Why physician wellness programs must evolve beyond institutions

Wellness programming must evolve beyond institutions if we are serious about supporting physicians, especially women physicians.

For wellness to be taken seriously, it had to begin within institutions. Those efforts offered visibility and legitimacy. But institutional wellness is not the whole answer.

For 17 years, I led wellness initiatives inside a large medical organization. I saw the value of bringing attention to physician well-being. I also saw the limitations. Six years ago, I took on a broader role in physician wellness through my local medical society. At the same time, I began creating wellness spaces outside the system on my own.

Outside the institution, something different (and much more potent) becomes possible. No agendas. No fear of repercussions. Just honest conversations, real rest, and a space to reflect, heal, and transform.

Some of the most impactful wellness programs for physicians today live outside institutional structures. Not in opposition to them, but as necessary complements. Independent wellness programs, especially when they are created by physicians for physicians, succeed because they offer what institutional programs often can’t: space to be human. Space to rest without evaluation. Space to belong without pressure. Space to grow and evolve outside the cultural conditioning of medicine and without fear.

Health care systems were not designed to support the well-being of physicians. When physicians step away from institutional roles long enough to reconnect with themselves and each other, they return with clarity, creativity, and renewed capacity.

In my own work, I’ve focused on designing wellness experiences by physicians, for physicians. These programs are grounded in mindfulness, somatic healing, connection, time in nature, and actual rest. These components aren’t optional. They are essential. They aren’t indulgent. They are foundational.

If we want wellness programming to be sustainable and truly meet physicians’ needs, it must extend beyond institutions. Physicians cannot recover in the same environments that contribute to their distress. And the health care system cannot transform if its clinicians are barely surviving.

Real change will only happen when physicians are supported, resourced, and connected. When they have space and time to process what they have been carrying and are allowed to return from a place of strength, agency, and choice.

The future of physician wellness cannot live only inside institutions. It must also live beyond them.

Jessie Mahoney is a board-certified pediatrician, certified coach, mindfulness and yoga teacher, and the founder of Pause & Presence Coaching & Retreats. After nearly two decades as a physician leader at the Permanente Medical Group/Kaiser, she stepped outside the traditional medical model to reimagine what sustainable well-being in health care could look like. She can also be reached on Facebook and Instagram.

Dr. Mahoney’s work challenges the culture of overwork and self-sacrifice in medicine. She helps physicians and leaders cultivate clarity, intention, and balance—leveraging mindfulness, coaching, yoga, and lifestyle medicine to create deep and lasting change. Her CME retreats offer a transformative space for healing, self-discovery, and renewal.

As co-host of the podcast, Healing Medicine, she brings self-compassion and presence into the conversation around modern medical practice. A sought-after speaker and consultant, she partners with organizations to build more human-centered, sustainable, and inspired medical cultures.