Learn more about Dr. Otten or to support his documentary, please visit Medicine Forward.

His book, Ripples of Change is available at a bookstore near you!

Dr. Todd Otten pulls back the curtain on healthcare's darkest challenges while offering a vision of hope for its future. A board-certified family physician with over two decades of experience, Dr. Otten speaks candidly about his own battle with severe burnout that nearly ended his career and the devastating loss of four colleagues to suicide.
What makes this conversation particularly powerful is Dr. Otten's refusal to simply critique the system while remaining on the sidelines. As co-founder of Our Quadruple Aim and lead catalyst of Medicine Forward, he's actively building solutions to strengthen the patient-physician relationship that lies at the heart of effective healthcare. His book "Ripple of Change," co-authored with his patient Joshua Judy, offers a rare dual perspective of the healthcare journey from both sides of the stethoscope.
Dr. Otten shares the story of his "office utopia," where he mentored nurse practitioners through an open-door policy that prioritized collaborative learning and patient care. This approach stands in stark contrast to today's high-pressure, metrics-driven healthcare environment that too often values data collection over meaningful human connection. "Does data make the dying feel better?" he asks, challenging us to reconsider what truly matters in medicine.
The conversation takes a powerful turn as Dr. Otten discusses his upcoming documentary project, which aims to educate Americans about healthcare's systemic problems – from corporate greed to insurance obstacles – while activating a movement for genuine transformation. Despite these weighty topics, his message remains hopeful. For those considering healthcare careers, he emphasizes the beauty of medicine while advocating for mentorship, boundary-setting, and self-care as essential safeguards against burnout.
Through stories that range from heartbreaking to inspiring, Dr. Otten reminds us that at its core, medicine is about those profound human connections that transcend algorithms and metrics – like his poignant interaction with a 90-year-old cancer patient that created ripples of gratitude lasting decades. Subscribe to Shadow Me Next for more conversations that explore the human side of medicine with leaders who are shaping its future.

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