The Burnout Recovery Podcast

How do you stay connected to yourself in a career that quietly trains you to put yourself last?
Palliative care doctor and coach Dr Susie Muir joins Jo to unpack her "human first, doctor second" philosophy, why wellbeing needs a rebrand as high performance, and what she noticed when her own life started to peel away.
In this episode:
Where "human first, doctor second" came from, and what palliative care taught Susie about what really matters
The hidden curriculum of medicine, and why it's so easy to lose yourself in it
Why high performance looks different for every clinician (and why knowing yours gives you your red flags)
System vs individual: why both matter, and finding your bubble of control
Susie's own early warning signs: exercise and friendships quietly fading, and the hard decision to step out of a role
Why support from people who understand healthcare can make all the difference
Her "values gap" idea: the wider the gap between your life and your values, the more drained you feel
The self-care strategy she rarely misses
Connect with Dr Susie Muir: drsusiemuir.com Her two-day workshop, High Performance Redesigned, is planned for 2027.
Connect with Jo: IG/FB: @burnoutrecoverydr
LinkedIn: drjobraid
The Sunday Long Game weekly newsletter: https://drjobraid.com/subscribe
2027 speaking enquiries: drjobraid.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever finish a full clinic afternoon and only notice your shoulders when you start the car? Your body was talking the whole time. In episode 207 of the Burnout Recovery Podcast, Dr Jo Braid explains why high-performing clinicians override their body's early burnout signals, and gives you a simple map to hear them earlier. A practical episode on clinician wellbeing.
IN THIS EPISODE -
Interoception: your brain's sense of what's happening inside your body, and the insula, the dashboard to the amygdala's smoke alarm
The difference between your body sending a signal and you noticing it, and why burnout can live in that gap
Why your brain turns the volume down when you're locked onto a goal, drawing on Anil Seth's work on prediction
Why burnout is rarely one event, and why this isn't about "you should have noticed"
THE WARNING LIGHT MAP 1. Name your lights (body, behaviour, thoughts) 2. Find your amber, before it turns red 3. Attach a 60-second response to each amber 4. Attach one question to a habit you already have: "Which of my lights is on?"
Plus quick wins across mindset, support, movement and sleep.
THIS WEEK Jot down 2-3 of your warning lights, attach the question to one daily habit, and tell one trusted person your first warning light.
This episode is general education, not medical advice. If a symptom is persistent, new or worrying, please see your own GP.
CONNECT Instagram/Facebook: @burnoutrecoverydr
LinkedIn: drjobraid
Newsletter, The Sunday Long Game: drjobraid.com/subscribe
Speaking enquiries for 2027: drjobraid.com If this landed for you, a five-star review helps other clinicians find the show.
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Episode 206 kicks off a 10-episode series on connection: with yourself, your colleagues, your patients and your purpose. We start with the brain, because connection is not a nice-to-have for people with spare time. It is biology.
Dr Jo takes you to a women in leadership course in Prato, near Florence, where a values exercise shifted her top values from integrity, growth and fun to connection and courage. Values aren’t tattoos. She got clear on her new values in a room full of people.
The research behind why isolation feels like a threat:
Eisenberger and Lieberman (UCLA): social exclusion lights up pain-related brain regions James Coan (University of Virginia) social baseline theory: holding the hand of someone close calms the brain’s threat response
Julianne Holt-Lunstad (BYU): lacking social connection carries a mortality risk comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, via biological, behavioural and psychological pathways
Her EAR framework: Educate, Assess, Respond
Arnsten (Yale) on chronic stress and the prefrontal cortex, and Maslach on community as a driver of burnout
Tools for this week:
The Weekly Connection Audit: ten minutes, four questions
Mindset: a values check
Support: the two-minute connection
Movement: move with other people
Sleep: poor sleep makes you feel lonelier and look less approachable (Ben Simon and Walker, UC Berkeley)
Try this week: do the audit once, message someone you’re overdue to contact, and share one idea from this episode.
Connect: IG/FB @burnoutrecoverydr | LinkedIn drjobraid Newsletter: The Sunday Long Game https://drjobraid.com/subscribe
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boundaries don't fall over in the planning meeting. They fall over when you're tired. So decide before you are.
Episode 205 is the final episode of the Boundaries series. You already know the skills. This one is about holding them in October, when the tank is low and the year still has weeks to run.
Why "when I have the energy" rarely arrives (my morning walk and the rain)
The 30-minute starter block for the job you keep circling
Why a tired brain says yes and adds, instead of removing
If-then plans across the four pillars: Mindset, Movement, Support, Sleep
The drop, defer, downgrade stop-doing list for the home stretch
Three reflection questions and one action step
The research:
Arnsten (Yale): chronic stress impairs the prefrontal cortex
Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006): if-then plans and goal attainment, 94 studies
Adams, Converse, Hales & Klotz (2021, Nature): people overlook subtractive changes

No Is a Full Sentence: boundary scripts for work, family and off duty. The scripts are the basic tier, and the premium tier adds the masterclass. drjobraid.com/store

Next week: a new series on connection.

Instagram/Facebook: @burnoutrecoverydr LinkedIn: drjobraid The Sunday Long Game newsletter: drjobraid.com/subscribe
Produced by @propodcaststudio. Supported by MIGA.
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Doctors are supervised at every step of training, then told "good luck, carry on for 30 years." Dr Suzi Hamilton thinks there's a better way.
Suzi is an emergency physician in Christchurch, New Zealand, who also works in the Chief Medical Officer's team as Director of Workforce Development, and coaches and supervises doctors on the side. Her path here includes a ski-field season, a boat in Antarctica and a high-altitude rescue post in Nepal.
In this episode, Jo and Suzi cover:
The difference between mentoring, coaching and professional supervision, and why supervision is not a performance issue
Why individual resilience was never going to be the whole answer
Suzi's four cornerstones of team resilience: connection, culture, recovery and reflection
Why reviewing what went brilliantly belongs alongside reviewing what went wrong
How one question after a game of five-a-side changed a hard stretch in her training
The self-care routine Suzi actually keeps (it isn't a routine)
Reflection: what kind of support do you need right now? Advice from someone who's been there, a goal to work towards, or a safe place to think out loud?
Also mentioned: the Doctors Who Coach Doctors group, a directory of doctors who coach other doctors. Find out more here: https://www.doctorswhocoachdoctors.net/
**Content warning: death of a child mentioned in this episode.
Connect with Suzi: https://www.hamiltoncoaching.nz
Connect with Jo: IG/FB: @burnoutrecoverydr
LinkedIn: drjobraid
The Sunday Long Game weekly newsletter: https://drjobraid.com/subscribe
Produced by @propodcaststudio. Supported by MIGA.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.