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Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare

By: Andrea Austin MD
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 Welcome to "Heartline," a podcast dedicated to exploring the inspiring journeys and impactful work of healthcare changemakers leading the charge in transforming healthcare. Despite the United States spending more on healthcare than any other developed nation, key quality outcomes like life expectancy and maternal mortality lag behind. With over half of American physicians experiencing burnout, the challenges within the system are clear. Join us as we delve into the stories of patients, medical professionals, and other experts who defy the status quo. We’ll uncover the unique characteristics and experiences that propel them to be effective changemakers and the organizational factors that support change. Dr. Austin, host of the podcast, is an emergency physician with real-world experience with the dysfunction in the system. Along with working in the emergency department, she is a medical educator focusing on healthcare worker well-being and how innovative approaches like simulation can improve healthcare. In addition, she researches how we can accelerate changemakers in healthcare. Dr. Austin also uses coaching-informed thinking to unlock the potential of healthcare changemakers, and she will guide you through these narratives with insightful commentary and expert analyses. Through in-depth interviews and real-world examples, this podcast aims to inspire and equip the next generation to drive meaningful change in healthcare. Whether you're a physician, a medical student, or simply passionate about the future of healthcare, "Heartline" will offer valuable perspectives and actionable ideas to help you thrive in a challenging environment and contribute to improving our healthcare system. Seasons 1-4 focused on gender bias in the medical system and shared the uplifting stories of women and allies who stay true to their values, boundaries, and priorities, improving their career fulfillment and increasing their impact on healthcare. Season 5 will expand the guests beyond physicians and tackle issues beyond gender bias that impact healthcare. Tune in to the "Hearline" for a deep dive into healthcare transformation and be inspired by the changemakers making a real difference.© 2024 Heartline Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Physical Illness & Disease Social Sciences
Episodes
  • How One Emergency Physician Is Taking Back Autonomy, Wealth, and Joy

    How One Emergency Physician Is Taking Back Autonomy, Wealth, and Joy
    Dec 16 2025
    In Part 2 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin and Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani picks up right where they left off: two emergency physicians who actually like coming to work, unpacking the systemic forces that are burning everyone else out. Dr. Mehrdad explains why he co-founded NeoMd Spa. It started with one vial of Botox and a refusal to be a 60-year-old shift-worker, how physicians surrendered control of their profession to corporations, and why financial wellness is the missing pillar no one talks about. Dr. Andrea and Dr. Mehrdad wrestle with the death of the democratic group, the rise of corporate metrics, and the urgent need for physicians to reclaim leadership, unity, and their voices.Wrapped in stories of cross-specialty happy hours, Peloton-fueled pandemic survival, and a beautiful real-time patient handoff, this episode is a rallying cry: stop complaining, start building, stay connected, and never forget, we are all members of one body.You’ll Hear How They:· Expose the financial traps that keep high-earning physicians living paycheck-to-paycheck and overworking· Reveal why every single guest this season has a “side gig” — and why that’s now a survival strategy· Break down the shift from physician-owned democratic groups to corporate medicine (and what we lost)· Show how one med-spa became a hedge against burnout and a reclaiming of professional autonomy· Prove that culture change happens in 10-minute handoffs and cross-specialty happy hours, not just policy memos· Issue a call for physician unity, leadership, and using your voice before you end up “on the menu”About the Guest“Just because I was born a man doesn’t mean I’m better than anybody else.” — Dr. Mehrdad SoleimaniDr. Mehrdad Soleimani is a board-certified emergency physician, Assistant Director of the Emergency Department at Temecula Valley Hospital, and Chair of the hospital’s Physician Wellness Committee. A former critical-care nurse, general surgery resident, proud girl-dad of three, and co-owner/medical director of NeoMed Spa, Mehrdad brings a rare blend of clinical expertise, emotional intelligence, and lived experience as an immigrant to his passionate advocacy for physician wellness and gender equity.Website: https://neomedicalspa.comResources + Mentions· NEOMD Spa – https://neomedicalspa.com· Financial wellness as a pillar of physician well-being· Visible Voices podcast with Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey (“Use your voice”)· Persianpoetry: “Human beings are members of a whole…”Top 3 Key TakeawaysFinancial wellness is physician wellness : Stop the “just pick up one more shift” cycle and build something that gives you passive income and freedom.We gave away control of our profession: if you want autonomy back, you have to own something (a practice, a business, a voice at the table).Culture is built in the small moments: A thoughtful handoff, a happy hour with ortho, inviting the security guard to break bread , these are the ripples that change everything.🩺 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. 🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠Starting 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, and please share with colleagues who may benefit.⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠AAWEP St. Lucia Retreat | March 5–8,...
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    24 mins
  • How a Nurse, Immigrant, and Father Became Medicine’s Fiercest Male Ally

    How a Nurse, Immigrant, and Father Became Medicine’s Fiercest Male Ally
    Dec 9 2025
    What does a man raised in a country where women are legally second-class citizens become one of the strongest male allies in American medicine?In Part 1 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani pulls back the curtain on his improbable journey: fleeing Iran at 16, putting himself through nursing school as a first-generation immigrant, defending his female nursing colleagues from an abusive surgeon and then deciding that very night to become a doctor, switching specialties mid-residency, and ultimately landing in emergency medicine, where he now champions wellness, debriefing, and the “human factor.”Mehrdad and Andrea explore why stoicism and perfectionism are killing physicians, why it’s actually strength (not weakness) to feel deeply in the resuscitation room, and how small acts of allyship, from checking in on a new female colleague to calling consultants on her behalf, change culture one shift at a time. This episode is a love letter to every physician humanity and a masterclass in what authentic male allyship feels like on the ground.You’ll Hear How They:Trace the roots of fierce gender-equity beliefs to a mother who refused to accept second-class status in IranReveal the night a cardiothoracic surgeon’s tantrum pushed a male ICU nurse to apply to medical schoolDiscuss why switching residencies even after years invested, can be the bravest and best career decision Unpack the hidden curriculum of medicine: stoicism, perfectionism, and competition, and why it’s failing usChampion debriefing, emotional processing, and the power of the “feeling doctor” who still gets the job done Model everyday allyship that makes women physicians feel seen, supported, and safer in the workplaceAbout the Guest“Just because I was born a man doesn’t mean I’m better than anybody else.” — Dr. Mehrdad SoleimaniDr. Mehrdad Soleimani is a board-certified emergency physician, Assistant Director of the Emergency Department at Temecula Valley Hospital, and Chair of the hospital’s Physician Wellness Committee. A former critical-care nurse, general surgery resident, proud girl-dad of three, and co-owner/medical director of NeoMed Spa, Mehrdad brings a rare blend of clinical expertise, emotional intelligence, and lived experience as an immigrant to his passionate advocacy for physician wellness and gender equity.Website: https://neomedicalspa.comResources + Mentions・ Debriefing after critical cases (including pediatric codes)・ Hidden curriculum of medicine: stoicism, perfectionism, competition・ Emotional regulation vs. emotional suppression・ The power of 45-second empathy moments with patientsTop 3 Key TakeawaysAllyship isn’t a poster, it’s action: Checking in, offering to call consultants, making new colleagues feel welcome, and using your privilege to smooth someone else’s path.Feeling deeply is not weakness, it’s strength: The best physicians are “feeling doctors” who process emotion, debrief, and still lead the code with clarity.Your career is allowed to evolve: Switching specialties even years in, is not failure; it’s choosing a life where you wake up excited to go to work. 🩺 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. 🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠Starting 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 ...
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    29 mins
  • How a Math Teacher Became a Dual-Boarded Physician

    How a Math Teacher Became a Dual-Boarded Physician
    Dec 2 2025
    What happens when your childhood calling collides with a system that limits your capacity to live it out?In this Echo Episode, Dr. Maria Sturchler shares her extraordinary journey from first-generation college student to educator to medical student, years after being told she “wouldn’t make it” in medicine. Now double board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Palliative Care, Maria reveals how serendipity, mentorship, and resilience brought her back to her original dream on her own terms.She and Andrea unpack the realities pushing talented clinicians out of traditional EM practice: night shifts, moral injury, violence in the ED, corporate interference, loss of autonomy, and the identity crisis that comes with stepping away. Maria gives voice to the hidden grief, burnout, and shame physicians carry when “the path” no longer fits.But this is not a story of defeat. Maria now leads an innovative palliative care model embedded inside the emergency department, freeing EM physicians from burdens that don’t belong to them, reducing patient suffering, and restoring meaning to clinical work. Her message is equal parts invitation and disruption: medicine is not a prison. It’s a “choose-your-own-adventure” and there are more off-ramps, pivots, and second chances than most physicians believe.You’ll Hear How They:Reframe imposter syndrome and harmful feedback that derails dreamsNavigate grief when an identity built on EM no longer aligns with personal well-beingDescribe the hidden toll of EM: disrupted circadian rhythm, motherhood challenges, pandemic trauma, and corporate shiftsIntegrate palliative care inside the ED, reducing length of stay, improving communication, and radically supporting EM physiciansUse mentorship, self-inquiry, and values alignment to identify career pivots About the Guest“Medicine is choose-your-own-adventure.” — Dr. Maria SturchlerDr. Maria Sturchler is a dual board-certified physician in Emergency Medicine and Palliative Care, a three-time Ironman competitor, and a former mathematics educator whose doctoral work examined gender disparities in STEM. After being discouraged from medicine early on, serendipity and mentorship led her back to her calling. Today, she helps patients, families, and clinici'hat integrate palliative medicine directly into emergency care.LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mariasturchlerWebsite: sturchlermd.comResources + MentionsUnlocking Us podcast — Brené BrownBring ’Em All In (referenced EM mantra)Multidisciplinary collaboration models in palliative and acute careTop 3 Key TakeawaysCareer paths are not linear—nor should they be: Your training is a foundation, not a life sentence. EM skills travel well into palliative care, leadership roles, education, coaching, and hybrid models that better honor your values.Boundaries are not betrayal—they are survival: Choosing your health, family, sleep, identity, and emotional bandwidth is not weakness. It is wisdom. Physicians cannot sustain compassion without protecting their humanity.The future belongs to systems that humanize care: Embedded palliative programs, interdisciplinary partnerships, and values-based innovations reduce burnout, shorten ED holds, and restore dignity to medicine—one conversation at a time.🩺 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.---------------------------------------------------🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠Starting 2026, I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee Johnson. This 6-month group ...
    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
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