182. Dr. Joanne Sotelo: Stopping Self-Neglect Before You Disappear in Medicine
Dr. Erin Hurley and Dr. Joanne Sotelo dive into the often-invisible pattern of self-neglect among women in medicine, tracing how it begins early in training and becomes normalized within a culture that rewards self-sacrifice, over-functioning, and emotional suppression. Joanne explains how slow self-abandonment leads to disconnection, resentment, burnout, and a loss of identity, and why self-compassion is a research-backed antidote that many high-achieving women find foreign and feel “weak.” Together, they explore the unique emotional burdens women physicians carry, the impact of constant “second shifts,” high mental load, and how nervous system dysregulation keeps clinicians stuck in survival mode. Joanne then offers a hopeful, practical framework, awareness, self-compassion, nervous system regulation, reconnection to identity, and community support to help women in medicine stop disappearing inside their roles and begin caring for themselves with the same compassion they offer everyone else.
Key Takeaways To Listen For
- Self-neglect and self-abandonment in women in medicine
- How medical training and culture reward self-sacrifice and over-functioning
- The role of self-compassion in resilience and burnout prevention
- Nervous system dysregulation, survival mode, and emotional numbing
- Practical steps for reconnection: awareness, identity, community, and support
“You don't have to fall apart before you are allowed to say something out loud and feel like you matter.” - Dr. Joanne Sotelo
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