ABS Coaching & Consultancy

04/05/2026

Structure creates space for connection.

A short “Better at the Bedside” reflection on how small shifts in how we structure clinical conversations can reduce stress—for both patients and clinicians.

These are the kinds of changes that don’t add time—but can change everything about how a visit feels.

Curious what resonates for you.

12/11/2025

My hope with Better at The Bedside is to make the day-to-day experience of practicing medicine feel more sustainable, more connected, and more meaningful for healthcare professionals.

Clinicians need tools they can use during back-to-back patients, difficult conversations, and the moments when emotional fatigue is real. That’s what this book is designed for.

The goal is to help physicians and other healthcare professionals feel even 5% lighter. Real impact happens when many clinicians make small changes. Those small shifts add up and hold the potential to support a more resourced profession that is better able to advocate for systemic changes that actually support us in the work that we do.

If you’re interested, you can find the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FY4CHQ4R

11/17/2025

I’m glad to share that my book, Better at The Bedside: Connecting People, Purpose + Performance, is now available on Amazon.

Healthcare is full of well-intended advice about self-care, but many clinicians can barely find time to go to the bathroom between patients. This guidebook was written with that reality in mind. It offers an evidence-based framework for incorporating coaching psychology, mindfulness-in-action, and practical communication tools directly into daily clinical encounters without needing extra hours in the day.

The goal is to give physicians and other healthcare professionals a set of simple, repeatable practices that help maintain connection to ourselves, our patients, and our work in the middle of a busy practice day. This work has transformed my own practice, and it’s my hope that others may find these ideas practical and inspiring.

If you’d like a copy, you can find it here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FY4CHQ4R

11/14/2025

Looking forward to speaking at the upcoming Champions of Wellness virtual conference, “From Surviving to Thriving: Well-Being Strategies for Healthcare Professionals.”

On November 18, I’ll be presenting a session titled “Better at the Bedside: Connecting People, Purpose and Performance through Better Communication.” We’ll look at a practical, evidence-based framework clinicians can use in real time to stay connected to themselves, their patients, and their sense of purpose even on the days when there’s barely time to step outside for a breath of fresh air.

I’ll be joining Dr. Frankie Hale and Dr. Sarah Webber. Together, the sessions are designed for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who want realistic tools to move from “just surviving” toward sustainable, meaningful work.

If you or your team are interested in well-being, communication, and culture change in healthcare, you can learn more and register here:
https://www.championsofwellness.com/event/virtual-conference-from-surviving-to-thriving-well-being-strategies-for-healthcare-professionals

11/09/2025

Excited to announce the Champions of Wellness November Virtual Conference, exploring the theme “From Surviving to Thriving: Well-Being Strategies for Healthcare Professionals.”

This online event will feature frameworks, practical tools, and inspiring perspectives designed to help healthcare professionals foster fulfillment, purpose, and lasting cultural change.

📅 Date: Tuesday, November 18 at 10:00 AM Central
💻 Location: Live Online at ChampionsofWellness.com
Register for the Free Virtual Conference
November Virtual Conference Speakers

Dr. Adam Smith - Crossover Health Market Physician Director / Medical Director for Apple Wellness Centers in Austin and Sacramento

Topic: Better at the Bedside: Connecting People, Purpose and Performance through Better Communication

Dr. Frankie Hale - Assistant Professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing

Topic: Factors Contributing to Well-being among Hospital-Based Nurses

Dr. Sarah Webber - Director of Well-being, UW-Madison School of Medicine

Topic: Recentering Our Values: A Tool for Personal and Organizational Transformation

Whether you’re supporting clinician well-being at the organizational level or seeking personal tools to thrive in today’s demanding healthcare landscape, this event will leave you informed and inspired.

We hope to see you there. Reserve your seat now.

— The Champions of Wellness Team

Champions of Wellness
championsofwellness.com

08/06/2019

Professional Coaching Might Help Alleviate Physician Burnout
By Amy Orciari Herman
Edited by
- David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and
- Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

Individualized professional coaching may help reduce burnout symptoms among physicians, suggests a pilot study in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Over 80 internal medicine physicians, family medicine physicians, or pediatricians at four Mayo Clinic sites were randomized to a coaching group or control group. In the coaching group, physicians had six telephone sessions with a non-physician professional coach over 5 months. The first session focused on evaluating needs and setting goals, while in the remainder, progress was assessed, additional goals were set, and next steps were established. Common discussion topics included managing workload and limiting work–home conflicts.

At 5 months, the coaching group fared better than the control group in terms of overall burnout symptoms, emotional exhaustion, quality of life, and resilience. For example, the absolute rate of burnout decreased by 17% in the coaching group and increased by 5% in the control group.

The authors say the sizes of the improvements in burnout and emotional exhaustion "were likely to lead to a meaningful difference in rates of adverse outcomes."

Link(s):
JAMA Internal Medicine article (Free) http://response.jwatch.org/t?ctl=5F624:3DEF08222F50C92DAAF34AE0A1103C11&
Background: NEJM Journal Watch General Medicine coverage of physician burnout (Your NEJM Journal Watch registration required) http://response.jwatch.org/t?ctl=5F625:3DEF08222F50C92DAAF34AE0A1103C11&

04/23/2019

TOOLS FOR PHYSICIAN AND CLINICIAN ADVOCACY: PART 2
Please share these papers with clinician staff, residents and medical students. The more physicians and clinicians know about the growing body of evidence in support of clinician wellbeing, the better able clinicians and administration will be able to have constructive, and needed, conversations about ‘evidence-based management.’
“Are we practicing evidence-based management?” should become the prevailing question for both clinicians and administrators in support of optimal patient care.

This Viewpoint discusses a 2018 Charter on Physician Well-being, a proposal by the Alliance for Internal Medicine’s Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) to identify guiding principles and key commitments physician groups and others might use as a framework for addressing...

04/23/2019

TOOLS FOR ADVOCACY: PART 1
As physicians and non-physician providers are held to the standard of evidence-based medicine, there is a growing body of literature encouraging health care leadership to practice evidence-based management — management approaches that are in support of the clinicians who provide patient care. With these data, clinicians can now engage healthcare leadership in a new conversation about shared ownership and accountability for effective communication, experience and outcomes for both patients and clinicians.

IMPORTANCE Widespread burnout among physicians has been recognized for more than 2 decades. Extensive evidence indicates that physician burnout has important personal and professional consequences. OBSERVATIONS A lack of awareness regarding the economic costs of physician burnout and uncertainty reg...