Creating Space Between Stimulus and Response: How Physicians Can Change Their Impact | Dr. Rob Orman
Episode Description
What happens when a lifelong emergency physician steps back from clinical practice and dedicates himself to helping other doctors navigate the impossible job of medicine?
In Part 1 of a two-part episode, Dr. Rob Orman joins Dr. Andrea Austin to share his remarkable path, from documenting mass casualty events to becoming a technical advisor for the hit HBO series The Pit, and ultimately building a coaching practice that helps physicians create meaningful change in their behavior and careers.
Together they discuss the importance of awareness, the space between stimulus and response, cognitive empathy, and why art and storytelling may be powerful vehicles for transforming healthcare. Rob also opens up about his own career struggles and the deep fulfillment he finds in one-on-one behavioral coaching.
They discussed:
- How documenting mass casualty events led to advising on The Pit
- The career shift from full-time clinician and educator to physician coach
- Why “not everyone thinks like you do”, and the power of cognitive empathy
- Building awareness and creating the pause between stimulus and response
- Behavioral coaching for physicians on performance plans or struggling with reactivity
- The role of storytelling and art in driving healthcare change
- Lessons from burnout, skill decay, and career transitions
🩺 About the Guest
Dr. Rob Orman is a physician coach, author, and former emergency physician with two decades of clinical experience. He is the author of Supernormal: A Field Guide for the Impossible Job, which helps physicians recover from burnout, navigate conflict, and build sustainable careers. He hosts the top-ranked podcast Stimulus, co-founded Guidewire Coaching, and previously hosted Essentials of Emergency Medicine. Rob also served as technical advisor on the Emmy-winning HBO series The Pit.
🔗 Resources Mentioned
- Supranormal: A Field Guide for the Impossible Job by Rob Orman
- Stimulus Podcast
- Guidewire Coaching
- The Pit (HBO series)
🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways:
- Awareness creates the pause: Real change begins with noticing your patterns and reactions in the moment. Building this awareness is the foundation of behavioral coaching and personal growth.
- Cognitive empathy changes everything: Not everyone thinks or processes the world the way you do. Learning to truly understand another person’s perspective reduces conflict and improves leadership and patient care.
- Storytelling and art can transform healthcare: Sharing authentic medical stories through podcasts, books, television, and other media has the power to build public understanding and drive systemic change.
🩺 About the Host:
Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out.
With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart.
💫 About the Show:
Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible.
Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done.
Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better.
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart.
Follow Your Heartline and transform healthcare today!
🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities
- 🔥 Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians
Starting 2026, I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee Johnson. This 6-month group coaching program supports physicians in rediscovering mindfulness, meaning, and wholehearted practice. I'm an alum myself—this program transformed my career. Learn more and enroll here, and please share with colleagues who may benefit.
o Join us for this incredible one of a one-of-a-kind event in the heart of Australia at one of our most spectacular locations—Voyagers Resort in Central Australia in 2026.
o Learn from some of the world's medical leaders in compassionate care, and how heart-centered healthcare can empower and heal healthcare workers and their patients.
o For: Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Clinicians, Healthcare Leaders,
Coaches and Supervisors of Medics, Patient Advocates and all healthcare workers.
o When: 29-31 July 2026
Where: Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, Central Australia
- Women in Medicine Summit | Chicago, Sept 24-26, 2026
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🎧 Thanks for tuning into Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare!
🌟 Learn more and book a free discovery call today at andreaaustinmd.com/coaching.
Stay connected and keep making a difference:
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📚Discover Dr. Austin’s book Revitalized: A Guidebook to Following Your Healing Heartline.
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