Stimulus – Learn Tools to Crush It in Your Medical Career

Do you work in medicine and love patient care but feel like parts of the job don’t measure up? Stimulus equips you with tools, mindset shifts, and strategies they didn’t teach you in training—so you can practice medicine like a boss, flourish in your career, and not let it crush your soul. Emergency physician and executive coach Rob Orman, MD, goes in-depth with thought leaders on how to avoid burnout, improve communication, lead without drama, and stay calm amidst the storm. Don’t just suck it up, think differently.

Latest Episodes:

44. The Beirut Explosion and Mass Casualty | A First Hand Account Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

The August 4, 2020 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon is thought to be one of the most powerful artificial, non-nuclear explosions ever, causing over 200 deaths and 7500 injuries. In today’s episode, we walk through a firsthand account of what happened during this mass casualty event from the lens of an emergency physician who was there.

Guest Bio: Sarah Abdul-Nabi, MD is an emergency medicine resident at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. She is the author of Airway Breathing Circulation: An Emergency Medicine Resident's Experience of the Beirut Explosion.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

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🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

The moment of the Beirut explosion, when the ceiling started to fall in, the room started to shake, and then everything went dark [04:40];
Sarah’s first patient, and then the deluge that arrived within 2 minutes [07:10];
The initial chaos of managing a mass casualty with minimal light, no electricity, and a damaged ED [11:10];
Being unable to stop chest compressions on a young woman with a brain hemorrhage, even after your attending tells you it’s futile [16:15];
What it was like to go back to work 2 days later and why Sarah needed to take a couple weeks off to recover emotionally [21:10];
The catharsis of debriefing, staring at nature, and journaling [23:30];
The unbearable fear and self-doubt that were part of her recovery [29:00];
Reflective solitude vs. isolation [31:30];
And more.

43. How to Not Take Things Personally Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Our ego is always on patrol and, when it’s insulted, watch out! That is the core of what it means to take things personally. In this episode, we break down: how to not take things personally, sustainable happiness, using body language to transform our internal state, why some insults hurt and others do not, and specific scenarios where you might feel insulted (but don’t need to be).

Guest Bio: Frederik Imbo is the founder and head of Imboorling, a company dedicated to improving communication on both the micro and macro levels. Frederik is a formally trained actor with a masters in dramatic arts from the Royal Conservancy in Ghent and was a prolific actor on numerous television series. During his acting career, he began taking roles working in training videos for interpersonal communication. The insights from those role-plays resonated with him and set him on a path of many years of study and training in neurolinguistic programming and nonviolent communication. Over time, fostering communication has become his life focus and led to the founding of Imboorling.

Frederik’s TED talk on how to not take things personally has been viewed 6 million times.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

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🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

The barrier to sustainable happiness and the technique to overcome that [04:15];
Frederik’s strategies for preparing to speak publicly [06:40];
How becoming a soccer referee helped him strengthen his muscle of not taking things personally [12:04];
What it means if you feel hurt after receiving criticism [15:44];
The fact that thinking negatively is natural [22:46];
What you can do if you’re being dragged down by negative thoughts [24:10];
Body language and how that can affect your mood and self-confidence [26:30];
The difference between being called an orange and being told you’re selfish [28:36]; How Frederik reframes when he feels himself taking something personally [30:20];
A choice -- Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? [36:05]; Using empathy to manage conflict with a consultant in the emergency department [39:45]; Strategies for not taking it personally when you receive a poor patient satisfaction score or Yelp review [44:00]; Handling a scenario where your best friend forgets your birthday [48:45];
Why when giving gifts, be more like of the sun -- not expecting anything in return [52:25];
If Frederik were to design a bumper sticker [55:30];
And More

42. Tough Love and Managing Complainers | Unapologetic expectations with Jim Adams, MD Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Jim Adams, MD is direct, transparent, and unapologetic in his ‘tough love’ management strategy. In this episode, Jim breaks down: how setting expectations early helps to manage complaints later, managing those who degrade social capital, redirecting conflict to mutual benefit, and how understanding what motivates others’ behavior keeps you from taking things personally.

Guest Bio: Jim Adams, MD is professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the senior vice president and chief medical officer at Northwestern Medicine.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

Zen and the art of scheduling [05:30];
Why you might not want to be a complainer [07:05];
The benefit of assuming people are unreasonable and crazy [08:10];
A strategy for handling people who degrade social capital [10:30];
Blend and redirect, a technique for negotiation and collaboration that’ll make you much happier than combat [14:00];
“People are not against you. They're just for themselves.” [16:15].

41. Cognitive Reframing | Shifting the approach with addiction, end of life, and catastrophizing Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

We have a choice in how we perceive and act on any situation. Using that knowledge in an intentional way to shift perspective is at the core of cognitive reframing. Epictetus, the great Stoic philosopher, said it best, "It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control."

Guest Bio: Jaime Hope, MD is an attending emergency physician at Beaumont hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She is the author of Habit That!: How You Can Health Up in Just 5 Minutes a Day, leads the Better Health Habits online course, and teaches the Behavior Change and Motivational Interviewing Courses to future physicians at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

Reframing, a psychological technique which involves thinking about something from a different perspective [04:30];
How reframing can be used in the ED when you’re engaging with a patient or a patient’s family member who is hostile and upset [07:50];
Discussing comfort measures with the family of a dying patient [12:12];
'Status dramaticus' -- the loud, demonstrative patient who catastrophizes their (often relatively minor) symptoms, triggering irritation for many providers [14:30];
Reframing when treating patients who suffer from addiction [16:30];
Ways to reframe yourself and your job to offset burnout [20:00];
Advice to first year medical students [25:40];
And more.

39. Vinay Prasad Wants to Flip Your Vote | Chemotherapy delusions, overstating benefit, trade offs, and medical reversal Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Vinay Prasad pulls no punches in this wide ranging conversation about the realities (and delusions) about chemotherapy research, principle centered social media engagement, flipping votes, the FDA drug approval process, the importance of early palliative care, the dangers of embellishing therapeutic benefit, medical reversals, effective vs efficacious, and trade offs in decision making.

Guest Bio: Dr Vinay Prasad is a practicing hematologist-oncologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco. He studies cancer drugs, health policy, clinical trials and better decision making. He is author of over 250 academic articles, and the books Ending Medical Reversal (2015), and Malignant (2020). He hosts the oncology podcast Plenary Session. Follow Vinay on Twitter.

Episode Sponsor:

This podcast is also brought to you by Panacea Financial, a financial services company created for doctors, by doctors -- aiming to improve the lives of physicians and physicians in training with products and services tailored to the medical community. Spotlighted in this episode is the Panacea Financial Foundation which provides grants to underrepresented minorities in medicine. Panacea Financial is a Division of Sonabank, Member FDIC.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

The realities of the dissemination of scientific information on Twitter [05:12];
Vinay’s intent when he posts a controversial tweet [09:00];
Why he’s an outlier in the cancer drug policy circle [16:15];
A recent JAMA article which raises the question: Do we have a collective delusion about the potential benefits of chemotherapy? [18:20];
The FDA drug approval process [20:25];
The discrepancy between what's measured in cancer clinical trials and what actually would matter to cancer patients [22:38];
Questions to ask when being offered treatment options for cancer [24:30];
The importance of having rich discussion with patients about treatment side effects and potential toxicities [28:30];
The value of early palliative care and a common cognitive pitfall in oncology [31:25];
The dangers of empathy and the better alternative: compassion [35:00];
Why embellishing the benefit of a treatment is the wrong thing to do [39:20];
Prasad’s book Ending Medical Reversal and the potential harms of sudden flip-flopping of standards of care in medicine [44:00];
The difference between ‘effective’ and ‘efficacious’ as it relates to public health and policy [47:46];
Prasad’s thoughts on the language surrounding masks vs. the data surrounding masks [54:40];
How not wearing a mask might be the product of a lot of long-standing failures in American economic policy and upward mobility [01:02:00];
A deficiency of the pandemic which is to not thoroughly consider the trade-offs of the decisions we make [01:06:24];
What the data tells us about the risk of COVID transmission in schools [01:08:34];
And more.

38. How to Meditate Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

Master meditation teacher Robert Beatty walks us through: the basics of meditation, how to start a meditation practice, principles of mindfulness, understating the roots of suffering, how concentrating on the breath can lead to insight, and healthy vs unhealthy coping.

Guest Bio: Robert Beatty is co-author of Mindfulness for a Happy Life as well as founder and guiding teacher of the Portland Insight Meditation Community. He has worked with thousands of students and, as a practicing therapist, has created a unique synthesis of Buddhist methods of awakening and healing and those of western psychotherapy.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

When starting a meditation practice, the importance of knowing what your ‘fantasy’ is about meditation [06:50];
Why having a meditation teacher is essential and how Ruth Denison influenced Beatty’s practice [08:30];
The paradox of 2 truths: skillful effort to restrain unwholesome mental states and the effort to bring into being wholesome mental states [12:30];
Beatty’s guided meditation for the novice [15:00];
What it is in mindfulness that we’re actually being mindful of [25:10];
Driving a car The Headless Way [28:50];
Why it is almost universal in meditation practices to use the breath as the primary meditation object [30:15];
Beatty’s opinion of meditation apps [35:37];
How intentionally letting go of your thoughts and concentrating on your breath can lead to deep insight [38:38];
The 3 characteristics of existence and how they provide spiritual insight [42:30];
Using meditation as a purification process to help you let go of stuff (or people) that cause negative emotions [48:50];
A skillful way to come back to your meditation object that is not self-criticizing [51:30];
The metaphor of the two arrows and how it can be applied in daily life [54:50];
Healthy vs. unhealthy coping mechanisms [01:00:00];
The reasons people come to meditation [01:06:00];
Beatty’s aspirations [01:09:30];
Why ‘should’ is such a violent word [01:10:00];
And more.

37. Stress Inoculation | HALO procedures, racing the clock, low fi sim, and the power of an audience Jan 11, 2021

Show notes

We break down three techniques to inoculate yourself against the stress of time-critical tasks.

Guest Bio: Jason Hine, MD is a community emergency medicine physician at Southern Maine Healthcare where he is the Medical Director of Education. He is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and the Temple EM Residency program where he served as chief. He serves as an Associate Editor and Author on the DownEast EM blog and podcast and has an interest in procedural skill set decay as well as the role of academics in improving the recruitment, retention, and satisfaction of community physicians.

Episode Sponsor: Panacea Financial is a financial services company created for doctors, by doctors -- aiming to improve the lives of physicians and physicians in training with products and services tailored to the medical community. Whether it's scheduling residency interviews, trying to buy a house during training, or looking for ways to fund your practice, Panacea Financial was created to remove the unique financial hurdles of physicians and allow you to better serve your communities. Panacea Financial is a Division of Sonabank, Member FDIC. You can follow them on the Insta, Twitter, Facebook, and everybody's well dressed favorite, Linkedin.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

The importance of stress inoculation training when you need to perform a HALO (High Acuity Low Opportunity) procedure [05:15];
How inoculating against stress helps you 1) perform well when confronted with the situation in real life and 2) serves as a memory aid [07:05];
3 techniques for stress inoculation [08:00];
Why you should not only ask people to observe you, but also request that they provide feedback on your imperfections [16:40];
The advantages of low-fidelity stress inoculation strategies as compared with simulation labs [18:00];
Additional tools for reducing stress [19:20];
And more.

35. A Physician's Terminal Diagnosis | Facing mortality and sharing wisdom Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

Christiaan Maurer MD, was in his mid-40s when diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme -- terminal brain cancer. In this episode, he and Rob discuss: what terminal illness taught him about time, what people with cancer do and don’t need, preparing your family for a future without you, the most/least admirable traits in physicians, and the secret of life.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

34. How Tylenol and Sleep Impact Vaccine Antibody Response Dec 21, 2020

Show notes

The historical effects of acetaminophen and sleep on vaccine antibody response.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We Discuss:

Listener questions about ERcast and how an mRNA vaccine works [0:00:30];
COVID mutations in Europe may increase transmissibility [00:04:40];
Recently published side effects and adverse reactions of Pfizer COVID vaccine [00:06:05]
Impact of acetaminophen and ibuprofen on vaccine antibody response [00:10:13];
How sleep impacts vaccine antibody response [00:16:19]

33. Willpower Depletion and the Limits of Self Regulation Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Most of us have habits we'd like to change -- both getting rid of bad ones and adopting good ones. It's easier said than done! Habits by nature are hardwired and happen without much activation energy. In this episode, Christina Shenvi MD, PhD breaks down the nature of willpower, how knowing it's a limited resource can play to our advantage, strategies for getting out of bad habits, and how to adopt the ones you want.

Guest Bio: Christina Shenvi MD, PhD is an emergency physician at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she is the director of the UNC Office of Academic Excellence. A frequent guest on Stimulus, she has now started coaching and teaching more broadly on time management. Her goal is to help busy professionals find more peace with their schedules, feel less stressed, and use their time more effectively. Dr. Shenvi blogs at: www.timeforyourlife.org, and offers workshops on time management.

Awake + Aware | Our 2026 Retreat

Join us at Awake and Aware, our 3-day retreat in Scottsdale, AZ. March 1-4, 2026. Space is limited.

Learn More Here

🎓 P.S. This is a CME event.

The Flameproof Course

The hidden anti-burnout curriculum we all should have learned in training. Cohort 3 begins Sept 10, 2024. Get the deets

For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

Self-regulation and how it relates to willpower [06:00];
How willpower is a limited resource [08:00];
Tricks for building up your willpower muscle [14:45];
The habit cycle, and why we need to understand how habits work before we can change them [20:25];
Breaking bad habits using mental contrasting with implementation intention [24:55];
The process of strategic automatism, where you're strategically forming a habit so that you do it automatically [28:50];
Why it helps to think about the identity you want to have when you’re working on improving your habits [29:30];
Habit stacking [36:30];
And more.