Physician and Practitioner Wellness Podcast
The WSMA and WSMA Foundation present a new wellness podcast for
physicians, practitioners, and their health care organizations to find
inspiration to take meaningful action that will reduce burnout and improve
professional satisfaction using the latest research.
About the Podcast
This podcast started as recordings of the live webinar events of the
Physician and Practitioner Wellness Webinar Series. The podcast is offered
on demand without the time constraints of a live event. If your
organization is looking to update or start wellness efforts, this podcast
is a library of ideas on current practices from experts.
This podcast provides resources on topics such as creating a culture of
wellness, creating effective teams, and drawing on evidence-based work on
wellness. Podcast topics are identified as critical for physicians,
practitioners, and their health care organizations to commit to
prioritizing wellness and aligning their efforts to reduce burnout and
improve professional satisfaction.
The podcast is free and open to all practitioner types.
About the Moderators
Each episode is moderated by a member of the WSMA and WSMA Foundation
Wellness Committee.
CME Information
These activities are approved for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
To claim CME credit, learners must watch or listen to the podcast(s) and
submit the evaluation for each episode.
Subscribe to WSMA Podcasts
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Podcast Objectives
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Update learners with current research around improving burnout rates in
physicians and practitioners.
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Give strategies to improve wellness in organizations, teams, and
individuals.
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Give strategies to improve patient satisfaction and fulfillment in
practice.
Episodes
Episode 1: Community Well-Being: A Collective Voice for Change
Kurt O’Brien, MHROD, explores wellness as it applies to health care
leaders, systems, and communities. Too often, the burden of wellness is
placed solely on the practitioner. This session starts inquiries into
practical ways to engage in conversations that could mobilize the
collective for change.
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Episode 2: Wellness-Centered Leadership
In this episode, Ashleigh Rodriguez, co-founder and head of innovation and
strategy at Care4th, introduces and demonstrates “Wellness-Centered
Leadership.” She discusses how wellness-centered leadership practiced by
both physicians and practitioners can facilitate workplace culture that
enables physician well-being.
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Episode 3: Building a Business Case for Well-Being
In this episode, James Murray, MD, chief medical officer at Confluence Health, and Makrina
Shanbour, MD, director of provider experience at Confluence Health, discuss
their collaborative approach to investing in and delivering a clinician
wellness program at Confluence.
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Episode 4: Use of Team-Based Care to Improve Clinician Professional
Fulfillment
This episode features Carrie Horwitch, MD, vice president of the WSMA
Foundation and member of the WSMA Wellness committee. This session will
explore the importance of interprofessional teams in ambulatory care,
emphasizing patient-centered, team-based collaboration, leadership models,
and best practices to enhance health care delivery and improve patient
outcomes.
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Episode 5: Thriving in Medicine
This episode features Carrie Horwitch, MD, vice president of the WSMA Foundation board, and Alka Atal- Barrio, MD, national senior medical director of Optum
Health and chair of the WSMA Wellness Committee. Dr. Horwitch and Dr.
Atal-Barrio explore physician and practitioner engagement and retention
issues, leadership development opportunities, professional fulfillment as
a quality improvement tool, and present the WSMA Foundation Wellness
Committee’s “Thriving in Medicine” document.
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Episode 6: Fierce Self-Compassion and Boundaries
This episode features Nina Willow, MD, a seasoned family physician with 28
years of experience: 18 in high-acuity urgent care and 10 in community
medicine for immigrant and refugee populations. This session will define
self-compassion, explore the challenges of boundary setting, and provide
strategies for practicing self-compassion and setting or adjusting
boundaries effectively.
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Episode 7: The Power of Our Mindset and Perspectives
In this episode, Tamara Chang, MD, practicing board-certified pediatric
oncologist, award-winning author, TEDx speaker, leadership coach, and
Co-Founder of Pink Coat, MD. This session will focus on defining
perspective and mindset, exploring different types of perspectives and
mindsets, understanding their impact on outcomes, and integrating the
power of these concepts into your work and life as a physician or
practitioner.
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Episode 8: Coaching Programs to Improve Wellness
In this episode, Gregg Miller MD, Chief Medical Officer at Vituity, will
focus on applying a medical group’s best practices around wellness to your
organization and developing tailored coaching programs for physicians and
practitioners.
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Episode 9: Stress Less: Tools for Clinician Well-Being and Compassion
In this episode, Astrid Pujari, MD, Medical Director of the Center for
Integrative Medicine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health presents on
clinician well-being. This session explores the connection between health
and overall wellbeing, encouraging participants to reflect on a holistic
definition of health. Attendees will learn practical tools to support
personal wellbeing and practice a proven communication technique that
enhances relationships and emotional health.
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Episode 10: Advocacy as Wellness: Navigating the Path to Reform and
Resilience
In this episode, Stefanie Simmons, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the Dr.
Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and a board-certified emergency medicine
physician, and Chris Bundy, MD, Executive Director of Washington Physician
Health Program discuss key advocacy efforts aimed at improving the
wellness and wellbeing of healthcare professionals.
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Episode 11: Efficiency as Wellness: How Smarter EHRs Strengthen Health
Systems and Clinicians
In this episode, Becket Mahnke, MD, Chief Health Information Officer at
Confluence Health shares lessons from leading EHR transformation efforts
that measurably improved clinician efficiency and well-being—cutting
documentation time, flattening inbox growth, and increasing clinician
satisfaction. He’ll explore how thoughtful design, governance, and AI
integration can turn the EHR from a source of burnout into a lever for
clinical excellence and system strength. Learners will leave with
actionable strategies to reduce friction, reclaim time, and foster a
healthier digital ecosystem.
Go to the episode