******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 speaks candidly about stigma in surgery, moral injury, being labeled “disruptive” when asking for help, and the moment a sensory trigger in the OR surfaced a childhood assault by a rabbi. This conversation is about the cost of carrying more than one human can hold, and the courage to put the burden down.

If this episode resonates with you, and you'd like to reach out to Dr. Greenspon, email him at jgreenspon76@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss:

• Dealing with life-and-death without a vent partner: Pediatric penetrating trauma is difficult enough; facing it without support is punishing. Dr. Greenspon recognized the essential need for a trusted peer or space to unburden the experiences surgeons carry.
• Faith in crisis: As an Orthodox Jewish man, he struggled to find God in the chaos—then a flashback to childhood molestation shattered what remained of his religious safety net and contributed to the end of his marriage.
• The breaking point: A child his daughter’s age died from a gunshot wound to the chest. A smell in the OR triggered a panic attack and a vivid flashback. He finished the case, then self-reported to the CMO.
• Stigma and moral injury: Seeking help led to being labeled rather than supported. “You martyr yourself, and it gets weaponized against you.”
• Choosing to leave: Why leaving a toxic job and facing his demons was the best decision, and how outstanding residents became close friends.
• “Parent whisperer”: How he builds trust with families, honors the gravity of every operation, and treats residents with radical humility: “The only difference between me and you is that I happen to come first.”
• Work as a vice: How unprocessed trauma can morph into work addiction, guilt, and a compulsion to protect children—plus what recovery looks like now with a therapist who understands religious abuse.
• System reflections: On toxic competitiveness in pediatric surgery, administrative incentives, and what true appreciation and backup should look like.

RAINN (U.S.) — National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.org

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.) — Call or text 988 | 988lifeline.org

Physician Support Line (U.S.) — 1-888-409-0141 | physiciansupportline.com

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Thank you, Dr. Greenspon, for the honesty and heart you brought to this episode.

Click here to join Empowered Surgeons Group.

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 practices into their everyday lives.

In this conversation, we explore Dr. Chrissy's journey through academic medicine, infertility, and institutional betrayal, and how it all led to a deeper integration of mind, body, heart, and soul.

After seven and a half years at Tulane, she found herself at a crossroads. While navigating marriage and fertility treatments, she faced the harsh reality of how academia often punishes physicians for being human. What began as an ultrasound appointment became a weapon used against her and a defining moment in reclaiming her integrity and purpose.

• Surgeon Purpose Check: Who are we really doing this for: ourselves or the patients?
• Coaching as Catalyst: How hiring a coach for the department transformed the culture for everyone.
• Fertility and Academia: The tension between starting a family and the unspoken expectations of academic productivity.
• Integrity in Healing: How her fertility journey sparked a whole-self integration of mind, body, heart, and soul.
• Becoming the Medical Education Wellness Director at Tulane
• Creating wellness champions across departments
• Using GME funding to host interdisciplinary networking events
• Developing an app to centralize well-being resources for residents
• Expanding the Mission Online: How she brought physician wellness work to the digital space, helping clinicians worldwide prioritize their humanity.
• Mindset Over Strategy: Why happiness isn’t a moving target; it’s a mindset shift.

Key Reframes for Resilience:

• We are human beings, not human doings
• Life doesn't just have to happen to you; it can happen for you.

1. How can I take more responsibility for the outcome?
2. How can I grow from this opportunity?
3. What good is already present in this challenge?

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 hero” narrative can unintentionally disempower patients
• Fiduciary ethics in the exam room: naming incentives, protecting integrity, and keeping decisions in the patient’s hands
• Why creation must be “for you first”
• What agency looks like in career evolution: closing one chapter so another can fully begin
• How to transmute suffering into service without bypassing the hard parts
• The vision of the Hippocratic Collective: every physician’s voice belongs

Dr. Chrissie Ott is a physician, coach and host of Solving for Joy Podcast.

Find her on instagram here.

Follow me on instagram here.

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 focus shifts from trying to control the uncontrollable to setting a clear intention: service. In that reality, we reclaim agency and purpose no matter the outcome.

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 join Empowered Surgeons? Click 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 interventional cardiologist based in the Dallas Fort Worth area, model, yogi, and host of the Open Heart podcast.

Follow Priya on instagram here. Follow her podcast, which debuts this fall, here.

Join Empowered Surgeons Group here.

Check out Hippocratic Collective here.

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 that it’s families who must live with the consequences of life-and-death decisions. He and his son, Kevin, open up about what it means to carry unimaginable loss, and how they've chosen to turn tragedy into a source of hope, compassion, and human connection.

You’ll hear:

• How loss reshaped their family and his career as a physician
• Why talking about death matters more than avoiding it
• The art of skillful empathy and being present without absorbing every tragedy
• Why doctors should guide, not decide, for families

Dr. Hoeflinger's words of wisdom for physicians:

"The world’s not on your shoulders…Don't expect so much of yourself."

"Spend more time away from the hospital."

Follow the Hoeflinger podcast on Apple podcasts here and on YouTube here.

Get on the Dr. Hoeflinger newsletter here.

Follow Dr. Hoeflinger on instagram here.

Join Empowered Surgeons Group here.

Check out Hippocratic Collective here.