The Hidden Load: For the educators and leaders in medicine who hold everyone up.

This podcast talks about the challenges of Burnout, Balance, and the Burdens Healthcare Faculty Rarely Name and feel that they struggle through alone. This is for the educators and leaders in medicine who hold everyone up — and deserve to be held, too.

The Hidden Load: For the educators and leaders in medicine who hold everyone up. is a society podcast hosted by Dr. Santina Wheat, with 48 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dr. Santina Wheat hosts The Hidden Load: For the educators and leaders in medicine who hold everyone up., a society show with 48 episodes published.

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  Episode #46

  The Re-Entry Whiplash: Protecting Your Vacation Peace

  Aug 17, 202619 minS1

  In healthcare, we spend massive energy preparing for the handoff before taking time off. But when we return, we are immediately hit by the re-entry whiplash —a chaotic storm of unread emails, delayed meetings, and home clutter that can evaporate two weeks of rest within 48 hours. In this solo episode of The Hidden Load , Dr. Santina Wheat breaks down the complete vacation life cycle and shares her personal 48-hour tactical re-entry protocol. Learn how to bridge the gap between "vacation mode" (parasympathetic recovery) and "work mode" (high alert demand) without spiraling into immediate burnout relapse. Resources Mentioned: Blog Post: Transferring Trust & Effective Handoffs — Read Dr. Wheat's guide on building robust coverage systems before leaving for vacation. August Birthday Coaching Special: Email Dr. Wheat directly during August for an exclusive discount code on all 1:1 coaching packages. Looking to work 1:1?: Book Your Call with Dr. Wheat — Ready to disrupt your overworking patterns? Let’s spend 15 minutes checking your operational capacity. Free Download: Career Alignment Workbook Dr. Santina Wheat’s Website: santinawheat.com Reflective CME Opportunity: True leadership stamina requires an understanding of your own biological baseline. Listen to this episode and claim your FREE Reflective CME/CE credit via the Learn at Pinnacle App . Claim Your CME Credit Here

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  Episode #45

  The Posture of Steady: High Performance vs. True Wellness with Dr. Devina Wadhwa

  Aug 10, 202634 minS1

  In healthcare culture, as long as you are performing, achieving, and outwardly managing your responsibilities, the system assumes you are perfectly fine. But there is a devastating hidden load carried by high-achieving professionals: the gulf between functioning and actually being well. In this episode of The Hidden Load , Dr. Santina Wheat sits down with Dr. Devina Wadhwa , a psychiatrist, assistant professor at NOSM University in Northern Ontario, writer, and mindfulness practitioner. Dr. Wadhwa shares her lived experience practicing in rural and remote communities and discusses what she terms the "posture of steady" —the unspoken expectation that clinicians can sit with trauma, panic, and pain all day while remaining entirely untouched. Following the tragic loss of her father, Dr. Wadhwa’s understanding of grief, suffering, and nervous system capacity was profoundly reshaped. Tune in to discover how to identify subtle "somatic bankruptcy," move past emotional flatlining, and use simple micro-regulation tools to bring authentic humanity back into healthcare leadership. Resources Mentioned: Dr. Devina Wadhwa’s Book: What Lives Through Loss (Available on SoMeDocs, Healthy Debate, and KevinMD) August Birthday Coaching Special: Email Dr. Wheat directly during August for an exclusive discount code on all 1:1 coaching packages. Looking to work 1:1?: Book Your Call with Dr. Wheat — Ready to disrupt your overworking patterns? Let’s spend 15 minutes checking your operational capacity. Free Download: Career Alignment Workbook Dr. Santina Wheat’s Website: santinawheat.com Reflective CME Opportunity: True leadership stamina requires an understanding of your own biological baseline. Listen to this episode and claim your FREE Reflective CME/CE credit via the Learn at Pinnacle App . Claim Your CME Credit Here

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  Episode #44

  The Milestone Trap: Reframing Time, Aging, and Expectations

  Aug 3, 202620 minS1

  Whether it’s a birthday, an anniversary, or an academic marker, major calendar milestones in medicine carry a heavy, unquantified hidden load. We are conditioned to run a quiet internal audit, evaluating our self-worth against a rigid, linear timeline we created decades ago. In this solo episode, Dr. Santina Wheat shares her personal reflections from crossing another birthday threshold, taking listeners on a journey from pre-birthday expectation anxiety to post-birthday clarity and sovereignty. Dr. Wheat explores why mid-career healthcare leaders must stop viewing time as an enemy they are racing against and start treating it as the raw material of wisdom and pattern recognition. Tune in to discover three powerful coaching reframes to burn the imaginary checklist, trade performative urgency for strategic equity, and reclaim your personal horizon outside of institutional metrics. Resources Mentioned: Special Discount for August ! Code AUG2026 Looking to work 1:1?: Book Your Call with Dr. Wheat — Ready to disrupt your overworking patterns? Let’s spend 15 minutes checking your operational capacity. Free Download: Career Alignment Workbook Dr. Santina Wheat’s Website: santinawheat.com Reflective CME Opportunity: True leadership stamina requires an understanding of your own biological baseline. Listen to this episode and claim your FREE Reflective CME/CE credit via the Learn at Pinnacle App . Claim Your CME Credit Here

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  Episode #43

  The Stagnant Mirror: Knowing When to Leave Medicine Roles with Dr. Santina Wheat

  Jul 27, 202622 minS1

  Deciding whether to pivot away from a healthcare institution is a massive, unquantified hidden load. In medicine, a profession built on longevity and institutional loyalty, walking away isn't just a logistical change—it can feel like a profound identity crisis. In this solo episode, Dr. Santina Wheat unpacks the invisible forces that keep mid-career physician leaders trapped in professional paralysis: the staggering operational friction of the Inertia Tax , the fear of the Greener Grass Mirage , and the frustrating phenomenon of the Stagnant Mirror . Dr. Wheat exposes how institutions often permanently typecast internal talent as the "junior rookie" who walked through the door a decade ago, ignoring years of incremental growth and strategic capability. Tune in to explore a cold, three-point diagnostic audit to separate universal healthcare friction from true institutional stagnation, learn how to stop paying the sunk cost fallacy with your potential, and discover why modeling values-driven career autonomy is a vital act of leadership for your trainees. Resources Mentioned: Looking to work 1:1?: Book Your Call with Dr. Wheat — Ready to disrupt your overworking patterns? Let’s spend 15 minutes checking your operational capacity. Free Download: Career Alignment Workbook Dr. Santina Wheat’s Website: santinawheat.com Reflective CME Opportunity: True leadership stamina requires an understanding of your own biological baseline. Listen to this episode and claim your FREE Reflective CME/CE credit via the Learn at Pinnacle App . Claim Your CME Credit Here Follow on Instagram: @drtinawheat

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  Episode #42

  Moral Injury and Hidden Squeezes with Dr. Gita Balakumar

  Jul 20, 202633 minS1

  When a healthcare system demands absolute perfection but offers zero grace when you are hurting, clinicians experience something far deeper than simple burnout. They experience moral injury . In this episode of The Hidden Load , Dr. Santina Wheat sits down with Dr. Gita Balakumar , a pediatrician with 20 years of clinical experience and the founder of Dragonfly Coaching MD, to discuss what happens when a dedicated clinician hits the institutional wall. Dr. Balakumar shares a striking personal account of being forced to maintain a full productivity schedule on a scooter and crutches following an Achilles rupture, exposing the cold reality of how corporate "family" language collapses when it runs into a transactional contract. They also unpack an unyielding hidden load that is rarely discussed in medical education: the crushing invisible labor of a mid-career physician navigating the decline of an aging parent while holding a peak clinical workload. Resources: Dr. Gita Balakumar’s Website: dragonflycoachingmd.com — Connect with Dr. Balakumar to learn more about her physician development coaching programs. Looking to work 1:1?: Book Your Call with Dr. Wheat — Ready to disrupt your overworking patterns? Let’s spend 15 minutes checking your operational capacity. Free Download: Career Alignment Workbook Dr. Santina Wheat’s Website: santinawheat.com Reflective CME Opportunity: Listen to this episode and claim your FREE Reflective CME/CE credit via the Learn at Pinnacle App . Claim Your CME Credit Here

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