This week’s episode lives in the gray space most physicians don’t talk about publicly. Not clinical technique or policy, but what happens internally after years of performance, pressure, and building a life that looks successful on paper, then realizing that might not be the whole story. Dr. Priya Rao Kothapalli, MD, FACC, FSCAI, joins us to reflect on training, depression in fellowship, moral injury in early practice, leaving a job less than a year in, and learning to trust intuition in and out of the cath lab. The discussion moves through suffering, ego, art in medicine, fasting, spirituality, risk, and what success actually means when you strip away titles and status. 04:56 Quitting the job and questioning who you are 10:27 Pressure, intuition, and preparing for life-and-death decisions 18:07 Fasting, presence, and testing your limits 23:21 Academia, ego, and realizing misalignment 27:55 Taking risks and trusting when life whispers 33:36 Material safety 44:14 How to become more intuitive 49:44 Rest, regulation, and showing up as a better physician Who Should Listen Physicians, surgeons, and interventionalists navigating identity shifts, burnout, or career inflection points. Anyone in medicine who feels the tension between performance and alignment will recognize themselves in this conversation. About Dr. Priya Kothapalli Dr. Priya Rao Kothapalli, MD, FACC, FSCAI is a Houston-based, quadruple board-certified interventional cardiologist specializing in coronary and structural heart disease who combines high-stakes procedural expertise with media and education initiatives as founder of the Open Heart podcast and storytelling platform bridging medicine and broader cultural inquiry. Connect with Dr. Priya 💼 LinkedIn: Priya Rao Kothapalli, MD, FACC, FSCAI 🎙️ Podcast: Open Heart Podcast Follow Life of Flow 📲 Instagram: @LifeofFlowPodcast 👍 Facebook: Life of Flow Podcast 💼 LinkedIn: Life of Flow Podcast 🐦 X: @VascularPodcast If this conversation reshaped how you think about identity in medicine, intuition in the cath lab, or the risks of stepping outside a traditional path, share it with a colleague who’s quietly questioning their next move. A quick review also helps more physicians find conversations like this.

In this episode, we sit down with Mark F. Weiss, JD, an attorney who has spent decades advising physicians on the business and legal realities shaping medical practice. Mark explains how hospitals gained economic and structural power over physicians, why patient costs rise after hospital acquisitions, and how fear quietly became a tool that keeps many physicians from leaving systems that no longer serve them. The conversation moves from history to responsibility, ending with a blunt question about what individual physicians can do instead of continuing to complain. 🎧 This episode explores how physicians lose autonomy through reimbursement policy, consolidation, and fear-based decision-making, and why understanding the business and legal structures around medicine matters as much as clinical skill. 02:45 From janitor to lawyer and how early jobs shaped his thinking 04:17 Moving from real estate law into physician and hospital deals 07:17 The original physician hospital relationship and how it changed 14:02 How reimbursement policy pushed physicians out of independence 13:37 “You didn’t go to medical school to run a business” and why that line stuck 33:28 Fear, employment, and why starting a practice feels impossible 37:14 The mid-career breaking point many physicians hit 49:53 Awareness, responsibility, and why complaining is not a strategy Who Should Listen This episode is for practicing physicians, residents, and mid-career doctors who feel stuck in hospital employment, as well as anyone trying to understand how economics, fear, and policy shape modern medical practice. About Mark F. Weiss, JD Mark F. Weiss is an attorney specializing in the business and legal issues affecting physicians, medical groups, and physician-owned ventures on a national basis. From 2002 through 2013, Mark held an appointment as a clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, at which he developed and taught a seminar course for anesthesia residents on the business and legal issues affecting anesthesia practice. He's a frequent speaker on topics of interest to providers and professional advisors in the healthcare industry, and is the author of multiple books and hundreds of articles on medical practice legal and business issues. Mark practices law with The Mark F. Weiss Law Firm, with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, representing clients across the country. Connect with Mark 💼 LinkedIn: Mark Weiss 🔗 Website: weisspc.com 🎙️ YouTube: Mark F. Weiss 📘 Book: The Impending Death Of Hospitals: Why You Must Plan Your Medical Practice's Survival Follow Life of Flow 📲 Instagram: @LifeofFlowPodcast 👍 Facebook: Life of Flow Podcast 💼 LinkedIn: Life of Flow Podcast 🐦 X: @VascularPodcast If this episode helped clarify how hospital economics, consolidation, and personal responsibility shape physician autonomy, consider sharing it with someone navigating similar pressures. A quick review also helps others find conversations like this.