A broken system won’t fix itself, and no one is coming to the rescue. Medicine is fraying under the weight of burnout, misaligned incentives, and systemic inertia. Yet, hope isn’t lost. Change is still possible, but it won’t come from the top down. In this episode, we explore how grassroots leadership, inner work, and community involvement can become the antidote to despair in modern medicine. Finally, we dig into the personal cost of service and the tools we need to heal ourselves while fighting for change.

Guest bio:  Dr. Andrea Austin is the inaugural Emergency Medicine Program Director at Sacred Heart in Pensacola, Florida. As a Navy veteran, her military service taught her how to perform under pressure and lead teams in high-stakes environments. She brings that same focus to her work in medical education, physician well-being, and healthcare systems change. Dr. Austin is the author of Revitalized: A Guidebook to Following Your Healing Heartline and host of the Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare podcast.

Books mentioned in this episode

• What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

We Discuss:

• The Case for a New Residency Program
• What It Means to Be a Change Maker
• Working Within the Domains of Change
• Overcoming Social Loafing in Medicine
• Rethinking Suicide Risk in Emergency Medicine
• The Call for Psychiatric Fellowships in EM
• Reclaiming Wellness Through the “Heart Line”
• The Inner Work is the System Work
• Building a Portfolio Career

Mentioned in this episode:

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