Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
Being married to medicine comes with challenges—long hours, relocations, and feeling like you’re navigating it all alone. That’s where this podcast comes in.
I’m sharing the things I wish someone had told me—how to survive medical training, juggle parenting, manage finances, and actually build a life you love. We’ll cover everything from making friends in a new city to understanding insurance, finding childcare, and staying connected as a couple.
Some episodes will be just me, sharing real stories and lessons learned. Other times, I’ll bring on expert guests—financial advisors, physician spouses, and those who’ve been through it all—to offer practical advice.
Most of all, this is a place for community. A space where you can feel understood, supported, and even laugh along the way. Because being married to medicine doesn’t mean doing it alone.
So grab a coffee (or wine!), and let’s talk about the real side of life Behind The White Coat.
Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
#4| When Medicine Takes You Somewhere New… and You’re Lonely AF
Community matters when you're married to medicine, and building a strong support system makes the journey both easier and more sustainable for everyone involved.
• Connect with physician spouse organizations like the American Medical Association Alliance (AMAA) or Physician Family Network
• Look for social media communities like "Lives of Doctors' Wives" on Facebook or local physician spouse groups in your city
• Consider joining "Side by Side" Bible study groups specifically for physician spouses
• Say yes to invitations even when you're tired or feel awkward - it's worth pushing past the discomfort
• Get involved with local interest groups through libraries, churches, or volunteer opportunities
• Create your own community if you can't find one - start small with coffee meetups, book clubs, or playdates
• Remember that virtual communities can be valuable if in-person options are limited
• Take action today: join an online group, look for a local group, or start your own
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @amandabaronrealtor so we can connect. Please subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode with another physician spouse who might need it. DM me with your thoughts, topic ideas, questions, or guest suggestions - I'd love to hear from you!
Hey there and welcome to Behind the White Coat. I'm Amanda Barron, your host physician, spouse and your go-to friend for real talk about this medical life. If you're juggling long hours, solo parenting or finances and feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. This podcast is your space for honest conversations, real advice and the support that I wished I'd had years ago. So some episodes will be just me sharing what I've learned along the way, and then other times I'll bring on guests to help navigate the challenges of being married to medicine. So grab a cup of coffee or wine, get comfy and let's dive in. Hey guys, and welcome to another episode.
Speaker 1:I am so honored that you are here and spending a few moments out of your busy day to come and share and listen together and just be a support system for all of those within our community. Today, our topic is why community matters, and I think we can all agree that it is tough being on this journey of being married to medicine, and having a strong support system makes the journey easier for both sides of the relationship, but also sustainable. So I want to just dive right in and talk about some things, of what you can do right now to try to build the support system you need where you currently are and in that space and within your community. So, number one, the first thing that I would say is get connected to other physician spouses. There's a few things that you can do for this. I would one try to connect with Physician Family Network, which is online, and also the AMAA, which is a community online and AMAA I found out about it a few years ago and it stands for the American Medical Association Alliance and it is made up of physician spouses. It is a great network, a great educational tool and a great support system, and they are actually on a national level and then it branches down to a state level and then it'll branch down to an actual local, county level.
Speaker 1:So you can be a part of all three of those. You can be a part of just one. It really depends on what you're in need of, but I would definitely go online and see what you can find and what may meet the needs that you have currently. The other is look at social media and local Facebook groups, instagram communities, but I would really look into specifics of not only a national level of like. There's like one. I'll give you an example. It's called Lives of Doctors' Wives and it is a national Facebook community, but you can break it down even to more locally. So I have one, for example, that's called the Nashville Physician Spouses. But there's also local Side by Sides, which is a. For those of you that aren't familiar, it's a local Bible study group specific for physician spouses. So you can search through any of those social media communities to find exactly what you're in need of.
Speaker 1:And then, if you are in Nashville personally, I would love for you to join our group. We actually did not have a local county alliance, so I kind of started one, but it's not official, we don't pay dues, but we do support each other. We take meals if somebody is sick, they have a new baby death in the family, but we also do just monthly events on a low-key, no-pressure type standard. We have book club every month, we have a local coffee meetup every month and then, sprinkled throughout the year, we also do various events. So last week we just had our Easter egg hunt, which was super fun. So kind of start to look on social media for specifics to the city that you live in or that you're moving to. I think that will be helpful.
Speaker 1:The next thing that I would advise you to do is say yes to invitations and I know it's hard sometimes to say yes to things when you're exhausted, when you are already overextended or maybe you just feel awkward because you don't know anybody in the group. But it's also a great opportunity for you to kind of get out of your comfort zone, meet some potential people that you wouldn't meet otherwise and maybe just getting a new friend that could potentially be a best friend. Tomorrow I am going to an event and it's a pretty big event and I only know one person. So I'm forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone and go to connect, meet new people. So I do think that you need to say yes to the invitation Not every invitation, but yes so that way you can meet people. And then also other types of groups Think about play dates, coffee meetups have a meetup, you know, at your house mom's groups, church groups Our church has a women's group and they get together and they'll do coffees and various different events at the church. So say yes to the invitation.
Speaker 1:Next would be get involved within your community. So find something you like to do. Are you a runner, a hiker? Do you like to read books? Do you like to. Oh goodness, I mean just so many different things. So that would be the next thing Try to see if there's a workout class, or, but try to see what is around that you could potentially go to. If you don't have the funds, your local library a lot of times will have free classes, get togethers, book exchanges, just various things that don't cost anything. So I would try to look into your local library or your church and then branch out even further and maybe volunteer. So, whether that's through your church which I know a lot of organizations within their church will do volunteer opportunities, but there's so many local opportunities, whether it's with kids, it is for homeless, it is for animal shelters. It's another great way for you to get out of the house, get out of your comfort zone and meet some people.
Speaker 1:The other thing that I would recommend, too, is, if there's not something, create it. So, like what I did with our local little meetup group and it can be small have something at home. Like I said, you could have coffee at your house. You could host a book drive for a local charity for a school. We used to do like a used games and puzzles drive that we would donate to the elementary school and on rainy days when the kids couldn't go to recess, they had options of things that they could do within those donations. So I would highly recommend starting something if you don't have something. And then the other option, too, is it doesn't have to be in person, so it could be something that's virtual. They do have, like I said, some online social media platforms that you could go to meet people. There's also a Instagram page that I follow called the Flipside, and it is for physician spouses and it is a supportive community where they will have, like Zoom opportunities for you guys to come and learn or just be a great community for each other, and I'm hoping that there'll be a guest on one of our episodes, because I would love to pick her brain on some things as well, both virtually and locally. So I think that would be a really great resource for all of us.
Speaker 1:So what can you do today? What would be some actionable steps? Let's kind of regroup and chat about those. One, I would find and join an online group of physician spouses, and then also, two, look for a local group for physician spouses. Three, if you don't have a local physician spouse group, start one. Or four, join any type of group or community that gives you the support and also is something that you're interested in. So we talked about the running communities or a book club, something along those lines.
Speaker 1:What I would encourage you to do branch out, say yes to one new event or one new thing this month so that you can meet a few new people and just see how important that community is. And if you're somebody that maybe doesn't need the community, you probably have a lot to offer for somebody else that does need that support and does need that community. So I still encourage you to go out and go to a new event and meet people. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Amanda Barron Realtor. That way we can connect and we can share this episode with other spouses that you think this would resonate with and potentially just help build a community. It's worth it.
Speaker 1:I feel like in this journey of being married to medicine, we all have something to share.
Speaker 1:We all have something to learn, and just being able to do it on this platform, I appreciate you just being here and please don't forget to subscribe or share the episode with somebody or send in a question, comment or suggestion of a episode, topic or potentially somebody that you think would be great to interview on this podcast.
Speaker 1:Until next time, remember you are not alone and we are in this together. Bye, that's a wrap on this episode of Behind the White Coat. I hope today's conversation left you feeling more understood and supported, and if you on this episode of Behind the White Coat, I hope today's conversation left you feeling more understood and supported, and if you enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to subscribe, leave a review or share it with another physician spouse. Your support helps more of us to connect. Keep in mind this podcast is for you, so let's keep this conversation going. Dm me on Instagram at Amanda Barron Realtor, with your thoughts, topic ideas, questions or even guest suggestions. I would really love to hear from you. Thanks for spending part of your day with me and remember you are never in this alone. See you next time.