Surgeon, Interrupted

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Dr. Shay Taylor—newly matched at Yale Anesthesiology, and a story that has gone viral around the world.But this is not just a “feel-good” story.This is a conversation about what it actually takes to get there: the years of working full-time while in school, the rejection, the debt, the doubt, and the mindset required to keep going when everything says stop.Shay shares what it means to build a career without mentorship, to start medicine later than everyone else, and to keep moving forward after being told, directly, that she would never make it.This episode is about resilience, but not in a polished, curated way.It’s about crash outs, losses, and choosing to continue anyway.In this episode, we discuss:Shay’s journey from janitor to physicianMatching into Yale Anesthesia after a nontraditional pathWhat it’s like to pursue medicine without guidance or resourcesWorking full-time while completing undergrad and a master’sBeing told “medical school isn’t for you”—and continuing anywayThe reality of failure (“the L’s”) in medical trainingHow to handle rejection without quittingDelayed gratification, debt, and why medicine has to be personalSocial media, professionalism, and the “new generation” of doctorsWhy patients may actually want more human—not less—in their physiciansHost: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Dr. Shay TaylorConnect with Shay: @shayy.taylorPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

The Match is a monopoly. And now, it’s official.In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei is joined by Colin Royal for an emergency breakdown of a newly released congressional report from the House Judiciary Committee—one that directly calls the NRMP (residency Match) a monopoly with “destructive consequences” for physicians, patients, and the healthcare system at large.If you’ve been through medical training, none of this is surprising. But this is the first time it’s being said at this level.We get into what this actually means—beyond Match Week, beyond the algorithm—and why this moment could mark the beginning of a long-overdue shift in how medical training is structured in the United States.This is not a conversation about preference signaling or rank lists. This is a conversation about power.In this episode, we discuss:The House Judiciary Committee report on the NRMP and why it mattersHow the Match suppresses wages and limits competitionThe 2004 antitrust exemption—and how it shaped the current systemWhy residents have little to no negotiating powerThe concept of “mobility” (and why being trapped is the real issue)Why some specialties can treat trainees worse—and get away with itWhether a “transfer portal” for residents could existThe myth that residents are “just trainees”How resident labor actually powers academic hospitalsWhy this is not a residents vs. NPs/PAs issue—but a system-wide oneHost: Frances Mei Hardin, MDPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollowing Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances sits down with Helena (A.YoungDoctors.Journey), an emergency medicine physician redefining what early attending life can look like.Fresh out of residency, she chose a path many physicians are warned against: full-time locum tenens work. What follows is an honest, nuanced conversation about autonomy, uncertainty, and what it means to build a career outside the traditional script.They unpack:The hidden fear of showing up online as a physicianWhy “freedom of time” became non-negotiableThe reality of 1099 vs W-2 (explained simply)Early attending insecurity—and why it’s universalThe myth that more years = better doctorTravel, money, and the unexpected perks of locumsAnd the deeper question: what are you choosing by staying where you are?This is not a pitch for leaving medicine—or for locums.It’s a conversation about choice, agency, and expanding what feels possible.Because the goal isn’t one path.It’s knowing you have options.A.YoungDoctors.Journey is an emergency medicine physician and recent residency graduate, and spends far too much of her free time posting about life in medicine on social media. She completed medical school in Budapest and matched as a US-IMG. Currently, she’s doing locum tenens full-time and is learning how to navigate finances, entrepreneurship and attending life as a 1099 contractor.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: A.YoungDoctors.JourneyConnect with Helena: @a.youngdoctors.journey www.ayoungdoctorsjourney.comPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei speaks with physician, writer, and documentary filmmaker Jessica Zitter, MD, whose work explores some of the most difficult, and most human, moments in medicine.Dr. Zitter first gained international recognition through the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary Extremis, which captured the emotional reality of end-of-life care inside the ICU. Since then, she has continued to use storytelling to challenge the culture of modern medicine.Together, Frances and Jessica discuss:• How physicians become powerful storytellers• Why medical culture often silences trainees• The toxic hierarchies embedded in healthcare training• The emotional toll of ICU and end-of-life care• Why compassion, communication, and palliative care principles should exist in every specialty—not just palliative medicineJessica also shares the story behind her newest documentary, The Chaplain and the Doctor, which follows her 15-year collaboration with a hospital chaplain and explores spirituality, bias, and humanity at the bedside.This conversation explores how storytelling can transform medicine—from the ICU to the operating room—and why speaking honestly about medical culture may be the first step toward changing it.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Jessica Zitter, MD, MPHConnect with Jessica: @jessicazitterreelmedicinemedia.orgthechaplainandthedoctor.comPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdJessica Zitter, MD, MPH is a documentary filmmaker, writer, physician, and founder of Reel Medicine Media, a non-profit devoted to using story to transform and humanize medical culture. Dr. Zitter is the primary featured subject and a member of the team that created the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Extremis (2016).” She went on to direct and produce the award-winning documentary “Caregiver: A Love Story (2020),” which examines the growing crisis of family caregiver burden in the United States. Her third documentary, “The Chaplain & The Doctor (2025)” explores the transformative relationship between a hospital chaplain and a physician challenging the fragmented clinical approach to patient care. Dr. Zitter’s book, “Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life” (2017), describes her evolution from a doctor focused on extending life at all costs to one more patient-centered and humanistic.And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

n this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with urology resident and social media creator Maheetha Bharadwaj, MD—often known online as the internet’s favorite “dancing urologist.”What begins with viral TikToks and Kardashian-style medical skits quickly turns into a deeper conversation about advocacy, physician voice, and the hidden curriculum of medical training. Maheetha explains how humor and creativity can be used to deliver serious health education—what Frances Mei calls “putting the medicine in the cheese.”Together they explore:• How doctors can use social media to educate patients• The power of visibility for women and minorities in surgical specialties• Why medicine’s hidden curriculum—not anatomy or pathophysiology—is often what breaks trainees• Advocacy burnout and how physicians stay engaged without losing hope• Why collaboration—not competition—may be the future of medicineMaheetha also shares how her work now extends beyond Instagram and TikTok to state and national policy advocacy, speaking directly with legislators about issues affecting patient care.This conversation is about creativity, courage, and the evolving role of physicians in public life—and why the next generation of doctors may change medicine by speaking out.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Maheetha Bharadwaj, MDConnect with Maheetha: @dancing_uro_dochttps://www.hippocratic-collective.com/members/maheetha-bharadwaj-mdPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What happens when the dream you chased your whole life stops feeling like yours?This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Sarah Rav — former doctor, former McKinsey consultant, and now a positioning and content strategist helping professionals build powerful personal brands.Sarah shares her journey from direct-entry medical school in Australia to corporate consulting, and ultimately to walking away from prestige entirely. Together, they unpack:• The pressure of immigrant expectations and “safe” careers• Prestige addiction and socially acceptable success• The sunk cost fallacy in medicine• Transferable skills doctors underestimate• Why visibility matters more than hard work outside the hospital• Dealing with online criticism (and why backlash can mean growth)• The concept of being “brave scared”If you’ve ever wondered whether the path you’re on is truly yours — or just the one you were taught to want — this episode will feel like permission.As Sarah says:"This is my rebirth. I decide who I am, how I show up, and what I leave behind."You’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Sarah RavConnect with Sarah:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rav/ https://www.instagram.com/sarahrav/ Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.Sarah Rav is a former medical doctor and McKinsey consultant turned Positioning & Content Strategist. Sarah has spent over 13 years building an audience of more than three million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn by helping professionals clarify their message, build powerful brands, and create new opportunities beyond traditional career paths.After stepping away from medicine and consulting, Sarah now shares what it really takes to stop letting external expectations dictate your life, to lovingly release identities that once served you, and to find the courage to pursue work that feels aligned and expansive. Through her work, she shows how building a personal brand can give professionals real agency, enabling them to pivot careers successfully, confidently, and on their own terms.

Today is February 24th — release day.Frances Mei and Colin sit down on the eve of launch to talk about what it feels like to finally let Surgeon on the Edge go. After three years of drafting, redrafting, anger, resistance, breakthroughs, and letting go of control, the book is no longer a mirror — it’s an old photograph.In this intimate conversation, they unpack:Why the first draft “wasn’t true”How anger transformed into clarityWhat it means to create art without controlling its receptionWhy writing the book changed Frances Mei more than publishing it ever couldThe difference between being an “angry person” and being overwhelmedThe real breakthrough (spoiler: there wasn’t just one)They also talk book tour, color-coded Canva calendars, cozy gaming optimization strategies, and why sometimes you need someone who knows who you are — and will break it to you gently.The book is out today. The work is finished. The interpretation is not.You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDOrder Surgeon on the Edge now: https://www.amazon.com/Surgeon-Edge-Frances-Mei-Hardin/dp/B0G3JWCCH4Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances sits down with her oldest friend—Executive Pastry Chef Rebecca Freeman—to talk about what happens when your childhood dream actually comes true… and it’s still hard.Becky is the Executive Pastry Chef at Coyote Café and Santacafé in Santa Fe, a National Pastry Chef of the Year, and a multi–40 Under 40 award winner. She knew at five years old she wanted to be a chef. Frances Mei? Not so much.Together, they unpack:The brutal reality behind The Bear (spoiler: it’s not exaggerated)Crying in the walk-in vs. crying in the call roomWorking 400 days in a row to outrun imposter syndromeWhy high-achieving women panic after success instead of celebratingHow toxic training environments mirror dysfunctional familiesAnd what it looks like to break the cycle when you finally become the leaderThis is a conversation about abuse in elite professions—kitchens and operating rooms alike. About ambition. About ego. About emotional regulation. And about the strange truth that sometimes the job you begged the universe for still makes you question yourself.If you’ve ever achieved the dream and still thought, What’s next? Why am I not satisfied? — this one’s for you.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Chef Rebecca FreemanConnect with Rebecca:IG: @chefbckyfreemanhttps://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/rebecca-freeman-santa-fe-pastry-chef/https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/business/glaze-of-glory-club-at-las-campanas-executive-pastry-chef-wins-national-culinary-prize/article_a42250e2-517e-11ee-87d2-bbbea92e1dac.htmlPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What if the most radical thing you could do in medicine wasn’t being tougher, but being more human?In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with The ICU Doctor to talk about identity, intuition, and breaking the unspoken rules of medical culture. From immigrant roots and imposter syndrome to building clinical “spidey sense,” digital medical education, and creating work environments that actually put people at ease, this conversation is a masterclass in reclaiming humanity inside the hospital.They unpack unhinged resident stories, intimidating attendings, reframing survival during training, and why asking someone “who’s your best friend?” might be more disruptive than any policy reform.This episode is for anyone who has ever felt flattened by hierarchy—and still believes medicine can be better.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: The ICU DoctorConnect: https://www.instagram.com/theicudoctor1/https://www.tiktok.com/@theicudoctor1And check out all of The ICU Doctor's materials and books at https://icudoctor.gumroad.com/Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with bestselling author and former television producer Audrey Bellezza to talk about reinvention—professionally, creatively, and existentially.Audrey spent decades in television, rising from a Food Network intern to showrunner and development executive before pivoting (multiple times) into authorship. During the pandemic, she co-wrote a bestselling Jane Austen–inspired rom-com trilogy—only to be diagnosed shortly thereafter with stage IV ALK-positive lung cancer.Together, Frances and Audrey explore:What portfolio careers really look like over decades—not highlight reelsWhy transferable skills matter more than titlesHow women navigate pivots after investing years into a single identityCreative partnership, pitching, and betting on yourselfUsing storytelling and advocacy to build something meaningful in the face of uncertaintyAudrey also shares the story behind Love for Lungs, the nonprofit she co-founded to fund research and raise awareness for ALK-positive lung cancer, and details their upcoming Galentine’s Day fundraiser.This is a conversation about ambition, failure, partnership, illness, and permission—to change your mind, your career, and your life.Because no experience is wasted. And you can pivot as many times as you need to.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Audrey BellezzaConnect with Audrey: @audreybellezzawritesLove4Lungs: https://www.love4lungs.org/Anne of Avenue A: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anne-of-Avenue-A/Audrey-Bellezza/For-the-Love-of-Austen/9781668097656Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Dr. Red Hoffman is a surgeon, hospice physician, and writer whose career has never followed a straight line—and whose life was radically reshaped by grief, chronic illness, and unexpected loss. In this episode, we talk about starting over more than once, entering medicine later in life, and what happens when your body forces you to renegotiate your identity as a physician.Red shares her journey through trauma, long COVID, POTS, and partial clinical practice—and how diversification, honesty, and courage helped her build a career that still includes surgery, but on her own terms. We discuss the myth of the “wasted spot,” false equivalencies in medical training, why unpaid work sometimes matters, and how culture actually changes: slowly, one person at a time.This conversation is for anyone questioning alignment, resisting change, living with chronic illness, or wondering if it’s too late—or too risky—to choose differently.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Dr. Red HoffmanConnect with Dr. Red:https://redhoffmanmd.com/@redmdndPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What happens when a doctor decides she doesn’t need more money - she needs more peace?In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with psychiatrist Dr. Claire Oduwo to talk about choosing a “soft life” after medical training—and why that phrase is wildly misunderstood in medicine. Claire shares her path from Kenya to Nebraska to the Pacific Northwest, how her immigrant upbringing shaped her relationship with work and money, and why working part-time as a psychiatrist was a deliberate, values-driven choice—not a failure.Together, they unpack:Why physicians are conditioned to operate at 500% (and why anything less feels uncomfortable)How money becomes a stand-in for validation after years of sacrificeThe stigma doctors face when they step outside the expected hierarchyWhy surgeons struggle so deeply with emotional regulation—and what psychiatry does differentlyHow chaos can feel “normal” to our nervous systems, even when it’s harming usThis is a conversation about identity, shame, creativity, and the courage it takes to choose a life that actually fits—especially when other people don’t understand it.If you’ve ever thought, I worked this hard—shouldn’t I want more?This episode might help you ask a better question.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Dr. ClaireConnect with Dr. Claire:IG: @drclaireomdTiktok: @drclaireoPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

On this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei Hardin, MD is joined by Alan Chien, MD, a pediatrics resident and lifelong magician practicing in Los Angeles.What begins as a conversation about magic quickly opens into something more expansive: identity formation in medical training, the quiet pressure to abandon creativity, and what it means to remain in relation—to patients, to others, and to oneself—inside a system that often rewards self-erasure.Alan reflects on growing up as an only child, discovering magic as a grounding force, and carrying that creative identity through medical school and residency. He shares how performing magic—whether for hospitalized children, co-residents, or strangers in a bar—has shaped his understanding of connection, wellness, and presence. Together, they explore mentorship that protects wholeness rather than performance, the guilt trainees feel around non-medical passions, and why tolerating both the highs and lows of residency—not constant happiness—is the real work of staying well.This episode is a meditation on refusing to flatten oneself in training, on staying three-dimensional inside medicine, and on the radical act of not giving up the thing that made you human in the first place.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Alan Chien, MDConnect with Alan: alanchien.comPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Mohini Dasari, MD—a general surgeon and writer—who speaks candidly about one of the most taboo topics in medicine: leaving a surgical fellowship mid-training.Mohini shares what led her to step away seven months into a transplant fellowship, the quiet suffering that preceded that decision, and how shame, identity fusion, and “just push through” culture keep physicians trapped long past the point of health. Together, Frances and Mohini unpack the myths we’re taught in training—that it will all be worth it later, that attending life fixes everything, and that wanting something different means failure.This conversation explores:Why surgeons are encouraged in… and abandoned once they’re inThe difference between what’s “possible” and what’s healthyMotherhood, medicine, and the cost of suppressed humanityShame as a hidden driver of physician burnout and exitsWhy careers don’t have to be linear—and why medicine resists that truthReclaiming joy, creativity, and identity beyond the operating roomMohini also discusses returning to writing after years away and her debut novel releasing January 13, a coming-of-age story rooted in heritage, dance, and self-reclamation.This episode is for medical students, residents, attendings, and anyone questioning the life they were told would finally make sense “on the other side.”🎧 Listen if you’ve ever wondered:What if the problem isn’t me—but the story I was told about this career?Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Mohini Dasari, MDConnect with Mohini: @modawriteshttps://www.mohinidasari.com/Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei Hardin sits down with Stephanie Pearson, MD, a former OB-GYN whose medical career ended abruptly after a devastating workplace injury.What followed wasn’t just the loss of surgery or obstetrics—it was the loss of identity.After being injured during a patient delivery, dismissed by early providers, and ultimately terminated when she could no longer perform 100% of her job duties, Stephanie found herself forced out of clinical medicine entirely. Overnight, “Dr. Pearson” became “former doctor,” with no roadmap for what came next.In this deeply honest conversation, Stephanie shares:What it’s like to be forced out of medicine when you're about to become Chair—not burned out, not ready, not choosing to leaveThe psychological fallout of losing a physician identity overnightChronic pain, disability, and the silence around injured doctorsWhy disability insurance failures nearly cost her everythingHow she rebuilt a second career—and a sense of purpose—outside of medicineThe friendships medicine quietly replaces, and the grief that comes afterWhy no one prepares doctors for who they are without the white coatThis episode is for physicians, trainees, and healthcare professionals grappling with identity, loss, reinvention, or the unspoken truth that medicine does not always love you back.If you’ve ever wondered who you’d be if medicine disappeared tomorrow—this conversation is for you.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Stephanie Pearson, MDConnect with Stephanie: @drstephaniepearsonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniepearsonmd/Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this holiday episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei is joined by her husband, Colin, for a candid, unfiltered conversation about what life actually looks like after leaving clinical medicine.It’s Frances Mei's first holiday season in nearly a decade not on call, and the absence of the hospital brings both relief and reckoning.Together, they talk about:The strange quiet of the first holiday season outside medicineHow residency and surgical training shape work habits long after you leave“Revenge sleeping,” productivity guilt, and unlearning survival modeWhy leaving medicine doesn’t magically create balanceTreating the nervous system as an asset—not an afterthoughtWhat partners see when physicians finally slow downWhy intentional rest is harder than relentless workThis episode isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about the in-between: learning how to live without call schedules, rediscovering time, and building a life that doesn’t revolve around crisis.For anyone spending the holidays at the hospital—or spending their first holidays away from it—this conversation is for you.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Colin RoyalPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What if surgical training didn’t require fear, exhaustion, or constant availability?In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Paris-based neurosurgeon Dr. Samiya Abi Jaoude to explore how surgical culture in France differs radically from the U.S.—and what American medicine might learn from it.They unpack the surprisingly flat hierarchy of French surgical training, where residents and attendings use first names, collaboration is the norm, and rigid power structures are less likely to enable bullying. Dr. Abi Jaoude also explains France’s legally protected “right to disconnect,” a cultural and institutional commitment that allows physicians to truly log off after hours—without penalty.This conversation isn’t about romanticizing another system. It’s about asking harder questions:What actually keeps surgeons safe, functional, and humane over a lifetime?And what parts of American surgical culture are traditions—not necessities?A candid, comparative look at hierarchy, boundaries, burnout, and what sustainable excellence could really look like in medicine.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Samiya Abi Jaoude, MD, MScConnect with Samiya: @dr.samiya.abijaoudePresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to  ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩  on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with writer and comedian Joel Walkowski—a man whose life contains multitudes: stand-up, screenwriting, sobriety coaching, and an unwavering devotion to The Lions. With his debut book Honolulu Blues arriving July 2026, Joel brings a worldview that medical professionals rarely get to hear but desperately need.Together they talk about what happens when high-achieving people (doctors, comics, anyone trained to perform on command) learn to compartmentalize so well that they forget how to feel. Joel opens up about addiction, the radical work of getting sober, and why honesty is the only real antidote to burnout. They explore the quiet crisis underneath medicine’s polished surface: the coping mechanisms that get reinforced, the emotions that get buried, and the way humor can become both a lifeline and a shield.They also dive into the friendships that keep us alive, why doctors need non-medical people in their orbit, and how vulnerability becomes its own kind of superpower.This is a conversation about comedy, writing, coping, connection, and the freedom that comes from finally telling the truth.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Joel WalkowskiConnect with Joel: @joelwalkowskiFind his book, Honolulu Blues, available for pre-order now: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Honolulu-Blues/Joel-Walkowski/9781637749043Presented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to  ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩  on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode, Frances Mei sits down with the Gen Z Attending, Bright Zhou, for a conversation that slices straight into the cultural fault lines of modern medicine. They unpack why so many attending physicians are burning out—not because of clinical load, but because they’re employed physicians who refuse to see themselves as such. They explore generational ego, immigrant patient dynamics, patriarchal expectations from both patients and colleagues, and why Gen Z clinicians are opting out of the “medicine as martyrdom” model altogether.From the service-industry analogy that makes older doctors nauseous, to the rise of resident unions, to the impossible fantasy of “total control” in employed practice, Bright reframes the future: less ego, more collective action, more boundaries, more transparency. They also dive into how AI, social media, and patient education are quietly expanding the 20-minute visit far beyond the clinic walls.If you’ve ever wondered why the old guard is furious and the new guard is thriving—or why your attending seems personally offended you don’t want surgery—this is your episode.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Bright Zhou, MD, MSConnect with Bright: @genzattendingPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to  ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩  on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Orthopedic surgery almost never looks like Dr. Brian Nwannunu, and that’s exactly why his story matters. His path through Morehouse, Georgetown, Howard, and Baylor reveals a specialty still reckoning with exclusion, even as it demands excellence at every turn. We talk about breaking through the gates, the mentors who rearrange your trajectory, the patients who shape your practice, and the quiet toll of carrying representation into the OR.This episode is about resilience, reinvention, and the future of surgical training, told by someone who is changing it from the inside.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MDGuest: Dr. Brian NwannunuConnect with Brian: @doctor.brianPresented by: The Hippocratic CollectiveFollow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimdAnd subscribe to  ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩  on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.