Resilience Rx: A Pulse Check for Caregivers

Episode 1: Our Purpose

• Enloe Health

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Health care is demanding and in the most challenging moments of illness, our community looks to us, the caregivers at Enloe Health, not just for treatment, but for hope and healing. 

Hear from Mehdi Sattari, M.D., Enloe Health’s Medical Director of Wellness, in the debut episode of Resilience Rx: A Pulse Check for Caregivers. 

The goal is simple: Improve resilience, restore joy in medicine and create meaningful ways to support one another.  Tune in to hear about what Enloe is doing to improve wellness and learn about resources that are available in the community.

Helpful links

Let us know how you feel about the podcast or share your ideas for wellness and mindfulness. Your input is essential.

Reach Mehdi Sattari, M.D., at mehdi.sattari@enloe.org or 505-401-2991.

Dr. Mehdi Sattari: [00:00:00] Healthcare is demanding and in the challenging moments of illness, our community looks to us, the caregivers at Enloe, not just for treatment, but for hope and healing. Hello, I'm Medi Sattari, medical Director of Wellness. My role was created to help strengthen resilience. Support our medical staff and help us rediscover join medical practice.

This is only the beginning of an ongoing conversation. The goal is simple, improve resilience, restore, join medicine, and create meaningful ways to support one another. Tune in to hear about what Enloe is doing to improve wellness and learn about resources that are available in our community. Let's begin with focusing on wellness during the holidays, and finish with three quick reminders that include a challenge with bragging rights [00:01:00] as the holiday season approaches.

We know this time of the year can bring joy, but also stress fatigue and emotional strain, especially for those of us working through the holidays. Here are a few ideas to help you prioritize your wellness. Let's talk about mindful moments. In the fast-paced world of medicine, high stakes decisions and emotionally charged interactions are the norm.

A daily mindfulness practice can be a game changer just a few minutes, whether it's a few deep breaths, a short walk or a short meditation can reduce stress, sharpen focus, and improve emotional regulation. We often hear this advice, but I wanna share how it became real for me back in 2019 as we faced the COVID pandemic.

I found myself confronting both professional and personal upheaval, treating patients during a contagious respiratory crisis while navigating a divorce. With the goal of creating the best situation possible for my children, I knew I needed a better way to manage the weight of it all. That's when I came across a [00:02:00] powerful question from Gary Keller's book, the One Thing, what's the one thing that you can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

My personal answer landed on a daily, 15 minute practice of meditation and prayer. I started tracking it, and as of 2026, I'm proud to say I've been over 98% consistent. The benefits have been profound. Clarity, calm and resilience. Storms come and go, but 15 minutes of mindfulness means that I can more willfully change to sails on my ship to navigate them better.

Meditation and prayer may not be your path, but what's your one thing? What small, intentional habit could make everything else easier to make it stick? Ask yourself, how can I make this habit obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying? I want this podcast eventually to be more than just me talking.

I'd love for it to be a real conversation. [00:03:00] So here's my ask. Think about your one thing that, one strategy, insight, or a piece of wisdom that's helped you cope, grow, or thrive in your work. Please share it with me, whether it's by email, phone, or just stopping me in the hallway. My goal with this podcast and other ways we connect is to highlight the incredible collective knowledge and resilience within our medical staff.

I've seen firsthand how many of you have developed phenomenal ways of navigating the challenges we face. Sharing those could make a real difference for all of us. Looking forward to hearing from you. Let's finish with three short updates. First one step challenge. Back in June, Enloe held its first step challenge.

Participants track daily steps for prizes and bragging rights. It was a success, and it's back this time. Let's raise the stakes. Here are some suggested matchups, ED versus CHG, anesthesia versus surgery. Physicians versus apps, giant [00:04:00] fans versus Dodgers, 49 ERs versus packers. The stride into autumn Step Challenge begins November 10th and runs until December 7th.

Walking more than 10,000 steps a day has proven health benefits, and this challenge is a fun way to stay active while building comradery. Find details and a signup link in the episode description. Second, suicide Awareness. Last month marked suicide Awareness Week for physicians tragically. Two members of our medical staff have died by suicide in the last year.

This is a sobering reminder of the importance of mental health resources and peer support. Resources are available, and the links and contacts are in the episode description. But just briefly, we have this physician support line. This national free confidential support line for physicians is run by hundreds of volunteer psychiatrists.

National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI Helpline is a nationwide service that offers free mental health support Monday through [00:05:00] Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Pacific Time. Calls must be made from a landline or a cell phone. Nine, eight eight Lifeline. This free confidential service connects you with a counselor offering judgment free care.

Lastly, I wanna talk about our peer support program launched in 2022. Enloe Health's peer support program connects physicians and apps with trained colleagues who provide emotional first aid. We are working to create a culture where colleagues look out for one another and serve as a beacon of light.

During difficult times, you may wonder why it matters. Provider wellbeing is essential for sustainable careers, quality, patient care, and healthy relationships. Madison's culture has often discouraged self-care and openness. Studies show clinicians prefer peer support before seeking formal mental healthcare.

Peer support offers a safe space to share challenges, express gratitude, and find coping strategies. It's a step towards changing the culture of silence into one of connection [00:06:00] and support. We need your help to find colleagues who are the kind of individuals people turn to when empathy and support is needed.

Peer supporters will be selected from those nominated by others, not themselves, and the goal is to have one peer supporter in each department. Please email me your confidential nominations moving forward. This is just the beginning. The goal is to build a culture where resilience, wellbeing, and joy in medicine are not afterthoughts, but priorities.

Meanwhile, remember that if you're struggling, please reach out. Mental health resources and peer support are available. Seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Let us know how you feel about this space and share your ideas for wellness and mindfulness. Your input is essential to shaping this journey.

What's the best way to communicate with you? What format works best? Email, podcast, or something else. What ideas do you have to strengthen resilience and join practice? Send your feedback [00:07:00] anytime. Via email at Medi Sattari, at and low.org or by phone or text via my cell phone listed in the episode description.

Together, let's work towards a healthier, more connected medical community.