Stimulus - Learn Tools to Crush It in Your Medical Career – Details, episodes & analysis

What would you do if your job ended tomorrow? Even though you might want to say, “Take this job and shove it,” that won’t help build stepping stones to your next job.

In this episode, we discuss: what it’s like for physician coaches who regularly work with docs in this situation, getting fired,  dealing with unexpected events that shake up professional stability, planning for career disruption, the importance of networking, and finding your clinical practice N plus one.

💡 Check out our Free Resources specifically designed to address pain points in medical practice💡

Guest Bio: Health Joliff, DO, is dual-boarded in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. He is a certified executive coach and can be found at Physician Coaching Solutions. 

We Discuss:

• We plan for what happens at the bedside. Why don't we plan for what might happen to our careers?
• What happens to the majority of docs who come to coaching wanting to get out of medicine
• The importance of clinical medicine + 1
• Networking doesn't have to be a massive labor. Small steps can make a big difference.
• Great doctors getting fired
• First steps after losing employment: be humble and don't burn bridges
• Strategies for bringing up having been fired in an interview
• The therapeutic power of venting (versus dumping)
• Should you accept your group's director position?
• The distinction between imposter syndrome and inexperience
• Your contract has not been renewed
• You are a new resident, and your health system suddenly closes
• An older physician plans to retire in a year and is uncertain what to do next
• Your first job out of training will likely not be your last

Mentioned in this episode:

Awake + Aware Bend May 5-7, 2025 | Our in person live event

Ready to reset, recharge, and level up? Awake + Aware is a game-changing 3-day workshop where you will learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited. 🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

Awake + Aware Bend 2025

5 Free Tools To Make Medical Practice Easier

Scripts for your least favorite conversations. The quick and dirty guide to calling consults. A 10-minute "Driveway Debrief" to switch off from work. My favorite documentation templates. Step-by-step guide for delivering the news of death.

Free Resources Link

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Many of us have ideas that could make a great business. Most of the ideas, however, never see the light of day. It can feel like a big leap from physician to entrepreneur. So how do you do it? We speak with Dr. Jason Hine, the founder of SimKit, and see how he went from community emergency medicine doctor to successful business owner. 

In this episode, we cover how Jason started his business, accounting for the knowledge gap between clinician and entrepreneur, setting boundaries, why saying hell yes has a critical proviso, the inevitable oscillation between passion and money, and a marketing exercise that’s critical to walk through before you even consider jumping in on a new product or business.

💡 Check out our Free Resources specifically designed to address pain points in medical practice💡

Guest Bio: Jason Hine, MD, is an emergency physician in southern Maine, where he is the Director of Education for his community hospital. He is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Temple University Hospital, where he served as chief resident. His interests include procedural skillset decay and the role of academics in improving the recruitment, retention, and satisfaction of community physicians. He is the founder of SimKit, a medical education company focusing on delivering convenient and effective hands on procedural skills practice.

We Discuss:

• Sharks and boulders
• Build a business plan early
• Effective resources and dead-end rabbit holes
• The first thing to consider before starting a business: the pain point and value proposition
• Getting out of the Lone Wolf mindset and forming an advisory committee
• What challenge surprised Jason as he got the business rolling
• How do you pay your advisory committee before your business makes money?
• What it means money-wise to give someone equity in your company
• Negotiating equity stake and why contracts are by nature adversarial
• The tipping point from dreamer to doer
• A self-reflective prompt that puts endeavors in proper perspective
• It might be a hell yes for you but a no for your family
• Protecting immutable boulders
• Logistics of setting and keeping boundaries
• Nothing super cool happened because someone just wanted to make a bunch of money
• Finding your ideal customer before the product even exists
• A marketing exercise to do when a product is still an idea

Mentioned in this episode:

Awake + Aware Bend May 5-7, 2025 | Our in person live event

Ready to reset, recharge, and level up? Awake + Aware is a game-changing 3-day workshop where you will learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited. 🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

Awake + Aware Bend 2025

Awake + Aware Bend May 5-7, 2025 | Our in person live event

Ready to reset, recharge, and level up? Awake + Aware is a game-changing 3-day workshop where you will learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited. 🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

Awake + Aware Bend 2025

Never Lame. Never Spammy. Always Fresh.

If you’d like a few minutes of career-elevating curated kickassery delivered to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

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Phantasia Kataleptike, a lesser-known gem from Stoic philosophy, offers a transformative approach to life's challenges. This practice of 'objective representation' strips away the layers of subjective judgment that often cloud our perceptions. Imagine the power of viewing a setback not as a disaster but simply as a fact of life, a moment ripe with potential for growth. How does this shift affect our inner turmoil? The Stoics had insights that might surprise you, blending ancient wisdom with actionable strategies for modern living. 

In this pod, we break down the essence of Phantasia Kataleptike and multiple methods for employing it as a tool for equanimity and de-catastrophization. 

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

We Discuss:

• Defining Phantasia Kataptike
• Acceptance of what is
• A dog and a cart | Epictetus’ classic simile
• Why the words we use impact us as much as (or more than) they impact others
• The lost ship
• The A-hole in a Jaguar
• Operationalziing Phantasia Kataleptike
• Valence | Awareness of emotion and narrative 
• The Dichotomy of Control
• How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
• Actively de-catastrophizing 
• Shifting from ‘what if’ to ‘why did’ to ‘so what?’ to ‘what’s next’
• The threat-challenge seesaw
• What to do when the emperor banishes you
• The counterarguments to Phantasia Kataleptike

Mentioned in this episode:

4 Free Resources specifically designed to address pain points in medical practice

Scripting your least favorite conversations. The Driveway Debrief. My 4 favorite documentation templates. The quick and dirty guide to calling consults.

Free Resources Link

1 on 1 Physician Coaching

I work with physicians to help them flourish in medical practice. If you're feeling stuck, burned out, or in trouble at work because of communication or conflict, check out our FAQ page for more info. Ready for real change? Book a discovery call. It’s free, low-pressure, and will give you clarity on your next steps.

Physician Coaching FAQ

NY Times bestselling author Michele Harper, MD on setting boundaries, pre-shift routines, guarding the vulnerable, microaggressions, racism in the emergency department, and why inaction is just as much a choice as action. 

Guest Bio: Dr. Michele Harper, is an emergency physician and author of The New York Times best selling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. She's been interviewed on Trevor Noah, Fresh Air, CNN, NBC, amongst many others. Michele is also a widely published essayist, often focusing on race and medicine. Her writing shares her personal journey that started as a child in an abusive household, then to undergrad at Harvard, medical school at Stony Brook, New York, and now her life as an attending physician. And as you'll hear, she's got a personal mission to be a guardian for the vulnerable.

This episode is brought to you by RingRescue, the new standard for stuck ring removal. RingRescue helps remove stuck rings in a non-destructive way and, when used with their non-hydrating lubricant, significantly reduces the need for ring cutting.  Use the code stimulus at checkout when you purchase your RingRescue finger compression device to get an extra bottle of their lube. Extra lube, free fifty free! Ringrescue.com, checkout code stimulus.

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• The importance of setting boundaries, especially when people are able to reach you 24/7 [03:20];
• Her essay, “Sovereign Bodies” (The Cut), where Michelle shares a story demonstrating how difficult it can be for patients and providers to get the help they need [07:15];
• Michele’s pregame routine before a shift in the ED (which includes probiotic chai tea and Eckhart Tolle) [12:00];
• How growing up in an abusive household groomed Michele for a career in emergency medicine [16:45];
• Why loving medicine is not enough to keep you in the game [19:15];
• Patients who have a special place in Michele’s heart:  children and anyone who might be in danger [23:00];
• An excerpt from The...

Who teaches doctors how to speak to patients (or each other)? It’s usually something that’s picked up as you go. Let’s be honest though, some clinicians are much better at clear and empathetic communication than others. It’s an under taught skill that’s way more important than the attention it gets. In this episode we take a look into the mind and practices of master clinician Loren Rauch. Loren is one of the wisest clinicians we know and intentionally applies humanity to every aspect of his practice. Among the topics addressed are:  the ethical imperative of the well-deserved compliment; navigating difficult conversations; communicating with trainees, nurses and new learners; and tips for dealing with patient anxiety.

This episode is brought to you by Mar-Med, makers of the industry leading and #1 selling Tourni-Cot digital tourniquet. What you may not know is that Mar-Med also makes a newly re-engineered balloon extractor for nasal foreign bodies, the one size fits all Uni-Cot digital tourniquet, and the Derma-Stent drain that greatly simplifies loop abscess procedures. I’ve used Mar-Med’s products hundreds of times and can attest to their efficacy and simplicity of use. You can check out all of their products and get free samples of whatever you’d like to try at marmed.com/stimulus. Who doesn’t love free samples, especially when it’s awesome stuff? Check it out at marmed.com/stimulus.

Guest Bio: Loren Rauch, MD is a graduate of UCSF Medical School and holds masters degrees in both public health and health sciences from UC Berkeley. He completed his emergency medicine training at Harbor, UCLA and, in addition to decades of clinical experience in the United States, he has spent time as an instructor for first responders in the jungles of Southeast Asia. 

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• Why we should thank patients for coming in to the emergency department, regardless of their chief complaint [05:15];
• Using humor to reframe something you dread into something that makes you laugh [10:10];
• Tips for helping ease the anxiety many patients (especially kids) have when in the ED [11:40];
• Pros and cons of wearing a white coat [19:10];
• Different approaches to informing patients about what tests you plan to do [22:15];
• How to deliver the bad news of a miscarriage [24:55];
• Helping family members when their loved one is dying [30:30];
• The importance of taking a mindful pause after a patient’s death [36:50];
• The heightened responsibility of the team leader in the ED [41:00];
• Why doctors need to have sympathy for

When you react in anger, what is your intent? Often it's to lash out; the reflective and thoughtful part of your brain is taken out of picture. But if you think of a really clever and biting response, what do you hope will be the result of those words? It’s unlikely to persuade. More likely it’s a quasi-cognitive-orgasmic release of F*&k You.

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We Discuss:

[00:00:29] The fires outside and in;

[00:01:22] Considering your intent in responses;

[00:04:17] When you react in anger, what is your intent?

[00:04:55] How being in an extended legal action made me a monster while fighting a monster;

[00:07:29] Responding with hate vs wisdom.

Gender and racial bias are pervasive across all aspects of society, medicine notwithstanding.  In this episode, Esther Choo MD, MPH (@choo_ek), a titan for the cause of gender and racial equity discusses: a rubric for deciding 'yes or no', single payer healthcare, why confining medical practice to the bedside can be an exercise in futility, sexism and racism in medicine, the wage gap, workforce vs. leadership demographics, managing overtly racist patients, and why the culture of medicine is ripe for sexual harassment.

This episode is brought to you by Mar-Med, makers of the industry leading and #1 selling Tourni-Cot digital tourniquet. What you may not know is that Mar-Med also  makes a newly re-engineered balloon extractor for nasal foreign bodies, the one size fits all Uni-Cot digital tourniquet, and the Derma-Stent drain that greatly simplifies loop abscess procedures. I’ve used Mar-Med's products hundreds of times and can attest to their efficacy and simplicity of use. You can check out all of their products and get free samples of whatever you’d like to try at marmed.com/stimulus. Who doesn’t love free samples, especially when it’s awesome stuff? 

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• Esther’s first outward advocacy:  responding to the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act [03:44];
• How you decide whether to say “yes” or “no” when you don’t have time to do everything that’s asked of you [06:15];
• Why investing in the development of a single-payer health system would provide better care upstream so that we can save on our costly low-value care downstream [11:00]; 
• What Esther will always stand up against:  inequity [17:20];
• The importance of advocating for systems solutions to problems, and how confining your practice to the hospital is an “exercise in futility” [19:00];
• Esther’s pre- and post-game routines before and after night shifts [25:20];
• Lessons Esther tries to impart on her trainees in the ED [29:00];
• The importance of meeting patients where they are, whether they’re a heroin addict, borderline personality, or an a-hole [32:50]; 
• Esther’s podcast, Doctor’s Log, which is a diary of the experience treating patients during the COVID pandemic [34:40];
• How Esther responds when a patient refuses to be treated by her...

Procrastination isn't what you might think. Do you really not have the time to get that thing done, or is there something else getting in the way? In this episode, Christina Shenvi MD, PhD breaks down: why we procrastinate and how to break free of that habit, reframing 'busyness', value based scheduling, how she decides on responding yes or no, how to say no in a skillful yet honest manner, and techniques to keep up with email. If you want to go deeper into all of this in a small group setting, Dr. Shenvi has an online time management course that's not to be missed.

Guest Bio: Dr. Christina Shenvi MD, PhD is a fellowship trained geriatric emergency physician from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she is the director of the UNC Office of Academic Excellence. She's host of her own show, GEMCAST, focusing on clinical topics to help physicians, trainees, nurses, and paramedics who take care of older adults, particularly in the acute care setting.

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We Discuss:

• Why “I’m too busy” implies that you have no control over your situation or what you’re doing [01:50];
• Value-based scheduling, which means evaluating tasks to be sure they align with your big values [08:20];
• Techniques for saying “no” when invited to do something that doesn’t excite you [11:40];
• Why procrastination at its core is more about emotions than productivity [18:00];
• The determinants of self-worth:  ability, effort, and performance [21:30];
• Procrastination, and how it is one of many self-worth protection strategies [22:50];
• Reasons for large activation barriers for getting certain things done [25:00]; 
• Tips for avoiding procrastination and self-sabotage [28:30];
• Why we have to have a certain amount of tolerance for failure in order to succeed [37:30];
• Ways to keep up with email (and other shallow work) [39:25];.
• And more.

A conversation with Dr. Salim Rezaie on discipline vs stubbornness, working through depression, transforming his body from 260 lbs to super fit, the aggregation of marginal gains, and intentional living. 

Guest Bio: Salim Rezaie is double board certified in internal medicine and emergency medicine. In addition to working clinically as an emergency physician, he runs one of the most popular medical education websites on the planet, Rebel EM. 

We discuss:

• What has been most challenging for Salim while caring for patients in the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic [03:20];
• The spark for Salim’s transformation from being “festively plump” to super fit [06:30]; 
• Tips for embarking on a diet and exercise program, and the importance of actually scheduling time to do it [10:35];
• How intermittent fasting was a way for Salim to engage in the cultural practice of Ramadan [15:45];
• The distinction between discipline and being stubborn [19:30];
• Why success relies on the aggregation of marginal gains [22:46];
• Social media and how these tools are only as good as the person who uses it [26:00];
• The lifestyle of instant gratification and how people often don’t appreciate the hard work that goes into something for it to be successful [26:55]
• Why comparing yourself to others is the opposite of gratitude [31:00];
• The stigma of mental illness and 3 things Salim learned in psychotherapy [00:35:12];
• The value of embracing failure equally as you would success [43:30];
• Salim’s core principles and priorities [44:30];
• The most unexpected book that Salim has read in the last year [48:20].

When we hear the word stoic, what often comes to mind is a repression of emotion, a stone-faced response to adversity. You can think of that kind of stoicism as using it with a lowercase 's'. What we're talking about today is the philosophical school of Stoicism, Stoic with a capital 'S'. At its core, Stoicism provides a way to find equanimity no matter the circumstance and take on whatever adversity is thrown at you.

Guest Bio: Dan McCollum, MD is an award winning educator and assistant professor of emergency medicine and Augusta University. His translation of philosophical ideas into real world practice (both in and outside of medicine) have garnered international acclaim. Dan was our guest on Stimulus episode 1: Verbal Judo.

Awake + Aware | Our 2025 Live Event

⭐ Join us at Awake and Aware 2025, a game-changing 3-day workshop from May 5-7 in Bend, Oregon. Learn how to stay cool when the pressure’s on and lock in the mindset you need to flourish. Space is limited.

🖱️ Website: Awakeandawarebend.com

🎓 P.S. Yes, this is a CME event!

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• The difference between stoicism (with a lowercase “s”) and Stoicism (with a capital “S”);
• The 3 disciplines of Stoicism;
• How you can apply Stoic principles to common (unpleasant) scenarios;
• How to develop some of the Stoic habits and responses to stress;
• How a Stoic processes anger;
• And more.