How do you manage stress when you're simultaneously a surgeon, business owner, leader, spouse, parent, and person?

In Episode 10 of The Business of Surgery, facial plastic surgeon Dr. Lauren Umstattd gets candid about something she is still figuring out herself: stress management. Rather than trying to eliminate stress entirely, Lauren shares the strategies she uses to manage it while building a career she wants to sustain for decades.

From compartmentalization and communication to delegation, outsourcing, taking time away, and learning to recognize when stress is changing how you lead, this episode explores what it actually takes to keep all of the plates spinning—without expecting yourself to do it perfectly.

In this episode:

• Managing stress as a physician and business owner
• Why work-life balance may be the wrong goal
• Compartmentalizing work, family, and personal responsibilities
• Communicating when your plate is full
• Managing the stress of surgical complications
• Why vacation isn't always truly "off" for a practice owner
• Delegating without expecting perfection
• Recognizing when stress makes you more controlling or critical
• Outsourcing responsibilities at home
• Creating space for yourself as a high-achieving physician
• Building a career for the marathon, not the sprint

The Business of Surgery is a 12-part FEM, MD series exploring the realities of building and running a physician-owned surgical practice.

Host: Dr. Lauren Umstattd

Connect with Lauren: @lauren_umstattd_md

Produced by: The Hippocratic Collective

See more shows and content at hippocratic-collective.com