The Other Human in the Room

In this episode I share my poem "Light a Candle" and three truths I keep coming back to: transitions are hard, they're always happening, and they need space. I talk about offering palliative care to what's dying and antenatal care to what's being born, and I share my own recent example of letting a coaching program go and watching something new grow from it. I close with a question for you: what i...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Devina Wadhwa, a psychiatrist working in Northern Ontario and the Canadian Arctic, who shares how the sudden loss of her father became the catalyst that finally let her question the full-time, say-yes-to-everything pace that had been quietly burning her out. We talk about the subtle early signs of burnout we're trained to ignore, why "complicated grief" might b...

This week I'm sharing a poem I wrote by a stream during my summer sabbatical, when I was trying to hold onto a slower pace before returning to the breakneck rush of clinical work. I talk about what it means to set my own pace instead of letting patients, pages, and endless demands dictate it for me, and how running a marathon taught me the same lesson: rushing early always costs you later. I share...

I sat down with veterinarian, professional speaker, and self-described "unemployable" multipassionate Dr. Caroline Brookfield (who actually has several jobs). We dig into her wildly non-linear career path and why tolerance of ambiguity might be the real antidote to burnout in healthcare. Caroline breaks down her research-backed framework for moving through uncertainty instead of white-knuckling it...

This episode comes to you from the middle of my annual summer sabbatical, where I've been reading romance novels, working with my poetry editor, and thinking a lot about the Karpman Drama Triangle. I read you my poem "Helpless Helper" and use it as a doorway into exploring the victim, rescuer, and persecutor roles I keep finding myself cycling through with patients, with my kids, and with the heal...

I sat down again with the wonderful Risa Adams, this time letting go of our usual IFS session format to reflect more openly on what these conversations have meant to me. We talk about the parts of ourselves we find hardest to love, the wisdom of menstrual cycles and lunar shifts, and how overworking is its own kind of dopamine hit. Risa brings her IFS lens to anger, shadow work, and the drama tria...

This episode dives into the real history of "part-time" and "full-time," where those definitions came from, and why the 40-hour week was invented to protect workers, not to prove their worth. I share data on physician work hours, disability and part-time practice, and why cutting back is one of the most effective retention strategies we have, yet still isn't celebrated. And I read you a poem, Part...

This week I sat down with my dear friend Dr. Kelly Anderson to talk about her debut novel, The Wild Beneath, WHICH COMES OUT AUGUST 4!!! She shares the six-year journey it took to write it while still practicing medicine. We talk about whale songs, introjects we ingest without realizing and why guarding your smallest curiosities might be guarding your whole life. I loved Kelly’s book so much, so I...

I met Alexis Milligan at a theater workshop for medical educators and immediately ran up to her afterward and said: can you please come on my podcast? Alexis is a movement director, actor, director, and the creator of the Theater of Medicine program at the Shaw Festival. This conversation is about what clinicians can learn from performers about presence, embodiment, and showing up fully for the hu...

Dr. Risa Adams is back for our fifth and final recorded IFS session together, and is a direct follow up from part 4 where I connect with a part stuck in a humiliating grade 4 classroom moment. Risa guides me through the unburdening process, and I share a song that this know-it-all part helped me write! Thank you for all your support of this vulnerable series, it’s been so meaningful and rewarding...

It's the four-year anniversary of The Other Human in the Room, and I am reflecting on what's needed to die this past year — in my podcast, my teaching, my roles, my marriage — and what's quietly being born. From a three-month hiatus to a commencement keynote to becoming a co-site director to a poetry book I'm apparently writing now, this year has been less about building and more about composting....

This week is all about inviting you to Create Space with me (Joan) this fall! Listen to the audio version of the Creating Space workshop, which includes a detailed description of the course and retreat. Book your connection call with Joan: joanchanmd.com/space Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/ Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

Dr. Laura Vater is a medical oncologist, writer, and advocate for clinician humanity. In this conversation, we go deep on what it actually looks like to protect yourself inside a system that wasn't built with you in mind. We talk about sleep deprivation, suicidal ideation during training, and how Laura found the courage to advocate for change — not all at once, but through longitudinal relationshi...

Dr. Risa Adams is back for our fourth recorded IFS session together, and this one goes somewhere I didn't expect: deep into a nine-year-old version of me who raised her hand in class, got laughed at, and quietly decided that not knowing things was dangerous. We explore what it means to really meet a part of yourself; not to fix her or convince her, but to let her feel genuinely witnessed. If you'v...

What happens when a nurse and a pediatrician decide that the antidote to moral distress might be poetry, circles, and the Artist's Way? In this episode, I sit down with Laura Holford, RN and Dr. Anu Gorukanti, co-founders of Introspective Spaces, to talk about contemplative practice, community care, and what it actually looks like to bring your whole weird human self to work. We get into activism,...

What do dirty dishes and a miscategorized inbox task have in common? More than you'd think. In this episode, I sit down with Alison Jamison — coach for women physicians and certified Fair Play facilitator — to talk about the invisible labor that quietly fuels resentment at home and at work. We dig into Eve Rodsky's Fair Play framework: the idea that true delegation means handing over conception, p...

This one was recorded on a window ledge at the Millcroft Inn, still wrapped in the softest robe, fresh off my second annual Creating Space retreat with eight incredible physician humans. The theme that kept surfacing all weekend? Being selfish: the word we were all using to explain why we couldn't possibly take up space, rest, or honor what we actually want. In this episode, I dig into where "self...

Dr. Risa Adams returns to help me explore something that's been loudly alive for me lately: the fear and vulnerability that comes with stepping into a new leadership role as a medical educator. We follow the thread from imposter syndrome and performative teaching all the way back to a grade four classroom — where a little part of me learned that being wrong in front of others meant being cast out....

In this episode, I'm sharing the second part of my journey finding humanity as a medical educator, focusing on three practical workflow challenges I've been navigating. I'm getting real about the "inhuman stories" that have been surfacing - like feeling I need to be my residents' cruise director, believing teaching shouldn't take extra time, and worrying that learners mean worse patient care. Thro...

In this deeply nourishing conversation, I sit down with Dr. Alysha Mackenzie-Feder, a pediatrician from Kelowna, BC, to explore the critical difference between empathy and compassion in healthcare. Alysha shares how her journey through Zen Buddhism and contemplative practices transformed her understanding of physician wellbeing and patient care, revealing why "compassion fatigue" might actually be...

In this solo episode, I'm sharing three major "inhuman stories" that have been haunting me as I've stepped deeper into medical education as a preceptor and co-site director. I unpack the beliefs that I need to know everything to teach, that my job is to mold students in my image, and that I'm solely responsible for their outcomes—and how these stories create unnecessary stress and anxiety. Through...

In this conversation, I reconnect with Dr. Caitlin Christie, a fellow family physician and coach practicing in Ontario, to share what we're actually doing on the ground to create sustainable, joyful practices. We dive into the real challenges of primary care - from new funding initiatives to physician capacity pressures - and explore how we've shifted from feeling helpless about external circumsta...

In this follow-up session with my friend and IFS therapist Dr Risa Adams, I explore my complicated relationship with anger—an emotion I've spent most of my life suppressing and fearing. After a conflict with my husband revealed layers of resentment and shame, I discovered that my anger isn't the enemy I thought it was; it's actually a protective part trying to keep me safe and advocate for my auth...

In this episode, I explore the powerful idea of being replaceable in our work. Drawing from personal experiences, I discuss how accepting this truth can alleviate burnout and foster a healthier work-life balance. Join me as I share insights on how shifting our mindset from perfectionism to collaboration can enhance our professional lives. Let’s embrace the concept of being part of a greater whole....

It’s my 40th birthday! (Or rather it WAS my birthday at the time of recording this episode) I take the day off clinic, let myself have a truly delicious day, and reflect on what it means to turn 40. I open a time capsule I made as a 13-year-old in the year 2000 and react—tenderly and hilariously—to what she thought success was. And then I zoom out: lessons from my 30s, hopes for my 40s, and why lo...