Inspired Mom MDs

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/81.

“All those things are just roles,” says Dr. Valentina Serna – physician, mother of three, entrepreneur and podcaster. “I’ve been working a lot lately to not attach myself to those identities. Because I’m just me.”

When I heard her say that I thought about how easy it is to tie yourself to a role in life. 

I thought of every mom in medicine that a...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources at inspiredmommds.com/80.

I suddenly knew what drove me, right there on the treadmill. 

I busy myself with small wins, thinking they’ll move me forward, and quietly avoid the big wins, that honestly scared me a little. 

What woke me up is realizing what I lose when I don’t act. The weeks slip by, opportunities are wasted, and I feel potential sliding through my fingers. 

Walking in place tha...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/79.

What if chasing your dreams doesn’t harm your kids … but quietly shapes them into thriving adults?

Dr. Rita Fisler has lived that question. She had two babies while a medical student at Harvard. She then rose to chief resident in dermatology and built a 20-year career, all while navigating the fears and worries of the impact a medical career has...

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health (For immediate help, text or dial 988 in the U.S. for The National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). 

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/78.

Every year, it is as if an entire hospital ward, filled with doctors, nurses, and colleagues, vanishes without a trace, lost to suicide. Behind each of these lives is a story, a fam...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/77.

Life can feel like it takes place on a racetrack.

Do you ever notice how the days go by so fast you barely have time to catch your breath? 

It’s too fast to fit in things that keep you healthy, like exercise and sleep. And then, it goes too fast to actually enjoy them when you do!

And sometimes, so fast that it leaves you with guilt over missing f...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/76.

What if you could honor your kids, care for your parents, and still keep a piece of yourself intact? 

If you’re a sandwich generation mom, you know the struggle is real. Days start before the sun even rises and end long after it sets – you’re still carrying the weight of kids, parents, and patients.

Some days it feels like there’s no breathing ro...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/75.

Balance takes effort, plain and simple. 

It’s something you build, one choice at a time. And for many women in medicine, the blueprint they were handed never included room for school drop-offs, sick days, or space to breathe.

Today, I’m talking with Dr. Sarah Slater, a pediatric nurse practitioner and founder of Balanced Kids, who has reimagined ...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/74.

You’re working in a system built for men 

Where speed is prized over listening, 

and “efficiency” means cutting patients short.

The burden of extra work, the unpaid hours, the impossible expectations—they’re not in your head. They’re backed by data.

Today, we get to the root of a pattern many women physicians feel but rarely discuss, gender bias fo...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/73.

I sat down to record this today… and honestly, I didn’t want to. 

Not because I don’t care, but maybe because I care too much. The truth is some days it feels like I’m pouring that care into a void. 

My kid’s heading off to college soon, and there’s a sadness hanging in the air that I can’t quite shake. I’ve built something I believe in, but late...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources at inspiredmommds.com/72.

There’s a unique resilience you learn when a toddler has a full-scale meltdown in the grocery store, or when a perfect beach day is derailed by a sudden fever. 

You learn to pivot. To breathe. To adapt.

The field of medicine, however, teaches you to be regimented, precise, and in control. 

So, what if the secret to thriving was found not in a textbook, but in the nu...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources at inspiredmommds.com/71.

It wasn’t the piles of paper. 

Or the random charging cables. 

Or the stray sock and candy wrapper under the coffee table.

It was the feeling. That slow, creeping weight in my chest when I tried to relax—
and couldn’t.

Because even though my life looks ordered on the outside, inside, it sometimes feels stuffed and chaotic. 

It’s like I’m visibly organized but priv...

Find the full transcript and bonus resources at inspiredmommds.com/70.

I didn’t cry when we toured the college. 

I didn’t cry when he picked his dorm. 

But as I held a new tourniquet, a roll of gauze and box of bandages in my hands, tears came quietly.

This was it. It was real.

My son is leaving for college in a few weeks. And here I am, pouring all my energy into packing a medical kit. 

If you’re navigating the empty nest as a doctor mo...

For the full transcript plus bonus resources, head to inspiredmommds.com/69.

What if the self-care you crave didn’t require a day off, but just thirty seconds?

Today I’m busting the myth that you need a spa weekend to feel whole. 

Instead, replace it with realistic self-care for busy moms that’s backed by science.

You can weave tiny, research-supported rituals into your day, even between charting and carpool lanes. 

Discover why a singl...

For the full transcript plus bonus resources, head to inspiredmommds.com/68.

Picture this: It’s Saturday morning. You’ve carved out a rare two-hour window with no rounds, no emails, no pages. You settle into your favorite armchair with a warm cup of coffee… and immediately, that familiar whisper kicks in: “You should be doing more.”

As a physician mom, your default may be full throttle. Even when life pauses, your minds race ahead ch...

Find the full transcript and more resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/67.

“Mom…I might want to go to medical school.”

Cue the flood of pride.
 And right behind it? Fear.

I know what this career can do to a person.
 I know how it builds and breaks you, sometimes in the same day.

How can I let her go down that path?

The good news? There’s a way to guide her, without scaring her, or you.

There’s a way to share what yo...

Find the full transcript and more resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/66.

“Do I really believe everything happens for good, or do I just say that?” 

Today, Dr. Tanya English shares her story of deep personal loss. She shares what happens when the unthinkable becomes real, and how to manage navigating grief as a physician mom.

Instead of stopping at sorrow, she chooses to look for the good. 

This episode is an uplifting c...

Find the full transcript and more resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/65.

Productivity is a liar.
It pats you on the back for being busy while silently draining your peace.

Physician moms have mastered the art of doing.
You schedule, solve, serve, repeat.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Sometimes, doing more is how we avoid facing what’s not working.

In this episode, I confess what finally broke my cycle ...

Find the full transcript and more resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/64.

“Doctors don’t need more time – they need better tools to communicate clearly and connect emotionally.” – Dr. Spencer Lalk

Ever felt like you were saying all the right things to a patient, but something just wasn’t landing? 

You’re not alone. 

Today’s guest, Dr. Spencer Lalk, a Doctor of Physical Therapy and founder of MedStory Media, knows that ga...

Find the full transcript and more resources for physician moms at inspiredmommds.com/63. 

Have you ever felt something deep down… but waited for permission to believe it? 

I know I have. The truth would rise up, soft and certain, but I still hesitated. 

I’ve stuck with the plan, stayed the course, waited for someone, anyone to say, 

“Go ahead. You’re right about this.” 

But that permission never came. 

So I silenced my inner voice and, i...