Breaking the Cycle: Toxic Training, Systemic Abuse, and Life After Surgery

In this powerful episode of FEM MD, Dr. Lauren Umstattd sits down with Dr. Frances Mei Hardin for an unflinching conversation about the darker realities of surgical training. Frances Mei shares her personal experience navigating a medical culture where bullying, abuse, and emotional isolation are often normalized—and where “resilience” is too often code for silent suffering.

Together, they unpack the structural issues baked into the hierarchy of medicine and what it means to walk away—not as a failure, but as an act of reclaiming agency. This episode explores what happens when your identity is bound to your profession, and what’s possible when you begin to untangle that narrative.

It’s a must-listen for anyone who’s ever questioned the cost of staying silent in a broken system.

Host: Dr. Lauren Umstattd

Connect with Dr. Frances Mei Hardin

IG: @francesmei.md

Website: https://hippocratic-collective.com

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective