The Other Human in the Room

I sat down with Melissa Kwiatkowski, CEO of Guelph Community Health Centre, a role she never planned on holding, but came to after following a pull through several other positions in healthcare. We talked about refusing to dehumanize anyone, even while leading her team through the devastating closure of the consumption and treatment services site, and how she knows when to stop trying to convince someone stuck in their “tower of rightness.” Melissa also shared how a concussion forced her to stop pushing through and start listening to her body, and why doing less with more connection somehow adds up to more. I left this conversation feeling nourished and genuinely hopeful about the sprouts emerging from all the composting happening in healthcare right now.Connect with Melissa:Guelph CHC Website: https://gchc.ca/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-kwiatkowski-a53aab52Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmdP.S. Join Joan for the first LIVE podcast recording Nov 11, all about the Human Side of FHO+: https://www.joanchanmd.com/live-podcast

In this episode I share my poem "Light a Candle" and three truths I keep coming back to: transitions are hard, they're always happening, and they need space. I talk about offering palliative care to what's dying and antenatal care to what's being born, and I share my own recent example of letting a coaching program go and watching something new grow from it. I close with a question for you: what in your life is dying, and what from it do you want to carry into what comes next?P.S. Join Joan for the first LIVE podcast recording Nov 11, all about the Human Side of FHO+: https://www.joanchanmd.com/live-podcastLearn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Devina Wadhwa, a psychiatrist working in Northern Ontario and the Canadian Arctic, who shares how the sudden loss of her father became the catalyst that finally let her question the full-time, say-yes-to-everything pace that had been quietly burning her out. We talk about the subtle early signs of burnout we're trained to ignore, why "complicated grief" might be a redundant phrase, and the very real (and rarely named) role money plays when we consider working less. Devina also opens up about her book, becoming a more human teacher to her learners, and her beautifully unconventional schedule of working six months a year. I left this conversation with a question I can't stop asking myself: what have I relegated to the crust of my life pie, the part that crumbles off first?Connect with Devina:Book: https://www.drdevinamaya.com/booksWebsite: https://www.drdevinamaya.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/drdevinamayaLearn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

This week I'm sharing a poem I wrote by a stream during my summer sabbatical, when I was trying to hold onto a slower pace before returning to the breakneck rush of clinical work. I talk about what it means to set my own pace instead of letting patients, pages, and endless demands dictate it for me, and how running a marathon taught me the same lesson: rushing early always costs you later. I share a recent day where staying present with my patients made me "late," and why I've stopped treating that as a failure. This episode is an invitation to find your own rhythm within healthcare's demands.Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

I sat down with veterinarian, professional speaker, and self-described "unemployable" multipassionate Dr. Caroline Brookfield (who actually has several jobs). We dig into her wildly non-linear career path and why tolerance of ambiguity might be the real antidote to burnout in healthcare. Caroline breaks down her research-backed framework for moving through uncertainty instead of white-knuckling it. This one will make you want to pick up your old hobby, question your medical records, and maybe stop fearing the riptide.Connect with Caroline:Website Workbook: https://carolinebrookfield.com/get-started/Email: [email protected]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinebrookfield/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artfulscience/Book: https://carolinebrookfield.com/the-reluctant-creative/Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

This episode comes to you from the middle of my annual summer sabbatical, where I've been reading romance novels, working with my poetry editor, and thinking a lot about the Karpman Drama Triangle. I read you my poem "Helpless Helper" and use it as a doorway into exploring the victim, rescuer, and persecutor roles I keep finding myself cycling through with patients, with my kids, and with the healthcare system itself. I walk through the healthier shifts — victim to creator, persecutor to challenger, rescuer to coach — and what it actually looks like to step off the merry-go-round instead of convincing everyone you're good.Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

I sat down again with the wonderful Risa Adams, this time letting go of our usual IFS session format to reflect more openly on what these conversations have meant to me. We talk about the parts of ourselves we find hardest to love, the wisdom of menstrual cycles and lunar shifts, and how overworking is its own kind of dopamine hit. Risa brings her IFS lens to anger, shadow work, and the drama triangle, and I share how giving myself full permission to "divorce" a version of my marriage has actually made it stronger. This one is tender, curious, and full of breadcrumbs to sit with.Connect with Risa: https://www.ifsmedicine.ca/Creating Space 2026 is open for enrollment! Book your connection call with Joan - head to joanchanmd.com/space Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

This episode dives into the real history of "part-time" and "full-time," where those definitions came from, and why the 40-hour week was invented to protect workers, not to prove their worth. I share data on physician work hours, disability and part-time practice, and why cutting back is one of the most effective retention strategies we have, yet still isn't celebrated. And I read you a poem, Part-Time Celebration, written for anyone who is considering cutting back and needs a cheerleader to nudge them in that direction. The podcast is going part time!! See you in TWO weeks :)Creating Space 2026 is open for enrollment! Book your connection call with Joan: joanchanmd.com/space Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

This week I sat down with my dear friend Dr. Kelly Anderson to talk about her debut novel, The Wild Beneath, WHICH COMES OUT AUGUST 4!!! She shares the six-year journey it took to write it while still practicing medicine. We talk about whale songs, introjects we ingest without realizing and why guarding your smallest curiosities might be guarding your whole life. I loved Kelly’s book so much, so I HAD to get this episode out in time for her publishing week, and encourage you all to read it too!!BUY KELLY’S BOOK: https://www.kellychristineanderson.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorkellyanderson/ Creating Space 2026 is open for enrollment! Book your connection call with Joan: joanchanmd.com/space Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

I met Alexis Milligan at a theater workshop for medical educators and immediately ran up to her afterward and said: can you please come on my podcast? Alexis is a movement director, actor, director, and the creator of the Theater of Medicine program at the Shaw Festival. This conversation is about what clinicians can learn from performers about presence, embodiment, and showing up fully for the humans in front of us. We talk about imposter syndrome, two-way theater as a metaphor for the clinical encounter, and why movement, sound, and image are just as essential to communication as words and numbers. Connect with Alexis:https://www.alexismilligan.com/Theatre of Medicine program: https://trellis.org/theatreofmedicine Creating Space 2026 is open for enrollment! Book your connection call with Joan - head to joanchanmd.com/space Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd