It Takes Heart
It Takes Heart is a podcast about connection at the centre of Australian healthcare.
Each episode brings together nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, leaders and changemakers to share real stories from their work, their communities and the healthcare system they navigate every day. From moments of purpose and pride to challenge and growth, these conversations explore the realities of caring for others and the people behind the profession.
Co-hosted by cmr’s Samantha Miklos and Kate Coomber, It Takes Heart offers honest, human conversations that reflect the heart of the healthcare community and the difference it makes, often in ways that aren’t always seen or heard.
Episodes
48 episodes
47. From Survival to Purpose: Dr Wayne Lee on Medicine, Music and Imposter Syndrome
What happens when a career built on survival slowly becomes a career built on purpose? For Dr Wayne Lee, a GP now practising in Brisbane, that shift is at the heart of a story spanning three countries, a musical childhood and a leap into practi...
46. The Trucks Transforming Rural Healthcare: Dr Rolf Gomes on Heart of Australia
What if specialist healthcare could roll into town, instead of patients travelling hundreds of kilometres to find it? For Dr Rolf Gomes, 2026 Queensland Australian of the Year and founder of Heart of Australia, that question sparked a life-chan...
45. Bek Woodbine Returns: Chronic Pain, Nursing and Finding a New Way Forward
Bek Woodbine returns to It Takes Heart for a deeply honest conversation about chronic pain, recovery and finding a new way forward.Since her last episode, Bek has undergone major back surgery and has been learning to live with the physic...
44. Julie Quade on Leading Stronger Healthcare Teams
What does great healthcare leadership look like when teams are stretched, resources are tight, and patient care is always the priority? In this thoughtful conversation, Julie Quade, trained dietitian and Allied Health Manager for No...
43. What's It Really Like Working for Doctors Without Borders? | Dr Justine Cain
Most doctors spend their careers working within one healthcare system. Dr Justine Cain chose to take her skills across borders. Through her work with Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF), she ...
42. Is Spirituality Missing From Healthcare? | Nurse Rachel
Some nurses treat symptoms. Others help people feel truly seen. First Nations Nurse Rachel McLeod, shares why healing is about far more than clinical care. Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience across rural and multi-purpose health services,...
41. Nurse Georgie Carroll on Comedy, Chaos and Life After Nursing
What does it look like to swap the intensity of the ward for the unpredictability of a comedy stage? In this episode, we sit down with Georgie Carroll — an ICU nurse of 18 years turned comedian — for a refreshingly honest and wide-ranging conve...
40. The Untold Reality of Running a Healthcare Practice with Podiatrist Troy Parsons
What happens when your clinic looks busy, but the bank balance tells a very different story? In this honest conversation, Podiatrist, multi-clinic owner, and business coach Troy Parsons shares the reality of healthcare business ownership - from...
39. If Rural Maternity Disappears, What Then? | Dr Marian Dover
What does it really take to deliver safe, high-quality care when you’re hundreds of kilometres from backup? Tune in as Dr Marian Dover takes us inside the reality of rural medicine, where clinical decisions carry a different kind of...
38. What Every Woman Should Know About Perimenopause With Dietitian Angelique Clark
Why does your body feel so different in your 40s and why is no one really talking about it? In this episode of It Takes Heart, we sit down with Angelique Clark, an accredited practising Dietitian and exercise physiologist, ...
37. Who Decides If Care Is Safe? With First Nations Dr Sarah Jane Springer
What if the only real measure of cultural safety was the voice of the person receiving care?In this episode of It Takes Heart, Sam and Kate sit down with Dr Sarah Jane Springer - proud First Nations woman, award-winning rural ge...
36. Hospital at Sea: How Travel Nursing Led Nurse Tessa to Mercy Ships
What if the thing that saves your nursing career isn’t leaving healthcare… but saying yes to a completely different way of working?In this episode of It Takes Heart, ED nurse Tessa shares how travel nursing transformed her life ...
35. Could One Scan Save Your Life? Dr Zane Sherif on Preventive Medicine & Imaging
We’re back for Season 3 of It Takes Heart and kicking things off with an offsite recording at MBR Health on the Gold Coast, is guest Dr Zane Sherif, renowned Radiologist and founder of MBR Hea...
34. Can You Really Nurse Across NZ Ski Slopes and Aussie EDs? Nurse Nicole Proves It
What’s it like to go from treating ski injuries on the slopes of Queenstown to working ED shifts under the red-hot skies of rural Australia? For Nicole Watts - emergency nurse, adventure-seeker and proud member of the cmr community - it’s a car...
33. From Overseas to Aged Care: How Neha Built a Nursing Career in Australia
Neha arrived in Brisbane from Nepal with good grades, high hopes, and a postcard-perfect image of Australia, but the reality was tougher. Cultural shocks, unfamiliar accents, and the quiet weight of starting over left her searching for solid gr...
32. “I Just Wanted the Pain to Stop”: Erin Barnett on Endo & Empowerment
You might know Erin Barnett from Love Island or I'm a Celebrity…, but her most powerful story isn’t one that played out on screen. A registered nurse living with endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS, Erin opens up about what it...
31. Behind Recruitment Special: Curiosity in Every Interaction with Sophie Robertson
What happens when you flip the mic from healthcare workers to the people who help place them? In this Behind Recruitment Special of It Takes Heart, we sit down with global recruitment coach Sophie Robertson to explore what 'go...
30. Dr Chris G on Finding Freedom in the Chaos
What happens when the path you’ve worked so hard for starts to wear you down? In this honest episode, UK-trained doctor and content creator. Dr Chris G, opens up about burnout, sabbaticals, and building a version of medicine that actually feels...
29. Three Hard Truths from Bek Woodbine on Burnout, Nurse Culture & Ethical Aesthetics
Content warning: This episode includes discussions of alcoholism, depression, and occasional course language, which may be sensitive for some listeners.What happens when a nurse known for looking after everyone else hits her own...
28. What Your Body’s Been Trying to Tell You with Dr Anthea Todd – Part 2
What if the way you walk, rest, or hydrate could shift your entire nervous system? In Part 2 of our chat with Dr Anthea Todd, we explore how to apply the Fundamentals Framework, offering practical, everyday ways to reconnect with your body’s wi...
28. What Your Body’s Been Trying to Tell You with Dr Anthea Todd – Part 1
What if dry skin, headaches or exhaustion weren’t just annoying symptoms, but messages your body’s trying to send? In this two-part episode, we sit down with Dr Anthea Todd, women’s health expert and author of
27. Surviving NDIS Changes with My Therapy Crew’s Judy Scott
When the government announced sudden changes to the NDIS with only weeks’ notice, allied health business owners across Australia were thrown into crisis mode. For Judy Scott, occupational therapist and founder of My Therapy Crew, it meant pivot...
26. Why Oral Health Therapist Karli Says Taking Risks Led to Her Most Fulfilling Life
What happens when you say yes to adventure, purpose, and the unknown? In this episode, we meet oral health therapist Karli Grace, whose journey from private practice to working in Australia’s most remote Indigenous communities is as inspiring a...
25. Burnout or Worn Out? Ruth Limkin on the Six Pillars of Wellbeing
What happens when rest doesn’t work? When even after sleep, time off, or a holiday, you still feel depleted? That’s the reality of burnout and it’s something Ruth Limkin has seen up close. As Founder of The Banyans, Ruth shares how ...
24. Can a Digital Passport Fix Healthcare Shortages? Dr. Nick Yim from AMA Weighs In
What does it take to truly fix healthcare in Queensland? According to Dr. Nick Yim, it starts with smarter systems, not just more funding. In this episode, we sit down with the AMA Queensland President to unpack a bold new idea: a statewide dig...
