In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei speaks with physician, writer, and documentary filmmaker Jessica Zitter, MD, whose work explores some of the most difficult, and most human, moments in medicine.

Dr. Zitter first gained international recognition through the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary Extremis, which captured the emotional reality of end-of-life care inside the ICU. Since then, she has continued to use storytelling to challenge the culture of modern medicine.

Together, Frances and Jessica discuss:

• How physicians become powerful storytellers

• Why medical culture often silences trainees

• The toxic hierarchies embedded in healthcare training

• The emotional toll of ICU and end-of-life care

• Why compassion, communication, and palliative care principles should exist in every specialty—not just palliative medicine

Jessica also shares the story behind her newest documentary, The Chaplain and the Doctor, which follows her 15-year collaboration with a hospital chaplain and explores spirituality, bias, and humanity at the bedside.

This conversation explores how storytelling can transform medicine—from the ICU to the operating room—and why speaking honestly about medical culture may be the first step toward changing it.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH

Connect with Jessica: @jessicazitter

reelmedicinemedia.org

thechaplainandthedoctor.com

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH is a documentary filmmaker, writer, physician, and founder of Reel Medicine Media, a non-profit devoted to using story to transform and humanize medical culture. Dr. Zitter is the primary featured subject and a member of the team that created the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Extremis (2016).”

She went on to direct and produce the award-winning documentary “Caregiver: A Love Story (2020),” which examines the growing crisis of family caregiver burden in the United States. Her third documentary, “The Chaplain & The Doctor (2025)” explores the transformative relationship between a hospital chaplain and a physician challenging the fragmented clinical approach to patient care. Dr. Zitter’s book, “Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life” (2017), describes her evolution from a doctor focused on extending life at all costs to one more patient-centered and humanistic.

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n this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with urology resident and social media creator Maheetha Bharadwaj, MD—often known online as the internet’s favorite “dancing urologist.”

What begins with viral TikToks and Kardashian-style medical skits quickly turns into a deeper conversation about advocacy, physician voice, and the hidden curriculum of medical training. Maheetha explains how humor and creativity can be used to deliver serious health education—what Frances Mei calls “putting the medicine in the cheese.”

Together they explore:

• How doctors can use social media to educate patients

• The power of visibility for women and minorities in surgical specialties

• Why medicine’s hidden curriculum—not anatomy or pathophysiology—is often what breaks trainees

• Advocacy burnout and how physicians stay engaged without losing hope

• Why collaboration—not competition—may be the future of medicine

Maheetha also shares how her work now extends beyond Instagram and TikTok to state and national policy advocacy, speaking directly with legislators about issues affecting patient care.

This conversation is about creativity, courage, and the evolving role of physicians in public life—and why the next generation of doctors may change medicine by speaking out.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Maheetha Bharadwaj, MD

Connect with Maheetha: @dancing_uro_doc

https://www.hippocratic-collective.com/members/maheetha-bharadwaj-md

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

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What happens when the dream you chased your whole life stops feeling like yours?

This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with Sarah Rav — former doctor, former McKinsey consultant, and now a positioning and content strategist helping professionals build powerful personal brands.

Sarah shares her journey from direct-entry medical school in Australia to corporate consulting, and ultimately to walking away from prestige entirely. Together, they unpack:

• The pressure of immigrant expectations and “safe” careers

• Prestige addiction and socially acceptable success

• The sunk cost fallacy in medicine

• Transferable skills doctors underestimate

• Why visibility matters more than hard work outside the hospital

• Dealing with online criticism (and why backlash can mean growth)

• The concept of being “brave scared”

If you’ve ever wondered whether the path you’re on is truly yours — or just the one you were taught to want — this episode will feel like permission.

As Sarah says:

"This is my rebirth. I decide who I am, how I show up, and what I leave behind."

You’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Sarah Rav

Connect with Sarah:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rav/

https://www.instagram.com/sarahrav/

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Sarah Rav is a former medical doctor and McKinsey consultant turned Positioning & Content Strategist. Sarah has spent over 13 years building an audience of more than three million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn by helping professionals clarify their message, build powerful brands, and create new opportunities beyond traditional career paths.

After stepping away from medicine and consulting, Sarah now shares what it really takes to stop letting external expectations dictate your life, to lovingly release identities that once served you, and to find the courage to pursue work that feels aligned and expansive. Through her work, she shows how building a personal brand can give professionals real agency, enabling them to pivot careers successfully, confidently, and on their own terms.

Today is February 24th — release day.

Frances Mei and Colin sit down on the eve of launch to talk about what it feels like to finally let Surgeon on the Edge go. After three years of drafting, redrafting, anger, resistance, breakthroughs, and letting go of control, the book is no longer a mirror — it’s an old photograph.

In this intimate conversation, they unpack:

1. Why the first draft “wasn’t true”
2. How anger transformed into clarity
3. What it means to create art without controlling its reception
4. Why writing the book changed Frances Mei more than publishing it ever could
5. The difference between being an “angry person” and being overwhelmed
6. The real breakthrough (spoiler: there wasn’t just one)

They also talk book tour, color-coded Canva calendars, cozy gaming optimization strategies, and why sometimes you need someone who knows who you are — and will break it to you gently.

The book is out today. The work is finished. The interpretation is not.

You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Order Surgeon on the Edge now: https://www.amazon.com/Surgeon-Edge-Frances-Mei-Hardin/dp/B0G3JWCCH4

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

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This week on Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances sits down with her oldest friend—Executive Pastry Chef Rebecca Freeman—to talk about what happens when your childhood dream actually comes true… and it’s still hard.

Becky is the Executive Pastry Chef at Coyote Café and Santacafé in Santa Fe, a National Pastry Chef of the Year, and a multi–40 Under 40 award winner. She knew at five years old she wanted to be a chef. Frances Mei? Not so much.

Together, they unpack:

1. The brutal reality behind The Bear (spoiler: it’s not exaggerated)
2. Crying in the walk-in vs. crying in the call room
3. Working 400 days in a row to outrun imposter syndrome
4. Why high-achieving women panic after success instead of celebrating
5. How toxic training environments mirror dysfunctional families
6. And what it looks like to break the cycle when you finally become the leader

This is a conversation about abuse in elite professions—kitchens and operating rooms alike. About ambition. About ego. About emotional regulation. And about the strange truth that sometimes the job you begged the universe for still makes you question yourself.

If you’ve ever achieved the dream and still thought, What’s next? Why am I not satisfied? — this one’s for you.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Chef Rebecca Freeman

Connect with Rebecca:

IG: @chefbckyfreeman

https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/rebecca-freeman-santa-fe-pastry-chef/

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/business/glaze-of-glory-club-at-las-campanas-executive-pastry-chef-wins-national-culinary-prize/article_a42250e2-517e-11ee-87d2-bbbea92e1dac.html

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

What if the most radical thing you could do in medicine wasn’t being tougher, but being more human?

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with The ICU Doctor to talk about identity, intuition, and breaking the unspoken rules of medical culture. From immigrant roots and imposter syndrome to building clinical “spidey sense,” digital medical education, and creating work environments that actually put people at ease, this conversation is a masterclass in reclaiming humanity inside the hospital.

They unpack unhinged resident stories, intimidating attendings, reframing survival during training, and why asking someone “who’s your best friend?” might be more disruptive than any policy reform.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt flattened by hierarchy—and still believes medicine can be better.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: The ICU Doctor

Connect: https://www.instagram.com/theicudoctor1/

https://www.tiktok.com/@theicudoctor1

And check out all of The ICU Doctor's materials and books at https://icudoctor.gumroad.com/

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

In this episode of Surgeon, Interrupted, Frances Mei sits down with bestselling author and former television producer Audrey Bellezza to talk about reinvention—professionally, creatively, and existentially.

Audrey spent decades in television, rising from a Food Network intern to showrunner and development executive before pivoting (multiple times) into authorship. During the pandemic, she co-wrote a bestselling Jane Austen–inspired rom-com trilogy—only to be diagnosed shortly thereafter with stage IV ALK-positive lung cancer.

Together, Frances and Audrey explore:

1. What portfolio careers really look like over decades—not highlight reels
2. Why transferable skills matter more than titles
3. How women navigate pivots after investing years into a single identity
4. Creative partnership, pitching, and betting on yourself
5. Using storytelling and advocacy to build something meaningful in the face of uncertainty

Audrey also shares the story behind Love for Lungs, the nonprofit she co-founded to fund research and raise awareness for ALK-positive lung cancer, and details their upcoming Galentine’s Day fundraiser.

This is a conversation about ambition, failure, partnership, illness, and permission—to change your mind, your career, and your life.

Because no experience is wasted. And you can pivot as many times as you need to.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Audrey Bellezza

Connect with Audrey: @audreybellezzawrites

Love4Lungs: https://www.love4lungs.org/

Anne of Avenue A: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anne-of-Avenue-A/Audrey-Bellezza/For-the-Love-of-Austen/9781668097656

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.

Dr. Red Hoffman is a surgeon, hospice physician, and writer whose career has never followed a straight line—and whose life was radically reshaped by grief, chronic illness, and unexpected loss. In this episode, we talk about starting over more than once, entering medicine later in life, and what happens when your body forces you to renegotiate your identity as a physician.

Red shares her journey through trauma, long COVID, POTS, and partial clinical practice—and how diversification, honesty, and courage helped her build a career that still includes surgery, but on her own terms. We discuss the myth of the “wasted spot,” false equivalencies in medical training, why unpaid work sometimes matters, and how culture actually changes: slowly, one person at a time.

This conversation is for anyone questioning alignment, resisting change, living with chronic illness, or wondering if it’s too late—or too risky—to choose differently.

Host: Frances Mei Hardin, MD

Guest: Dr. Red Hoffman

Connect with Dr. Red:

https://redhoffmanmd.com/

@redmdnd

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

Follow Frances Mei on Instagram & Tiktok @francesmeimd

And subscribe to ⁨@HippocraticCollective⁩ on Youtube for all of the other shows the Hippocratic Collective has to offer.