Moms of Medicine

"That was the moment where I almost quit. That was my pivotal moment. We saw so many people die as a level 1 trauma center so there was so much emotional baggage that we carry as doctors through that, but I never faltered. It was always 'this is what I want to do, this is what I was born to do,' and that moment when I was verbally attacked at this grand rounds, that questioned everything to me about my choices in neurosurgery."This episode is with Dr. Sheri Dewan, a board certified neurosurgeon practicing in Chicago. In this episode we talk about:- Sheri's inspiration behind becoming a neurosurgeon- Talking with her husband while they were dating about what it would look like for the two of them to get married and her have a career in neurosurgery- How she dealt with the numerous people who told her she couldn't be a neurosurgeon- Having her children in residency training- The pivotal moment in which an attending clearly didn't want her in the residency program, publicly humiliated her and how that was the first time she thought about quitting- The support of her parents, husband and mentors that carried her through- The times in training when she might go several days where she only saw her children while they were asleep- Writing her memoir, Cutting A Path- Doing pro-bono surgeries in India, another thing people told her she couldn't do or would no longer have the desire to do after finishing her training- And so much more! Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Dr. Dewan:- Instagram  @drsheridewan- drsheridewan.com- Grab a copy of her book, Cutting A Path

"I got in a lot of trouble and so I will never forget my attending said you will never keep the lights on if you practice like that."This episode is with Dr. Lauren Hughes who is a primary care pediatrician in Kansas City.In this episode we talk about:- Having kids in residency and how this might have been the worst time to have kids but there's also no good time- Having a baby intern year and then having twins in March 2020, a few months before she was going to finish residency and start her own practice- Her breastfeeding story and how it inspired her to get extra training in lactation medicine- Being a physician and caring for a child with a rare disease (her son has MCAD where he is missing an enzyme that converts fat to sugar)- The inspiration behind opening her own direct primary care practice- Operationally what it looks like to run a direct care practice and how this differs from a concierge practice- How she got started on social media and what she uses it for today- and so much more! Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Dr. Hughes:- Instagram @bloomdpc- drlaurenhughes.com

" I remember I was working a morning shift and it was 7 or 730 and I remember exactly where I am because I have a spatial memory and I was in between these two rooms. One had a STEMI and I was trying to get him to the cath lab, the other had a stroke I was trying to administer tpa and I get a phone call and the nanny is calling out."This episode is with Dr. Camie Sorenson who is an Emergency Medicine physician in Fresno, California. In this episode we talk about:- Meeting her husband and the decision not to factor in where he was living when she made her rank list- Making a long distance relationship work- Infertility and how she thinks her job contributed to this- How she managed to undergo fertility treatments- Being the first woman at her job to take maternity leave- Going on to have 4 children and what that looks like today now that they are a little older- Quitting her job when it wasn't working for her- Advocating for yourself and knowing your worthand so much more! Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.com

I answer some listener questions in this episode including:- My journey through med school, residenc, fellowship into being an attending- The specifics of my current job- What it's like training and raising a family in Boston- If I ever feel guilty about choosing medicine as a mom- Expectations vs reality - what I hold onto and what I let go- Best time to have a baby- Using a financial planner- Self doubt as a new attending- Dealing with childhood illness- Balancing things with spouse- Setting boundaries with workand more!

"I had Ethan when I was a fourth year resident and then my younger son, Lane, I had as a first year attending. Both of them were NICU babies. They were both preterm delivieries, both had quite a number of complications and even more prominent a memory than the experience in the ICU was that desire to avoid being a burden to your colleagues."This episode is with Dr. Erika Rangel, who is a trauma and critical care surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.We discuss:- Parental leave policies and how these effect birth and non-birth parents- Health outcomes for pregnant surgical trainees- Culture change- Her own story with having a child in training and another child later through IVF, both of whom spent time in the NICU

"For some reason we were taught that if we were good at our jobs we could do it and never be affected by it. I don't know who told us that but that was stupid."This episode is with Dr. Jessi Gold, who is a psychiatrist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the Chief Wellness Office for the University of Tennesse System. In this episode we talk about:- Her memoir "How Do You Feel"- The decision to share her story- Changing the culture in medicine to allow us to be humans who have emotions, and how we will all be better for it- How to make it through your day and also make time to feel your feelings- Her thoughts on wellness culture and "hacks" and her personal experience trying some of these- And so much more! Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Dr. Jessi Gold:- https://www.drjessigold.com/- Buy her book! You can find it on Amazon, BAM! books a million, Book Shop, Barnes & Noble- Instagram @drjessigold

"I am proud of myself for everything I've overcome but I also think it's ridiculous some of the sutff I had to go through to get here and I think some of it made me a better person and I think some of it was just bad to go through."This episode is with Dr. Cornelia Griggs, who is a pediatric surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.In this episode we talk about:- Her memoir "The Sky was Falling" about her time working in NYC during the pandemic- Finding out her husband was sick shortly after they got married as surgical residents- The decision to have kids in training- Living with her kids away from her husband for a year while she finished fellowship (this just so happened to be when the pandemic hit)- Her thoughts on the tension between training needing to be rigorous in order to become a surgeon but also understanding people are humans who will face challenges and need time to take care of themselves- and so much more! Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Cornelia:- Instagram @dr.corneliagriggs- Corneliagriggs.com- Purchase her book "The Sky Was Falling"

"Now in this day and age of electronic everything, people can message you all the time. So if you're not willing to say these are the times I'm willing to be available for work and these are the times I'm not, you could be working 24/7.There's this paradigm of inbox zero but even when you get to inbox zero you turn off your computer, theres' something that's in there again. So inbox zero really only happens if you leave your job or all your patients die. So it's sort of just growing your tolerance - I'm not going to check things between this time and this time, I'm not going to look on the weekends, I'm not going to check on vacation. It's like, are you allowed to say that? It's like sacrelig, but I think that's an example of setting a boundary around your time - when you will and won't answer pages, when you will or wont take extra shifts, if you're willing to do unpaid work. You just really have to decide."This episode is with Dr. Karen Leitner, who is a physician coach based in Massachusetts. In this episode we talk about:- Working full time vs part time- Setting boundaries with the electronic medical record (i.e. how to not always be tending to your inbox)- Taking care of patients in the age of open charts- Mom guilt- Burnout- Mental health concerns- Negotiating for yourself- Transitioning out of clinical medicineConnect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Karen:- www.karenleitnermd.com- Instagram @karenleitnermd

"I've hit the point of burnout multiple times in my life. Most recently it was after I started my coaching business. So I was working full time as a primary care outaptient physician and I was coaching my clients on my admin half day and weekends. I realized that what was burning me out was medicine post-pandemic. I just couldn't do it anymore and it took me a while to recognize why I was feeling the way I was feeling. So I took some time to self-reflect. Actually a year ago in August I took 4 weeks off of unpaid leave becasue I was just fed up. I needed some space and some time to figure out how I am going to move forward in everything that I love. I love clinical medicine. I love building that relationship with my patients, but then there's all of the other BS. Here in the United States the system is broken - period. We can make small changes here and there but in the end I decided that being a full time physician and full time coach wasn't possible."This episode is with Dr. Flora Sinha, who is a primary care physician, a physician coach, and a podcast host.In this episode we talk about:- Her experience with secondary infertility- How/when she decided to stop fertility treatments- Happiness with her current family size- How to respond to invasive/inappropriate questions about your personal life, particularly your family size- Her experience with burnout- Taking 4 weeks of unpaid leave to figure out how she wanted to move forward- Starting her coaching business- Her podcast - The Beyond Podcast- Her decision to share her life publicly on social media and why Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.comConnect with Dr. Flora Sinha:- Instagram @drflorasinha- Instagram @the.beyondpodcast- the beyond podcast on apple, spotify, and youtube

"I wanted to maintain my running and then work was catching up and I think that's when it got kind of crazy in terms of you know I'm trying to do too much. And when you have too many balls in the air waiting until they hit the ground and a lot of problems with mariage, a lot of problems with kids, and a lot of problems at work. That was when I was like 'I need to figure out what to do here because I can't continue like this. It's time to prioritize. I don't want to look back and have my husband hate me, my kids hate me, I hate my life, my job.' That was kind of a big time that I needed to consider what to do."This episode is with Dr. Lauren Puretz, who is a board certified OBGYN practicing gynecology in Colorado, an elite ultrarunner, a wife, and a mother to 2 children.In this episode we talk about:- How her relationhsip with exercise evolved in different phases of parenthood and her medical career- Being married to another physician, who is a neurologist- How and why she chose to give up obstetrics and focus on gynecology- Finding the time to train for and race ultra distances while also working as an obgyn, being a wife, and being a mom- Big changes at her prior job that led her to consider either leaving medicine altogether or opening her own practice- The decision to start her own practice, and the logistics and challenges that went into this- Her thoughts on "doing it all" (spoiler alert - you can't) Connect with Moms of Medicine:- Instagram @moms_of_medicine- Momsofmedicine@gmail.com Connect with Lauren:- Instagram  @Lauren1642