The SurgeonMasters Podcast

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast, Quality Improvement Executive Leadership Consultant, Margie Nelson, MS, MT, EMT, CPXP.

Margie has spent the past 20 years as a hospital quality and safety specialist handling risk, quality improvement, and communication enhancement. 

Margie has recognized that quality of care is directly related to how well a patient understands what the physician is telling them. Many physicians don’t always have time to develop the relationship that the patient requires to build that trust and desire to take care of themselves. 

Effective communication between physicians and their teams is foundational. Physicians need strong communication skills with peers and leadership, as well as with their patients. Often strong communication in one area will positively impact the others.

What steps does Margie suggest to improve communication between physician leaders, physician reports, and ultimately, patients?

• Step 1 - Set the expectation that colleagues can always come to you with questions, challenges, or suggestions. 
• Step 2 -  Exhibit the characteristics that you want to see in others.
• Step 3 - Acknowledge existing challenges and ask for partnership in solving those challenges.

Most importantly, PRACTICE improving how you communicate!

BIO

Margie Nelson, MS, MT, EMT, CPXP,  is a Quality Improvement Executive Leadership Consultant with a demonstrated history of working with hospital and healthcare systems on quality, safety and patient experience of care.  Most recently, she added Physician Wellness to her skills, administering a Physician Coaching program at Envision Healthcare, which made a significant impact on physician wellness and improvement of quality and safety scores. Margie’s education and training include a BS and MS from the George Washington University in Medical Technology and Healthcare Quality and Safety. She has worked on both sides of the care and regulatory aspects of Healthcare and continues to bring value to physician relationships with patients, leaders and colleagues.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes ENT surgeon and professional coach Dr. Mel Thacker to the podcast.

Each of us carries two inner selves — the essential self and the social self. When these two are in harmony, we’re capable of extraordinary things. But when they’re out of alignment, it can lead to dissatisfaction, stress, or burnout.

The essential self is our true nature — who we are at our core, from birth. The social self is the identity we build over time to meet the expectations of others. As infants, we cry when we’re upset — pure essential self. As adults, we may feel like crying but force a smile to keep others comfortable — the social self at work.

So how do we bring these two selves into balance? Dr. Thacker offers three key steps:

• Step 1 - Recognize that most of us are living unconsciously. We tell ourselves we’ll be happy after we attain the next milestone. This is the arrival fallacy. Instead, we need to live consciously.
• Step 2 - Explore your earliest memories and consider why they stand out. These moments can offer valuable insights into your essential self — the version of you that existed before external expectations took over.
• Step 3 - Consider working with a coach to explore, identify, and integrate your essential and social selves. A coach can help you uncover unconscious patterns and align your path with who you truly are..

Most importantly, PRACTICE being your essential self!

BIO

Mel Thacker, MD, PCC, DipABLM is a fellowship-trained rhinologist/otolaryngologist, professional certified coach, and lifestyle medicine specialist.

After two years in academics, she realized how much she valued autonomy and pivoted to private practice, serving a Massachusetts community for nearly a decade. But when panic attacks and insomnia took hold, she turned to coaching—transforming the most emotionally painful year of her life into her greatest teacher. She emerged on the other side as a better human, clinician, surgeon, wife, mother, and friend. After that experience, her work evolved from taking care of patients to resourcing her fellow surgeons.

• Watch her TEDx talk, "How to Save Lives with Two Minutes of Listening," here.
• Her second TEDx talk, "Seeing Beyond the Red Swans," will be available in Spring 2025.

She is also the host of the groundbreaking podcast, Surgeons with Purpose, and the Founder of Empowered Surgeons Group, a program that will teach you everything you didn't learn in surgical training.

Social Media:

Follow her on Instagram here
Connect on LinkedIn here

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast pediatrician, startup founder, and people connector, Dr. Zhen Chan.

In addition to earning his medical degree, Zhen earned an MBA during the middle of his residency, which offered a unique perspective.

Zhen is most passionate about solving large pain points for the healthcare industry. One of the main ways he pursues this goal is through networking with people in healthcare - not just those in the clinical sphere, but those behind the scenes as well. 

As physicians, we go through med school and residency and the education and training process is primarily focused on the clinical aspects of medicine. But practicing medicine in the modern day system requires at least a baseline knowledge of many other things (operations, informatics, management, insurance, etc.) That’s not standardized in our medical training so we need to find ways to fill those gaps in our training. One of the best ways to do that is through making connections.

What steps does Zhen suggest we take to make better connections?

• Step 1 - Reach out to one other physician. Many physicians are hesitant to do this, but quite often, the person you’re reaching out to wants to provide advice or mentorship.
• Step 2 -  Make networking a part of your life. That way, the world gets a lot smaller and you’ll have better options when you’re looking for new opportunities.
• Step 3 - Reach out to another physician with similar interests and continue this process to make networking a regular part of your life. 

Most importantly, PRACTICE building connections through networking!

BIO: Zhen Chan, MD MBA FAAP

Healthcare Management | Pediatrics | Physician

Dr. Zhen is a pediatrician in Washington, DC with an MD and an MBA in Health Management and Policy. He is actively developing a career that integrates his interests in healthcare strategy and emerging health technology that can make a scalable impact on patient care outcomes, access, equity, and physician well-being.

He worked for one year in a healthcare venture capital company focused on pediatric health innovation as a Venture Fellow and later a Senior Associate. During residency, he was a Co-Chair of the Housestaff Quality Council at Weill Cornell Medicine, QI Captain for the primary care center where he had his pediatric continuity clinic, and an Advocacy Co-Chair for the pediatric department. He has extensive experience leading quality improvement initiatives and advocacy projects focusing on childhood obesity, HPV vaccinations, and food insecurity.

Currently, Dr. Zhen is the founder and CEO of Grapevyne, a pioneering physician job search platform that leverages physician peer-to-peer referrals to address the physician shortage crisis and issues around physician burnout by improving how physicians choose jobs and match to communities that need them. 

Certifications: Board Certification in Pediatrics, Licensed in DC, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, IHI 

Open School Basic Certification in Quality & Patient Safety

Awards: Distinguished Housestaff Award, Gold Humanism Honor Society, VC University Scholarship Recipient, MD MBA Scholarship Recipient

Social Media:

• Instagram
• LinkedIn

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and Chief Medical Officer at Connecticut Orthopaedics, Dr. Alan Reznik.

There’s an old saying - “hire slow, fire fast” - which essentially means to take your time hiring the right candidate for the job and, if you have a bad employee, get rid of them quickly so that a single bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch. Sometimes making a good hire can boost everyone's morale, while making a bad hire can destroy the office culture you’ve built. 

That all sounds good, but how do you hire a good employee? 

When hiring for a position, there are certain protocols you can follow to make sure you’re doing everything within your power to make a good hire.

What steps does Alan suggest we take to hire good people?

• Step 1 - Vision - Have a well-defined job description and know what you’re looking for in the role to properly evaluate a candidate’s skill set.
• Step 2 - Evaluation - Meet with the prospective employee and get a sense of what they think the job entails to see if that matches your vision for the position. 
• Step 3 - Fit - Finally, the prospective employee must be a good fit for the organization. How will they fit with the rest of the team? 

Most importantly, PRACTICE a system for hiring good people!

BIO: Alan Reznik, MD, MBA 

Dr. Reznik is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon and involved in medical teaching for over 30 years. He is recognized as one of “America’s Top Physicians” by Consumers Research Council of America and named “Top Doc” in Connecticut over 20 times by his orthopaedic surgeon peers, physicians, nurses and patients. He has served on many committees for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons including editorial board of AAOS Now. He has written "The Knee and Shoulder Handbook, the keys to a pain-free and active life" and "I have fallen and I can get up" on fall risks and prevention. An inventor, he holds 8 patents. He has lectured on patient safety, surgical risk reduction and AI development, liability and ethical use.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Jeff welcomes to the podcast anesthesiologist and physician coach, Scott Markowitz, MD.

There’s always the potential for things to spiral out of control in the OR. When that happens, it can be helpful to be pulled back from the situation by a trusted colleague who can help you view the situation objectively and bump you back into being your best self. Sometimes it’s not feasible to do that in the OR itself. If that’s the case, there will likely be opportunities throughout the rest of the day to connect with a trusted colleague. Doing this consistently over time can help you build stronger professional relationships and make you less likely to derail when things get hectic.

In medicine, there are a lot of “villain” or “victim” narratives that we’re exposed to throughout our education and training. It’s important to recognize and move past those and move from a problem mindset to an outcome mindset. Nurturing a professional relationship with your colleagues goes a long way in recognizing the shared outcomes that we’re all striving towards.

Remember that it’s difficult to build a relationship when one or both people are activated. It’s so easy to destroy trust. In order to build trust you need to recognize when the time is right and wrong to approach a complex conversation. Address these important issues when both parties are not activated for optimal outcomes. 

What steps does Scott suggest we take to build trust?

• Step 1 - Develop Professional Relationships with Colleagues. This can make you less likely to derail and more likely to “re-rail” when things go poorly.
• Step 2 - Avoid Villain and Victim Narratives. These only work to divide us and prevent us from achieving our shared goals.
• Step 3 - Explicitly State Shared Goals. This can be extremely helpful in resetting us from villain or victim stories and recognizing that we’re all pushing the same rock up the hill.

Most importantly, practice an outcome mindset!

BIO:

Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC (he, him, his) is the Chief Executive Officer of Physician Leadership, LLC, and serves as a Leadership Coach with the Chimera Leadership Group. In his clinical career, Dr. Markowitz held the position of Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he spearheaded the establishment of an office dedicated to measuring departmental culture, engagement, and wellbeing. Dr. Markowitz has been instrumental in producing and sponsoring programs aimed at fostering engagement, resilience, professional development, and a more diverse and inclusive leadership environment. He co-chairs the subcommittee on harassment, incivility, and disrespect for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and serves on the advisory board for the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In this role, he co-developed their leadership curriculum and chairs the curriculum committee.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast physician and physician coach, Scott Markowitz, MD.

When working in the OR, situations sometimes arise that activate the people in the room (whether it be surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, or others). That activation can be caused by a variety of issues from inefficiencies, to scheduling conflicts. Once activated, people often carry that with them into the next experience. 

The same thing happens on the other side of the drape which can cause situations to become increasingly tense. When that happens it’s important to take a step back and realize that everyone ultimately has the same goal - to provide excellent care to the patient.

What steps does Scott suggest we take to improve the environment in the operating room when it feels like parties are at odds with one another?

• Step 1 - Take a Moment. Step back from the situation and try to evaluate it objectively. Recognize if you or the other party is being negatively impacted by outside forces (perhaps you didn’t sleep well the night before), and understand that you both ultimately want what’s best for the patient.
• Step 2 - Build Relationships. This doesn’t happen overnight, but if you build up  good professional relationships with your team, there will likely be less friction in the room. When you have a long-standing rapport, you can recognize when your colleague is being sarcastic or when they’re having a bad day.
• Step 3 - Communicate Openly & Effectively. Honest communication among colleagues is also key inside and outside the OR. If something happens that activates you, don’t let it fester. Communicate your concerns in a professional manner.

Most importantly, PRACTICE understanding the other side of the drape!

BIO:

Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC (he, him, his) is the Chief Executive Officer of Physician Leadership, LLC, and serves as a Leadership Coach with the Chimera Leadership Group. In his clinical career, Dr. Markowitz held the position of Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he spearheaded the establishment of an office dedicated to measuring departmental culture, engagement, and wellbeing. Dr. Markowitz has been instrumental in producing and sponsoring programs aimed at fostering engagement, resilience, professional development, and a more diverse and inclusive leadership  environment. He co-chairs the subcommittee on harassment, incivility, and disrespect for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and serves on the advisory board for the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In this role, he co-developed their leadership curriculum and chairs the curriculum Committee.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast board-certified orthopedic surgeon and chief medical officer at Connecticut Orthopedics, Dr. Alan Reznik.

In the field of surgery, introverts and extroverts behave differently in situations where communication is important. Introverts tend to need more time to formulate answers and might agree with an extrovert who has taken the lead in a situation. Extroverts, on the other hand, tend to formulate answers more quickly and jump in with ideas. 

If you want a good opinion from an introvert, you may need to tip them off ahead of time that a question will come up in a meeting. This gives them some lead time to process and hopefully share their opinions before the meeting. Conversely, it’s often good to couch their answers with a perspective and agree with them that they’re providing valuable information when dealing with an extrovert.

In the operating room, the surgeon is likely extroverted, even if they don’t know it. This can deters others in the room from speaking up. It’s important to know that you are open to hearing ideas from everyone in the operating room - especially the introverts.

What steps does Alan suggest we take to manage introverts and extroverts inside and outside the OR?

• Step 1 - Understand the power you hold in the room as a surgeon.
• Step 2 - Foster an environment where introverts and extroverts feel comfortable speaking up.

Most importantly, PRACTICE awareness of personality types!

Guest Bio: Alan Reznik, MD, MBA

Dr. Reznik is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon and involved in medical teaching for over 30 years. He is recognized as one of “America’s Top Physicians” by Consumers Research Council of America and named “Top Doc” in Connecticut over 20 times by his orthopaedic surgeon peers, physicians, nurses and patients. He has served on many committees for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons including editorial board of AAOS Now. He has written "The Knee and Shoulder Handbook, the keys to a pain-free and active life" and "I have fallen and I can get up"on fall risks and prevention. An inventor, he holds 8 patents. He has lectured on patient safety, surgical risk reduction and AI development, liability and ethical use.

"It is with the understanding of differing perspectives, combining disciplines, constant collaboration, and an open mind that one achieves the best path forward." Dr. Alan Reznik 

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Jeff welcomes to the podcast cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, executive coach, and advocate for those affected by Long Covid, Dr. Zeest Khan.

In 2020, Dr. Khan contracted Covid and her health deteriorated to such an extent that she was no longer able to work. Eventually, she was diagnosed with Long Covid and on the long road to recovery. As a result of this experience, Dr. Khan has pivoted her career to helping others with complex illnesses safely navigate the healthcare system.

As surgeons, we deal with crises all the time. In training, we learn skills to get us through scary and dangerous situations. We’re not just on salvage missions. Rather, we’re trying to optimize for good outcomes for our patients. These crisis management skills can be used to deal with situations in both our professional and personal lives.

What steps does Dr. Khan suggest we do to manage crises and optimize outcomes?

• Step 1 - Use reliable processes. When presented with a stressful situation, even as physicians our senses and executive functioning can fail us. Approaching an emergency with a reliable process that you’ve used before is a great way to handle a crisis.
• Step 2 -  Use reliable procedures. Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t need to. When you’re in a difficult situation, ask yourself - “what works for you?” Focus on these approaches that have worked in the past.
• Step 3 - Use your team and available resources. In operating rooms specifically, it’s essential that everyone in the room is helping in a specific way. Each one of us can’t do everything, so it’s important to rely on our team and available resources.

Most importantly, prepare and PRACTICE crisis management!

BIO:

Dr. Zeest Khan is a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, executive coach, and advocate for those affected by Long Covid. Disabled by the disease herself, Dr. Khan uses her unique perspective to bridge the divide between medical and patient communities. She is the creator and host of *LongCovidMD*, a podcast where she shares her journey, delves into the medical science behind Long Covid, and offers an inside look at the healthcare system. Through her work, Dr. Khan offers valuable insights and support for those navigating complex health challenges. Find her work at LongCovidMD.substack.com

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast orthopaedic surgeon and educator, Alan Reznik, MD.

It’s a simple fact in the medical industry that everything works better when goals are aligned. Aligning your goals with the goals of your team members is a great way to better optimize your practice. Goals can vary widely between different employees - from improving patient outcomes, to simply going home at a certain time of day. 

When goals are at odds with each other, things can get out of balance pretty quickly and lead to poor outcomes for both patients and medical staff. 

What steps does Alan suggest we do to align our goals?

• Step 1 - Think about what makes you happy and why you’re doing the things you’re doing during your daily work routine. 
• Step 2 - Check to see if those around you are thinking and acting the same way you are, making sure goals are aligned.
• Step 3 - If they’re not, try to realign things (financially, emotionally, mentally, etc.) so that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same ultimate goals.

Most importantly, PRACTICE goal alignment to experience professional wellness!

BIO - Alan Reznik, MD, MBA

Dr. Reznik is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon and involved in medical teaching for over 30 years. He is recognized as one of “America’s Top Physicians” by Consumers Research Council of America and named “Top Doc” in Connecticut over 20 times by his orthopaedic surgeon peers, physicians, nurses and patients. He has served on many committees for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons including editorial board of AAOS Now. He has written "The Knee and Shoulder Handbook, the keys to a pain-free and active life" and "I have fallen and I can get up" on fall risks and prevention. An inventor, he holds 8 patents. He has lectured on patient safety, surgical risk reduction and AI development, liability and ethical use.

"It is with the understanding of differing perspectives, combining disciplines, constant collaboration, and an open mind that one achieves the best path forward." Dr. Alan Reznik 

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!

Send us Fan Mail

Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast Chief Medical Officer of the Lorna Breen Foundation, Emergency Medicine Physician, and physician coach, Stefanie Simmons.

On this episode, Jeff and Stefanie discuss the need for better support for physician mental health in the healthcare system. In training, residents and fellows are often in vulnerable situations, as they do everything they can to succeed while dealing with stress and other factors like medical school debt. Faced with these challenges and more, many residents simply put their heads down and grind it out, rather than getting the help they need to succeed. 

Then in practice, many physicians are hesitant to seek mental health services for themselves because they’re afraid it may impact their ability to get licensed, credentialed, or employed. Almost everywhere, simply having therapy is not going to require disclosure if there isn’t an impairing diagnosis. We need to make it easier and less taboo for physicians in all stages of their careers to seek mental health when necessary.  

What steps does Stefanie suggest we take to address mental health concerns?

• Step 1 - Seek Counseling when you need it. Don’t assume that it’s not safe to receive mental healthcare if you need it. Check with your specific hospital or system to see what their practices are and don’t sacrifice your mental health.
• Step 2 - Consider Coaching. Speaking with a like-minded colleague in a coaching capacity is another excellent option for dealing with stressors.

Most importantly, PRACTICE seeking mental health resources to experience well-being!


Guest Bio: Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP

Stefanie is the Chief Medical Officer at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and a board-certified emergency medicine physician. She was the primary advisor to NIOSH for the Impact WellbeingTM guide for healthcare leaders, leads multi-state programs to improve the operational environment of care and remove barriers to mental health care, and serves as a national thought leader in healthcare worker well-being. Stefanie served as the Vice President of Patient and Clinician Experience for Envision over 7 years, serving 26,000 physicians and advanced practice providers with a focus on professional well-being, including translational research and programs designed to bring well-being best practices to clinical environments. She served as lead clinical faculty for the Clinician Experience Project Wellbeing program.

Stefanie earned her Bachelor of Science and Medical Doctor degrees from University of Michigan and completed residency training at the University of Michigan/St. Joseph Mercy emergency medicine residency. She has completed additional training in medical education, research methods, coaching, and positive organizational psychology.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians. 

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more. 

PRACTICE Your Best!