The Physician Whisperer

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When you encounter disappointment, whether that's at work or at home,  how is it that you currently cope with that feeling?

Do you judge yourself for having the emotion in the first place?  And if so,  do you like the way this pattern is working out for you or do you want something different?

In this episode of the Ending Physician Overwhelm podcast, I invite you to take this little moment to reflect on this for yourself, and decide what is it that you truly want. That's exactly what I had to do recently after experiencing disappointment and resorting to buffering/coping mechanisms. I had to acknowledge that I'm only human, and it's normal to defer to comfort instead of feeling my feelings, but it's also not how I want to go through my life.

So ask yourself who you want to be at the end of the year, 5 years from now, or even when you're 90 and looking back at the amazing life that you've lived. Then, decide what you need to do now to start making the choices that will lead to you being those versions of yourself.

As always, thank you so much for being here with me. And if you enjoy this episode, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast. I’ve included a link here, and you’ll be able to find the “write a  review” button towards the bottom of the page. Your feedback is hugely appreciated and with it we’ll be able to reach a larger audience and continue to level up the quality of the podcast. Thank you!

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

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What would you say if I told you that you're just a couple of "No's" away from getting the "Yes" that you want? With this in mind, most of us would likely persist when it comes to asking for what we want/need, right?

It's all a part of the art of negotiation, and my guest today, Dr. Weili Gray, is an expert in finding the path to the "Yes!" She joins us in this episode to talk about how advocating for herself, learning to negotiate, and sticking to her asks, helped her overcome physician burnout on several occasions throughout her career.

Dr. Gray is board-certified in anesthesia, sleep medicine, lifestyle medicine, and integrative medicine, and she is the founder/host of the Dare to Dream Physician Travel Podcast. She is also a certified life planner, and her driving goal is to help physicians live the life that they dream of as a way of honoring the beautiful gift of life that they've been given.

At a certain point in her own career, she realized that she had become "numb" to the life that was happening around her, and was simply drifting through the years. A few life changing events made her think to herself that this isn't how she wanted to live, so she really intentionally decided to get in touch with what she wanted from her life. For her, this meant travel, spending time with family, and striking a balance with work that allowed her to appreciate how special the physician-patient relationship is.

This episode is the story of her initial struggles in medicine, followed by how she learned to negotiate for the life that she now lives with enthusiasm and gratitude. I hope you enjoy, and if you're interested in learning more about Dr. Weili Gray's work, be sure to check her out on:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreamphysician/
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/878895016552178/
• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6RPDrcyzz8T0naZvMSMFYv?si=a55d11f2efaf4604

And in honor of our recent 100th episode, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast. I’ve included a link here, and you’ll be able to find the “write a  review” button towards the bottom of the page. Your feedback is hugely appreciated and with it we’ll be able to reach a larger audience and continue to level up the quality of the podcast. 

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

Well folks, we made it to episode 100! Thank you so much for joining me on this incredible journey of healing, self-discovery, and breaking free from the confines of perfectionism.

Podcasting was something that I dreamt of doing for the longest time, but it took a while for me to start. I battled self-doubt, uncertainty about what the path would look like, and so many other blockers, but now that I'm 100 episodes in I couldn't be happier!

So in the spirit of reflection upon this milestone,  I've chosen to talk about the one thing that needs to happen before we can accomplish anything that we dream of: just starting. Taking that first step can be nerve wracking, especially for us physicians who often feel the need to have all of our ducks in a row and have all the knowledge required prior to starting. But without that first step, there would be no other steps, or in my case, no 100th episode.

It's important to remember that we are intelligent, adaptable, creative, and curious people, and we are more than capable of dealing with any curveball that comes our way in a new endeavor. So do that thing that you've always wanted to do. Build that relationship. Start that new business. Your opinion matters and the world deserves to hear your voice.

I hope you enjoy this episode, and in honor of the 100th episode, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast. I’ve included a link here, and you’ll be able to find the “write a  review” button towards the bottom of the page. Your feedback is hugely appreciated and with it we’ll be able to reach a larger audience and continue to level up the quality of the podcast. 

Thank you for making this podcast possible. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

What would you do if you were constantly getting bombarded by calls from the hospital, asking you to come in to work, even when you were thousands of miles away on vacation with your family?

And how would you react if when you went to discuss this clear lack of boundaries and proper systems, your colleagues told you that "your generation just doesn't like to work"?

These were some of the moments that led to the tipping point in terms of burnout for today's guest, Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque. In addition to being a source of truth and an overall lovely human being, she is a board-certified internal medicine physician, an MBA recipient, a speaker, and the founder of The Worthy Physician Podcast. After experiencing burnout herself, and watching other physician colleagues burn out, it became a passion of hers to look critically at our flawed medical system and help others to know that they aren't alone.

In this episode, Dr. Shah-Haque shares her story of facing burnout, seeing the destructive toll that it took on so many of her closest friends and colleagues, and making a decision to prioritize the things that she valued in her life. I really appreciated her vulnerability to share some of the more difficult moments that she has lived throughout her career in medicine, and then reflect on them with great honesty and grace.

I hope you enjoy this episode, and that it spurs us all to do as Dr. Shah-Haque recommends that we do: take a moment to figure out what is important to you, and prioritize those things. It's not selfish, and you're worthy of all the joy that life has to offer!

If you'd like to learn more about the amazing work that Dr. Sapna is doing, please check out any of the links below:

• Website: https://www.sapnashahhaque.com/
• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worthy-physician-podcast/id1569259628

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

As women physicians, we are doctors, but that's just one of many facets of who we are. We are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and so much more! And all of these parts put together make us innately valuable, not just the doctor part.

So in this week's episode, I really want us to lean into our value and start to internalize it so that when we encounter something in any part of our lives that makes us feel less valued, we can brush it off by saying "I've got my own back!"

There's a lot of power in being able to feel our own value, because as you'll hear about in this episode, value is an emotion, and emotions drive actions. So when you feel valued, you will inevitably be able to make better decisions for yourself that enable you to continue to feel valued. This could be drawing better boundaries at work, saying no to things you don't want to do, anything really... but once you embrace your value it will create this beautiful cycle of actions leading to more sense of value leading to more more similar actions and so on!

I hope you enjoy this episode, and as a birthday present to me, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast. I’ve included a link here, and you’ll be able to find the “write a  review” button towards the bottom of the page. Your feedback is hugely appreciated and with it we’ll be able to reach a larger audience and continue to level up the quality of the podcast. Thank you!

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

If you've listened to the podcast before, you've almost certainly heard me say that you can't pour from an empty cup. But I don't think that this can be said enough, because when you take a look at burnout in women physicians, it's almost always the case that we're trying to give give give without having anything left to share.

Today's special guest, Dr. Malathi Acharya, is someone who loves to learn, has earned numerous titles and certifications, and has seen almost all sides of medicine throughout a full career in internal medicine. However, despite all that she had objectively accomplished, she still felt that there was something lacking from her career. And this feeling of "lack" left her in a really confusing and burnt out place where she was asking herself, "Is this really all I've been able to accomplish?"

Her cup was definitely empty, but she knew she had more to give. So she took it upon herself to heal herself and to find the joy in medicine again, and she did so by looking beyond the constraints of our disease-oriented western medicine system to a more integrative approach to medicine that encompasses the mind, body, and soul.

In this episode, we'll hear from Dr. Acharya about how she approached healing herself after burnout, her journey into integrative medicine, the challenges she has faced since stepping out of the traditional medical system, and so much more!

I hope you enjoy this episode, and if you're interested in working with Dr. Acharya or want to know more about her, check out her bio and links below:

Dr. Malathi Acharya is an integrative medicine physician and founder of Ayur Integrative Medicine. She is passionate about all elements of integrative medicine, including nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, botanicals, mind-body treatments, and treatments from alternate medical systems. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Medicine, and board certified in Internal Medicine as well as Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She is also certified in clinical hypnosis and trained in medical acupuncture as well as Heart Math biofeedback technique. Dr. Malathi was born in Chennai, India, and graduated from Madras Medical College. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton, California. She worked as an Internal Medicine physician for over 20 years, initially as a hospital based physician and later as a primary care Physician. She then went on to complete a fellowship in integrative medicine at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Malathi is an advocate of whole-person care, which means addressing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. She believes that finding our meaning and purpose in anything we do is essential for taking care of our whole selves.

• Website: www.ayur.today
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.malathi2023/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/malathi.acharya.7
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-malathi/ 

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

The end of the year is a dangerous time for perfectionists. We tend to look back at the year and think to ourselves, "that's all I accomplished?" and only see the flaws, rather than all of the progress. 

Then,  as we look forward to the new year, we see it as as this bright, new thing, that's magically going to be better than the past. But that can also be problematic, because it comes with the implication that we're not good enough as we are.

All in all, it's a really tricky time to navigate, so for this episode, I wanted to lay the groundwork for the 10 thoughts that I'm choosing to let go of as we end 2023.  These thoughts tend to hold us back and reinforce toxic perfectionism, so I hope you'll join me in saying goodbye to these thoughts as we head into 2024!

Instead, let's adopt the mindset that we're all still growing. That we're all still evolving. And that cultivating the life we want to live through intention, clarity, and purpose, goes a lot farther for us than leading with shame and self-judgement. You're already worthy, in this year, the next, and all that follow!

I hope you enjoy this episode, and please consider sharing this episode or leaving a review. It really helps us to grow and reach more people!

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

This week on Ending Physician Overwhelm, I'm joined by a physician who, like myself was feeling completely burnt out, but wanted to feel better. So she turned to coaching for support, and ended up becoming a coach for other women physicians struggling with burn out!

Our guest today is Dr. Nicole Perrotte, a board-certified Internal Medicine Physician turned founder of Mind-U Coaching, her business that focuses on helping physicians go from burnout to bliss.

In this episode, we talk about her experience with burnout, what led to it, the tools she used to overcome it, her journey into coaching, and the wisdom that she has to share with us all after not just finding, but building the life that she has always wanted for herself. Dr. Perrotte's story is really a testament to the power of the tools that can be acquired through coaching, and how they can drastically improve the quality of life of women physicians struggling with burnout.

I hope you enjoy this episode, and if you're interested in learning more about Dr. Perrotte's work after listening, please check out any of the links below:

• Website: https://www.mind-u.io/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mind_u_doc/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nperrotte

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

Our brains love comfort, and habits, and things that make life feel easy. And for good reason too, because it would be pretty tiring if we had to manually choose to do all the regular, recurring tasks in our lives.

But our brains also aren't the greatest at choosing habits that serve us best for what we want out of our lives. It's almost like habit forming is a habit, and the only goal is finding comfort. 

Naturally, this makes changing habits, or choosing to build specific habits that we know will serve us well, quite uncomfortable. But don't worry, and don't give up! I'm here to tell you that it's okay to feel the discomfort, and embracing it is a major part of our growth as individuals. 

In this episode, walk with me in learning to embrace discomfort as we build the lives we want and overcome physician burnout. We will explore choosing discomfort over fear, as well as choosing it over allowing ourselves to do things that compromise our values. 
As high-achieving, people pleasing professionals, a lot of our discomfort comes from saying "no", but here you'll see that saying "no" is a complete sentence, and the discomfort that often follows suit is totally manageable.

So enjoy! And please consider sharing this episode or leaving a review. It really helps us to grow and reach more people.

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD

Send us Fan Mail

There's a conundrum that, as physicians, many of us face after finishing all our training. We've accomplished so much in so little time, and from the outside, our lives seem perfect and sparkly. Then, all of a sudden and for the first time ever, we're looking a 30 year career straight in the face, and at that point, questions start to come up about our purpose, identity, priorities, ambitions, etc...!

These questions can be scary, and often times they get pushed aside or buried under our work load. But when this episode's guest, Dr. Kevin Mailo, started to question his identity outside of medicine, he knew it was something that he wanted to get right. He made a real concerted effort to be honest with himself and what he wanted from his life/career, and it set him on a path towards empowerment.

Now, in addition to practicing as an ER physician in Alberta, Canada, Dr. Mailo works to transform the lives of other physicians with his organization, Physician Empowerment. He is passionate about helping others to find real wellness, optimize their medical practices, and find freedom through financial security. He also hosts the Physician Empowerment Podcast where he and his guests share bits of wisdom that empower other physicians to take control of every aspect of their lives.

You can find additional information about Dr. Mailo's work at:

• Website: https://www.physempowerment.ca/
• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6tsfhwTOV2Rq0yMMgYKJxX?si=95372dc0308343a9
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/physicianempowerment/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/physicianempowerment
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/physempowerment/
  
  

Support the show

To learn more about my coaching practice and group offerings, head over to www.healthierforgood.com. I help Physicians and Allied Health Professional women to let go of toxic perfectionist and people-pleasing habits that leave them frustrated and exhausted. If you are ready to learn skills that help you set boundaries and prioritize yourself, without becoming a cynical a-hole, come work with me.

Want to contact me directly?
Email: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram!
@MeganMeloMD