It's Not Just You with Dr. Kara Pepper

What lights your soul on fire or breaks your heart?  For Dr. Tonya Caylor, a family medicine physician in Alaska, witnessing the suffering of early career physicians was the heartbreak that brought purpose to this season of her career.  Dr. Caylor supports family medicine residency programs, their faculty, and trainees, in building sustainable wellness.  &nb...

This week, Dr. Jill Wener and I discuss her transition from practicing physician to meditation teacher, tapping practitioner, and anti-racism work.  She describes the ugly underbelly of wellness industry - its cultural appropriation, gatekeeping, and bias - and how folks can recognize bias in their healing practices, especially if you are facilitating healing.    You can find J...

If you remove the labels of what you do for a living and who you are relationally to other people, how would you introduce yourself?  Who are you outside of what you do and who you care for?  This week, Dr. Rachel Miller describes how her physician identity began to displace what mattered most and how she was able to find her way out of that cycle.   You can...

We are taught how to have difficult conversations in our training.  Often, the toll of these conversations can be depleting and we create distance with our patients as a means of self protection.  This week, Dr. Jeff Cohn discusses how we maintain what matters most - our human connection.   You can find Dr. Cohn on his website . 

It's not IF, but WHEN we experience unanticipated loss in healthcare.  Everyone has a story - the details may vary, but our responses are predictable.  We experience some of these losses as trauma that shape the trajectory of our career.  Peer and organizational support are critical for recovery.  On this episode, I share a story from residency that fol...

For the many, many high performing neurodiverse folks with   invisible symptoms, life may feel like being left-handed in a right-handed world while   wondering why you are struggling to keep up.  Dr. Diana Mercado- Marmarosh explains how she finally realized she was struggling in medical school and the many life hacks she has learned along the way.    Dr. Mercado...

"I love her. She is a part of us. To imagine my life without her is devastating. If anyone asks how many kids I have, I just tell them two."  This week, Dr. Krystal Sodaitis shares what it is like to care for a child, fall in love, and have to say goodbye.  If you have ever wondered how someone you love is doing, this episode is for you.    Dr. Krystal Sodaitis is a board-certi...

One of the core tenets of being a great physician is supporting one's colleagues.  There is no one who can uniquely understand the wonder and complexity of healthcare, like a colleague.  But when power erodes compassion, we lose our humanity.  We suffer. Patients suffer.     Dr. Tracey O'Connell shares a story that changed the trajectory of her car...

Content warning: use of the world ob*sity, discussion of eating disorder behavior, discussion of racism   Dr. Trina Dorrah internalized at an early age that thinness equates to health and acceptance.  She describes how eating disorder behavior followed her into a career in medicine, her fight for recovery, and weight bias in health care. You can find Dr Dorrah on  her...

If you have ever wondered how to fit a career in medicine around your life (instead of squeezing your life into the cracks around medicine), you need to hear Dr. Dawn Baker's story.  In the midst of her training She struggled with infertility in her early career, but continued to model how to "lean out" from the traditional expectations of women in medicine.  Her story gives pe...

Dr. Jillian Rigert, a board certified physician and dentist, in her quest for worthiness via achievement, experienced the deterioration of her mental health.  Now in recovery, she supports patients in their darkest moments.     You can find Jillian on YouTube  and Instagram .

How do we create healthcare systems that are well?  One person at a time.  Dr. Jonathan Fisher shares what it took to ask for help and be well as a man in medicine and how he applies those lessons to a hospital system of 38,000 employees.    Free coaching for residents and fellows.   Jonathan Fisher , MD, FACC, is a cardiologist, certified mindfulness teache...

In support of the Trans community, Dr. Stella Evans and I share our imperfect experiences of loving, supporting, and raising our Trans teens. We discuss how we processed our own biases, the difference between a lawnmower and flame thrower parenting, and how we address family dynamics.  Stella's kid, Lillian, shares advice for parents.   You can find Stella at: www.stellake...

Perfectionism is an adaptive set of behaviors that help us avoid feelings of discomfort.  Specifically, they create emotional and physical safety.  This week, Dr. Melissa Hankins describes how perfectionism was keeping her safe, until it wasn't.    You can find Melissa on LinkedIn  and Instagram . Email:  Hello@MelissaHankinsCoaching.com   She offers  FREE c...

How do you tell the difference between burnout and other forms of "I don't feel good?" Dr. Errin Wiesman - family doc, farmer's wife, mother of dragons, alpaca lover - walks us through her burnout recovery only to discover what she was really running from.    You can find Errin on  Instagram  and her podcasts, Doctor Me First  and Burntout to Badass .

Self-described “first generation everything,” Dr. Taniqua Miller - a Black, Caribbean physician with an Ivy League education - had a successful career in academia as an OBGYN and decided to “quit.” She describes: Being a Black woman in academia and code switching to conformity Energy is not a finite resource. What Quitting really means to her. How her Intuition finally got her attention and when s...

Dr. Gabriel Bosslet and I discuss Gray Area Drinking and what led to our mid-life decision to choose sobriety. Dr. Bosslet's   Medpage article   My   KevinMD article .  Dr. Adam Hill's book, " A long Walk Out of the Woods "    You can find Gabe on Twitter . 

Welcome to "It's Not Just You." As a physician, coach, and friend, I hear about people's most intimate life experiences. As they describe the tough things they privately struggle with, they all say the same thing, “I thought it was just me.” Being human can feel hard and lonely, but you know what? I have the unique perspective in seeing how similar we all are. We all have a story. I begin this pod...