The Reborn: Stephanie Pearson, MD, FACOG

Transcript

[0:00] Before we get into Today’s show I want to tell you about a new offering from MD coaches.
Group coaching for Physicians is a small virtual confidential cohort designed to inspire participants to ReDiscover personal and professional fulfillment.

[0:20] The next cohort begins on Thursday October 6 and runs weekly until November 10th and you can earn one CME credit per session totaling six credits in all to learn more and to register.
Visit www.mchcp.org store space is limited so be sure and register today.

[0:46] And I walked into my senior Partners office sat in a chair crying and said look this is unethical.
I would have gotten that kid out if it was 2 in the morning but I would have made her an obstetric invalid.

[1:03] Paging dr. cook paging dr. cook.

[1:11] Dr. Kirk you’re wanted in the or doctor.

[1:14] Music.

[1:38] Hello everyone and welcome to prescription for Success I’m dr. Randy cook your host for the podcast which is a production of MD coaches.
Providing leadership and Executive coaching for Physicians by physicians to overcome burnout transition your career.
Develop as a leader or whatever your goal might be visit MD coaches on the web at my MD coaches.com.
Because you’re not in this alone.

[2:07] And don’t forget see you any credit is available when you listen with us just look for a cmf i in the show notes to learn how.

[2:17] My guest today is a board-certified obstetrician gynecologist she’s also a licensed insurance broker specializing in disability and life insurance for Physicians.
How and why she made that pivot is the focus of our interview today so let’s hear dr. Stephanie Pearson,
tell her story and I am really excited to be talking to a really unique guest today,
dr. Stephanie Pearson up in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania area has a fascinating story to tell about,
making a career change that was not entirely her choice so Stephanie thank you so much for being with us today I’m looking forward to hearing this story.

[3:07] Thank you very much Randy I’m glad to be here and as you may know the first thing that we like to talk about on this show is exactly how you,
got started in medicine when did all that come your way wow I can remember when I was 10 years old,
telling my parents that I wanted to be like dr. bear away and Doctor Taubman who were my pediatricians wow and so I really spent.
The rest of my educational career trying to get into med school to be a pediatrician they must have been incredible people because when I was at that age I was,
terrified of doctors what do you think it was about them that gave you the inspiration,
they let me touch the instruments and they would talk to me like I was older than I was.
And I really felt like they were involving me and Mike are as a kid.

[4:11] And you know I remember one of them letting me use an otoscope to look in his ear is that right in mine and I was like wow that’s so cool and,
I really just wanted to be like them well that’s that that is really quite a story of inspiration so you just.
Got to made your mind up right then and from that point onward that’s where you were headed and how did you happen to decide to do your undergraduate training at Emory down in the south.
It’s kind of a silly story one of those silly stories I didn’t really have a whole lot of help or guidance in the picking of colleges,
and I was like well I’d really like it to be warm and I’ve heard good things about them.
I only applied to five schools I applied to Rutgers because I lived in New Jersey and everybody who lives in New Jersey applies directors and then I applied to four schools below the Mason-Dixon.

[5:17] And my brother who is two grades ahead of me had already gotten into Emory.
And it was actually the only school I ever visited well and so he and I were like,
would you mind if I came to school with you and he was like no he’s like apply early be done with it it’s such a terrible process and that’s what I did I applied early I got in and,
that was the end do you like Amory by the way women did turned out they left it I wanted it to be,
yes I loved it I made lifelong friends it got me where I needed to be at let you know it’s so close to the city so I got to experience kind of.
A beautiful Suburban college and university and a big city right so I got to experience kind of both of those things.
And it was I have nothing bad to say about my time there that’s fabulous.

[6:22] But tell us more about getting into medical school it sounds like that might not have been quite as quite as much fun.

[6:30] So I am one of those folks who works really really hard and is not the best test taker in the world and so the only thing,
yeah so my MCAT scores were fine but they weren’t great.
And I applied to I don’t even remember how many schools.
And I got wait-listed at.
And at the time I was doing genetic research and my.
P I said what do I have to do to keep you here to finish the project.
And he didn’t know at the time that I was wait-listed at one place and so,
I said something that I didn’t think he would actually take me up on but he did and so I figured things happen for a reason,
and it just wasn’t my time and I stayed at Emory and extra year and ended up getting published and I applied the second go-around and when I got my second acceptance letter,
I stopped going on interviews because I felt like.
I got in where I wanted to get in and I didn’t want to take a seat from somebody else that had an opportunity well that’s very generous.

[7:57] I don’t know if generous or silly or you know ill-informed but whatever but Hannah when I was out of my nose where you wanted to be.
I really wanted to be at at the time it was mCP Hahnemann and.

[8:13] At the time in early it was 2001 I started they had a,
special problem based program that I had heard great things about that I felt aligned more with the way that I learned,
so at that time you pretty cool.

[8:32] They had a traditional track which is what you think of when you think of med school no and then they had this problem based pathway that was small groups that had a,
physician or PhD a very smart mediator.

[8:53] And we learned cases more as kind of,
in a practical setting right so instead of just doing the anatomy of the leg we had a case and he got run over by a tractor,
on his family farm and so we took it from here’s a kid who breaks his leg
and we ended up looking at it from all angles so we learned the anatomy of the leg we learned about
physiology and we learned about patients as people and we learned about
ethics about parental and child medicine it was just a really
interesting way everything we learned was based on an actual case and the way to teach medicine yeah I used to say that I felt more like a doctor in training than a medical student,
and I realized that that’s a little bit semantical but that’s truly how I felt and to this day I can remember certain cases that stood out.

[10:02] You can you know and I for me it was a great way to learn it wasn’t just facts in a vacuum
everything was applicable so medical school was really a lot of fun for you it sounds like I really did enjoy it,
I did until I realized that I didn’t want to be a pediatrician that you know I think what most men,
Med students don’t end up right where they thought they were I one of the reasons I also liked this program was that we had
the opportunity to do a sudo internship with
a primary care physician in the area and so I spent two half days a week for 12 weeks with a pediatrician
and I really liked him and I really like to the kids and I couldn’t stand the parents there you go and I was like
oh Lord what am I going to do now because
I can’t do this for the rest of my life and this is what I’ve spent the last ten years of my life trying to do
and now I have med school debt and oh my God what am I going to do.

[11:23] I had a circuitous route to get to OB I had done general surgery as my first rotation as a third year,
and realized that I really loved using my hands and that’s kind of rare yeah I loved it,
and didn’t really at the time have very many female role models yeah where we were and so I was trying to figure out like okay how am I going to make this work.

[11:57] And I had the opportunity to spend,
two weeks with a pediatric orthopedist and loved it and was like okay,
I’m going to be a pediatric orthopedist and and spent,
a better part of my third year trying to make connections I did some research at Penn I was like lining up my sub I for fourth year and I had it all figured out
and then
my last rotation of third year was my OBGYN rotation why did I pick it last because I thought there was no way
that I would want to be an OBGYN what do you want you think that was I mean can you put yourself back in that fourth year Medical School mindset and tell me why that seem to so.
Far not right yeah honestly because my thought.
Of an OBGYN was just going to the gynecologist you know once a year and I was like delivering babies who wants to do that,
and it was really just a narrative that I put in my head that wasn’t accurate.

[13:18] We’ll get back to our interview in just a moment but right now I want to tell you about a new sponsor for us.
Growing Innovation Health Solutions is a comprehensive medical billing service,
that allows you to shift the burden of collections off your shoulders so you can focus on patient care.
G.i. Health Solutions has the experience and the expertise to help you manage all your building related chores efficiently and professionally.

[13:47] Their expert team will handle all your coding claim follow-up and building issues to be certain you receive your payments on time.

[13:56] They can streamline your billing process and increase your Revenue by up to 30%.

[14:02] With GI Health Solutions you’ll get more time with patients less busy work better cash flow.
Fewer errors and improved patient satisfaction.

[14:13] So reach out to Growing Innovation Health Solutions today and let them help your medical group improve profitability and eliminate administrative burdens.
Visit their website at www.ge.com Health Solutions dotnet for a free consultation.

[14:31] Hi I’m Rhonda Crow founder and CEO Forum D coaches here on RX for Success we interview a lot of great medical professionals on how they grew their careers how they overcame challenges,
and how they handle day-to-day work.
I really hope you’re getting a lot of great information but if you’re looking for an answer to a specific problem management or Administration challenge,
or if you’re feeling just a bit burnt out like maybe you chose the wrong career well then there’s a faster way to get the help you need now it’s not counseling it’s coaching,
RX for success is produced by MD coaches a team of Physicians who have been where you are,
I know you’re used to going it alone but you don’t have to get the support you need today visit us at my MD coaches.com to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Again that’s my MD coaches.com because you’re not in this alone.

[15:33] We’ll get back to our interview in just a moment but right now I want to tell you a little bit about physician Outlook
if you haven’t discovered this remarkable magazine please do so very soon it was created by physicians for Physicians to showcase the intersection between clinical and non-clinical interests whether it’s writing,
painting cooking politics and dozens of other topics physician Outlook gives a physician perspective
it’s available online and in print it’s really unique among physician lifestyle magazines and like the prescription for Success podcast
physician Outlook amplifies the voice of any physician who has something to say it also engages patients who still believe in physician-led,
team-based care and prescription for Success listeners can get 3 months free when you enter our promo code,
RX for success and select the monthly option at checkout that’s a really great deal on this stunning publication.

[16:36] And now let’s get back to today’s interview well from the the moderate degree of pre-interview,
research that I’ve done about you it certainly sounds to me is if once you really,
got on your feet that you really felt like you were exactly where you belong to that I just read that or no definitely way it was.
Definitely my I loved my patients I love.

[17:06] The hospital I again have made lifelong friends and really felt like you know I was doing.
A good thing and taking care of people and I was you know I was one of the surgeons that people sent hard cases to and.
I really thought.
That I was going to be that old surgeon who either had you know an MI at the table or had nurses saying dr. Pearson maybe it’s time for hire.
You know that that was the sure that’s what I thought my my.
Life book was going to look like but little did I know so tell us about.
How the how the wheels began to fall off so in December of 2012,
I was called to the labor floor to do a precipitous delivery and you’ve been in practice about how long cat that point I started in 2005 okay.

[18:14] So what’s not there I was in my eighth year yeah I really got some experience behind you at this point yes okay,
and I got down to the room lovely patient I’d actually delivered three of her other children which is pretty rare nowadays with the way that,
medicine is yeah,
and really baby number four should have just fallen out right yeah it should have just fallen out and unfortunately
mom got there too late to get an epidural and was kind of climbing up the bed.
And she had a much larger BMI than I did I had multiple nurses in the room.
Helping me.
And good bad or indifferent I was a little bit notorious for speaking a little bit loudly to moms when they needed to pull it together.
And in my experience that’s not rare in every room you know you know.

[19:22] And I have often been overheard saying,
have your baby I will fix the Carnage but nobody is getting hurt right unfortunately I look down at the fetal heart monitor and the baby’s heart rate was in the 40s,
and so that just wasn’t an option.
And so with the nurses help I we got her in the right position she was crowning I put a vacuum on to help,
guide the baby out told her that I needed her to focus and to push.

[19:59] And instead of pushing she kicked me and the first kick.
Came right to my left brachial plexus my arm went completely numb well started to cry but I had a baby to deliver so,
turned my body thinking I was doing myself a favor I am right handed.
And kind of used my right arm and one of the nurses to finish the delivery and as the baby was coming out.
She kicked me a second time and dropped two of my nurses wow.
And I I mean I knew something was wrong like it I heard a pop I was like oh no.
I was already crying yeah I put the baby on mom’s belly made sure that the baby was okay and then I stack called one of my partners to come down and.

[21:00] Finish the delivery and found out a couple days later that I maybe a week or two later.
That I had a torn labrum did you even try to work in the interim I’m sort of curious yeah of course I thought I had a fish yeah of course you did yeah.

[21:20] Yeah but what do we write we put our heads down and we do our job and go ahead with this I like I did say that I was not going to operate for the month of January,
because I didn’t want to be.
A risk but I was still seeing patients in the office and showing up every day but I did pull back on a couple of things because I thought it was the right thing to do,
unfortunately my first orthopedist said and I won’t use the exact words that he used but that I was being,
we’ll say weakling was the word he used but it wasn’t that professional baseball pitchers pitched with torn labrum ‘s so I should be able to do my job and not knowing,
what I didn’t know I went back to work.
And I got an injection it felt a little bit better I continued to work and figure it out how to compensate which was really interesting because while I am right handed.
I’m actually a left-handed laparoscopic.

[22:34] Because we taught residents right so the residents get to use their dominant hand,
so the attending gets good at using their non-dominant hand and it was my left arm that was getting affected and I was starting to,
I have really bad chronic pain issues and nerve pain down my arm I was losing range of motion I was actually having my husband helped me get dressed.
In the morning and because someone had already accused you of being a bit of a wuss you just.
Yes push right on through it yes wow and finally August 3rd of 2013.

[23:14] Not that I’m counting there was a patient that was allowed to push,
for five hours and I got called in to do the section,
and my first assist had never done a C-section good Lord and I started to cry at the table now remember with a C-section you have an awake patient,
and often a you know.
A support person so I’m sure that that did not scream confidence and so I started,
and I was like I can do this I can do this,
and realized that I really couldn’t do this I could not get my left arm in the position that I needed to get it in to get this kid out.

[24:06] And thankfully it was the middle of the day and it wasn’t a stat situation,
and I was able to call down one of my partners to finish the delivery and I walked into my senior Partners office sat in a chair crying and said look.
This is unethical.
I would have gotten that kid out if it was 2 in the morning but I would have made her an obstetric invalid because I would have had to tee up her uterus,
and it would not have been her fault or the baby’s fault right it would clearly have been on my shoulders no pun intended,
and I was like this is ridiculous like.
I cannot practice like this and I went to a new orthopedist.

[24:56] And it was one of those do you mind if I call in my med student my resident and my fellow,
and I was like oh man I don’t sign for right right I was like oh,
this is really cool for them and so not cool for me yeah and you know come to find out that I had a textbook frozen shoulder.
And he said.
Have you been going to PT and I said no and he said why not and I said well because I wasn’t told to I told I was being a wuss.
And he just shook his head and I was like okay so I guess this is worse than I thought.
And he said well we should be able to do surgery and get you back to work and I said okay.
So I ended up having surgery almost a year to the date of the accident it was December of 13.
And I went to sleep getting told that I’d be back to work in 12 weeks.
And I just had my 9th anniversary away from Clinical medicine August 3rd remains.
A day that is not a very good one for me I know that I should be celebrating my new life.

[26:25] But I would almost kill a puppy to be back in the operating room.
So I woke up and he literally said I don’t think you’re getting back.
And went a step further to right in my records that I was a liability.
And so so you learn what right away oh I learned right away wow,
I learned right away that he didn’t think I’d get back to OB or operating I was actually cleared to do office Gynecology as tolerated,
so in my mind regardless of what happened over the next 12 weeks of rehab and whatever.
I assumed I was going back to be an office gynecologist.
And I had spoken to the chair of the department and he was like oh we want you back when you’re a hundred percent and don’t rush it.

[27:21] And in a very John Cusack movie-esque moment and I guess I might be dating us but the day my FMLA was up I got a knock on my door
and my Postman handed me my termination letter no one had the decency to call me and give me a heads up,
I there had been talk about me becoming the chairperson at our hospital and when I say it was like getting punched in the stomach it,
it’s an understatement if I live to be a thousand years old I will never understand how one human being can do that to another human being so
yeah my goodness I can’t even imagine what you must have felt at that point but I’m going to ask you to tell us so.
Start the probably darkest part of my life to date I did find out in my contract that it said I needed to be able to do a hundred percent of my job duties,
to be employed so clearly
you know they had a right to terminate me I did talk to an employment lawyer I found out.
Then that there was a note saying that I was a potential liability so now I had malpractice insurers telling me that I was uninsurable and.

[28:47] I
I wanted to crawl into a hole six feet deep I bet that really close at all the doors does it not oh dun dun and I did not realize,
how much of my identity I tied to being doctor Pearson and
I felt completely lost I was the primary Breadwinner my husband at the time was a flight nurse and I knew that my life insurance covered suicide.

[29:23] And so I felt.
Like my family would have been better off with me dead then disabled because I guess I jumped ahead one step I found out that our group,
disability insurance through the hospital in fine print didn’t cover work-related injuries,
so I got flatly declined they actually told me I would have been better off had I fallen off my bike and then workman’s comp.
Initially declined my case because they said while an injury occurred my frozen shoulder was idiopathic or my fault because I continued to work while I was injured
so I ended up having to sue the state for my workman’s comp and I really felt like my family would have been better off financially if I was dead,
and I had a plan I wrote my husband and my kids letters and one day.

[30:30] My husband brought home a puppy.

[30:35] I wanted to kill him and he said clearly the boys and I are not enough you have to take care of something that needs taken care of so you have a choice.
You can get out of bed and take care of the dog or be surrounded by filth.
And the dog will die I feel you certainly are a but I wonder if you’re aware that you’re probably married to one of the wisest human beings on the planet.
I yes yes at the time I did not think so but I have I have sung his praises.

[31:14] Many many times since I mean,
her name is Kimber she’s a bull mastiff and she saved my life I started,
doing what I was good at right taking care of things and so we went on long walks which was good for.

[31:34] My mental health and my physical health.
And went to a dog park and started socializing again and talking to people and interestingly at dog parks people didn’t really ask.

[31:49] Like who or what you,
did like it just never came up people talked about their kids or they really talked about their dogs right it’s fascinating it’s
I didn’t have to retell my story a thousand times yeah which was happening on the regular with all of my physician friends I actually have to say that the people that were probably the meanest to me.

[32:14] Were other Physicians either knowingly or unknowingly sometimes right now and and again and and yes because I got the.
What do you mean you can’t do your job you look fine you know invisible disabilities suck I mean there were days I wished I was in a cast or something,
because I look normal it’s just when you asked me to raise my arm I couldn’t get it at that time much above about 60 degrees now I can get to just about 120,
but,
you know I had the the Physicians who said stuff like that then I had the Physicians who were like kick me in the shoulder medicine sucks I want out and I’m like if you want out get out,
this wasn’t my choice mmm like,
and I don’t think they realized how hurtful that was that this wasn’t my choice I like I said I thought I was going to be the doc who died at the table,
so that was you know it took a good couple of months you know I remember.

[33:23] My kids were four and six at the time and.
I remember somebody asking my older son you know what his parents did and I heard him say my daddy’s a nurse and my mom used to be a doctor.
And I just started to cry you know and it took a really long time for me to get over that.

[33:48] Hurdle of trying to figure out,
who I was I can see why and then Stephanie I have to tell you that until I got to know your story and and and and you really filled in a lot of blanks for me here today
but it has really put me in touch with something that that I should have,
I’ve been aware of for the 44 years that I’ve practiced and that is that Physicians,
for all their empathy toward their patients do the worst possible job of taking care of each other,
and I’d like to hear you talk about that a little bit more,
God that I that’s like a whole other podcast and well maybe you know,
we almost wear it as a badge of honor in a weird way I used to talk about kind of the the tyranny of perfection that exists in medicine right that we’re supposed to be.
Better than stronger than more resilient than yeah look how much I’m sorry all of those things right and.
I’ve done that like I had hyperemesis with both of my kids I would never tell one of my patients to go to work with an IV in their arm and get IV fluids at lunch,
that’s what I did uh-huh right you know I got kidney stones.

[35:15] And I went to the hospital I was medicated overnight and still went and saw my patients at nine in the morning the next day.
Right it’s ridiculous I mean my oldest son thank God he’s alive.
I delivered a set of twins the morning that he delivered,
at the time when he was really active and I didn’t feel him move so what did I do I went and scanned myself and saw that I had a little bit of fluid.

[35:53] So I hooked myself up to the NST machine his strip was beautifully reactive.
And I kept on working on blendable and my partner’s let me work my whole day I had an NST at lunch with.

[36:09] IV fluid and the plan was to deliver me after work and.
Afterwards I was like oh my God what is wrong with us if any of our patients had come in with a breech baby with low fluid they would have been admitted and delivered.
Yet I realized that at three in the morning and he was not born until 957 at night because I kept getting bumped,
by other patients that needed to be delivered my the strip kept looking good but I would have never done that right so,
even taking care of ourselves where the pets,
and after that I remember saying to my partner’s like I can’t believe you guys let me work like that didn’t seem weird to any of you,
and it was at only after that that I started to kind of stand up for myself but,
not really because again after I got hurt I worked for you know eight months but I really do find that Physicians,
as a whole are not great at taking care of each other you know and it really stinks I mean it’s like.

[37:28] I don’t know I liken it to like old school fraternity hazing you know it’s.
My life was so bad so suck it up buttercup you can do it too,
well tell us a little bit more about how in spite of that you managed to find your way to a much better life also very circuitous,
I started to kind of get back into my groove after a lot of therapy and.

[37:58] I was like okay my brain still works I’m only 40 I don’t know if I had mentioned that at the beginning that that’s when everything happened and I was like there’s got to be other stuff I can do.

[38:11] Man I’m really pigeon-holed what can I do and there is a conference put on every year.
Called seek SE AK and for the life of me right now I can’t think of what it stands for but.

[38:29] Is basically for Physicians who are looking for non-clinical jobs is in a nutshell so.
I went and it was a couple of days and lots of speakers talking about their Journeys and what they’ve done and what’s available to Physicians you know there were non Physicians and Physicians,
nothing they’re really resonated except,
something that one person said so none of the jobs were like calling to me,
but one of the Physicians said,
two things she said you need to figure out what you’re passionate about and she said everyone has knowledge.
That other people could benefit from and I really latched on to those two thoughts and.

[39:25] I wrote them down and went home and talked to my husband about it.
And we were like okay what am I passionate about and you know first I was like I’m really passionate about education and teaching and so.
I did some medical editing thinking that like that would be a great use of my knowledge.
But it was really boring for me and then I was like okay.
What else right I like operating okay well somebody had reached out at from a biotech consulting firm,
and I started to do some of the Consulting but I was like this is a little bit over my head from like an engineering standpoint and I didn’t,
I feel like I fit in.

[40:09] And then I was like okay well I’m really passionate about OB and I really hated getting sued and.
All right let’s see can I help.
With Med Mal Defense work so I actually contacted our malpractice attorney and said hey.
I’m here like is there anything that I can do for you to help other obi’s and I loved it.
I loved it I was researching stuff I was really getting to use my OB brain again and really trying to help defend these Doc’s who.
I believed did not do anything egregious but come to find out that you have at least in Pennsylvania I don’t know how it is everywhere else but in order to be an expert witness you have to.
Be practicing in a certain period of time yeah I think that’s pretty Universal across this country and so I timed out.

[41:12] And was like oh what are we going to do now and interestingly.

[41:19] I had already started lecturing to area residency programs because I had learned so much the hard way about.
Disability insurance I’d already mentioned that I didn’t get my group I ended up settling my workman’s comp case because I was just mentally exhausted.
I did have two private policies but found out neither of them was exactly what it should have been had I been properly educated.
And really just started lecturing my friends programs and.

[41:57] Was basically sending them out right like I did the education and said well now you have to go find somebody but these are the things that you need to know.

[42:06] And again one day my husband said.
You know you know more about this stuff than most.
People why don’t you go get licensed and I thought it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard I was like.
I’m not a salesperson insurance agents or soch warming and look at what happened to us and he was like right and now you’re educating people the way that you wish you were educated.
But you’re sending them to other people so let’s do it better.

[42:49] And I said I’ll give it a whirl and I locked myself in a room for six weeks with,
textbooks and colored markers and three-by-five cards because that’s how I studied and I took the test,
and I called him from the car in tears because I didn’t get an A and God,
and some said,
oh my God has anyone in the entirety of your practicing medicine ever asked you what you got on your boards,
and I was like no he’s like so why do you think that anyone is going to give a rat’s behind.
What you got on the test you passed in six weeks that’s all you need and.

[43:42] We started at our kitchen table.

[43:46] And I started reaching out to everyone I knew and saying look this is what I’m doing now and this is why it’s so important.
And I really set out I mean this is going to sound really egotistical but I really set out to change the industry well I don’t think that’s – tackle at all and I’ve never met a doctor that didn’t think,
the lowest beings on the planet are the people that deal insurance so yeah so yeah so that’s how it all started and we bought,
we bought a map of the United States.

[44:27] And we put it up in our home office and got little push pins.
And the boys wanted to see how long it would take us to get a client in every state.
And I feel terribly that I really don’t know how long it took but things just.

[44:48] Really blew up like I could not have predicted.
The exponential growth that we’ve had I mean it was I was probably doing it myself for about.

[45:01] A year Ryan while he was still.
Being a nurse was helping me on the back end like he’s the one who set up the LLC he’s the one that set up the bank account like he literally said.

[45:16] You educate I’ll take care of everything else and we ended up.
With two employees working in our house we had hired his sister who at the time was living in Manhattan,
but we just needed help scheduling people because I just just happened so fast and now,
well I guess I skipped a step so about a year into.

[45:45] What initially started a Stephanie Pearson MD my now business partner who had really helped me kind of along the way with.
Meeting people and making connections and,
we have a weird small world story I grew up with his cousin’s he’s been tailgating at Eagles games with my brothers forever.
He was at the time working for a big life insurance house that didn’t have a disability product and so he could do disability kind of on,
the down low and we really hit that point where like it was kind of time to shit or get off the pot I’m sorry,
it’s okay we were anywhere on the internet so we can’t can’t stop us and we said look it we either need to make this official and,
be partners and you have to leave where you are or.
We have to we being Ryan and me I have Ryan and I had to figure out kind of what was next because we had really outgrown our house and we decided.

[47:02] To become partners and the rest is history I mean we now have,
and and just to be clear what you were doing then was were you simply providing advice to people who are in search of disability insurance or were you actually in the process of bokor brokering what was going on,
both so when I took the test it was to become a licensed broker I see and so.
Would do the lecturers and say I can take care of you right like that was my disclaimer was I’m here as dr. Pearson.
Educating you however I have to tell you that I have become a licensed broker I’m like Switzerland I’m not in bed with anyhow you will not hear me say any company by name
during my lecture.

[47:58] If this is something that you have found helpful here’s my contact information the next time we speak.
I’ll be speaking as Stephanie Pearson the insurance broker and so and could you just go ahead and.

[48:15] Enlarge a little bit because I think it’s really important that people understand the difference between a broker and an agent so the lines have become quite,
blurred but in truth broker is like Switzerland they are able to work for all companies,
well except one because there’s one company that you have to actually be a captive agent but for the most part I can get appointed.
With all the disability and life insurance carriers out there that I want to become a pointed with I am not incentivized to sell any one company over another company a true agent.
Works for a specific company,
and they are incentivized to sell that company right they may have appointments with other carriers or other companies but they’re still really incentivized to sell,
they’re kind of parent company.

[49:20] Does that make sense it makes all kinds of sense and then and then just to make sure that everybody understands your particular remuneration from this work that you do comes from where.
So
We are commissioned however we have created our company so that everybody salaried,
so I actually have put my head in the sand as far as what our commission rates are and let our CFO deal with that,
and the Brokers that we’ve trained to do it the way that we want them to do it.
Are in fact salaried and so not a single person in our company gets paid by commission the company.
Gets paid by commissions but even I’m a W-2 employee so there’s nothing to be gained by going one one particular company over another,
nope yeah we absolutely lead with Education First transparency like.

[50:28] It’s all about education here I want people to make sure that they are making informed decisions and,
it’s really nuanced I mean,
it’s ridiculous there’s no standardization of language in insurance and I think that it is super important
to feel connected and to feel like the person who’s speaking with you,
has no side agenda except to make sure that you understand what you’re doing,
and I liken it to informed consent in medicine you know I really want people to feel good,
that they understand at least.
Cursorily what all of this stuff means and you know I know we joke about are there stupid questions not stupid questions.

[51:23] When it comes to insurance I really there’s no stupid question and I still at times have to go back I’m continuously
following up with these companies,
you know what’s changing what’s different one of the things you know I will kind of toot my own horn for half a second is.
Because of my background I’ve been able to make.
Connections in all of these companies with their Underwriters and so we do a lot on the front end to manage realistic expectations,
and I’m able to advocate for people in a way that your traditional agent or broker can.
And we’ve actually managed to change some of the underwriting that that’s happened since I started which is really what I’m the most proud of when I can see,
those changes that make sense because the insurance people will tell you until they’re blue in the face that Community medicine and insurance medicine are not the same,
and I get it but there are certain things that I just want to be fair for instance when I started.

[52:41] Any woman that had a C-section for any reason they would not cover future pregnancies they viewed C-sections as an abnormal,
outcome of pregnancy as a woman who makes breech babies,
who is also an OB I was incensed and I started sending ACOG bulletins and.

[53:07] Other white papers and was like look it standard of care no hospital in the United States once a woman delivering
vaginal breech and there are places where you can’t do vaginal multiples like this is just not fair I get it like once you’ve had a C-section once your you know once you’ve been operated on
there are potential risks going back in okay so don’t cover complications of future C-sections.
But to knock out the entire pregnancy I had a section for a breach kid if I ended up with you know a subarachnoid bleed.
With my second had nothing to do with my breech C-section in the last five years.

[53:58] We have gotten all six of the traditional houses to make that change.
Unfortunately one house has swung back the other way since the beginning of 2022.
Okay that just means I don’t tell people that have had C-sections to get that company right I’m going to ask one other question before we,
move into the to the apex of the show when I’m just going to get out of the way and let you talk but imagine for a moment that someone made you emperor of the world,
what change would you make in the end,
the insurance industry as we know it that would make it fair because it’s not right now.
God that’s a tough one I mean I would like to see it be more transparent across the board.
There so much.
Proprietary information that we just don’t have access to I would love to see.

[55:06] A closer link between Community medicine and insurance medicine because I still do think that certain things really are unfair and there are things that I’m still arguing.
And trying to change and I will continue to do that as long as I think.

[55:26] Things are not fair but to say you know I’d love to see it be fair seems very.

[55:34] Very trait Well you certainly have made a difference and I have no doubt,
do you will continue to make an even bigger difference and those who remain in the medical profession are
quite lucky to have you on
their side and and I’m glad you’re around for them I’m okay as much as I miss practice myself I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to face the kinds of things that were talking about but knowing that there are people like you that are trying to,
truly make it better without being self-serving is really something that warms my heart and it’s great to see that,
so that sell what I’m going to do at this point is give the floor over to you entirely and I’m going to close my mic,
for just a few minutes and dr. Stephanie Pearson is going to give us her personal prescriptions for Success so I’ve mentioned,
quite a few of them while we were speaking I would say that for me the two things that really stuck when I was trying to figure out my new place and my new identity,
where figure out what you’re passionate about and you absolutely have knowledge.

[56:56] Other people could benefit from and when you match those two pieces.

[57:03] There’s so many things that you can do and be successful with with that being said.
I think that it is super important to surround yourself with people who are supportive and lift you up.
I think that having the right people surrounding you is.
Probably one of the most important things in building a business in raising a successful family I think that.
As long as you remember that it’s never wrong to do what’s right then even if something doesn’t quite work out the way that you want it to,
there’s always a lesson there and going The High Ground is so important.
I also think that understanding that as Physicians.
We’ve worked really hard to get where we are.

[58:05] And we’ve done that through hard work through presser variants.
And education and I think that making lifelong learning part of your everyday being.

[58:21] I will help you in every single bucket of your life.
And it’s so important to remember that if something doesn’t go right the first time.
There’s always a lesson to be learned and there’s always at least a little nugget that you can pull out of it,
and look at it as a learning opportunity I forget somebody famous said you know there’s no such thing as losing or failure it’s only an opportunity to learn so whoever said that.
They get the credit it’s not mine and I think that really sums me up and remember that.

[59:03] We need to take care of each other and ourselves it’s never wrong to do what’s right I love that thank you that’s really,
one of the most profound bits of wisdom that have come up on this show and we’ve heard a lot of them and I thank you so much for sharing with you Stephanie dr. Stephanie Pearson insurance broker
please tell us a little bit more about how our audience can find you and what you’re doing.
So I am located in Ardmore Pennsylvania our company’s name is Pearson ravitz.
I’ll make sure that dr. cook has the correct spelling but www.personalfitnesstrainerstlouis.com is the easiest way to get to all of us
the office number is 6 10 6 5 8 3 2 5 1.

[59:59] My email is Stephanie at Pearson rabbits.com we have a Facebook,
Pearson rabbits I also have my personal one and it is my name I was not Savvy enough way back when to come up with a pseudonym so I’m there as Stephanie Pearson.
I would also just like to plug I did create a secret Facebook group,
if you reach out to me it is called Physicians for Physicians it is specifically for Physicians who because of injury or illness have had to change their scope of practice or leave medicine,
and it has been an unbelievable supportive community that just didn’t exist 10 years ago so.
I am very very easily accessible,
well dr. Stephanie Pearson I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us today and I want to thank you for being who you are and doing all the good things that you’ve done and it’s been a great pleasure to get to know you so thanks again for,
being with us on prescription for Success it has been my pleasure thank you for having me.

[1:01:16] Thank you so much for joining us today.
We’d really appreciate a review from you and a five-star rating helps give our podcast much more visibility and that helps us reach more listeners.

[1:01:28] You can find exclusive content on our patreon page including membership only material like personal rapid fire Q&A sessions with our guests.
And to be sure you never miss an episode check out our website at RX for success podcast.com to subscribe.
And while you’re there learn how you can get CME credit from cmf I just by listening.

[1:01:52] Special thanks to Ryan Jones who created and performs our theme music and remember be sure to fill your prescription for success with my next episode.

[1:02:02] Music.