The STS Resilient Surgeon Podcast

Host Dr. Melanie Edwards is joined by guest Dr. Andrea Wolf, director of the New York Mesothelioma Program, professor of thoracic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, chair of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Wellness Committee, and an accomplished marathoner. Dr. Wolf explores how the mindset and discipline of distance running can strengthen resilience, performance, and career longevity in surgery.
Drawing from her own experiences with running and injury, Dr. Wolf discusses the value of focusing on process over outcomes, prioritizing recovery and strength training, and building sustainable habits that support both surgeon well-being and patient care. She also shares insights on workplace ergonomics, mentorship, and challenging the culture of pushing through physical limitations.

In a new episode of The Resilient Surgeon, host Melanie Edwards, MD, sits down with cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Smilek of the University of Waterloo’s Vision & Attention Lab to explore how attention and perception shape performance. Their conversation dives into the realities of everyday multitasking, examining how it contributes to lapses in attention, cognitive errors, and mind wandering. Smilek connects this research directly to surgical practice and surgeon well-being. Listen today.
Resources referenced in the discussion:Bidelman, G. M., & Feng, S. (2025). Familiar music reduces mind wandering and boosts behavioral performance during lexical semantic processing. Brain Sciences, 15(5), 482.
Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932-932.
Kiss, L., & Linnell, K. J. (2021). The effect of preferred background music on task-focus in sustained attention. Psychological research, 85(6), 2313-2325.
Seli, P., Risko, E. F., Smilek, D., & Schacter, D. L. (2016). Mind-wandering with and without intention. Trends in cognitive sciences, 20(8), 605-617.
Watson, J. M., & Strayer, D. L. (2010). Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 17(4), 479-485.
 

Season 5 starts here. Join Dr. Melanie Edwards, new host of The Resilient Surgeon, for the kick-off of season five with a “Live from #STS2026” episode. Hear from Drs. Jamie and Ross Ungerleider about work-life integration, and making choices that contribute to more fulfillment, joy, and authenticity in life. Listen today. 

Laurie Baedke, executive coach, founder and CEO of Growth Edge Holdings, and best-selling author, talks with Dr. Michael Maddaus about  “stepping outside your comfort zone” to grow professionally and personally in this episode of The Resilient Surgeon. They address the challenges of promoting high performers into leadership roles without equipping them with critical skills like communication, accountability, and influence. Listen today. 

Do you ever say to yourself, “I don’t feel like doing this today?” On this episode, Tim Pychyl, PhD, procrastination researcher and author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, talks about procrastination and how to avoid it. Pychyl reveals the latest research on why people get stuck and offers strategies to "break free from self-destructive ideas and habits" and start living an inspired life. Listen today.

Host Dr. Michael Maddaus talks with Jonathan Clark, leadership scholar at UTSA and co-author of Leading Through: Activating the Soul, Heart, and Mind of Leadership,  about prioritizing people, purpose and real productivity to transform an organization. Hear compelling stories that show how "the legacy model of leadership can be destructive," resulting in what he calls "organizational darkness." Learn about a positive model focused on caring for people and helping them thrive. 

In this episode of The Resilient Surgeon, host Dr. Michael Maddaus talks with Dr. Ross Bremner, the executive director of Norton Thoracic Institute and the department chair of the Center for Thoracic Disease and Transplantation at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, about surgeon burnout. Dr. Bremner shares his journey through burnout and how he used the 3 Cs - compassion, connection and creativity, to recover. 
According to the National Institutes of Health, 40% of surgeons met criteria for burnout, defined as a high emotional exhaustion score and/or a high depersonalization score.

Dr. Steven Gerndt is a cardiothoracic surgeon, speaker, and leadership mentor who developed the concept “Civilitas,” a system-wide cultural transformation focused on psychological safety and fostering of leadership by example. In this episode, Dr. Gerndt talks about his work dedicated to helping organizations and people navigate personal crises through counseling, affirmation, and empathy. He emphasizes the critical importance of allowing people in crisis to be heard.

In this week’s Resilient Surgeon episode, Sheila Heen, a lecturer on negotiation at Harvard Law School and co-author of Thanks for the Feedback and Difficult Conversations, talks about giving and receiving feedback and how we can be better at both. Specifically, Heen explains how to be less dismissive in the way we receive feedback and become genuinely grateful and appreciative of feedback from others. She also talks about creating a productive feedback culture in the workplace.  

Former US Navy Commander Mike Abrashoff joins Dr. Michael Maddaus for a conversation on leadership with humanity. Abrashoff shares his success in turning around a struggling ship, the USS Benfold, which became the subject of his New York Times bestselling book, It's Your Ship. Hear about his simple yet powerful approach to leading with compassion, empathy, and respect for others.