In this episode of This Clinical Life, we welcome Patrick Riecke, a burnout survivor, healthcare leader, author, and coach dedicated to helping clinicians and leaders prevent, understand, and recover from burnout with research-based, practical tools.

Patrick draws on personal experience and years of leading teams through high-stress environments to explore how burnout develops, what it really feels like, and what individuals and systems can do to foster resilience, well-being, and meaning in demanding clinical settings. If you’re feeling depleted, questioning your career, or leading others through stress, this conversation brings both hope and actionable direction.

Practicing Excellence is a human development company. We help coach and develop the healthcare workforce to make a meaningful impact by building proven skills in patient connection, team collaboration, and leadership effectiveness.

Learn more about our approach to empowering health systems, care teams, and individuals at PracticingExcellence.com.

Follow us on LinkedIn.
Watch episodes on on YouTube.

Please subscribe to and rate This Clinical Life on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download podcasts.

Welcome to This Clinical Life, proudly presented by Practicing Excellence. In this podcast, we explore the transformational impact of skill development for physicians, nurses, teams and leaders to power better healthcare.

In this episode of This Clinical Life, we sit down with Dr. Zach Mercurio, a leading researcher, author, and speaker on purposeful leadership and meaningful work. Zach shares insights from his work on why mattering, the fundamental human need to feel seen, heard, valued, and needed, is critical to human thriving and effective leadership. We unpack how these ideas apply not just to organizational life but clinical settings where connection, well‐being, and motivation are paramount. Together we explore how purpose and daily interactions can transform culture, deepen engagement, and strengthen resilience in an era where many feel invisible.

Practicing Excellence is a human development company. We help coach and develop the healthcare workforce to make a meaningful impact by building proven skills in patient connection, team collaboration, and leadership effectiveness.

Learn more about our approach to empowering health systems, care teams, and individuals at PracticingExcellence.com.

Follow us on LinkedIn.
Watch episodes on on YouTube.

Please subscribe to and rate This Clinical Life on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download podcasts.

Healthcare leadership is no longer just about decisions and outcomes it’s about how leaders show up for the people doing the work. In this episode, Kierstin Kennedy, MD, MSHA, FACP, SFHM, Chief Medical Officer at UAB Medicine, reflects on the leadership principles that sustain teams in complex, high-pressure environments.

From navigating accountability with humanity to strengthening quality and safety through trust, Dr. Kennedy shares lessons from the frontlines of executive leadership. This conversation explores how emotional intelligence and servant leadership quietly shape culture, performance, and patient outcomes and why the future of healthcare depends on leaders who can balance clarity, compassion, and courage.

Practicing Excellence is a human development company. We help coach and develop the healthcare workforce to make a meaningful impact by building proven skills in patient connection, team collaboration, and leadership effectiveness.

Learn more about our approach to empowering health systems, care teams, and individuals at PracticingExcellence.com.

Follow us on LinkedIn.
Watch episodes on on YouTube.

Please subscribe to and rate This Clinical Life on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download podcasts.