Surgeons with Purpose

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].

Ready to...

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,...

Learn more about Pearson Ravitz here.

Learn more about Empowered Surgeons Group here.

Learn more about Hippocratic Collective here.

What happens when the surgeon becomes the patient? When the body you relied on to do your life’s work… stops cooperating?

Today’s guest, Dr. Stephanie Pearson, walks us through her powerful, often painful journey, from aspiring pediatrician to ObGyn surgeon to founder of PearsonRavitz, a physician disabili...

Medicine often forgets the people who live just beyond the call room: the spouses, the partners, the ones holding it together while the system pulls physicians apart. In this conversation, we meet Hannah and Chris, a couple who turned conflict into clarity.

As the husband of a physician, Chris found himself isolated and invisible during Hannah’s residency. What followed were hard conversations, conscious choices, and a shared commit...

If you enjoyed this topic, you're going to want to join Empowered Surgeons. There’s a dedicated classroom to this topic in the “Surgeon Self-Concept” module. Learn more about Empowered Surgeons Group here.

Watch Charles Duhigg's TEDx talk here.

Get his book, Supercommunicators: how to unlock the secret languange of connection here.

To recap

Supercommunicators:

1. Listen closely to what’s said and unsaid
2. Ask the right questions
3. Recognize...

*****************SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING******************

This episode contains discussion of suicidal thoughts. Please listen carefully or, if this topic is especially triggering for you, skip this one entirely.

In this episode, Dr. Femi Oyewole shares his deeply personal journey of navigating medical training while living with undiagnosed ADHD. He opens up about how the pressures of residency, coupled with ADHD-related challenge...

Learn more about Empowered Surgeons Group here.

Get Boyd Varty's book, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life, access his courses, or retreat with him here.

What if losing your way isn’t a detour, but the only way forward?

In surgery—and in life—we’re taught to crave certainty. A clear path. A guaranteed outcome. But what if that very craving is what keeps us stuck?

In this episode of Surgeons with Purpose, Dr. Mel Thacker invites you into a...

Learn more about Empowered Surgeons group here.

Plastic surgery isn’t just about appearance—it’s about reinvention. For Dr. Blair Peters, that theme runs through every part of his story.

After coming out before medical school and finding his place within the queer and trans community, Dr. Peters saw firsthand the inequities in gender-affirming care. Patients traveling across continents for surgery, often with no idea who their surgeo...

Tyler Beauchamp is a pediatrician and children’s/YA author from Georgia whose earliest experiences with medicine came not as a student, but as a patient. As a child, Tyler spent years in and out of research clinics searching for answers. He began writing in waiting rooms as a way to cope, and eventually fell in love with both storytelling and medicine.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Tyler pursued both writing and me...

Psychologist and reparenting expert, Barlas Günay, comes on the show to reveal why the majority of us are really just children in white coats. Toddlers in scrubs. Babies pretending to be adults. And what we can do about it.

In this powerful episode, we explore why traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may fall short for high-functioning professionals—especially surgeons—whose deeply ingrained patterns stem from unmet emotio...

In this episode, I sit down with cardiac surgeon, Dr. Alexandra Kharazi. Together, we explore what it means to operate—literally and figuratively—from a place of purpose rather than fear.

We discuss:

• The emotional rewards of caring for high-risk cardiac patients who have few options left
• The "Black Swan" framework for surgical decision-making: a grounded process for choosing wisely when the stakes are highest
• Why just because we ca...

Learn more about Empowered Surgeons Group here.

In a profession that demands perfection and endurance, it’s easy to default to survival mode. But what if the real evolution happens when we shift from self-preservation to purpose?

In this episode, we unpack the 6 core human needs—belonging, autonomy, mastery, esteem, trust, and purpose—and how understanding them can change the way you show up in the OR, in leadership, and in life.

We d...

Dr. Sharon Stein is a colorectal surgeon, professor, coach, and creator of The Intentional Surgeon. In this episode, she shares her unconventional path to medicine—from outdoor education and real estate to academic surgery—and how she carved out a career aligned with her values. We explore her rise through academic leadership, the stresses of trying to fix a broken system, and the moment she realized the job she worked so hard for ...

In this impactful conversation, we dive deep with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Colleen Balkam into the emotional, physical, and cultural terrain of surgical practice—particularly in orthopedics and geriatric care.

What we cover in this episode:

• Coaching, reframing excitement as anxiety, and the importance of pausing when things get hard.
• Facing your first complication as an attending.
• The emotional weight of complications post-training v...