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.
Dr. Mahoney is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
In medicine, we were taught to value humility over pride. To downplay our successes. To “just do our job.” Even as we achieve remarkable things, we rarely pause to acknowledge them, let alone celebrate.
Pride feels risky. Many physicians worry that being proud means being egotistical, self-important, or inconsiderate of others who may be struggling. We were trained to attribute our successes to the team, to luck, or hard work—never to …
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Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should
In medicine, we’ve long relied on the oxygen mask analogy to justify self-care: “Put your own mask on first before assisting others.” It’s a powerful image—but it’s not enough.
Oxygen masks drop in emergencies. Putting them on is a reactive action. They keep us alive—but they don’t help us thrive.
For many physicians, the oxygen mask has become the gold standard of wellness. In a culture that rewards self-sacrifice and martyrdom, “putting …
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Why physicians deserve more than an oxygen mask
We were taught that sacrificing ourselves is noble. That resilience is enduring. And that suffering and struggling are valiant.
We were taught rest is optional, complacent, lazy—something for other, less busy, less important people.
We were also taught to see “self-care” as somewhat indulgent.
Self-care is often thought of as something earned. A guilty pleasure.
Even the words commonly used in medicine to describe caring for ourselves—”self-care”—sound indulgent.
“Caring for ourselves as well” is not …
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Why self-care must become medicine’s new standard
Practicing medicine today is not what most of us envisioned when we chose it as a profession. We still love science. We still love health. We still love helping patients and being healers.
But the practice of medicine has changed—and continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Navigating this shifting landscape requires a new mindset—one rooted in adaptability, self-awareness, and resilience. The way we were trained to practice medicine twenty or …
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The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
Are you absorbing the system’s dysfunction?
Do you find yourself absorbing the collective frustration of health care dysfunction? Taking on the role of savior? Overextending to compensate for broken processes? Feeling personally responsible for guiding patients, family, or friends through the labyrinth of health care?
You’re not alone.
The power of choice in medicine
It’s rare that a practicing physician …
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Stop absorbing the chaos: How doctors can reclaim their well-being
For many physicians, the word “negotiation” conjures up stress.
Most of us weren’t taught that negotiation is something we do every day—at work, at home, and in nearly every human interaction. Whether we’re persuading a patient to change a behavior, deciding on a restaurant with a partner, or navigating parenting decisions, we are constantly negotiating. Many physicians—especially women physicians—find negotiating extremely uncomfortable.
Why?
Because …
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Why physicians find negotiating challenging—and what they can do to negotiate better
What if the cost of being a “good doctor” didn’t have to be your well-being?
For many physicians—especially those drawn to lifestyle medicine and whole-person care—this question feels quietly radical.
We’ve been conditioned to give until we’re empty. To serve at the expense of our sleep, our health, and sometimes even our sense of self.
We were taught to sacrifice.
To stay …
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What if we stopped sacrificing ourselves to practice medicine?
To advocate effectively for physician well-being, we must be strategic rather than reactive.
In today’s ever-evolving health care landscape, transformation is not driven by passion alone but by thoughtful alignment with the priorities of those who shape the system.
It is tempting to seek fairness, to call out what is wrong, and to lament the losses inherent in modern medicine.
Culture and systemic change will not come from complaining; it will come from …
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Physician wellness is a strategic imperative—not a moral crusade
For nearly two decades, I sat in meetings, listened to leadership discussions, and navigated the institutional maze of advocating for funding for physician wellness programs.
I saw the hesitation. The skepticism. The “we don’t have the budget for that” conversations.
And yet, I also saw what worked.
For the past five years, I’ve worked independently, designing high-impact, transformational wellness experiences for physicians. And I’ve helped hospital systems, …
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How to get physician wellness programs funded: a proven path forward
The necessity of putting on our own oxygen mask first has never been more clear.
Bringing wellness into the mainstream culture of medicine and empowering and healing the healers so they can heal others has been the focus of my leadership work my entire career in medicine.
It took a pandemic to bring widespread national focus to this issue. The cultural shift is finally beginning. For the sustainability of the practice of …
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Self-care is not selfish: It’s imperative to save the practice of medicine
Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges. It also presents many opportunities.
It is possible to choose thoughts about being a physician and a parent during the COVID-19 situation that can help it feel more like an opportunity and less …
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How parenting in a pandemic is an unexpected opportunity
As health care providers, we are facing unprecedented challenges right now. Thank you to every one of my medical colleagues for your valuable contributions at this moment.
Wellness and self-care have never been more important than they are at this moment. We must care for patients to the best of our abilities, but we must also care for ourselves. If you sacrifice your own physical and emotional health, who will be …
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In a pandemic, choosing your thoughts is where your power and control lie
