The Physician Whisperer

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Consider this as an idea... When you say "yes" to something, you're saying "no" to something else.

I know it seems obvious, but I really want to drive home the fact that we only have a finite amount of time in our days and in our lives; time that should be spent doing the things we love with the people we care most about. And when we say "yes" to something that we might not really want to do, it often comes at the cost of our relationships or even our health.

For physicians and other high achieving medical professionals, I know that it can be hard to say "no" to people that are asking for our help. Because after all, we are caregivers and we got into these professions to help others. But I'm sure you can remember a time when you said "yes" to something that really didn't need your attention, perhaps at the end of a long shift, and it meant that you got home later than you were planning to.

Did you really want to help, or did you just not want to disappoint whoever asked for your help? And were you happy that helping caused you to sacrifice in another area of your life?

In this episode, we're going to dive into this idea of saying "no" when we say "yes", and all the different impacts it has on our lives. We'll talk about it as it related to our relationships, our health, and to us as the people that we are. For many of us, this will be the first step in becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable feeling of disappointing others, but I want to say off the bat, it's okay and you have every right to say "no"!

Walk with me on this journey to honoring yourself and the people and things that you love!

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]

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@MeganMeloMD

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This is an episode about optimization, opportunity, overwhelm, and discovering the why  for which we do the things that we do.

It was such a pleasure to be joined for this episode by Dr. Bradley Block, a private practice otolaryngologist based in Long Island, NY, and the creator of the Physician's Guide to Doctoring Podcast. 

Shortly after starting his tenure at ENT and Allergy Associates, he realized that rapport was the key to gaining trust, seeing patients efficiently, enjoying his practice, and building his reputation. He tried to find a podcast that would help his improve at doctor-patient communication, but he came up blank, so he created Physician's Guide to Doctoring. His podcast focuses on topics that we, as physicians "should have been learning instead of memorizing the Kreb's Cycle," at it serves as a practical guide for physicians and other health professionals alike.

In this episode, we talk about how his introduction to the concept of "social engineering" helped him to optimize his medical practice and planted the seeds for his podcast. We also get into the moments of "whelm" and "overwhelm" that he has experienced throughout his career as a result of the seemingly endless sea of opportunities that cross the paths of physician entrepreneurs. And we round the episode out by talking about how he has learned (or is still learning) to manage the overwhelm while staying true to what is important to him.

For more information about Dr. Block's work, be sure to check out any of the links below:

• ENT and Allergy Associates
• Physicians Guide to Doctoring Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

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

Life in medicine is hectic and it comes with it's up's and down's, but I want you to know that you are worthy of feeling all your emotions. Unequivocally!

Grief is one that many physicians and other medical professionals experience when they reflect on what they thought their careers would be. We often start our careers with big hopes and dreams about the impact that our work will make, the quality of the care we'll provide, and the good that can be accomplished during a career in medicine, but sometimes things don't work out as we hope. 

And amongst the chaos of trying to care for patients to the best of our ability in a broken system, with limited resources, and so many other emotional pulls, we forget acknowledge and tend to our grief so it becomes buried.

My goal with this episode is to help you sift through all the other emotional pieces of being a physician and hone in on any grief that might be hiding beneath the surface. Just like it's okay to grieve the loss of a loved one, it's okay to be sad and to grieve things that you wanted but didn't happen in your career. And in doing so, you'll be able to better advocate for yourself in all areas of your life. 

Grief is sneaky. It may stem from your career, but it can embed itself in all aspects of your life. So I hope you'll walk with me on this journey of accepting and acknowledging what could've been. 

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

I'm not sure there are many people who could handle running a solo surgical practice while being a solo mom, but for today's guest, it's no big thing, and it's just the tip of the iceberg of what makes her so incredible!

I'm so grateful to have been able to speak with Dr. Ritha Belizaire about her story of being one of the few people out there to open up a private, solo colorectal surgery practice, as well as her intentional choice to be a single mother. We hear about her experiences and struggles from the beginning of her career to current day, including her battles with burnout and how she has learned to overcome it.

You'll hear all about it in the episode, but Dr. Ritha Belizaire is a dual board certified general and colorectal surgeon in Houston, Texas. She opened her solo surgical practice, Houston Community Surgical, in July 2023, and is passionate about accessible, inclusive surgical care with a special interest in pelvic floor disorders and proctology. 

She is a "single mother by choice" to two girls, ages 5 and 2. She has counseled many unpartnered female professionals, including physicians, who were seeking a similar path toward parenthood but who did not know how to navigate the emotions, fears, logistics and professional anxieties around seeking and achieving single parenthood. Dr. Belizaire enjoys empowering single women who desire motherhood to consider their options for preserving fertility and expanding their families when that time is right.  

If you're interested in learning more about Dr. Belizaire's work, be sure to check her out at her website or social media pages:

• My practice link:  www.houstoncommunitysurgical.com
• IG: @rithabelizairemd
• TT: @rithabelizairemd

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 parents, professionals, and even as individuals doing our best to take care of our own needs, I know that it can be exhausting to feel like there's always something more to do. Like the to-do list is always growing. We do so much, and yet still feel scattered- as if we haven't done anything at all.

When this is the case, it can be helpful to take a moment to stop and think carefully about what is really important to you, in all aspects of your life, be it work, home, personal- and name your priorities. In this episode, I talk about the importance of doing this as a way of re-centering ourselves, and call upon the Pareto Principle to help highlight why it really works.

The Pareto Principle tells us that when we look at most things in our lives, only a vital few, about 20%, of the things that we do really move the needle for us when it comes to our productivity, happiness, and whatever we're aiming to achieve. So by taking the time to reflect on what really matters to you and apply this principle to reflect your priorities, it can help to make that ever-growing to-do list to feel much more manageable.

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

Many of us have fantasized about traveling  more, perhaps disappearing to a quiet beach indefinitely.

But what if you could actually live and WORK while traveling? As a Physician. On your terms.

Today I am joined by Dr Kristine Goins, Integrative Pediatric and Adult Psychiatrist and Coach for Physicians searching for a career with location freedom. Dr Goins shares her story of transitioning from practicing as an Academic Psychiatrist, caught up in the hustle and overwork so typical of us, to buying a one-way ticket to Colombia, to practice medicine in the US on her terms.

If you've ever dreamed about finding location freedom, then tune as Dr Goins, AKA Nomad MD peels back the curtain.

Dr. Kristine Goins is a board-certified integrative adult & pediatric psychiatrist and world traveler. Prior to pursuing a lifestyle of freedom and adventure by becoming a digital nomad, Dr. Goins completed her adult psychiatry residency at Emory University and her child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Yale, as well as an integrative medicine fellowship at The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Kristine Goins is a trusted physician coach, dedicated to helping medical professionals like you unlock their true potential and create meaningful transformations in their careers and lives.

To learn more about Dr Goins and her coaching, find here in these places:
Website: https://thenomadmd.com/
IG: @thenomadmds 
FB: @thenomadmd

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

I wish that you could know how amazing you are.

AND, today's episode, I am sharing what I want for you. It you are exhausted and overwhelmed and struggling with challenging relationships and work stuff and you just want to feel better NOW, I get it. But there are a few key things that you need to understand to start the journey of feeling better.

1.) The absence of pain is not wellness/happiness

2.) Change is uncomfortable

3.) There are reasons (apart from the discomfort of changing a habit) why you keep falling back into old habits, and it likely involves a story in your mind.

Walk with me and let's talk about what's really going on.

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

So often, my clients come to me with some version of this question, "How am I supposed to _____ when I have all this other stuff to do?!?"

The answer is, you don't.

We have been lead to believe that we "should" be able to do it all, have it all, and be it all. I see parenting articles reference this fallacy all the time, particularly for Millennial Moms (Geriatric Millennial right here), who grew up thinking they should have a career, and be very involved in their kid's lives, without being able to multiply their time, and without the confidence to ask for help.

We all have the same 24 hours per day. And we all have to set our limits, and decide what our priorities are. It's true in the exam room, it's true in the hospital room, it's true at home.

In the episode, I reference this article, Primary care physicians need 26.7 hours a day for comprehensive care for patients, by Richard Payerchin from the August 8, 2022 edition of Medical Economics. Sometimes it is incredibly helpful for us to see that we literally do not have time to do everything we've been told to do. It gives one permission to let go, and decide what is  actually important. 

Check out the full article here.

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

You can't pour from an empty tank.

It's not a personal failing. It's physics (or math or something).

When your empathy tank, or your physical/emotional batteries are on empty, you have to recharge. And although you can get help and support from others, there is a component that relies on you being willing to engage with rest, comfort and connection to recharge. It's vital.

Tune in to learn more, and share this episode with a friend.

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

Surrounded by people, and yet lonely? Sounds weird, doesn't it?

This is the lived experience of so many of us in medicine. We're around people all day, in conversation, fielding frequent questions verbally and in the inbox. And yet, we're alone.

We talk today about the lack of connection that occurs for most of us, during the day with the other people we see, as well as with ourselves. There is some low-hanging fruit for helping ourselves to feel less lonely, and it can start today. It's not complicated. But it does take awareness, and intention. And, I would argue, it's worth your attention, if you want to feel better.

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