Surgeons with Purpose
A podcast for surgeons who feel like they are languishing in a career that didn't turn out to be as fulfilling or as prestigious as they expected. Dr. Mel Thacker, an ENT surgeon and coach, takes you on a journey to help you understand why you are feeling dissatisfied, burnt out, and stuck. With this newfound insight, you'll be able to reframe how you see your experience, rediscover who you are underneath your surgeon identity, and create a life that aligns with your authentic self. Find more info about Surgeons with Purpose and other shows on the Hippocratic Collective at hippocratic-collective.com
Episodes
In this conversation, I’m joined by author and human performance expert Brad Stulberg to explore identity diversity, mastery, and what it really means to build a sustainable, meaningful career. We discuss the concept of the identity house, what it means to feel one's way to skill attunement, core values, process vs product, and how presence and flow are at the heart of mastery.
This episode is especially relevant for surgeons and hi...
Trauma is more common than we think, especially in high-stakes professions like surgery. In this episode, I define trauma, PTSD, and post-traumatic growth and explore how these experiences can show up in the body, the nervous system, and everyday life.
Drawing from my own experience with complex PTSD and panic attacks, I walk you through a practical, humane process for moving through trauma rather than around it. This isn’t about fi...
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And if you're here for the free content, amazing! My next masterclass + open coaching is on December 14th at 10 am EST. Sign up for "5 Ways Surgeons Fail" here.
In this episode, I break down what coaching is. Not the corporate wellness version, but the real, practical, life-changing version that surgeons and high-stakes professionals actually need.
Coaching, as I define it...
⚠️ SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING
This episode discusses suicide, which may be distressing for some listeners. If this subject is triggering for you, please consider skipping this episode. If you choose to listen, do so gently and take good care of yourself. If you’re feeling hopeless or suicidal, please reach out for support. You can call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or click here for additional resources.
*********SENSITIVE TOPIC WARNING*******************
This episode discusses substance abuse and suicide. Please listen carefully.
In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Dr. Courtney McKeown shares the story she was once told would be “career suicide”—a story of mental health crisis, addiction, recovery, and the hard-won journey back to her authentic self.
She reflects on the research-year psychotic break that led to hospitali...
Trauma surgeon and healthcare leader Dr. Scott Ellner joins me to talk about the moments that reshaped his life and career, from witnessing a beachside intubation at age 21 to navigating one of the lowest points of his surgical practice. We explore complications, shame, psychological safety in the OR, and why compassion and emotional intelligence are essential (not optional) in surgery.
Scott shares the retained foreign body case th...
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Join us in Empowered Surgeons Group here.
Anxiety can be transformed into resilience and courage, but only when we move toward it, not away from it.
Anxiety is the life-saving fear response misapplied to the imagination.
By definition, anxiety is a lie.
What we fear—killing the patient, facing a lawsuit, losing our reputation, losing everything—is not actually happening in real time.
Fear is intuiti...
In this episode, digital marketer Colin Royal—husband to ENT surgeon and fellow Hippocratic Collective co-founder Dr. Frances Mei Hardin—joins the show to discuss everything we didn’t learn about how industries outside of surgery work.
In surgical culture, we often carry false notions, like the idea that we should give our time, energy, and value away for free (see Episode #4: Toxic Martyrdom).
The truth is: we aren't exempt from the...
******SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING*********
This episode discusses child abuse, religious trauma, depression, moral injury, and pediatric violent trauma. Please listen carefully.
Pediatric surgeon Dr. Jose Greenspon shares an unflinching account of practicing at one of the busiest trauma centers in the country, shouldering all of the work after his partners resigned, all while his own faith, family, and mental health unraveled. He speak...
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On today's episode, enjoy the replay of the webinar, "From Imposter to Integrated: Reclaiming Humanity and Authenticity in Surgery".
You can access all webinar replays inside the Empowered Surgeons Group member portal. Looking forward to seeing you inside the group!
Click here to get on my calendar for a 15 min interview for the Cabo retreat. Women surgeons only.
Click here to learn more about Empowered Surgeons Group.
It's back-to-back Chrissy(ie) episodes! Dr. Chrissy Guidry is a trauma and critical care surgeon and founder of Whole Body Optimism, a program designed to empower busy healthcare professionals find integrity of mind, physical body, and soul by implementing practical intentional pr...
Interested in Empowered Surgeons Group? Click here.
In today's episode, Dr. Chrissie Ott and I sit down to discuss my journey.
In this episode, you’ll learn
- How panic, insomnia, and “I must be broken” thoughts can be early sirens of burnout—and what healing looked like for me.
- The Drama Triangle (victim–hero–villain) vs. David Emerald’s Empowerment Dynamic (creator–coach–challenger), with real clinical scenarios
- Why the “healthcare ...
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Join Empowered Surgeons Group here.
In surgery, it's tempting to attach our identity to surgical outcomes. But what result does that create? Because complications are inevitable, patients are unpredictable, and surgeons are human--and fallible, the result of grasping onto perfection is always the same: suffering.
If we instead define failure as simply failure to serve, we create freedom for ourselves. Our...
Are you a woman surgeon interested in our Cabo retreat? Click here before we fill our cohort!
Today I’m talking with financial activist, author, and viral TEDx speaker Mel Dorman about how to create wealth in a way that’s simple, sustainable, and rooted in community. This conversation will stick with you long after you listen.
Watch their TEDx talk [here], grab their book [here], and explore the Seller Finance Academy [here].
Women Surgeons interested in the Self-Concept Weekend in Cabo, click here to schedule a 15 min interview with me.
In this episode, my guest, Dr. Priya Kothapalli, and I discuss the beauty and power of intuition, the challenges of corporate medicine, imposter syndrome, don't know mind, and what it's like to have the courage to design a life true to oneself.
Priya Kothapalli, MD, is a coronary and structural heart disease intervention...
After a tragic car crash in 1983 changed the course of his family forever, Dr. Brian Hoeflinger pursued neurosurgery with a new sense of purpose. Decades later, when his teenage son died suddenly in a car accident, he found himself once again reshaped by grief. In this episode, Dr. Hoeflinger shares how these experiences inform the way he practices medicine: communicating with clarity, leading with empathy, and honoring the reality...
Are you a woman surgeon interested in the Cabo retreat Jan 9-11? Click here to learn more about it. Click here if you're serious and get on my calendar for a 15 min interview.
Dr. Karuna Dewan was accepted to medical school at just 16 and knew early on she wanted to be a laryngologist. Today she is an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, the Jonathan Glass, MD & Cherie-Ann Nathan, MD Endowed Professor in Otolaryngology/Head an...
Women Surgeons, click here if interested in the retreat in Cabo.
Have you ever considered the creative process of your favorite artist?
I, personally, will never forget the moment I found out that Jerry Seinfeld wrote his jokes on napkins!
Comic book artist and family practice physician, Dr. Ryan Montoya, comes on the show to talk about his evolution as a physician and an artist, how he balances his dual life, and the value of a crea...
Women Surgeons, click here if interested in the retreat in Cabo.
Master storyteller and fellow disrupter, Dr. Frances Mei Hardin comes on the podcast to discuss the article The Impossible Oath.
We talk about what the Hippocratic Oath is and, perhaps more importantly, is not.
You'll learn how the system grooms us for "betrayal blindness" and why a better-you-than-me, cut throat mentality isn't good for anyone.
Dr. Hardin recounts a res...
Are you a woman surgeon ready for a transformative January (1/9/26-1/11/26) retreat in Cabo? Click here to book your call and see if it’s the perfect fit for you.
Your self-concept is the story you tell yourself about who you are. It shapes everything: the decisions you make, the risks you take (or avoid), and the way you show up in the world. But most of us never consciously choose it. Instead, we inherit it from cultural messages,...
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