The Doctor's Life

Our conversation this week is with Dr. David Norris, MD, MBA, CPE. Dr. Norris is a Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist who learned from being involved in the management of his practice that he had a lot to learn! He went back to business school in order to learn how to best manage his practice. Fortunately for the rest of us, we don't have to go to business school because Dr. Norris has spelled out what every doctor needs to know in his book, The Financially Intelligent Physician: What They Didn't Teach You In Medical School. Dr. Ansari-Winn and Dr. Norris discuss why it's important to understand the business side of medicine and why it's not dishonorable to do so, and the basics of what every doctor should know about their business.

Linda J. Morris, MD has extensive experience both as a internist and a physician leader. Dr. Morris enjoyed a long career both as a physician and physician leader in the VA system. From her beginnings as filling in as a leader in the Emergency Department, her skills and success as a physician leader culminated in becoming Chief of Staff at the VA in Martinsburg, VA. Dr. Morris is now a skilled and experienced leadership coach. In today's podcast, we discuss Dr. Morris' journey as a physician leader, why healthcare needs physician leaders and why leadership is a natural extension of being a physician, the skills and development required to become a physician leader, levels of leadership, and how to explore physician leadership.

Dr. Joanna Bostwick is trained in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, and practices Emergency Medicine in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). Dr. Bostwick has been in practice for 6 years, and after her second year she started to question her decision to go into medicine. In today's podcast, Dr. Ansari-Winn and Dr. Bostwick discuss her journey from confusion to clarity which included a walking journey in Spain, and a simple yet powerful change to re-energize and re-vitalize her career.

Dr. Kathy Stepien is a Pediatrician who came to medicine as a second career after many years as a physical therapist. During her journey from experiencing burnout as a physical therapist through graduate school, medical school, residency and her practice as a pediatrician, Dr. Stepien learned many strategies and lessons that she shares with other physicians through the Institute for Physician Wellness. In today's episode, we discuss Dr. Stepien's journey, the founding of the Institute, and its mission and offerings for physicians who are seeking wellness at the individual, institutional, and cultural levels.

Dr. Maire Daugharty is an Anesthesiologist in private practice in Colorado. She is also studying to earn a Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with the intention of creating a functional medicine/counseling practice to serve the physician community. We discuss how a cultural shift which emphasizes physician self-care can be begun with using a model similar to our colleagues in counseling--that we as physicians make self-care and caring for each other a priority as a means to longevity in our profession and providing better health care for our patients. Dr. Daugharty also describes a definition of self-care, its importance for physicians, and ways to incorporate self-care into our lives starting today.

Dr. Brenda J. Allen is the Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. She also is a Professor of Communication. Her scholarship focuses on organizational communication and diversity. She assumed her recent role as Chief Diversity Officer in August of 2012. Among her numerous publications is a groundbreaking book entitled Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity. She presents keynote speeches and conducts workshops on topics such as inclusion in the workplace, strategic planning, unconscious bias, and diversity hiring practices. In today's podcast, Dr. Allen shares with us her path from lecturer at Howard University through her illustrious career at University of Colorado and decribes her role as Vice Chancellor and Dean of Diversity over 13 schools and colleges at University of Colorado, including the Anshutz Medical Campus. Dr. Allen is an expert in implicit bias and teaches widely on this subject. Today we discuss implicit bias and its origins, positive and negative aspects, and its presence in and effects on both individuals and institutions. We discuss the far-reaching effects of implicit bias which extends from how individuals even make the decision to go into healthcare, through the application process and acceptance to fields of study, choices of career, to hiring and how healthcare professionals approach their patients. Are you curious to learn what your implicit biases may be? You can take tests to discover them at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/index.jsp.

There is no better example than of a physician who has lived his life in service to the community than Dr. Terry Mason. After being called to serve as a physician, Dr. Mason practiced as Urologist for over 25 years. Because of his deep dedication and service to the community in his home city of Chicago, Dr. Mason was called to serve as Commissioner of Public Health for Cook County. In his continued role as Chief Operating Officer at Cook County Department of Public Health, he continues his mission to serve the citizens of Cook County. In this podcast, Dr. Mason also discusses the research around and makes a strong case for adopting a whole-foods plant based diet as the prevention and cure for cardiovascular disease and overall good health. Website references: www.forksoverknives.com and www.nutritionfacts.org. Tune in to Dr. Mason's radio show: A Doctor in the House on WVON radio 1690 and iHeart radio.

Dr. Mimi Wong, an Anesthesiologist with 20 years in practice in Denver, CO is one of the founders of Mending Faces, a non-profit charity which brings together over 60 doctors, nurses, dentists, speech pathologists, and others together for a week in the Phillipines every January to perform cleft lip and palate operations on children. www.mendingfaces.org Dr. Wong and Dr. Ansari-Winn (who were in Anesthesiology practice together for almost 15 years) discuss her path to medical mission work, how it has energized her day-to-day medical practice, and the support that is crucial to make a medical mission successful.

The guest today is Dr. M. Bento Soares, PhD, who is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor and Head of the Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. Dr. Soares is passionate about having medical professionals learn the skills that will allow them to express their humanity and be present with their patients without having the psychic pain that can accompany feeling empathy, and leads us to avoid feeling "too much" for our patients. He and 5 other leaders at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and the Methodist College of Nursing have spent a year studying Cognitively Based Compassion Training at Emory University, and are now teaching their first 8 week CBCT course to 60 academic, political and community leaders in Peoria. CBCT is based in both science and Eastern teachings, and is a completely secular practice that one can learn in 8 weeks to develop compassion for self and others, among other skills. CBCT has been studied and shown to decrease depression, burnout, and stereotyping of patients, as well as many other benefits that Dr. Ansari-Winn and Dr. Soares discuss in today's show.

In this episode, Dr. Andrea Dunnings, DVM and Dr. Dianne Ansari-Winn discuss how Dr. Dunnings found her passion in veterinary medicine, but years of stress and working 70-80 hour weeks in her practice were leading her to question if she should continue. As the CEO and founder of East Atlanta Animal Clinic, Dr. Dunnings was like many other practioners of both human and animal medicine who were finding that the practice of medicine was taking more of her heart than it was giving back. In May 2015, Dr. Dunnings decided to turn her practice around through a process of self-development, staff development and intentional leadership. Her goal of making her vision of a practice where she and her staff love to work and clients come because they get the greatest care available is coming true, and it is paying off not only in satisfaction, but in dollars and cents. Come listen and learn how she did it.