Mukta Panda, MD, MACP, FRCP-London, award-winning physician, speaker, and facilitator as well as Professor of Medicine and the Assistant Dean for Well-being and Student Education at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, brought the wisdom she gained through decades of practicing medicine in places all over the world. An author of over 60 publications, including Resilient Threads: Weaving Joy and Meaning into Well-being, the most common thread in Dr. Panda’s decades-long work is a dedication to transforming the foundation of patient care and promoting the well-being of health care professionals. Listen to the episode to learn more about Dr. Panda’s “How to Live” art therapy curriculum, used to unpack the difficult and uncomfortable emotions and conversations health care professionals experience, what she believes it will take to transform patient care, her unique technique for creating what she calls, “a culture of belonging” where health care professionals work and learn, and more!

“Finding Joy: The Health Care Professional’s Journey to Well-being" is a podcast resource developed by a team of interprofessional education researchers from Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane. They’re promoting well-being among students, faculty, and healthcare professionals during challenging times. Funding is provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The Interprofessional Education Research team wishes to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project:

• Dr. Barb Richardson, nurse, educator, and interprofessional champion;

• Cameron Cupp, creator of the “Finding Joy” musical score and current enrollee at WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine;

• Washington State University staff from Marketing and Communications, Financial Services, and the Collaboration for Interprofessional Health Education Research and Scholarship; and

• Claire Martin-Tellis, Executive Producer, and Solen Aref, student intern, who developed the first five episodes of the “Finding Joy” podcast.

This episode of “Finding Joy” was produced by Doug Nadvornick, Program Director, Spokane Public Radio.

If you would like to reach out, please contact our team by sending an email to: medicine.ipoc@wsu.edu We also encourage you to visit our podcast blog as well as our team's website at: https://opioideducation.wsu.edu/about/.