Show Notes
In this week’s episode of Routes of Healing, Dr. Siri Chand Khalsa sits down with Dr. Diana Londoño, a board-certified urologist, physician coach, and integrative healer whose work bridges surgical excellence with deep attention to dignity, trauma, burnout, and the mind–body–spirit connection.
Together, they explore what happens after the early years of medical training, when clinicians reach mid to late career and begin reckoning with burnout, identity, values, and the quiet realization that the system that trained them may no longer sustain them.
This conversation moves through Dr. Londoño’s journey from growing up in Mexico City to training in Los Angeles, from surgical culture to whole-person care, from repeated burnout to leadership, coaching, and spiritual healing practices. They discuss dignity in clinical encounters, the nervous system’s role in urologic symptoms, the unspoken trauma held in the body, and why curiosity, presence, and love belong at the center of medicine.
Whether you’re a clinician navigating burnout, a physician questioning traditional practice models, a healer exploring integrative approaches, or someone longing for a more humane experience of care, this episode offers grounded wisdom, compassion, and permission to evolve.
If you’re inspired by our exploration on Routes of Healing, a physician-led podcast uplifting the wisdom and lived experience of integrative & lifestyle medicine doctors, subscribe to receive new episodes weekly.
🔑 Key Topics & Takeaways
- Mid- to late-career medicine: What happens after the first decade of training and practice.
- Burnout as a wake-up call: Recognizing cynicism, depersonalization, and chronic stress as signals for change.
- Identity & integrity: Staying true to personal values in systems that reward conformity.
- Growing up between cultures: How Dr. Londoño’s upbringing in Mexico shaped her openness to holistic healing.
- Dignity in care: Small clinical choices that profoundly impact patient safety and trust.
- Trauma & the pelvic floor: How stress, grief, and nervous system dysregulation manifest physically.
- Listening as medicine: Why patients often heal simply by being truly heard.
- Integrative urology: Addressing diet, movement, stress, constipation, and emotional health alongside medications and procedures.
- Energy healing practices: Salt baths, Reiki, and pranic healing as tools for nervous system regulation.
- Direct specialty care: Moving away from insurance-driven care toward time, transparency, and prevention.
- Boundaries & burnout recovery: Why learning to say no is essential for physician wellness.
- Morning & evening rituals: Creating parasympathetic safety through routine.
- Scarcity vs. sufficiency: Reframing “I don’t have time” as a mindset, not a fact.
- Curiosity as healing: Staying open, asking “why,” and allowing practices and identities to evolve.
- Love in medicine: Reclaiming compassion, presence, and humanity as foundational clinical skills.
⏱ Chapters
00:00 — Introduction and Welcome
01:09 — Why These Conversations Matter
02:33 — Training, Burnout & the Forgotten Meaning of “Healer”
05:02 — The Myth of “Five Years Out”
07:04 — Growing Up in Mexico City & Medical Training in LA
09:44 — Origin Stories & Cultural Roots of Healing
10:27 — Feeling Different and Staying True to Yourself
12:46 — Illness, Vulnerability & Dignity
13:34 — Humanizing Physical Exams
16:06 — Small Gestures That Restore Safety
18:14 — Integrative Care in Urology
19:40 — Stress, Trauma & the Nervous System
22:15 — Lifestyle Medicine in Specialty Care
23:48 — Creating Safety in Trauma-Informed Exams
25:24 — Practice Models & Direct Specialty Care
29:59 — Recognizing Burnout
32:49 — Nervous System Regulation & Daily Rituals
34:00 — Ayurveda, Routine & Unmanaged Stress
36:16 — Morning Practices for Healing
39:29 — Listening, Prayer & Inner Wisdom
41:29 — Scarcity Mindset & Time
43:59 — Boundaries, Saying No & Self-Compassion
47:33 — Learning Through Missteps
49:21 — Curiosity, Growth & Staying Open
51:53 — Unlearning Conformity in Medicine
53:02 — Love as a Missing Element in Training
54:54 — We Are the System
55:26 — Where to Find Dr. Londoño
56:02 — Closing Reflections
About Today’s Guest
Diana Londoño, MD
Urology • Physician Coaching • Mind–Body–Spirit Medicine
Dr. Diana Londoño is a board-certified urologist and one of only 10% of urologists in the U.S. who are women and 0.5% who are Latinx women. Originally from Mexico City, she completed her undergraduate studies at Claremont McKenna College, attended UCLA School of Medicine, and finished a six-year urology residency at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles.
After experiencing burnout twice, Dr. Londoño began writing and speaking openly about physician wellness, boundaries, ego, and humanity in medicine. She has published extensively in Medscape, Doximity, KevinMD, Men’s Health, Giddy.com, medmic.com, and more, and is a contributing author to Thriving After Burnout and Medic S.O.S.
She is a certified life coach and founder of PhysicianCoachSupport.com, and in 2022 received the Los Angeles County Medical Association Physician Leadership Award. Dr. Londoño is an international speaker and frequent podcast guest, has appeared on Univision, Telemundo, Mundo Fox, CNN Latino, KCET, and ABC News, and integrates her work as a Reiki Master and Pranic Healer into whole-person care.
She is also the proud mother of two spirited daughters, Daniela and Paloma.
🌐 Find Dr. Londoño
Website: https://dianalondonomd.com/
Physician Coaching: https://physiciancoachsupport.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianalondonomd/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianalondonomd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diana.londono.9
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dianalondonomd
🌐 Connect with Your Host
Dr. Siri Chand Khalsa, MD MS
Lifestyle & Integrative Medicine Physician • Culinary Medicine • Ayurveda
Community: https://vishuddha.com
Vishuddha: A Media Agency for Conscious Clinicians & Wellness Seekers
Vishuddha is a media and creative agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of integrative and lifestyle medicine clinicians who are transforming how we understand health and healing.
We provide media representation, book development, public speaking coaching, podcast strategy, content creation, and course development—alongside classes and workshops for wellness seekers committed to intentional, conscious living.
Rooted in whole-person healing, Vishuddha helps clinicians translate their wisdom into impact, design offerings that matter, and bring conscious, transformative work into the world.
Ready to share your wisdom? Explore how we can support your vision at Vishuddha.com.
⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance.
Keywords
physician burnout, urology, integrative medicine, mind-body medicine, trauma-informed care, dignity in healthcare, nervous system regulation, pelvic floor dysfunction, energy healing, Reiki, pranic healing, direct specialty care, physician coaching, boundaries, self-compassion, medical training, residency, women in medicine, Latinx physicians, spirituality in medicine, mindfulness, parasympathetic nervous system, Routes of Healing, Dr. Diana Londoño, Dr. Siri Chand Khalsa
