Today, we are joined by Dr. Ellen Singer, a board-certified internist and pediatrician with more than 30 years of experience in clinical practice, medical leadership, and physician development coaching.
Dr. Ellen L. Singer is a dually board-certified internist and pediatrician with more than 30 years of experience in clinical practice, medical leadership, and physician development. Based in Portland, Oregon, she serves as a Physician Development Coach for Legacy Health, a regional Virtualist with Northwest Permanente, and Medical Director of The Foundation for Medical Excellence, where she focuses on communication, leadership, well-being, and organizational sustainability in healthcare. A former Chief of Outpatient Internal Medicine and department leader, Ellen brings deep expertise in recruitment, credentialing, quality oversight, documentation, revenue cycle, and practice redesign across multiple specialties. ICF-certified as a Co-Active coach and trained in Positive Intelligence, she coaches clinicians and leaders through difficult patient interactions, burnout, privilege restrictions, and career transitions. Grounded in empathy, storytelling, and reflection Ellen is passionate about helping healthcare professionals build meaningful, resilient careers and sustainable, engaged clinical teams.
In the conversation, Dr. Singer reflects on the formative influences that drew her to medicine and how her training at the University of Rochester shaped her lifelong attention to the inner lives of clinicians, ultimately leading her to develop a second professional identity as a physician coach.
We also cover:
-How coaching differs from traditional medical problem-solving by creating space for reflection, clarity, and self-directed solutions rather than prescribing answers
-The structural challenges in modern healthcare including tensions around time, resources, organizational priorities, and the struggle for physician autonomy
-Practical approaches to transforming meetings, leadership dynamics, and team relationships to create more sustainable and humane clinical environments
Dr. Singer concludes with a vision of flourishing grounded in meaningful relationships, sustainable self-care habits, and shared commitment to patient care that truly matters, emphasizing that change must come from individual clinicians and teams building flourishing from the ground up.