Stethoscopes and Strollers

Hey Doc, “I’ll do locums once the kids are older.” Sound familiar? That’s the line I hear most from physician moms when they’re curious about locums but don’t think it’s realistic with a baby or toddler at home. But here’s the truth: I started doing locums with a 2-year-old and a newborn and it turned out to be one of the best parenting decisions I ever made. Not because it was easy. But because i...

Hey Doc We made it. A brand new year and the 100th episode of Stethoscopes and Strollers . This isn’t just a milestone. It’s a moment to pause, reflect, and remember why this podcast, and this work, exists in the first place. Yes, it started with postpartum burnout. Yes, it evolved through early motherhood, transitions, and work stress. But at the center of it all? Empowering women physicians to s...

Hey Doc, It’s Ole Year’s Day, as we say in Trinidad! And whether you call it Ole Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve, the energy’s the same: reflect, reset, repeat. Before you close the book on the year — or let your mind spiral on all the things that didn’t happen — I want you to do one thing (well, two): Remember what did . Pause on that instinct to scroll through everything that didn’t happen. This is...

Hey Doc — When did the holidays turn into one big chaotic to-do list? Between last-minute gift runs, boundary-testing relatives, and the annual matching pajama scramble… it’s a lot. This episode is your permission slip to opt out . The stress isn’t tradition. The chaos isn’t required. And next year doesn’t have to feel like this one, because holiday magic doesn’t have to mean exhaustion. 🎧 Tune i...

Hey Doc, Headed into a holiday gathering with a cousin, auntie, or in-law who always has something to say? This one’s for you. This short and slightly petty episode is your permission slip to disengage — without guilt, without defensiveness, and without wasting your energy explaining yourself to people who don’t live your life. You’ll learn: Why “okay” is a complete sentence How to stop giving you...

Hey Doc If you’ve ever left a meeting with leadership thinking, “Why did I even bother?” I’ve been there. Vague emails. Rambling explanations. Trying to be heard and ending up dismissed. This episode is about doing it differently. With clarity. With strategy. And without bending over backwards to be “nice” about it. You’ll learn: How to prep before the ask (so you’re not just venting) What to focu...

Hey Doc — How do you manage with young kids with household duties, work, marriage…life? It’s the question I hear constantly — in coaching calls, Facebook posts, in casual conversations when someone’s hanging on by a thread. And if you have no nearby family and no reliable backup? The question starts to feel like a punchline. Most advice boils down to: Just outsource more. But if it were that simpl...

Hey Doc, We’re heading into the holiday season, and I want to offer you a small but powerful reminder — the kind we don’t usually give ourselves this time of year. Between the gifts, the traditions, the kids, the family expectations, and the pressure to “create magic,” it’s so easy to slide into the background of your own life without even noticing. But what if this year looked different? What if...

Hey Doc — What if I told you your husband and AI have way more in common than you think? Not in a “men are robots” way, but in a “this explains so much about your marriage” way. In this episode, I’m breaking down the four big parallels between husbands and AI — the ones that quietly shape your communication, your expectations, and yes… your resentment. And listen, I love AI and I love husbands, so...

Hey Doc — Dr. Toya Coaching is turning two! 🎉 Two years ago, I had a newborn, a burnout hangover, and an idea that didn’t make much sense on paper, but made perfect sense for my life. What started as a postpartum support concept has evolved into a global coaching brand, a thriving community, and an impact that‘s undeniable. In this anniversary episode, I’m reflecting on the year everything change...

Hey Doc! What happens when the OB/GYN becomes a new mom and realizes everything she thought she knew about postpartum was incomplete? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Candice Wood , an OB-GYN, perinatal mental health specialist, and mom of five, for a conversation that is tender, hilarious, and quietly radical . Yes, she built a 2-day-a-week career while raising five kids under five. But what...

Hey Doc, When you become a mom, everything changes— your body, your schedule, your sense of who you are. And when you’re a physician mom, that collides with a career that isn’t built for flexibility or rest. In this conversation, Dr. Sonia Singh and I go straight into that tension — the messy middle between professional identity and motherhood. We talk about what it really looks like to become a m...

Hey Doc— This week’s episode is one of my favorites yet because it’s a full-circle moment. I’m sitting down with my friend Dr. Sarah Stombaugh —family medicine physician, obesity medicine specialist, private practice owner, coach, podcast host, and mom of three. And fun fact: she’s the reason I started Dr. Toya Coaching. Yep. You’ve heard me mention her before. The woman who looked me in the eye a...

Hey Doc, What happens when you stop following the script and start building a life that actually fits you ? This week on Stethoscopes and Strollers , I’m joined by Dr. Saumya Dave — psychiatrist, author, private practice owner, and mom of two — for a conversation that’s equal parts real, reflective, and full of permission. We talk about the seasons of life and how every one of them demands somethi...

Hey Doc, I just came out of 30 days without formal childcare — and let me tell you, it was brutal. Even with my mom’s help, the constant interruptions, scattered energy, and exhaustion left me running on fumes. I was counting down to bedtime, doom scrolling late at night, and struggling to stay in flow. Trying to hold everything together without reliable childcare doesn’t prove anything — it only...

Hey Doc, Are you the problem? Not you alone, but us. Women physicians. Without realizing it, we uphold the very systems — patriarchy, sexism, racism — that keep us playing small. It shows up in the way we react when another woman asks for more, when we hesitate to negotiate, or when we discourage salary transparency, and when we are passing down outdated advice to younger women physicians. The tru...

Hey Doc, We need to talk about something that I believe is absolutely essential for every woman physician — especially those of us juggling medicine, motherhood, and marriage. Money. Specifically, your knowledge of it. Your relationship to it. And the way you might be giving away your power around it, even if your income looks good on paper. In this episode, I’m sharing how I fired my financial ad...

Hey Doc, If you’ve ever looked into the au pair program and wondered, “Okay but… how much does it actually cost?” — this is for you. This episode was inspired by a client who asked me directly what she’d really be signing up for financially. And when I say there’s nuance? Whew. There’s nuance. The au pair program can be more cost-effective than a nanny, but only if you understand what you’re actua...

Hey Doc, This episode is about the reason I created ✨The Connected Motherhood Experience✨ — a space specifically for Black physician moms. It came out of years of being in rooms, reading books, and trying to apply lessons that were never written for me. Most of the popular resources in the personal and professional development world weren’t created with women like us in mind. The frameworks ofte...

Hey Doc, This one’s different. In format and in focus. In this episode, I’m sharing excerpts from a book that reshaped the way I think about boundaries. It’s called Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship by Adelyn Birch. Yes, it’s about toxic romantic relationships... but when I read it, it felt like it captured everything I’ve experienced while in medicine. The way we’ve been trained to tol...

Hey Doc, You’ve made the decision to leave. Now what? In Part 2 of this powerful two-part series on how to leave your job with an empowered exit, I walk you through what happens after the decision is made: Giving notice. Navigating conversations. Protecting your reputation. Gathering what’s yours. We cover: ✔️ How to actually submit your resignation (without drama or delay) ✔️ What to say and what...

Hey Doc, Let’s talk about how to actually leave your job. If you’re burnt out, disrespected, or just ready for more alignment, you’ve probably heard the fear-driven advice: “Don’t burn bridges.” But let’s be honest, that advice often keeps us stuck in situations that chip away at our confidence and well-being. In Part 1 of this two-part series, I break down the real reasons why so many physician m...

Hey Doc, We were taught to equate strength with staying, enduring, proving ourselves. But sometimes the most courageous, grounded, resilient thing you can do… is leave. Leave the job. Leave the school. Leave the situation that is breaking you down in the name of proving your strength. This episode was inspired by a homeschool thread, but it’s not about curriculum or education. It’s about the lie w...

Hey Doc, What would you do if life gave you a second chance? In this episode, I sit with Dr. Verniese Moore, a board-certified family medicine physician, a wife, a mom of two, and the CEO of the luxury handbag brand Vie Lorie, who shares her life in the most raw and beautiful way. She takes us back to Gate B3 in LaGuardia Airport, where she fell to the floor as she learned she was cancer-free, sur...

Hey Doc, This episode was sparked by a late-night convo with my husband about our current au pair (who’s on her way out) and turned into a full reflection on introversion, identity, and what it means to actually honor who we are, even when the world tells us we’re too much, or not enough. I’m sharing something personal about how my personality has always been “a lot” for people, especially in medi...