Season Three: Work/Life Balance

Balancing a career in plastic surgery with family, wellness, and personal commitments can be challenging yet deeply rewarding. This season, Dr. Ash Patel and special guest hosts explore the realities of parenting as a surgeon, maintaining strong relationships, and navigating work-life balance. Experts share their experiences on fatherhood, motherhood in residency, and the importance of prioritization. Additional discussions cover physician wellness, ergonomics in surgery, and managing stress during the COVID-19 crisis. With candid conversations and practical strategies, this season offers valuable insights for surgeons striving to build fulfilling careers while maintaining personal well-being and strong family connections.

Description: Dr. Ash Patel interviews Heather Furnas MD, FACS and Paul Cederna MD

Summary: Dr. Heather Furnas and Dr. Paul Cederna recall unexpected lessons learned from their children, how to create balance between home, clinic, and research, and how to be all in for all three.

Description: Special Guest Host Dr. Kavitha Ranganathan interviews Christian Vercler MD and Joseph Lopez MD

Summary: Dr. Christian Vercler and Dr. Joseph Lopez discuss becoming a father at different stages in their careers, the impact it has had on their lives, as well as their successful wives, and who really wears the pants at home! This episode features a special guest host – Dr. Kavitha Ranganathan.

Description: Dr. Ash Patel Season Three: Work/Life Balance

Burnout is a tremendous challenge facing surgeons today, especially those new to the field. Hear from your colleagues on dealing with work/life balance, building resilience and relationships. Women and surgeons of color face unique challenges in this field. Listen to their stories of breaking into a field that didn't always feel welcoming. Special edition episodes have been added discussing how to maintain wellness during the COVID-19 crisis. Visit www.plasticsurgery.org/wellness for additional wellness resources.

Description: Dr. Ash Patel interviews Douglas Steinbrech MD and Scott Hollenbeck MD on the topic of Ergonomics in plastic surgery.

Summary: Dr. Scott Hollenbeck weighs in on the importance of ergonomics in plastic surgery and the consequences of incorrect positioning in the Operating Room. While Dr. Douglas Steinbrech recalls how his injury changed the way he works for the better and how sitting while operating can help save you in the long run.

Description: Dr. Ash Patel interviews Michael Bentz MD about the importance of relationships in and out of the office.

Summary: Dr. Michael Bentz weighs in on the importance of prioritizing your commitments, how saying yes to one thing means you have to say no to something else and why you should really consider this the next time you are stuck between being a parent and a doctor.

Bonus Article : Check out The Plastic Surgeon at Work and Play: Surgeon Health, Practice Stress, and Work–Home Balance at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5096531/

Description: Dr. Ash Patel discusses practical tips with Vu Nguyen MD and Francesco Egro MD, MSc, MRCS.

Summary: Dr. Vu Nguyen and Dr. Francesco Egro share how their organization has handled communicating updates, the impact Covid-19 has had on plastic surgery resident programs, and how the future of interviewing could change because of the crisis.

Description: Dr. Ash Patel interviews Wellness Committee Co-Chairs Jeffrey Janis MD and Richard Korentager MD on the importance of Physician Wellness during the Covid-19 crisis. In addition, Dr. Patel speaks with Sabrina Korentager and Emily Janis about their current experience.

Summary: Wellness Committee Co-Chairs Dr. Jeffrey Janis and Dr. Richard Korentager discuss the ever-important topic of physician wellness, especially during these unprecedented times. Together with Dr. Patel, they share their strategies of how to manage stress, maintain normalcy and physical fitness during the Covid-19 crisis. In part two of this episode, Dr. Patel will talk with Sabrina Korentager and Emily Janis to understand how their careers have been affected and how to navigate homeschooling with multiple children.

Description: Special Guest Host Dr. Ashley Amalfi gets real with Dr. Wendy Gottlieb and Dr. Shweta Parakh as they discuss balancing plastic surgery and being a working mom.

Summary: Brought to you by WPS Special Guest Host, Vice Chair of WPS, Dr. Ashley Amalfi talks with Dr. Wendy Gottlieb and Dr. Shweta Parakh as they share their experiences of balancing it all. They discuss their mom wins, mom fails, how they take care of themselves and how real mom guilt can be.