Dana Corriel, MD on SoMeDocs, Physician Autonomy, and Building a Digital Presence

Christine interviews Dana Corriel, MD, Founder and CEO of SoMeDocs, about her background in internal medicine and healthcare innovation and what led her to build an online community and tools (including a physician directory) to promote physician autonomy amid insurance and corporate constraints that contribute to burnout. Corriel shares her career path through Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and the World Trade Center Monitoring and Treatment Program, a three-year break after her third child that sparked interest in branding and networking, and her eventual full-time departure from clinical practice, including mixed reactions to a Medscape article and initial pushback from family that later turned to support. She advises physicians to build an owned digital presence via a personal website and then use social platforms, both for career growth and patient continuity when changing jobs, and encourages questioning herd mentality, accepting criticism, and pursuing long-held dreams.

00:00 Meet Dana Corriel

01:03 Travel Tales With Parents

01:46 Why SoMeDocs Exists

04:04 Autonomy And Burnout

05:31 Stepping Away From Practice

07:24 Backlash And Thick Skin

08:56 Family Reactions And Support

12:44 Women Entrepreneurs Pushback

14:34 Seeing Healthcare Clearly

16:41 Build Your Online Presence

19:44 Stop Chasing Acceptance

21:16 Final Encouragement And Wrap

Perimenopause, Sarcopenia, and Metabolic Change: Strength Training, Protein, and Cortisol with Dr. Betyshia Belardo

In part two of The Girl Doc Survival Guide with Dr. Betyshia Belardo, the conversation focuses on sarcopenia (midlife muscle loss) and how reduced estrogen during perimenopause can contribute to declining muscle mass, lower metabolism, decreased strength, and weight gain with a shift in fat distribution toward the midsection. Belardo emphasizes that women can counter these changes with consistent strength training (even 15–20 minutes, 2–3 times per week), safe progressive overload rather than lifting excessively heavy weights that risk injury, and increased protein intake, recommending about 30 grams per meal while prioritizing whole foods and supplementing as needed. They discuss tracking body composition, adding fiber (about 30 grams/day), hydration, and maintaining enjoyable activity. Belardo explains cortisol’s role via stress and poor sleep, noting sleep deprivation can increase cravings and insulin resistance risk, and advises sleep, self-care, and social connection.

00:00 Welcome and Episode Setup

01:10 Sarcopenia Is Real

02:59 Why Weight Shifts Midlife

04:33 Strength Training Without Fear

05:44 Safe Progression and Overload

08:18 Tracking Body Composition Wins

09:51 Protein Targets and Meal Ideas

13:44 Cortisol Sleep and Stress

15:10 Simple Daily Habits Checklist

16:56 Wrap Up and Thanks

Tiffany Yu on Disability Pride, Ableism, and Taking Anti-Ableist Action

On The Girl Doc Survival Guide, Christine interviews Tiffany Yu—Founder and CEO of Diversability and author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto—about disability identity, ableism, and practical inclusion. Yu shares a childhood car accident that caused permanent arm paralysis, temporary wheelchair use, and later a PTSD diagnosis, emphasizing that trauma care must address mental health as well as physical injuries. She discusses defining disability using the WHO’s interaction between health conditions and environmental barriers, reframing disability as “another way of being or doing,” and noting that naming disability can protect rights under the ADA. Yu defines ableism as devaluing people based on how their bodies or minds work, connects it to intersecting oppressions, and describes anti-ableism as action beyond passive “not ableist” behavior, including accessibility practices like captions and the curb cut effect. She closes with examples of readers applying the book’s ideas to make bookstores and book festivals more accessible.

00:00 Meet Tiffany Yu

00:58 Her Disability Story

02:06 Defining Disability

03:35 Reclaiming the Word

05:49 Advocacy Without Apology

09:02 What Ableism Means

10:46 Pity and Nuance

12:34 From Passive to Action

13:58 Accessibility Advantage

14:46 Final Takeaways