Welcome to "Heartline," a podcast dedicated to exploring the inspiring journeys and impactful work of healthcare changemakers leading the charge in transforming healthcare. Despite the United States spending more on healthcare than any other developed nation, key quality outcomes like life expectancy and maternal mortality lag behind. With over half of American physicians experiencing burnout, the challenges within the system are clear.
Join us as we delve into the stories of patients, medical professionals, and other experts who defy the status quo. We’ll uncover the unique characteristics and experiences that propel them to be effective changemakers and the organizational factors that support change.
Dr. Austin, host of the podcast, is an emergency physician with real-world experience with the dysfunction in the system. Along with working in the emergency department, she is a medical educator focusing on healthcare worker well-being and how innovative approaches like simulation can improve healthcare. In addition, she researches how we can accelerate changemakers in healthcare. Dr. Austin also uses coaching-informed thinking to unlock the potential of healthcare changemakers, and she will guide you through these narratives with insightful commentary and expert analyses.
Through in-depth interviews and real-world examples, this podcast aims to inspire and equip the next generation to drive meaningful change in healthcare. Whether you're a physician, a medical student, or simply passionate about the future of healthcare, "Heartline" will offer valuable perspectives and actionable ideas to help you thrive in a challenging environment and contribute to improving our healthcare system.
Seasons 1-4 focused on gender bias in the medical system and shared the uplifting stories of women and allies who stay true to their values, boundaries, and priorities, improving their career fulfillment and increasing their impact on healthcare. Season 5 will expand the guests beyond physicians and tackle issues beyond gender bias that impact healthcare.
Tune in to the "Hearline" for a deep dive into healthcare transformation and be inspired by the changemakers making a real difference.
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What does it take to drive meaningful change in healthcare when systems feel broken and institutional betrayal runs deep? Dr. Jessica Bunin, a retired Army Colonel with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, joins Dr. Andrea Austin to discuss her remarkable journey from psychiatrist to critical care physician and senior academic leader. Through compelling stories; including dramatically reducing ICU central line infections by empowering unexpected team members, Jessica reveals how shifting from “e...
What if the biggest threat to healthcare isn’t just burnout, but the belief that suffering is simply part of the job? In this deeply validating and practical conversation, Dr. Andrea Austin welcomes Dr. Sarah Smith, to unpack the hidden habits and systemic pressures that keep clinicians trapped in unsustainable work patterns. Dr. Smith shares her personal journey of spending years staying late after clinic, working evenings and weekends, and feeling crushed by the endless demands of medicine. Wh...
What happens when excellence makes others uncomfortable? In this deeply personal solo episode, Dr. Andrea Austin introduces the concept of Tall Poppy Syndrome, the tendency for high achievers to be criticized, diminished, or excluded simply because they stand out. Drawing from her own experiences and the stories of coaching clients, she explores how this dynamic often shows up in healthcare organizations, leadership structures, and academic medicine. Dr. Austin unpacks the connection between tal...
What happens when the medications and supplies clinicians rely on simply aren’t there, or worse, aren’t what they claim to be? In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Andrea Austin sits down with Tony Paquin as he shares his journey from technology entrepreneur to healthcare supply chain disruptor, revealing the complex and fragile systems behind the delivery of drugs and medical supplies. From saline shortages caused by hurricanes to the global dependence on manufacturing in China and India, Tony expl...
What happens when big business runs healthcare and clinicians are pushed out of decision-making? In this powerful conversation, Dr. Harry Severance shares decades of clinical and educational experience to diagnose the root causes of our workforce crisis: moral injury, profit-over-patient priorities, and the exodus of burned-out physicians and nurses. Dr. Severance and Dr. Austin explore multi-tiered healthcare solutions, the unsustainability of the current U.S. system, barriers like the Stark La...
Dr. Andrea Austin and Dr. Venktesh Ramnath discuss redesigning the doctor's oath to combat burnout and build resilient leadership. Dr. Ramnath shares his path from early career conflicts to developing the Health Architect model, which integrates cognitive science and practical rituals. They explore the critical need for leadership, financial literacy, and comprehensive care network understanding in medical education, advocating for a "new oath" that prioritizes human connection and agency to drive lasting change in the AI era.
What does it actually mean to partner well, especially as a woman in medicine? In this Valentine’s Day episode of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare , Dr. Andrea Austin shares a short chapter from her book on partnering well after divorce. She reflects on boundaries, money, self-worth, and building a healthy, lasting relationship as a woman in medicine. Drawing from personal experience, Andrea explores how insecurity and self-sabotage can show up in relationships, why liking your partner matt...
What happens when medical training, perfectionism, and codependency collide with marriage at a young age? In this solo episode, Dr. Andrea Austin reads from her book and reflects on her early marriage and divorce during medical school. With honesty and vulnerability, she explores how caretaking tendencies, cultural expectations, and the “achievement treadmill” contributed to a codependent relationship, and how choosing herself became a turning point toward healing. Andrea shares how compartmenta...
How can healthcare professionals transform burnout and trauma into a revitalized life and practice? In this special episode of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare , Dr. Andrea Austin reads from her book Revitalized , focusing on the chapter "The Revitalization." She reflects on her own soul-level burnout at the end of the pandemic, sharing a formula for change: inflection point + inner work + clarity = revitalization. Drawing from personal experiences and expert insights, she emphasizes embrac...
Why do so many healthcare providers still view obesity as a lifestyle choice rather than a complex chronic disease—and how can we change that? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin interviews Dr. Katherine Saunders about her journey from pre-med influences to pioneering obesity medicine at Weill Cornell and co-founding FlyteHealth. They explore obesity's scientific underpinnings, the impact of weight bias, practical advice for EM physicians in brief encounters, common weight-promoting medicati...
What happens when the adrenaline of emergency medicine meets the high personal cost of shift work and family demands? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin talks with Dr. Miranda Phillips about her transition from full-time trauma center EM to a life of financial freedom and wellness. Inspired by a mission trip to Guatemala at age 16, Miranda pursued medicine to make a profound impact. She reflects on loving EM's wide scope but leaving due to burnout, single parenthood challenges, and value mi...
What draws someone with a big heart and endless curiosity into the narrowing path of medicine, and how do they reclaim their multifaceted self amid burnout and systemic challenges? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin talks with Dr. Amanda River about her unconventional journey in emergency medicine, from medical school friendships to leading a cannabis clinic and pursuing lifestyle medicine. Amanda reflects on her sister's Ewing sarcoma diagnosis that sparked her interest in medicine, the sa...
In Part 2 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin and Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani picks up right where they left off: two emergency physicians who actually like coming to work, unpacking the systemic forces that are burning everyone else out. Dr. Mehrdad explains why he co-founded NeoMd Spa. It started with one vial of Botox and a refusal to be a 60-year-old shift-worker, how physicians surrendered control of their profession to corporations, and why financial wellness is the missing pillar n...
What does a man raised in a country where women are legally second-class citizens become one of the strongest male allies in American medicine? In Part 1 of this two-part Echo Episode, Dr. Mehrdad Soleimani pulls back the curtain on his improbable journey: fleeing Iran at 16, putting himself through nursing school as a first-generation immigrant, defending his female nursing colleagues from an abusive surgeon and then deciding that very night to become a doctor, switching specialties mid-residen...
What happens when your childhood calling collides with a system that limits your capacity to live it out? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Maria Sturchler shares her extraordinary journey from first-generation college student to educator to medical student, years after being told she “wouldn’t make it” in medicine. Now double board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Palliative Care, Maria reveals how serendipity, mentorship, and resilience brought her back to her original dream on her own terms. She a...
What happens when you combine a lifetime of service, leadership, and a deep desire to uplift others? In this inspiring episode, Dr. Andrea Austin welcomes Paula Drivas, as she shares how her changemaking story started at age 13 as a candy striper in Queens and how a simple request to transfer to the emergency department shaped her life’s purpose. She walks listeners through an expansive 33-year career spanning emergency medicine, internal medicine, orthopedics, urgent care, academia, and leaders...
What happens when compassion, strength, and military medicine collide? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin speaks with Dr. Kat Landa, a Navy emergency physician whose career has taken her from a nontraditional path in medical school to a groundbreaking role as the first female battalion doctor assigned to a Marine Corps artillery unit. Kat recounts her childhood working in nursing homes, discovering medicine through geriatrics, and initially matching into family medicine before realizing her...
How do we solve one of healthcare’s biggest crises—the workforce shortage—while making opportunity more equitable? In this enlightening episode, Dr. Andrea Austin interviews Van Ton-Quinlivan, founder and CEO of Futuro Health and a key voice in reimagining workforce development. Van shares her powerful personal story—from refugee beginnings to shaping California’s healthcare education strategy—and the values that fuel her changemaking leadership: courage, equity, and collaboration. Together, And...
What happens when a simple act of initiative in the OR sparks a lifelong pursuit of conflict resolution and systemic change in medicine? In this inspiring episode, Dr. Andrea Austin chats with Dr. Lee Sharma about her path from private practice frustrations to earning a master's in conflict resolution amid burnout doubts. Lee recounts her "aha" moment assisting in a delayed C-section, realizing small actions foster teamwork and belonging. She discusses overcoming conflict avoidance, the emotiona...
How can podcasting transform the way we deliver health information to patients and providers? In this episode, Dr. Andrea Austin speaks with Dan Kendall, as he recounts his path from a sales career at Siemens to launching Digital Health Today in 2016, inspired by his family’s experience with multiple sclerosis and his daughter’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis. He discusses the power of podcasting to fill gaps in patient education, combat misinformation, and create human-centered content. From launchi...
Can any physician pivot to open a ketamine clinic, and what does it take to do it safely? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin continues her conversation with Dr. Kim Chan Ko, about common questions on ketamine infusions for mood disorders and chronic pain. As an ophthalmologist turned creative director for her emergency physician husband's clinic, Kim shares insights on transitioning careers, required training, and ethical considerations. She discusses building a patient-centered practice, m...
What happens when burnout pushes physicians toward innovative, autonomous careers? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin continues her conversation with Dr. Kim Chan Co, to speak about her journey from ophthalmology to launching Reset Ketamine in Palm Springs. Kim discusses supporting her husband Sam's shift from ER medicine to ketamine infusions, the clinic's focus on treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety, and chronic pain, and the business challenges of starting a private practice. S...
What happens when the “perfect” medical specialty no longer fits, and you dare to forge a new path? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin sits down with Dr. Kim Chan Ko, a former academic ophthalmologist and co-founder of Ketamine Startup, to explore her transition from repairing eyes to building a ketamine infusion clinic and teaching other physicians to do the same. Kim opens up about the challenges of practicing at a high-pressure Level 1 trauma center, the emotional weight of patient care,...
How can emergency physicians thrive in a broken system while staying true to themselves? In part two of this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin and Dr. Leslie Crawford explores sustainable solutions for physician well-being and systemic change in healthcare. Leslie shares insights from her journey as an emergency physician, reflecting on the toll of circadian rhythm disruptions, the limitations of quick-fix administrative solutions, and the power of personal practices like meditation and fitness. F...
How can emergency physicians thrive amidst chaos and stress? In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin reconnects with Dr. Leslie Crawford, a fellow residency alum, board-certified emergency physician, and creator of the Stress Relief Survival Guide . Dr. Koenig shares her story of navigating COVID exposure, military service, and the demands of emergency medicine while raising a family. She discusses her transition to mindfulness, the power of heart rate variability (HRV) as a vital sign, and her ...
What happens when insurance companies and emergency physicians clash over fair payment, leaving patients caught in the middle? In this Echo Episode, part two of a two-part series, Dr. Andrea Austin talks with Dr. Jillian Schmitz about the pressing challenges in emergency medicine today. Dr. Schmitz explains the intricacies of surprise billing, where out-of-network emergency care leads to unexpected patient costs, and the No Surprises Act’s intent to protect patients by removing them from billing...
What does it take to lead emergency medicine through unprecedented challenges like workforce shortages and systemic burnout? In this Heartline Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin sits down with Dr. Gillian Schmitz to explore her career trajectory, from civilian roles in military medicine to becoming ACEP's past president. Gillian reflects on her path, inspired by her father's military service, and how she balanced family life with a demanding career. They discuss the hidden opportunities in governme...
What happens when the demands of academic emergency medicine collide with personal health and family priorities? In this Heartline Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin speaks with Dr. Shannon McNamara about her transition from simulation director and ED physician to urgent care provider amid burnout, moral injury, and the pandemic. Shannon recounts her nomadic upbringing, love for emergency medicine's complexity, and challenges in dysfunctional systems—including chronic illness, night shifts, and ins...
What does it take to break free from financial stress and become a changemaker in healthcare? In this episode, Dr. Andrea Austin connects with Michael Swartz, a fee-only financial planner and coach who specializes in guiding physicians from residency to retirement. Drawing from his work at Schwartz Financial Planning, and his Health and Wealthness podcast, Michael offers a roadmap for physicians to navigate financial challenges and align their careers with their purpose. They explore how the psy...
What does it take to lead change in healthcare’s most challenging environments? In this episode, Dr. Andrea Austin connects with Stephen Berkeley, a healthcare administrator turned change facilitator, and Anne Boland, a coaching psychologist, to explore how leadership, self-awareness, and curiosity can reshape healthcare systems. Stephen shares his 35-year journey in healthcare administration, from Australia to India, and how a shift from self-focused to service-oriented leadership transformed h...
