean for her and others if she chose to leave the clinical medical field and become a life coach.

Knowing how beneficial it would have been to their own lives as physicians, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina urge other physicians through this conversation to begin the process personal introspection as soon as possible. They urge other physicians to take into account: what strengths they have, what they like or enjoy, how they envision their life in the future, and how their goals and strengths currently work together. The goal here is to enable fellow physicians to start asking the difficult questions they waited so long to ask, which prolonged their frustrations and personal/professional challenges. Dr. Katrina likewise shares how a lack of introspection and false assumptions had previously kept her from laying all possible career options out on the table, leading to her declining opportunities without giving them a real chance. Understanding how detrimental that was, both Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina discuss how it is possible to create your dream job instead of just settling for the jobs that already exist around you.

Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina resolve their conversation by encouraging fellow physicians to seek out a life coach who is neutral, one who helps to sort out what is important to you, will help you explore your thoughts and feelings, and move toward living a better, healthier life. Because of their personal experience in the clinical medical field, they both know the perceived drawbacks and reasons why busy physicians stay away from seeking out life coaching, but it is because Dr. Dianne and Dr. Katrina have been through the proverbial trenches that they know just how important it is to have someone in your corner, encouraging you and working with you to invest in yourself for optimal wellness.

Learn more about Dr. Katrina: https://www.katrinaubellmd.com/                             

Connect with Dr. Katrina on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/katrinaubellmd/

Connect with Dr. Katrina on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-ubell-md-11516a127/

Follow her on Instagram:@coachkatrinaubellmd

Follow her on Twitter:@katrinaubellmd

In this episode of The Doctor’s Life podcast, host Dr. Dianne Ansari-Winn sits down with Dr. Aparna Iyer to talk about the issue of loneliness in physicians. Dr. Aparna is a board-certified psychiatrist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center. Dr. Aparna specializes in physician wellness, perinatal mental health, and integrative psychiatry. In this conversation, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Aparna define loneliness and the severity of its effects, talk about how loneliness is uniquely difficult for physicians to overcome, and provide action steps to fight through loneliness for ultimate physician wellness.

Towards the beginning of this conversation, Dr. Aparna defines loneliness as the subjective experience of feeling disconnected from people. With this in mind loneliness can be identified as the result of having a lack of authentic connection. This lack of authentic connection, she explains, is the reason that so many doctors feel isolated despite living in constant physical proximity to hundreds of people, illuminating the difference in quantity of relationships versus quality of relationships. Dr. Aparna learned about this distinction between quantity and quality of relationships by observing famous Hollywood stars with millions of fans who still suffer from loneliness. As a result, she believes that the solution to fighting loneliness is through deepening a few relationships instead of creating a thousand shallow ones.

Reviewing a major theme in their conversation, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Aparna discuss some of the unique factors that contribute to the loneliness of physicians. Dr. Dianne proposes that one of the biggest issues is the competitive and hierarchical culture that physicians have created. She talks about her battle with loneliness while working at a trauma center, and how she was afraid of sharing her struggles with more tenured physicians because of how it would make her look. But in hindsight, she recognized that most of the physicians around her were probably experiencing the same struggles and isolation but were just unwilling to be transparent about it.

As the conversation comes to a close, Dr. Dianne and Dr. Aparna provide some tangible ways to battle loneliness in your own life, particularly as a physician. The first and foremost solution is initiating vulnerability. Reaching back to the definition of loneliness, they expound on the fact that it is not a matter of quantity of relationships but quality. So the first step to fighting loneliness is to deepen established relationships. The second solution is to join or establish a formal support group. Dr. Aparna shares about a physician wellness support group she created when she moved to Dallas two years ago, and how it has made a huge impact on her professional community. Loneliness is an epidemic, and this conversation proposes that the antidote is simple to understand by difficult to live out: pursuing authentic and vulnerable relationships with the people around you. The overall goal in cultivating personal vulnerability is the overall health and wellbeing of physicians who are seeking to overcome loneliness.

Learn more about Dr. Aparna

http://draparnaiyer.com/

Follow Dr. Aparna on Instagram

@aparnaiyermd or https://www.instagram.com/aparnaiyermd/

Follow Dr. Aparna on Twitter

@aparnaiyermd or https://twitter.com/aparnaiyermd

Connect with Dr. Aparna on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/aparnaiyermd/?rf=1714666178830264

Connect with Dr. Aparna on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparna-iyer-4b6193b0/