If you've been telling yourself you'll change when life "calms down," this episode is your sign that the time is now. Dr. Joanne Sotelo and Dr. Erin Hurley offer a compassionate but honest wake-up call for women in medicine, reminding us that high-functioning does not equal healthy. They explore the real cost of burnout, the importance of reclaiming personal agency, and how identity shifts, especially with the rise of AI, are forcing physicians to rethink fulfillment, purpose, and self-leadership.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• High-functioning is not the same as healthy. Doing all the things doesn't mean you're well.

• Radical honesty matters: where are you living on autopilot, and what is it costing you?

• Why reclaiming your agency ("I choose. I decide.") is essential for preventing burnout and disengagement.

• The rise of AI is reshaping how physicians view relevance, purpose, and identity in medicine.

• A powerful reflection question: If nothing changes in the next five years, how would you feel about your life?

"The first step is that we need to wake up to the truth. We need to have that radical honesty with ourselves and ask good questions." - Dr. Joanne Sotelo

Connect With Us

Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling stuck or waiting for certainty before changing course? In this episode, we unpack agency for physicians, how guilt and obligation keep us small, and why shifting your brain's filter toward options opens new paths. Hear scripts, supports, and next steps to move before burnout. Press play to choose your next move.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• When the system feels fixed, what does agency look like
• Can you re-aim your RAS to notice options instead of limits
• Where do guilt and obligation skew choices, and what reframes help
• How do you move at 60–70% certainty instead of waiting for perfect
• Which moments call for borrowing belief before confidence arrives

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling like your life is being chosen for you? You're not alone. In this episode, we explore why identity, not willpower, drives behavior, how to break out of autopilot, and ways to choose who we're becoming as medicine advances. Press play to build awareness, set values aligned with goals, and make your next step intentional.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What changes when you stop living by default and insert a reset
• How identity outperforms motivation and how to write it into habits
• Which better questions break autopilot and open real options
• How to choose who you are before what you do, step by step
• What simple rules and routines cut chaos without extra effort
  
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Is AI sharpening care or eroding our humanity? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Susan Shelmerdine to unpack responsible AI in medicine, the mental health risks of overreliance, and the skill of discernment. She shares how improv rebuilt confidence and why connection must stay central. Press play to use AI wisely without losing yourself.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What to do when AI is banned in a clinic without losing efficiency or safety
• Why discernment beats raw knowledge in medicine's AI era
• How to use AI without frying your focus
• When loneliness creeps in, what replaces the chatbot habit and restores real connection
• Why risking rejection may be smarter for your career than playing it safe
  

About Susan Shelmerdine, MBBS, PHD
Dr. Susan is a consultant pediatric radiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and an honorary associate professor at University College London. A 2025 Roentgen Professor of the Royal College of Radiologists, she leads NIHR-funded AI research in children's imaging and pioneered the INTACT biopsy technique.

Connect with Dr. Susan

• Website: Susan Shelmerdine
• LinkedIn: Susan Shelmerdine
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Why are women physicians praised for teamwork yet penalized when we say no? In this episode, we unpack the hidden curriculum and redefine boundaries as clear rules that protect time, energy, and patient care. Press play to protect your yeses and set limits without apology.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What boundaries look like in medicine, set clear rules for time, energy, and workload
• Why self-compassion matters, view boundaries as protection, not rejection
• How to spot overcommitment, pause, reassess roles, and reset before burnout
• The pause script "My schedule is full. I'll review and get back to you."
• When to end after-hours work, set no-charting zones, and finish notes before leaving

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• 154. Grief, Money, and Time Pressures: Holidays for Women in Medicine
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Still trying to handle everything alone? This episode explains why "be strong" becomes a cage for women in medicine and how real support and coaching change energy, clarity, and confidence. Erin and Joanne define what coaching is and is not, and share steps to build boundaries and resilience. Press play to learn how support speeds growth.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• Why "be strong" can trap high achievers in overwork and isolation
• How real support replaces lone-ranger thinking and restores energy
• What coaching is (and isn't) for physicians, plus the therapy boundary
• How a coach exposes blind spots, resets your nervous system, and drives action
• Boundaries that protect time and values without guilt

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling stuck on autopilot, you didn't choose? In this episode, we reveal how tiny, repeatable habits and the right community can shift energy, protect time, and make medicine feel sustainable again. Learn why your "top five" people shape your routines more than willpower, and how simple boundary scripts and 1% course corrections help you finish notes sooner and breathe easier. Press play to see how awareness plus support turns goals into lived habits.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What "good autopilot" looks like and how to build it into your day
• How 1% change (no-snooze rule, earlier lights-out) cascades into better energy
• How moods and behaviors "mirror" in groups and why your five people matter
• Where to find or build communities that celebrate letting go, not just doing more
• First step: awareness, then a boundary script that replaces the default yes

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling stretched thin? In this episode, we show how three minutes of play can reset your nervous system and protect against burnout. We unpack the brain science behind joy, then share quick rituals, between patient resets, and simple team games that boost creativity and connection. Press play to learn small moves that restore energy fast.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• How joy resets your nervous system and sharpens focus
• Why playful breaks boost energy, teamwork, and creativity
• What drains play from women physicians, and how to reclaim it
• Where to anchor micro joy: before charting, between patients, at home
• The ripple of modeled joy on teams, patient care, and family

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• 136. Why Physicians Need Retreats Too With Dr. Chrissie Ott
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine