76. Putting on Your Armor with Dr. Scott MacDiarmid Artwork

Operate with Zen

While incredibly rewarding and honored vocations, careers in medicine and surgery are fraught with stress, burnout and challenges in work-life balance. OWZ is intended to open dialogue about a mindful approach to surgery - to create a space where physicians and surgeons can enhance their life's work and life experience with a focus on presence, purpose and practical skills. OWZ combines didactic-like monologues to provide baseline information and available scientific data on practical topics like time management, sleep hygiene and burnout; as well as interviews with surgeons and experts to share what works and doesn't work in their daily routines.

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Operate with Zen

76. Putting on Your Armor with Dr. Scott MacDiarmid

October 04, 2023 • Phil Pierorazio • Season 7 • Episode 11

Scott MacDiarmid, MD is a private practice urologist in Greensboro, North Carolina and the author of “Fist Pumps” – a self-help book to lift up physicians and healthcare providers who serve (https://www.amazon.com/Fist-Pumps-Scott-MacDiarmid/dp/1088078184). Similar to my journey in Operative with Zen, Scott wrote the book thinking, “If I can help one other person.” We talk about the stresses of being a physician and surgeon in modern American healthcare and strategies to deal with that stress. Finding purpose, developing (what Scott calls) a suit of armor through mindfulness and gratitude, and seeking your own personal mountaintop – where you find peace, joy, virtue, and contentment – allow us to limit our exposure to the inevitable and deep valleys of burnout. Lastly, Scott encourages us to care for ourselves and care for our communities as we serve those around us. Enjoy this conversation!

Fist Pumps (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Fist-Pumps-Scott-MacDiarmid/dp/1088078184