How to Combat Burnout in Healthcare: Expert Tips for Physicians and Leaders

Burnout doesn’t have to be the only option in medicine. 

In this conversation, Dr. Diane Shannon shares her personal journey through burnout and how she found her way through. 

We explore the small, yet impactful changes that can completely transform a physician’s career—whether it’s learning to set boundaries or recognizing the trauma and moral injury that so often go unspoken in our profession.

I’m excited to dive into how Dr. Shannon has been coaching and empowering other physicians, especially women physicians, to overcome the pressures of perfectionism, manage their emotional well-being, and embrace micro-changes that allow them to thrive instead of just survive. 

We also talk about how leadership and communication can shape the healthcare system and help doctors find balance in a system that’s so often stacked against them.

 

About the Guest

"Failure means you’re learning. And in healthcare innovation, learning fast is everything." – Dr. Diane Shannon

Dr. Diane Shannon is an internal medicine physician, wellness coach, writer, and podcaster. After experiencing burnout firsthand, Dr. Shannon left clinical practice to dedicate her career to helping other physicians prevent and overcome burnout. Through her podcast, Vital Signs: Thriving as a Woman in Medicine, and her coaching work, she empowers physicians, especially women, to set healthy boundaries, overcome guilt, and take back control of their careers.

She has spent over 20 years advocating for systemic changes in healthcare, helping physicians find fulfillment both in their work and personal lives.

📍 You can learn more about Dr. Diane Shannon at dianeshannon.com.
🎧 Listen to Vital Signs: Thriving as a Woman in Medicine
💌 Reach out via email: [e-mail]

🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways

• Micro-changes are powerful:
  Even when the system feels overwhelming, small shifts—like adjusting how we respond to stress or setting clear boundaries—can dramatically change our experience in medicine.
• Burnout and moral injury are not the same:
  Burnout can be deeply personal, but moral injury is a systemic wound. We need safe spaces to process both—and the courage to name them when we see them.
• Effective leadership and communication can transform healthcare:
  We can’t fix the system alone, but we can build better teams, speak up strategically, and lead with empathy. That’s where real change starts.

🩺 About the Host

Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out.

With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart.

💫 About the Show

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible.

Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done.

Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart.

 

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🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities

🔥 ⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠

Starting in 2026,  I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee Johnson. This 6-month group coaching program supports physicians in rediscovering mindfulness, meaning, and wholehearted practice. I'm an alum myself—this program transformed my career. Learn more and enroll here.

•⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Women in Medicine Summit | Chicago, Sept 18–20, 2025⁠⁠

FemInEM is leading a full day on Women’s Health. The Gala will be a can't-miss celebration of leadership and community.

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