Feeling like your life is being chosen for you? You're not alone. In this episode, we explore why identity, not willpower, drives behavior, how to break out of autopilot, and ways to choose who we're becoming as medicine advances. Press play to build awareness, set values aligned with goals, and make your next step intentional.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What changes when you stop living by default and insert a reset
• How identity outperforms motivation and how to write it into habits
• Which better questions break autopilot and open real options
• How to choose who you are before what you do, step by step
• What simple rules and routines cut chaos without extra effort
  
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Is AI sharpening care or eroding our humanity? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Susan Shelmerdine to unpack responsible AI in medicine, the mental health risks of overreliance, and the skill of discernment. She shares how improv rebuilt confidence and why connection must stay central. Press play to use AI wisely without losing yourself.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What to do when AI is banned in a clinic without losing efficiency or safety
• Why discernment beats raw knowledge in medicine's AI era
• How to use AI without frying your focus
• When loneliness creeps in, what replaces the chatbot habit and restores real connection
• Why risking rejection may be smarter for your career than playing it safe
  

About Susan Shelmerdine, MBBS, PHD
Dr. Susan is a consultant pediatric radiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and an honorary associate professor at University College London. A 2025 Roentgen Professor of the Royal College of Radiologists, she leads NIHR-funded AI research in children's imaging and pioneered the INTACT biopsy technique.

Connect with Dr. Susan

• Website: Susan Shelmerdine
• LinkedIn: Susan Shelmerdine
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Why are women physicians praised for teamwork yet penalized when we say no? In this episode, we unpack the hidden curriculum and redefine boundaries as clear rules that protect time, energy, and patient care. Press play to protect your yeses and set limits without apology.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What boundaries look like in medicine, set clear rules for time, energy, and workload
• Why self-compassion matters, view boundaries as protection, not rejection
• How to spot overcommitment, pause, reassess roles, and reset before burnout
• The pause script "My schedule is full. I'll review and get back to you."
• When to end after-hours work, set no-charting zones, and finish notes before leaving

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• 154. Grief, Money, and Time Pressures: Holidays for Women in Medicine
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Still trying to handle everything alone? This episode explains why "be strong" becomes a cage for women in medicine and how real support and coaching change energy, clarity, and confidence. Erin and Joanne define what coaching is and is not, and share steps to build boundaries and resilience. Press play to learn how support speeds growth.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• Why "be strong" can trap high achievers in overwork and isolation
• How real support replaces lone-ranger thinking and restores energy
• What coaching is (and isn't) for physicians, plus the therapy boundary
• How a coach exposes blind spots, resets your nervous system, and drives action
• Boundaries that protect time and values without guilt

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling stuck on autopilot, you didn't choose? In this episode, we reveal how tiny, repeatable habits and the right community can shift energy, protect time, and make medicine feel sustainable again. Learn why your "top five" people shape your routines more than willpower, and how simple boundary scripts and 1% course corrections help you finish notes sooner and breathe easier. Press play to see how awareness plus support turns goals into lived habits.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• What "good autopilot" looks like and how to build it into your day
• How 1% change (no-snooze rule, earlier lights-out) cascades into better energy
• How moods and behaviors "mirror" in groups and why your five people matter
• Where to find or build communities that celebrate letting go, not just doing more
• First step: awareness, then a boundary script that replaces the default yes

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Feeling stretched thin? In this episode, we show how three minutes of play can reset your nervous system and protect against burnout. We unpack the brain science behind joy, then share quick rituals, between patient resets, and simple team games that boost creativity and connection. Press play to learn small moves that restore energy fast.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• How joy resets your nervous system and sharpens focus
• Why playful breaks boost energy, teamwork, and creativity
• What drains play from women physicians, and how to reclaim it
• Where to anchor micro joy: before charting, between patients, at home
• The ripple of modeled joy on teams, patient care, and family

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• 136. Why Physicians Need Retreats Too With Dr. Chrissie Ott
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

What if your ADHD isn't a liability at work but your sharpest edge? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Brittney Bell to unpack how women in medicine can turn neurodivergent traits into creative leadership through simple systems, self-kindness rituals, and personalized environments. We also explore psychological safety, reframing productivity, and the courage to pivot when the old rules no longer fit. Press play to learn practical moves you can use this week.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• Could a 60-second self-kindness ritual reset your nervous system and shape every choice after?

• Which ADHD friendly system lets your strengths carry progress when willpower runs low?

• When creativity is the leadership metric, how do outcomes, culture, and courage change?

• What focus returns when you redesign your physical, digital, and meeting norms for neurodivergent brains?

• Which single boundary turns constant pings into a deep work window you can keep?
  
  
  

About Britney Bell, M.D.

Dr. Brittney is a physician, researcher, and creative leadership strategist who helps women with ADHD in leadership unlock suppressed creativity as their most powerful competitive advantage. Diagnosed in her 30s while in academic medicine, she champions systems that fit neurodivergent brains, from self-kindness rituals to personalized physical, digital, and cultural environments that protect focus and wellbeing. Her work centers on psychological safety, practical structures over "work harder," and using creativity as a leadership edge. Her mantra says it best: "Creativity is the power to imagine a better future and the courage to make it a reality."

Connect with Dr. Britney

• LinkedIn: Britney Bell, MD

• Instagram: @her.creative.advantage

• Book a Call: https://calendly.com/britb526/creative-leadership-consulting
  
  

Connect With Us

Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine

Craving a holiday that feels meaningful, not manic? In this episode, we look at how old patterns, perfection pressure, and comparison steal the season, and how reflection, boundaries, and simple systems bring back connection. Learn to delegate, trim gifts, protect sleep, and choose what matters most. Press play to design a calmer, more connected holiday.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• Why old holiday patterns persist and how a 50% simplification cuts stress and boosts connection
• What two-question debrief to run after gatherings to repeat wins and fix friction next time
• How to set time-boxed visits and exit rules to stay calm with tricky family dynamics
• When to swap gifts for experiences or donations to match values and ease pressure
• Start designing for connection first by subtracting tasks that block presence and joy

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• 149. Holiday Stress And SAD: Sleep Better With Simple Habits
• 150. How Marketers Hack Your Brain: Simple Rules to Buy Less
  

Connect With Us
Do you want to hear more from the ladies of the Create Meaning In Medicine podcast? Discover more empowering content when you go to https://www.createmeaninginmedicine.com!

▶️ Watch our videos: https://youtube.com/@createmeaninginmedicine