Better Physician Life: How to Get Unstuck in Your Medical Career

Dr. Michael Hersh is a gastroenterologist and physician coach who noticed that a lot of his colleagues were stuck. Not clinically, but personally and professionally. They felt trapped in careers that looked great on paper but felt hollow in practice. Better Physician Life is his attempt to help doctors find their way back to clarity, joy, and purpose without necessarily quitting medicine to do it. The weekly podcast alternates between honest solo episodes where Hersh shares his own experiences and reflections, and interviews with physicians who have made bold career and life changes. Some guests shifted specialties. Others set new boundaries with their employers or learned to be more present at home after years of letting work consume everything. The conversations are candid in a way that feels rare in physician media, where the default is often to project confidence and competence at all times. Hersh also co-hosts a separate show called Doctors Living Deliberately, but Better Physician Life is where his coaching philosophy comes through most clearly. He talks about the questions no one teaches you to ask during training: Am I practicing because I want to or because I feel like I have to? What would my life look like if I stopped chasing the next achievement? The podcast does not pretend that these questions have easy answers. Instead, it gives physicians permission to ask them in the first place. For doctors feeling disconnected from their work or wondering what comes next, this show offers both practical tools and the kind of emotional honesty the profession desperately needs.