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What if losing your “secure” job became the moment you claimed real freedom? That’s the turning point we explore with PA Fedna Morensi as she traces a winding path from athletic training and dance dreams to orthopedic surgery and a locum lifestyle that funds her time, not her burnout. We dig into the human side of medicine—identity, resilience, and service—while getting specific about the business...

What if the most powerful tool in your clinical toolkit isn’t a monitor or a protocol, but a feeling you’ve learned to trust? We sit down with ER nurse Jenn Johnson to follow her unexpected path from failing organic chemistry to thriving in emergency care. She began in a tiny rural hospital where one RN ran the show, then in a major stroke center with full support and faster medicine. Along the wa...

What drives someone to leave a successful career as a Physician Assistant and return to medical school? For Dr. Joanne Amos, it was discovering her true calling in one of medicine's most demanding specialties: the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Amos takes us behind the scenes of her level three NICU, where she cares for babies as young as 22 weeks gestation. Her vivid descriptions bring to...

Dr. Kushagra Verma's journey reminds us that finding your calling often happens through unexpected rotations and powerful mentorships rather than childhood dreams. What makes his approach to spine surgery truly distinctive is the blend of technical excellence with deep humanity. Dr. Verma describes his complex surgical work as an intricate three-dimensional puzzle that draws on his engineerin...

What happens when a medical provider becomes the patient? Kelly Tuttle's journey shows us how personal experience can transform professional practice and create unique connections with patients. Kelly spent two decades as a cardiology nurse practitioner before a car accident resulting in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) completely altered her career trajectory. Rather than stepping away from me...

When Rachelle Hodel set her sights on working with babies, nothing would stand in her way, not even the absence of a job posting. Armed with determination and a freshly written cover letter, she walked straight into the nursery manager's office and launched a 15-year career in labor and delivery. That same decisive spirit guided her next evolution when family needs called for a more flexible...

Kristin takes us deep into the world of pediatric autoimmune disease, where conditions like juvenile idiopathic arthritis, lupus, and dermatomyositis affect multiple body systems and require tremendous coordination across specialties. With striking clarity, she describes the challenges of working with patients who've often spent years searching for answers before receiving life-altering diagn...

When a hospice nurse with thirty years of experience speaks about what matters most at the end of life, it's a story worth listening to. Jenny Lytle's journey into nursing began with an unlikely inspiration, a childhood fascination with thermometers during her own hospital stays, but has evolved into a profound calling that's taught her what true care really means. "It's s...

Pete Breitinger's journey to respected PA educator spans more than three decades and reveals the profound human connections at the heart of healthcare. What begins as a candid reflection on his unexpected path into medicine transforms into a masterclass on resilience, advocacy, and equity in patient care. When Pete shares stories from his years in pediatric cardiology, his voice brightens wit...

The medical world often focuses on protocols and procedures, but what happens when a patient's quality of life conflicts with the "safest" option? Catherine Moore, a licensed clinical social worker and creator of the top-performing Social Workers, Rise! podcast, who's worked in settings from hospice to ICUs, joins us to explore this crucial intersection of healthcare and humani...

What happens when a physician notices something seemingly small but deeply meaningful missing from patient care? Dr. Nekaiya Jacobs Pratt, a pediatric critical care physician, transformed hospital culture by addressing a gap that affected her patients with textured hair. During the isolating days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Kay found herself questioning her place in medicine. The emotional weigh...

What happens when a physician practices medicine across three different continents? Dr. Gregory Adaka's remarkable journey from Nigeria to the UK to the United States reveals surprising truths about global healthcare that every medical professional should consider. Born in Manchester and raised in Nigeria, Dr. Adaka's path to emergency medicine began with an unexpected source of inspirat...

What happens when medicine loses its humanity? Dr. Kipp's powerful new book "Heartbeats and Handshakes" offers a rare and intimate look at what it truly means to be a physician - from the terrifying first code blue as a medical student to the wisdom gained through 30 years of clinical practice. Dr. Kipp takes us behind closed doors to reveal the profound challenge doctors face: main...

What began as a pre-med journey toward orthopedic surgery took an unexpected turn when Sally Hoang, CAA discovered the immediate impact and work-life balance offered by a career in anesthesia care. With remarkable candor, Sally Hoang walks us through her typical 16-hour shift—from arriving at 6:30 AM to set up medications and equipment, to meeting patients in pre-op, to the collaborative dance of...

Dr. Michael Broukhim shatters psychiatric norms with remarkable results, proudly owning his identity as the "anti-psychiatrist psychiatrist." Our conversation reveals why this integrative practitioner achieves what many consider impossible: helping patients recover completely from conditions typically labeled as chronic. The heart of Dr. Broukhim's revolutionary approach lies in his...

Imagine walking into a hospital room, stethoscope in hand, only to have patients immediately assume you're the doctor simply because you're a man. For Brock Kemp, this scenario plays out regularly as a male nurse navigating a predominantly female profession. But these misconceptions are just the beginning of his fascinating journey through healthcare. From mowing lawns and fixing storage...

Flying through the air in a helicopter that's "so much smaller than you think," Sophie Fuller works to save lives as a critical care flight paramedic. In this captivating conversation, she reveals the unexpected journey that led her to becoming a lifesaving flight medic who transports critically ill patients by air. Sophie's path wasn't always clear. Seeking something beyo...

What does it take to completely reinvent your career path at age 30? Ryan Foley knows exactly how daunting this journey can be. Starting as a construction worker with a vocational high school background, Ryan made the bold decision to pursue medicine, beginning with remedial college classes and reverse engineering his way to becoming a physician assistant. Ryan's approach was brilliantly meth...

A sarcastic whisper describing the tools used in the operating room changed everything. Meet Alyssa Ellis, the Certified Surgical Technologist and First Assistant whose educational videos have captured the attention of surgeons, students, and curious patients alike. With her trademark straightforward delivery and deep expertise, Alyssa pulls back the curtain on what really happens when you're...

Dr. Josh Wageman brings a rare blend of expertise to cardiovascular prevention. With credentials spanning physical therapy, biochemistry, and Yale PA training, he's transformed how we understand lipid science through brilliant, accessible metaphors that make complex medical concepts understandable to everyone. At the heart of our conversation is Josh's innovative framework that reimagine...

Dr. Ali Zreik arrives at patient rooms with an unusual tool—a rolling whiteboard. While most physicians carry stethoscopes and tablets, this internal medicine attending physician and associate program director brings something more transformative: a visual bridge between complex medical science and human understanding. "Bring me the whiteboard," he tells residents when faced with a chall...

Challenging a broken system often requires walking an unconventional path. Jono Lippman's journey from communications major to wilderness guide to emergency medicine PA beautifully illustrates how diverse experiences can reshape our understanding of what healthcare education could and should be. What happens when someone who once actively avoided science classes finds themselves drawn to medi...

What does it take to transform obstacles into opportunities? Major M. Tiye Young knows firsthand. When deployment orders arrived just days before her PA school application deadline, she didn't abandon her medical dreams—she recalibrated. When a cervical cancer diagnosis threatened her future, she fought back with unwavering resolve. Now, as both a military leader and surgical PA, she's r...

When a terrified 10-year-old boy walked into Colleen Sloan's pediatric practice in tears, she discovered he'd been monitoring his weight obsessively after another provider warned he'd "need needles in his stomach" if he didn't lose weight. This moment exemplifies everything wrong with how healthcare approaches nutrition conversations—and sparked a mission to change it...

Jessica Dell'Aquila's career journey breaks the conventional mold of what we expect from healthcare professionals. Starting with a clear vision at just 18, she enrolled in Seton Hall's innovative six-year dual degree program, emerging with both her undergraduate biology degree and master's in physician assistant studies—a testament to her focused determination from the beginnin...