DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast

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DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast. Doctors devote their lives to caring for others, but the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. As physicians, we make decisions every day about how to prioritize our time, energy, focus, attention, and money. Our lives are in our own hands. But are we making these as conscious choices or are we satisfied with speeding through life in default mode? Hosts Jen Barna MD, Coach Gabriella Dennery MD and Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer interview physicians to explore ways to embrace life AND a medical career, some who’ve chosen a path less traveled and others who have optimized their lives on a traditional medical career path. As coaches from the DocWorking team, Gabriella and Jill discuss actionable tips from their experience coaching physicians. We also invite guests on business, leadership, building financial independence, and other pertinent topics to physicians. If you’re a physician, we want to hear your story! Please email Jen Barna at podcast@docworking.com to be considered. Want to learn more? https://www.DocWorking.com

Episodes

Thursday Dec 15, 2022

214: The Importance of Prioritizing Your Wellbeing To Prevent Burnout with Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington

Thursday Dec 15, 2022

“If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone else. And as caretakers, we are professional caretakers. It is completely true, although we like to think that it's not. We like to think that with our training and with our logic, that we can just overcome everything.”
- Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington

Physicians across the country are feeling burned out. We’re committed to finding ways to decrease stress in our lives and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Between December 2021 and January 2022, about 2,500 US physicians took a survey conducted by researchers at the AMA, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and the University of Colorado. The survey results showed that 63% of physicians had at least one manifestation of burnout. If you're a physician, clinician, or healthcare worker and you're feeling burned out, not only are you not alone, you're likely a part of the majority. Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington is back on the show to have a frank conversation about burnout and the importance of prioritizing your own well-being in order to begin to shift your life. If you're not experiencing burnout, chances are you're already doing some of these things to protect your resilience and well-being.

Dr. Bright Ellington is an internal medicine physician and medical billing expert. She earned her M.D. at the University of Michigan Medical School and trained at the Cambridge Hospital of Harvard Medical School. She's practiced in primary care and psychiatric settings and then transitioned her work into the insurance world where she became a health insurance executive. She's the author of the What Your Doctor Wants You to Know series, is a former NY1 News health contributor, and has been featured in Dallas News, several podcasts, and national magazines. You can hear my previous conversations with Dr. Bright Ellington in the episodes linked below.

Dr. Bright Ellington shares her amazing story of how she took control of her mental and physical health and well-being. Not only did she take the risk to shift her career, but she also had to battle breast cancer. If she hadn’t made the commitment to put herself first when she did, her diagnosis and road to recovery would have been much more difficult. In medical school, physicians are taught to be superhuman at all times, which just isn’t practical or sustainable. We discuss why you should put yourself and your family over your job, why it’s important to lean on friends, therapists, and coaches, and the importance of setting yourself up financially to take the leap.

What’s Inside:

Dr. Bright Ellington’s transformative story of how she overcame burnout and breast cancer.
Why you should prioritize your well-being and your family over work.
The importance of setting yourself up financially before stepping away from a career.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

DocWorking empowers physicians and entire healthcare teams to get on the path to achieving their dreams, both in and outside of work, with programs designed to help you maximize life with minimal time.

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in payments to DocWorking. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!

Thursday Dec 08, 2022

213: How Personalized Medicine Can Change Your Life and the Lives of Your Patients with Dr. Tracy Gapin

Thursday Dec 08, 2022

“Most functional medicine practices out there, they're still treating a problem, treating disease. My focus is really very precisely narrowed down to the optimization, to human performance. How can I improve really four things: better energy, better brain, better body, and better sex? Those are the four things that guys are looking for on a regular basis.”
- Dr. Tracy Gapin

Dr. Tracy Gapin is a board-certified urologist, a world-renowned men’s health & performance expert, and the founder of the Gapin Institute, the global leader in High-Performance Medicine. He’s an Aggie from Texas A&M, went to medical school at UT Southwestern in Dallas, and he completed his general surgery and urology training at the University of Florida. He spent almost 20 years in a busy urology practice in Sarasota, FL where he specialized in robotic surgery, and minimally invasive treatment for prostate cancer and men's health before launching the Gapin Institute. Dr. Gapin is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging, Age Management Medical Group, and International Peptide Society.

Dr. Gapin is a thought leader, a professional speaker, and the author of the best-selling books Male 2.0 and Codes of Longevity. Recognizing our broken healthcare system only treats illness rather than promoting health, performance and longevity, he created the High Performance Living brand, including his proprietary N1 Performance Health program. He has over 20 years of experience focused on providing executives, entrepreneurs, and athletes with a personalized path to optimize their health and fulfill their highest potential. Last year, Dr. Gapin stepped away from his urology practice to focus on functional medicine full time and here, he shares his wisdom.

Functional medicine is really looking at the root cause of a person’s health, and Dr. Gapin dives into everything from the importance of gut health to how genetic testing allows him to create custom healthcare plans for his patients. We also discuss nutrition and optimal diet and how different individuals may have different dietary and exercise needs. Dr. Gapin shares detailed information about his offerings at the Gapin Institute and how other physicians can incorporate functional medicine into their own practices.

What’s Inside:

How understanding functional medicine completely changed Dr. Gapin’s approach to helping his patients
The importance of the gut biome and the impact genetics have on individual health optimizations.
How a customized diet and exercise plan helped one of Dr. Gapin’s patients achieve his health goals.
What to do if you’re interested in incorporating functional medicine into your own practice.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thursday Dec 01, 2022

212: Ways To Stress Less Over The Holidays

Thursday Dec 01, 2022

“And so what I play with a lot with my physician clients is you're really good at being highly capable people who handle challenging and complicated things. But in this setting, can we shift, gear down to something that's more simple, that's more in line with your views, and then it gives you more time to be and to rest and to use this season, the cozier, darker season of this holiday, to slow down and to have a little more presence and comfort for yourself instead of frenzied running around.”
- Jill Farmer

Jen and I want to talk about something that's pretty timely, and that's holiday stress. When we were having a recent conversation on this very subject, we realized that it's one of those things that's universal for a lot of us, no matter what stage or season of life you're in. The holidays, particularly that period between Thanksgiving and the new year, can be really pressurizing for people, so we wanted to talk to you about some ideas of things that may help you reframe some of the stress and help you feel a little more peaceful and connected to what matters most to you this season.

This time of year can often be about everyone else’s expectations, so it’s really important to set the right intentions for ourselves. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to make everything perfect for our families and friends, but we have to stay connected to our own values. If you notice yourself feeling under pressure, take time out to sit down and ask yourself what truly matters. Many of us also feel like there’s never enough time to get everything done, as there are so many extra tasks this time of year. The truth is, the same amount of time in a day exists during the holiday season as it does on normal days, so it helps to take a moment to reframe and set realistic expectations.

Another way we can get a bit triggered is when we’re around extended family that we maybe don’t see that often. It’s easy to regress back into old patterns from childhood and outdated ways of thinking. One of the best ways to plan ahead is to set healthy boundaries, whether that looks like avoiding discussion of certain topics or making a commitment to only spend a certain amount of time around particular family members so you can stay present. Practicing these skills not only helps us enjoy the holidays with loved ones but can also benefit our communications outside of the home in our professional lives.

What’s Inside:

How to handle the holiday seasons with ease and reduce stress.
How to deal with time pressure and trying to manage extra holiday tasks.
The importance of reframing and boundary setting around holiday gatherings.

Mentioned In This Episode:

DocWorking.com

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thursday Nov 24, 2022

211: Being A Unicorn in Physician Leadership with Dr. Camelia Lawrence

Thursday Nov 24, 2022

“You know, to be a unicorn, I think you have to be willing to stand out from the pack and sometimes take a different pathway forward. You can also pay a price for this. The vast majority of people will take the high road. They'll be supportive, encouraging. But there are also others who may not be so kind and may want you to conform. They may also display petty jealousies. They may help to create obstacles in your pathway. But I think for me as a unicorn, I think you have to understand that standing apart from the crowd can attract negative attention. But thankfully, most of the time it is positive.”

- Dr. Camelia Lawrence

Dr. Camelia Lawrence, MD, FACS, is a board-certified surgeon specializing in benign and malignant breast disease. She has fellowship training in advanced breast cancer surgery, including skin- and nipple-sparing mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy, and oncoplastic techniques. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She completed her residency at New York Medical College and then entered her fellowship training in breast surgical oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA. She currently serves as director of breast surgery for the Hospital of Central Connecticut and Midstate Medical Center, responsible for further developing their breast programs.

Dr. Lawrence has always been intrigued by the power of healing. Ever since she was a little girl, she believed that medicine impacts the heart and soul of people, and that it's truly special and amazing to be a part of that. In terms of physician leadership, as a female, woman of color, and a surgeon who has a visible presence, she had an obligation to help others traverse the climb, to inspire others in their career to reach for the stars, regardless of where they may have originated. We discuss what it means to truly be a unicorn and what it means to be ready and prepared, inside and outside of the operating room.

Dr. Lawrence shares the importance of listening to your intuition. Throughout her career, she’s developed her emotional intelligence and stresses self-exploration and self-discovery. She also shares why she believes that the most impactful leadership style is one that is collaborative and why she tells her mentees that they need to take risks and be willing to fail to succeed. We discuss the importance of being in a supportive environment and going where you’re celebrated, not just tolerated. Today, Dr. Lawrence is enjoying the current phase of her journey, where she’s focused on advocacy, community empowerment, and education.

What’s Inside:

What it means to be a unicorn as a physician and what it means to be ready and prepared.
The importance of self-discovery and listening to your intuition.
How being in a supporting environment and taking risks helps you succeed.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thursday Nov 17, 2022

210: One Physician’s Journey into Non-Clinical Work with Dr. Virgie Bright-Ellington

Thursday Nov 17, 2022

“Physicians are the hardest working folks in terms of, on average, if you compare the average physician with any other line of work or profession. We're hardworking folks and there are private equity folks, corporations, non-physician folks in turtlenecks that know this and exploit this. And that is something that we have to be aware of when we are becoming employed physicians.” - Dr. Virgie Bright-Ellington A lot of us are interested in transitioning into nonclinical careers or picking up a side gig that we can do in addition to our clinical career. This is something we get a lot of questions about at DocWorking, and our guest has successfully made that transition and can walk us through the steps. Dr. Virgie Bright-Ellington is an internal medicine physician and medical billing expert. She earned her M.D. at the University of Michigan Medical School and trained at the Cambridge Hospital of Harvard Medical School. She has practiced in primary care and psychiatric settings, and then she transitioned her work into the insurance world where she became a health insurance executive. She’s also the author of the What Your Doctor Wants You to Know series, a former NY1 news health contributor and was featured in Dallas News, several podcasts, and national magazines. Dr. Bright-Ellington has been a guest here on DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast before, and you can listen to the episode all about crushing medical debt by clicking the link below. Here, she shares her journey of how she went from a practicing physician to a successful author and entrepreneur. We discuss nanny culture and living in New York City and what ultimately caused Dr. Bright-Ellington to make the transition to a non-clinical career. As a mother, being there for her children was so important, so she started searching for ways to make passive income while still seeing patients on a part-time basis. However, things didn’t go quite as planned, as her father suddenly passed away and got divorced, causing her to rethink her role as head of the household. She then got a job within the insurance industry handling appeals. We discuss how Dr. Bright-Ellington found her publishing company and PR agent, and advice for others who are considering a similar path. Much of what got her to the next level was good old-fashioned hard work, persistence, and making the right connections. We also talk about investing, specifically using your retirement accounts to fund your startup business venture and the importance of having a solid marketing plan. It’s a misconception that entrepreneurship is an easy road, and Dr. Bright-Ellington pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to succeed. What’s Inside:  • Dr. Bright-Ellington’s journey from practicing physician to entrepreneur. • What to expect when transitioning to a non-clinical career. • How to use retirement accounts to finance your startup. • Why having a solid marketing plan is key in entrepreneurial success. Mentioned In This Episode: • DocWorking.com • Americans and Crushing Medical Debt with Dr. Virgie Bright Ellington – EP 195 Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships. Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE. You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today! DocWorking empowers physicians and entire healthcare teams to get on the path to achieving their dreams, both in and outside of work, with programs designed to help you maximize life with minimal time. If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful! We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in payments to DocWorking. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!

Thursday Nov 10, 2022

209: Changing the Medical Culture One Team at a Time with Leadership Expert Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken

Thursday Nov 10, 2022

“If we want culture change, we need to bring a new top leader and they are going to kind of drive culture change from the top down. That's not really how it works. It has to be at least a top-down and a bottom-up effort combined.”
- Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken

We're excited to bring back international coach and consultant, Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken. She's a public thought leader and coauthor of the book, “Between Power and Irrelevance: The Future of Transnational NGOs”, published by Oxford University Press in 2020. Tosca is an international expert on leadership and has many insights into physicians and leadership. In fact, she's recently developed a course along with us at DocWorking on remote leadership for physicians, and the course is available to international leaders in sectors outside of healthcare.

Our thoughtful conversation includes Tosca’s opinions about organizational culture, the culture of medicine, and how her knowledge of cultures in other sectors intersect with the culture of medicine. We discuss the various problems that we have in our culture, especially the systemic problems that we know need to be fixed, and how that can influence individuals within the culture. The good news is that we as individuals, even in a broken culture, have agency. We know enough about organizational culture and what makes something healthy or not healthy, sometimes even toxic or broken, regardless of whether it’s the healthcare sector or another. If you’re a team leader, you have agency through the modeling of healthy habits, daily practices, and behaviors that you want your team members to demonstrate as well. You can support them by encouraging them, giving them positive feedback, and creating a culture of accountability.

Tosca shares her thoughts on the importance of honoring each other as vulnerable human beings and how to best support each other as we move through the workday. We talk about some of the unique challenges in virtual environments as well as within the healthcare community, especially those barriers to setting aside time to connect with team members outside of the day-to-day work with patients. Tosca also provides her insights into how organizational cultures can change from the bottom up.

What’s Inside:

Why it’s important for teams to see each other as vulnerable humans.
How modeling healthy behaviors can help team leaders create positive change.
Challenges within healthcare systems and barriers to organizational culture change.
The high costs of turnover, especially within the healthcare sector.
How organizational cultures can change from the bottom up.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2-Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thursday Nov 03, 2022

208: Passive Income and Real Estate Syndication as a Path to Financial Independence with Dr. Cherry Chen

Thursday Nov 03, 2022

“One thing I do want to point out to investors is when we look at investments, the first thing we look at is the return. I’m guilty of it because that’s the whole point of the investment to see how much my money can grow. And then maybe the last thing we’ll look at is, oh, who is running it? But I think the more you invest, the more you really look into these, it should be the other way around. It should be who is running the property.”

- Dr. Cherry Chen

Although Dr. Cherry Chen specializes in internal medicine, she’s also an expert in real estate. Dr. Chen is also the founder of The Real Estate Physician, a business she created in 2018 to empower her physician colleagues in commercial real estate investments. Dr. Chen received her M.D. at Texas A&M College of Medicine with honors and completed her training at Oregon Health Science University. She has experience with commercial real estate investments across multifamily, self-storage, manufactured home parks, and as a limited passive investor, as well as raising private equity capital.

After contributing to her 401k and IRA, Dr. Chen grew curious about other investment opportunities outside of the stock market. She was also curious about the potential for early retirement, financial independence, and growing her net worth, even though she was fairly young in her career. Although she loves being a physician, Dr. Chen began wondering what her alternatives would be if she decided to stop practicing medicine and how to make her money work hard on her behalf. This inspired her to pursue real estate and share her wisdom with other doctors through The Real Estate Physician. Through her business, she helps others grow their wealth independent of the time they put in as doctors.

Dr. Chen shares what the process of diving into her first real estate investment was like and how to make intelligent investments. She also highlights the important characteristics investors should consider if they’re interested in passive investments, one of them being a thorough assessment of the property management company. Dr. Chen also explains how syndications work and the advantages they provide to investors. We wrap up by discussing the difference between multifamily investments and commercial investments like self-storage and mobile home parks.

What’s Inside:

How Dr. Chen became interested in real estate and why she started The Real Estate Physician.
What investors should look for when considering passive investments.
Key criteria to assess when considering a property manager.
What syndications are and how they work.
The difference between multifamily investments and self-storage or mobile home parks.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2 Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

DocWorking empowers physicians and entire health care teams to get on the path to achieving their dreams, both in and outside of work, with programs designed to help you maximize life with minimal time.

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, and Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thursday Oct 27, 2022

207: Pre-Med Tips & How To Get In to Medical School With Dr. Shirag Shemmassian

Thursday Oct 27, 2022

“Learning how to position yourself to impress admissions committees and seeing that happen and then helping other people and then through word of mouth, someone telling someone else that they wanted to go into this field as well and really helping them, I think just further reinforced that my role was to help other people become wonderful physicians."
- Dr. Shemmassian

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting. He's one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions, college admissions and graduate school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school and top colleges using his systematic and proprietary approach. A lot of our physician listeners may get questions often, but there also may be parents listening who have high-school-age kids thinking about where they're going to apply to undergraduate school. Or they may have kids who are pre-med in college applying to medical school. Here, Dr. Shemmassian shares his wisdom and gives us insights into the process, which can often be stressful and overwhelming.

From a young age, Dr. Shemmassian knew he wanted to go into healthcare. His immigrant parents were always talking about going to school and getting a job in a helping profession to earn a living. He really enjoyed science and was always drawn toward medicine. when I was in college, I was pre-med the whole time and taking all my courses, I did quite well. However, as someone who grew up with Tourette's Syndrome, over time, he was nudged towards psychiatry and mental health. When he graduated, Dr. Shemmassian decided to make a pivot and did his Ph.D. in clinical psychology rather than go to medical school. Even when he was in college, he was helping people get into medical schools and things like that. His parents didn't know how to navigate the educational system here in the states. Continuing to help others around him get into schools further reinforced that his role was to assist people in becoming wonderful physicians.

In this engaging conversation, we discuss whether a school’s status or prestige plays a critical role in getting accepted into a good medical school. We also talk about combined programs and the difference between an M.D. and a D.O. Dr. Shemmassian shares his opinions on choosing between traditional medical school and P.A. school and who it would benefit. We wrap up with tips for nontraditional students who are interested in becoming a physician and what that admissions process could look like.

What’s Inside:

School prestige and its impact on getting accepted into medical school.
Differences between M.D. and D.O. programs.
P.A. school and who it’s best suited for.
Tips for non-traditional students.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Find full transcripts of DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast episodes on the DocWorking Blog

The past few weeks have been busy at DocWorking! We have been working behind the scenes to add even more CME credits to the THRIVE memberships.

Let your CME budget help you prioritize your own wellness so you can get on with living your best life on your own terms, as defined by you, with DocWorking THRIVE.

You can take the first step today by taking our 2 Minute Balance to Burnout Quiz! Where are you on the Balance to Burnout Continuum? Take the quiz and find out today!

DocWorking empowers physicians and entire health care teams to get on the path to achieving their dreams, both in and outside of work, with programs designed to help you maximize life with minimal time.

If you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review, we would be extremely grateful!

We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean.

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.