Moral Matters

Claire Unis MD, got her MFA while in medical school to keep her accountable for writing about that experience. Now, she is a practicing pediatrician, and shares with us how she also uses her love of writing to help colleagues process and reflect on the work they do.   PREORDER Balance Pedal Breathe: A Journey Through Medical School by Claire Unis (Hard Cover)   Reflect on this content to earn CME...

Professor Rudolph Leuschner talks with us about the unique aspects of the healthcare supply chain in the US, why it was - and still is - vulnerable to pandemic disruptions, and what changes might make the system more resilient in a crisis. Professor Leuschner is an Associate Professor in the department of Supply Chain Management and the Program Director for the online Master of Science in Supply C...

What if you could get CME for a conversation with a colleague, or for listening to a podcast? In this episode, Niraj Swami and Brian Cohen discuss how physicians can take back CME, earning credit for the everyday learning they do already, for a nominal cost. CME:  https://earnc.me/ZMe9rG Support the podcast:  https://www.fixmoralinjury.org/get-started Twitter -  @fixmoralinjury Instagram -  @moral...

Understanding human development is an important part of leadership. Dr. Will Torrey, interim chair of psychiatry at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, talks about helping people find their full selves, whether in clinical care, leadership, research or education, and how to channel your outrage toward change. CME: https://earnc.me/7yXlMa Donate: https://www.fixmoralinjury.org/get-started Find us:...

We're three seasons into Moral Matters and approaching 15,000 downloads. In case you jumped in part of the way through, or want a quick recap of the ground we've covered, we took a few minutes to recount the concepts of each season, and the memorable conversations we've had.  CME link: https://earnc.me/55rZ0P Twitter: @WDeanMD, @simontalbotmd, @fixmoralinjury FB | IG | LinkedIn: Moral Injury of He...

What we choose to measure can distort our organizations, impact our workforce, and hijack our attention and resources. Jerry Muller, professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America and the author of The Tyranny of Metrics, describes how that happens then offers a way to create metrics that matter. CME link: https://earnc.me/1s88Dd   Twitter: @WDeanMD, @simontalbotmd, @fixmorali...

"Despite all that we know about burnout and [moral injury], the trauma, regrettably, continues."  We talk with Dr. Mark Linzer  and Dr. Michelle LeClair, from Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota, about their work to clarify the causes and potential mitigation strategies for clinician distress. CME: https://earnc.me/Ps3gdY https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00370-9/full...

Is organizing a solution to moral injury? Joe Crane has been a union organizer for two decades. When we spoke with him in 2021, Joe was the national organizer for the Doctors Council. He has since moved to UPAD.  Joe walks us through the basic steps of organizing, what it can achieve, and how long it might take. CME: https://earnc.me/byuINF More information about the Doctors Council: https://docto...

A tragedy in her son's freshman college dorm set Catherine Sanderson on a mission to understand what gets in the way of doing what we know is right.  She shares what she learned about the psychology of inaction, and how we can use those insights to shape better communities and better organizations, in healthcare and elsewhere. Why We Act: Turning Bystanders Into Moral Rebels CME: https://earnc.me/...

Corey Feist’s worlds converged with the tragic death of his sister-in-law, Dr. Lorna Breen in March of 2020. As the CEO of the UVA Physicians Group and President of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, he talks with us about adding value rather than burden, decreasing administrative barriers, and bringing clinicians to the tables where decisions are made, as ways to mitigate clinician distress....

David Vozza is an attorney in Manhattan who specializes in defending physicians in all types of legal actions, except malpractice. He’s a staunch physician advocate, dating back to his premed days in college. We talk to him about identifying legal emergencies, choosing the right lawyer, and how to protect yourself in a corporate healthcare environment. https://norrismclaughlin.com/attorney_profile...

Ron Purser is a professor of management at San Francisco State University, a practicing Buddhist, and author of the book "McMindfulness”. We spoke with him about the commodification of wellness and mindfulness into multi-billion dollar industries; how mindfulness changed in the process; and how to take back self-care to use it as a form of resistance.  McMindfulness   CME: https://earnc.me/ZTkQHq...

Moral injury isn’t specific to the United States healthcare system. In this episode, Deborah Morris, an academic and consultant clinical psychologist based in the United Kingdom, lends her perspective. Morris splits her work between an in-patient setting and conducting trauma research with a focus on the experiences of marginalized people. We discuss the intersections of trauma and moral injury, t...

In this bonus episode, Dr. Mona Masood, DO describes how she made her vision a reality - without having any clue what she was doing. Dr. Masood is an outpatient psychiatrist who saw a need, had an idea, and mobilized her community to create the Physician Support Line, a group of 700+ psychiatrists volunteering to support their colleagues. To hear more about the support line and Masood’s work, list...

Moral injury is not a one-size-fits-all issue. In this mini-episode, Drs. Dean and Talbot discuss the mechanisms of moral injury, the various levels at which it occurs, and how understanding those nuances can help frame solutions. CME: https://earnc.me/LOhAJx Donate: https://www.fixmoralinjury.org/get-started Twitter - @fixmoralinjury Instagram - @moralinjury Facebook - @MoralInjuryofHC LinkedIn -...

Ask a question, shut up, and listen - that’s how our guest this week prioritizes the physician perspective. Jim Beckner is the executive director at the Richmond Academy of Medicine, a society of more than 2,000 physicians using the Moral Injury framework to value physicians, value the physician-patient relationship, and recreate a strong medical community. Jim provides an excellent example of how...

We know that we’re working in systems that don’t do what they’re designed to do - now what? In this episode, we speak with our guest about moral injury in the behavioral healthcare system and how to resist the urge to burn the system down by advocating to make it better. Hannah Karpman, M.S.W., Ph. D. is an assistant professor at the Smith School for Social Work. Her career began with an interest...

In this episode, we look at moral injury in the context of the BIG issues that define all of our lives- politics, economics, social justice, ethics, and morality.  For our guest, preventing moral injury it isn't about making "right or wrong " decisions, it's about developing a framework that facilitates people's ability to act on and speak to their personal and professional goals. Ira Bedzow, Ph....

Dr. Mona Masood, DO is an outpatient psychiatrist in Philadelphia, who realized, early in the pandemic, that physicians needed support from their peers. Without any expertise, she stood up the Physician Support Line nearly overnight. For the past year, 800 volunteer psychiatrists have fielded calls from thousands of physicians, entirely free of charge. It is an inspiring story of how a strong comm...

Dr. Michael Myers is a specialist in physician health, and a professor of Clinical Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY. Early in medical school, a fellow medical student and friend died by suicide.* That event shaped the rest of Dr. Myers' career, which he devoted to caring exclusively for physicians, medical students, and their families. In this episode, we tal...

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are dropping a bonus episode featuring Dr. Lara Briseno-Kenney.* The career in medicine that Lara expected changed in a matter of hours, when planes hit the twin towers and the Pentagon on 9/11. Serving as an Army doctor in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terrorism forged Lara into the doctor she is today. Yet, when she returned to...

Physicians are at risk of losing their profession, but what does that really mean? In this episode, we get at the heart of professionalism, how it relates to moral injury, and what constraints on physician autonomy could mean for the profession of medicine. Professor Richard Lacquement, a leading voice on military education and professionalism, joins us for this episode.* He served as Dean of the...

What if we could create built environments that empower people and improve their level of engagement? Clairanne Pesce, a Senior Interior Designer of Healthcare environments at Array Architects in Washington, D.C., does just that. Despite a well-established correlation between the built environment and well-being, no one had ever asked Clairanne to develop a design to reduce workforce distress. In...

In this episode, Jenny Andrews, a public defender in Santa Barbara, CA, and Jeff Sherr, the Training Director for the National Association for Public Defense talk about why the language of moral injury matters for public defenders. Systemic obstacles preventing "gold standard" representation is a familiar frustration. Burdened by excessive caseloads, endless hours of work, and with their client's...

This week, radiologists Dr. Mark Labuski and Dr. Joe Bellissimo join us to talk about a practice that is taking exceptional care of both their patients and their employees. Their commitment to a strong culture of care and service, and to making sure clinicians are doing what they trained for, are the key elements in their success. This is a story of leadership excellence.   CME: https://earnc.me/b...