Stimulus - Learn Tools to Crush It in Your Medical Career

There is no doubt that handing over care of a patient to another clinician is potentially fraught with peril. After all, it’s in the transitional moments when error is most likely to occur. But there’s a balance to strike here because there are also myriad upsides to signouts for both the patient and clinician. In this episode, Mike Weinstock, MD breaks down the arguments in favor of signouts, how...

It can be hard enough managing critical tasks in the best of times, but when things start to go awry, you need to focus even more to keep moving in a positive direction. Back by popular demand, Dan Dworkis (our guest on episode 57 ) walks us through: navigating uncertainty when under situational pressure, powering down at the end of the day, managing the physiologic response to stress, the most th...

A book I recommend to many coaching clients is “ Designing Your Life ” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. I’ve even had a client use a several month coaching engagement specifically to focus on the exercises in the book. What makes it such a potent tool? Design thinking. What happens if we take the same principles that are used to create the fastest road bike or most efficient electric vehicle and ap...

Case studies using Nonviolent Communication in real world situations including:  how to give a proper compliment, perils of bringing up past issues, emergency empathy when speaking to a consultant, receiving gratitude, point of care compassion, and the limitations of NVC in the resus bay.  Guest bio:  Scott Weingart is an emergency physician who went on to complete fellowships in Tr...

Nonviolent Communication is one of the most powerful ways of speaking with people that I have ever come across. It eliminates useless strategies like judgment and proving yourself right and instead gives you absolutely tactical techniques to get the things you need for happiness for yourself and your interlocutor. NVC is not a new, gimmicky set of dictum. It boils down the philosophies of Stoicism...

Nobody goes into medicine hoping they can have a long career in data entry, but that’s how many feel when looking at computer screens more than patients during a work day. Documentation and the electronic medical record (EMR) are nearly ubiquitous sources of frustration in medical practice. In this episode we cover two solutions to make medical documentation, charting, and the EMR less onerous:&nb...

We share two conversations about navigating the waters of interacting with unvaccinated COVID patients. Brit Long, MD and Jose Pacheco, RN are thoughtful healthcare providers with somewhat different approaches. The common thread is that both are intentional and compassionate. Guest bios:  Brit Long is an assistant professor of emergency medicine in San Antonio, Texas and Editor-in-Chief of Cl...

How do you decide whether to say yes or no to something? In this 5 minute episode, we break down a simple yet incredibly effective heuristic taken from the book Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers. Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited. Learn More Here 🎓 P.S. This is a CME event. The Flameproof Course The h...

The nature of medical practice dictates that we will have tough cases. Patients will die, we will have to deliver bad news, and we will, at some point, make mistakes. We have high expectations of ourselves so when we get figuratively knocked down, how do we get back up? In this episode, performance coach Jason Brooks guides us through strategies for dealing with the emotional and intellectual fall...

Patient satisfaction and the patient experience are vastly different different things. In this pod we discuss: how experience is influenced by every conceivable touchpoint, and perception, how making a purposeful choice to care helps ensure that our patients have a positive experience, efficiently handling the situation when a patient has extra questions, the best way to acknowledge a patient’s lo...

Job satisfaction increases when the work we do aligns with our purpose. One way of looking at it is by creating pillars that support your career and being intentional about using those pillars to help guide your decisions. In this episode, we learn that Jaime Hope’s four roles as an emergency physician are to excel as a public safety officer, a resuscitationist, a diagnostician, and a patient advo...

In this episode we hear from eight leading physician educators about a core principle of patient care:  primum non nocere. We learn that limiting harm can translate into doing what’s medically right, putting the patient’s welfare first, judicious use of IV fluids, reducing opioid prescribing, making a habit of pausing when depleted, acknowledging the end of life, and allowing a natural death....

Thinking about a career as an  expert witness but now quite sure how to get started? Or perhaps you already have a side gig in this line of work but you want to up your game. In this episode we chat with Amal Mattu, MD who is an expert at being an expert witness. He shares pearls of wisdom including what inspires him to do this, how he does it, and why you should remain nice even when it’s ge...

What does your life have in common with that of an astronaut? A lot, it turns out. Dan Mccollum returns to Stimulus to break down the skills learned by International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield as explained in his autobiography An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth . Guest Bio: Dan Mccollum, MD is an emergency physician, associate professor, and associate residency director at the Medic...

Mass casualty events are rare and thus the mistakes made and lessons learned are often repeated, over and over. In this episode, emergency physician and former Special Forces medic Mike Shertz, MD walks us through the steps on how to be an effective first receiver of mass casualty victims and shares the lessons written in blood from previous events.  Guest Bio: Mike Shertz MD is an emergency...

The emergency mind is cool under pressure. But how do you get there? For most us, it’s not an innate skill. Dan Dworkis MD, PhD lays out the path: graduated pressure, deliberate training, tired moves, and acknowledging the suboptimal. Guest Bio: Dan Dworkis MD, PhD is an emergency physician who is a clinical professor of emergency medicine at USC Keck School of Medicine. He's also host of the Emer...

A hike in the jungle takes an unexpected turn when Rob and Melissa meet a traveler with a medical emergency. In this episode: medical emergencies in austere environments, managing acute pain without medication, and using breath work vs distraction in high stress situations. Pics and videos on our website. Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale...

The phrase “too much on my plate” and word “busy” are pervasive in modern discourse. But does it have to be so? We certainly didn’t start out that way as children! In this episode, Dr. Christina Shenvi walks us through the path to clear our ‘schedule plates’ and open space in our lives, get un-busy, and conquer the email inbox. Guest Bio: Christina Shenvi MD, PhD is an emergency physician at the U...

What gives you fulfillment in your job? If you know it, do you make purposeful choices to keep pointed in that direction? We start with the tale of Juan Belmonte... Juan Belmonte's journey to becoming a master of the bullfighting arena is a tale of resilience and unparalleled determination. Born into modest circumstances, Belmonte initially faced a series of setbacks, including an early attempt at...

Scott Weingart is arguably one of the most influential and polarizing physicians on the planet. He is not one to mince words and often comes across as definitive in how he describes his practice of medicine.  What people don't realize, he says, is that his clinical care is often guided by fear, not bravado, ego, or machismo. In this episode, Scott breaks down his five fears when it comes to m...

Most of us don’t give a lot of thought to how and when we listen to podcasts. But like most of life, an intentional approach can reap benefits. In this episode, Josh Russell walks us through: strategies for maximizing retention, listening based on brain state, new data on listening while driving, the value of silence. Guest Bio:  Joshua Russell, MD is clinician, writer, and educator.  Si...

Pediatric surgeon Ross Fisher, the mind behind p cubed presentations , breaks down how to finish a talk (teaser, it’s not a random vacation slide or you saying, “Thank you,” and walking off stage). As a bonus, he also discusses structuring a lecture with spaced repetition so your audience truly understands your message, fielding questions, staying on message, and how to (and how not to) use a scri...

Investigative journalist and bestselling author Scott Carney is our guest as we discuss: what it means to be human, going deep in the Wim Hof method, benefits of cold exposure, climbing Kilimanjaro without a shirt, using The Wedge to change conversations with your limbic system, kettlebell throwing, and why you might want to embrace failure. Guest Bio: Scott Carney is an anthropologist, investigat...

Recent evidence suggests that sex to orgasm can improve nasal airflow equal in degree to nasal decongestant spray. We break down the literature (which totals 1 article). Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited. Learn More Here 🎓 P.S. This is a CME event. The Flameproof Course The hidden anti-burnout curri...

High demand jobs (like fighter pilot, emergency medicine, trauma surgery, etc.) require continued exposure to the field of operations for maintenance of top level sharpness. In today’s episode we explore the phenomenon of skill decay and ways to mitigate its effects.  Guest Bio:  Joshua Russell, MD is clinician, writer, and educator.  Since completing residency training in Emergency...