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-a53aab52

Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/

Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd

P.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-podcast

Learn 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/books

Website: https://www.drdevinamaya.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/drdevinamaya

Learn more about Hippocratic Collective: https://hippocraticcollective.org/

Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanchanmd