Episode 11: Answering the Call: Medicine, Military, and the Humanity of Care with Dr. Shayna Thompson

Dr. Abraham (00:02)
Reliably Well brings you thoughtful conversations from those who are shaping the future of healthcare, focusing not just on the technical side of the industry, but on the human element, the stories, the struggles and triumphs of individuals who are driving change.

Dr. Johnsey (00:20)
Join us for candid discussions that highlight both the challenges and rewards of working in a field where humanity and healthcare intersect.

Thanks Dr. Thompson for joining us today on Reliably Well. For our guests who are listening in, Dr. Thompson began her medical journey at the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Medicine. She followed that with a general surgery internship and residency at Madigan Army Medical Center. She later shifted her focus to emergency medicine, completing her emergency medicine residency at Carle R. Darnale Army Medical Center.

where she served as chief ⁓ resident. Her calling to serve extends far beyond the hospital. As a lieutenant colonel in the United States ⁓ Army Reserves, Dr. Thompson was deployed in the fall of ⁓ 2021 and has since returned to caring for patients in North Mississippi as part of the North Mississippi AMRI and North Mississippi Tupelo teams. In AMRI, she serves as the medical director of that.

a site. Her career has been defined with skill, leadership, service, and Dr. Thompson is a remarkable example of what it means to answer the call, whether in the emergency department or in the defense of the nation. Dr. Thompson, thanks again for joining us and for sharing your story with us.

Dr. Thomspon (01:43)
Thanks for having me and thanks to Lebo for that excellent write-up. She made me sound really stunning.

Dr. Abraham (01:49)
Yeah. And Dr. Thompson, thank you ⁓ at the start for your service to our country and for your service at our department in Amory, Mississippi. We like to start every podcast. Wibba does a great job of kind of polishing the CV into a beautiful paragraph, but we’d like to hear from all of our guests. Tell us your story ⁓ as a person and how you got to where you are today.

Dr. Thomspon (02:14)
Well, I was born in a small town in Hannibal, a couple hours north of St. Louis. I grew up there my whole life. Until I turned 18, I went to school and somewhere around 10 or 11 decided I was going to be a nurse like a couple of aunts that I have. And so I started shadowing in the hospital and then sort of just found myself drawn to the physician side of things a little bit more than the nursing side. decided to be a doctor and I think from, I don’t know, 14 or so it was pretty much just

set in stone, that’s what I was going to do. My parents said I should have been a lawyer because I liked to argue a lot and I think they probably aren’t wrong about that. But the course from there was pretty well charted and then went to school undergrad in Kansas City and then also medical school. And when it got to medical school, it’s just, hey, that’s expensive. ⁓ I mean, join the army, let them pay the bill. So that’s exactly what I did. And when I left medical school,

That’s when you go on active duty as a part of that scholarship. And so I joined active duty for a residency in general surgery actually, which I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed the work, enjoyed the operating room and enjoyed sort of the hands-on technical skills of surgery. But very quickly saw that the life was just not gonna be any kind of life really. Just being in the operating room 24 seven, I think it was like 3 a.m. on a call shift.

and we were operating on a patient that had neck fash. And I looked around and it was me, this intern, my chief, and my attending. I thought, oh, yeah, this never ends. This doesn’t get any better. And so as much as I enjoy this, I enjoy other things as well. So I decided to resign from that residency. And then the Army sent me to Texas to be what’s called a general medical officer in the time between residencies. So I took care of about…

a brigade of about two, three thousand soldiers for a year in a clinic setting and then rejoined residency in Texas and finished my emergency medicine residency there. Somewhere in all of that I met my husband, he was a military officer as well, and so we ended up getting married. Somewhere around my chief year I think it was, I had my first kiddo, and then the army said, okay, well you can…

great, thanks for training with us, go to Afghanistan. So that’s what I did. left my 16 month old at home with my husband and went and spent a year in Afghanistan with an infantry brigade. And that was a pretty formative time in my life for sure. And then returned home, had a second kid and said, you know, two military officers as parents of two children is just too much.

So I left active duty and joined the reserves. followed my husband around for a little bit as he continues active duty career. And then his family is originally from Mississippi. So his last active duty station or job was in Jackson. And that’s what landed us in Mississippi. Moved here from, actually from Germany. So a little bit of a culture shock there for sure. Moving from Europe to the deep South. But.

Did that and then that’s when I met up I think just randomly a Facebook post found out about reliance I’m not sure I think it was actually dr. John’s II who he tagged Relias in a Facebook post me saying hey any any jobs in in Mississippi and I remember having a phone conversation with him when I was still living in Germany and then again when we moved here ⁓ and then just joined on with reliance and I’ve been working here for the last five years now ⁓ Really enjoying it

and ⁓ have now three total children and they keep me very busy and ⁓ so does work and everything else. And I’m still in the reserves getting ready to go to a drill this weekend. And I just want to take a quick second to thank Relias for the support for that. I know it’s not easy to cover shifts when you get orders all of sudden and someone has to leave and you don’t have anything that you can do about it and no warning either. So I appreciate that ⁓ Relias has been accommodating in that regard.

and I think that’s pretty much sums this up.

Dr. Johnsey (06:17)
So that’s not the average person’s trajectory from high school through their training for sure. Probably a lot of influences through that and maybe all through your life even before then. Is there some one or something that’s had the biggest influence on your life that you can pinpoint or maybe a lot of those things?

Dr. Thomspon (06:40)
Right, yes, there are several because I have my life is my adult life has kind of been lived in snippets of two and three years at a time at different locations and in different capacities. And so those people I interacted with during those periods of time are just kind of varied and different. But I would say, of course, my parents, they formed the mold and paved the path and gave me every opportunity that I have. So they they owe I owe them an immense debt of gratitude. ⁓ My

⁓ my residency director is, a, was a major influence, a very smart, assertive, confident, female physician in the military who I still want to be when I grow up. So she had a great influence. And then really in my active duty time, especially in deployments, believe it or not, my brigade commanders and ⁓ ranger tabbed, multiple combat infantrymen ⁓ who

rather than kind of cast aside as the doc, just some random, you know, junior officer who’s ⁓ a medical officer who doesn’t know anything about the army and, you know, just sort of, hey, give me my band-aids and my motrin and leave me alone. He actually gave me opportunities to lead and to be a part of his team and to participate in some very unique missions with his command team when we were in Afghanistan. I think that made a huge impression on

on me in lots of different ways as a physician, as a leader, as someone in charge of people’s ⁓ lives, not just physically from illness, but also just in harm’s way. So that’s been a big impression. then I can’t leave out my husband. think that I met him in the military and he’s been a big military advisor for me because he grew up in and around the military and then he had been in the military for a long period of time before we met.

So everything that I kind of know and do and learned as an officer really kind of stemmed from him because I was blind and blind, but I didn’t want to be like some medical officers who just, kind of are shameful in a way. Like they don’t know how to be in the military. They don’t know how to army, right? And so I didn’t want to do that. And so he helped me be not too much of a, I don’t know, putz, guess.

Dr. Abraham (08:55)
You’ve seen challenges in medicine in a lot of different contexts, right? But try to let’s center the context to practicing emergency medicine in the Gulf States. What’s kind of the biggest challenge that you feel when you’re in the department or you’re leading your department that you feel like is kind of omnipresent today with the ever changing tides of healthcare?

Dr. Thomspon (09:20)
Man, that’s a great question. think that’s difficult to answer, but I would say that from the clinician side and the nursing staff side, I think the biggest problem that we probably all felt is a very large sense of overwhelm. There’s so much work to be done. I came here right at the middle of COVID and we’ve all just been gulping, I feel like for air ever since just trying to keep our head above water, trying to take care of COVID patients during COVID, trying to take care of non-COVID patients in the recently post

COVID era and when there were no beds and everything was terrible. And then even since then, just catching back up to what feels like a normal life has been very difficult, I think for everybody. And there’s an empathy fatigue that just hits you in emergency medicine when people are sometimes entitled and sometimes very difficult to take care of and often don’t participate in their care the way you’d like them to. I think that’s a challenge. For me personally, as a physician coming to Mississippi,

Even though I had lived and worked all over the states and outside the country, I have had the biggest struggle acclimating and taking care of patients or trying my best to take care of patients who the obesity crisis is very impactful. And I think that’s the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around how to help people in a very brief period of time that we have in the ER understand that so many of their health concerns could be adequately addressed with

you know, nutrition and exercise, vice, just a bunch of more medicines for all of the conditions they have. That part is very difficult for me to understand and to really make a difference. I guess when, when, people are struggling, when they’re struggling to bend over and tie their shoes, that’s not the moment to tell them, Hey, you know, if you could lose 40, 50, 60, a hundred pounds, this wouldn’t be a problem for you. Or you wouldn’t be so short of breath walking into the store. There’s no way to really do that very well. ⁓ and that’s hard.

Dr. Johnsey (11:15)
Dr. Thompson, sort of ⁓ a kind of Relias-centric question here. We ask our guests to think about the passions that we identify as being Relias passions and what they identify with. Our Relias core passions are people, innovation, quality, value, and excellence. Do one of those resonate more with you? they kind of ⁓ sing to things that you see in your life as being

something that you identify more as a passion for you and a focus for you through your work, through your family, when you’re trying to focus on things.

Dr. Thomspon (11:54)
Yes, I think for me it’s probably the excellence piece. So as long as you are striving for excellence, everything else seems to follow. So long as you can probably excellence and then subpoint people. Because sometimes we can be probably, we can treat people poorly if we’re only pursuing excellence as an end state versus excellence which encompassing people and taking good care of people as well caring about people. But I do think that if you are constantly trying to do

more and the best at what you do, whatever that is, picking the kids up in the car line or a suit, a last ration, running a code, talking to a consultant, whatever it is you’re trying to do. If you do that to the best of your ability and to the most excellent skillset that you have, then all of the other things easily flow behind it.

Dr. Abraham (12:42)
I mean, and you you’ve described several hats that you wear, like you’re a clinician, you’re a medical director, you’re a spouse, you’re a mom, you’re a community member. And so trying to think about that excellence in every way, kind of along the same lines, though, there’s a lot in your story that you should be and probably are really proud of. But from your perspective, what’s what is that accomplishment in your

you know, very long CV that you’re the most proud of and kind of what did it take to reach that milestone?

Dr. Thomspon (13:18)
tough not because there’s so much necessarily to be proud of but just because I think it’s probably difficult for most people to in a way sort of brag on themselves I think but for me I would say probably the leadership roles that I’ve worked into although if you if I really looked looked back I think that I’ve always had some some role or some sort of bent towards being a leader in something you know from

cheer captain in high school all the way up to, you know, director of the department in Amory. But that’s really not, that’s not my nature per se. That had to sort of be drug out of me through some of those mentors I spoke about before. Qualities and skills that are there, but as far as I’m concerned, I would rather sit in a dark, quiet room and read a book. I’m sort of the introverted type. The rest, everything else sort of requires effort. So realizing that I have something to offer people that I might lead.

and then honing those skills over the years. To be a decent leader and colleague is probably, I would say, the thing that I’m most proud of.

Dr. Johnsey (14:23)
Dr. Thompson, we asked this weird question at the end of our podcast and our focus in this season of our podcast has been to talk about or bring back the humanity in healthcare. And so it is very hard sometimes in having that clinical interaction with patients. We have to be clinically oriented.

And that takes away some of the humanity that we have because we’re focused more on the science at times than the human interaction at times. And so we’re trying to show that other side. And I’ve got to say, looking again at your CV and your Lieutenant Colonel and your medical director and doggone it, you’ve had a third kid while you’re…

in full-time practice. don’t know if you’re human to be able to do all of those things. tell us, prove to us, like ⁓ the websites require, prove to us your humanity. What’s that thing that is that guilty pleasure, so to speak, the romance novels that you read on the side or the cookies that you bake or you love the smell of grass that’s been freshly cut? What’s that thing that’s your human secret?

Dr. Thomspon (15:40)
I think the biggest thing probably that makes me is human, I guess, about me is that I get scared. I still get very scared and I tell ⁓ my staff, especially in Amory, when we have a difficult resuscitation or we have a busy shift and things are not going well. Even just yesterday in the department, I had an SVT that would not convert and I was getting nervous. And I just, tell, you know, I tell my staff,

in moments after those facts that I asked her to. And hey, I was saying my prayers, Jesus and I were having a conversation in my head and I was asking for some help because in that moment I was doing everything I knew to do, but it’s just not working out. And so I get scared at work when things aren’t going the way that I think they should, or I don’t know or can’t remember or I just, things are bad. I get scared.

I get scared with my kids. worry that things are, I’m going to do something bad, mess them up, put them on a therapy couch in 10 years and, you know, just be totally a failure as a mother. So what makes me human is that I still, I work hard every day at all those different hats and I try to wear them to the best of my ability, but I am constantly worried that those things that I might be dropping one of these glass balls that I juggle and that one of them might just shatter to pieces. But

I do get worried and still experience fear.

Dr. Abraham (17:07)
I really appreciate that vulnerability. And I think that we all feel that at times. What was the tipping point that allowed you to be able to talk about that and name it? Right? Because I’m sure that there are people that are going to listen to this episode or that are listening now. They’re saying, wow, I never would have thought that a lieutenant colonel in the army who’s done a general surgery training and ED training and been deployed to Afghanistan would ever be scared about anything. You know, but that is like what makes us all human to a little bit. So what

What would be your encouragement to people that that type of vulnerability is actually not a sign of weakness, but a sound of strength and not a sign of an inadequate leader, but the sound of a really strong leader?

Dr. Thomspon (17:50)
Well, I honestly think that the reason I feel safe with my team and Amory and increasingly in Tupelo and in West Point when I work there, having those discussions is because people in the emergency department, you’re kind of like fast friends. mean, you’re, it’s almost like a, like a combat sort of situation where you become really quick friends in the middle of a resuscitation when things are ⁓ bad and you’re scared and things are worrisome. And so really it’s my team and

Knowing that as the leader of that team, if I’m feeling that, then certainly my teammates are. And if they’re concerned or don’t want to express that, but they hear me express it, it gives them license to that emotion and gives them an opportunity to not only express their equal fears or concerns, but also it feeds me in a way. gives me, they generally…

provide feedback that helps me be better so I can be less scared or encourages me in a way and builds me up in a way so that I can do it again the next moment that something like that happens. So I think it’s just this conversation that you have with your coworkers that makes you, keeps you human, shows your vulnerability, but then also builds you up and gives you confidence and strength to keep going and do it again and again and again.

Dr. Abraham (19:05)
Amen.

Dr. Johnsey (19:06)
Thanks so much for sharing this time with us and being so, as Sumner said, vulnerable with us and open with us. I think it’s so helpful, like you said, to others that letting down some of the mask, taking it off and sharing with others. I think it helps that conversation to happen. It helps others to see that it’s okay. we know that most of the issues that happen, most of the problems, most of the failures that occur,

happen because we don’t have enough of that communication. thanks for communicating with us and with all of our listeners.

Dr. Thomspon (19:43)
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Dr. Johnsey (19:47)
Thank you for joining us on Reliably Well, where we explore the intersection of healthcare and humanity. We hope these conversations inspire you to see the people behind the policies, the passion behind the practice, and the purpose that drives innovation in healthcare.

Dr. Abraham (20:04)
If you

enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Your support helps us to continue sharing these important stories. For more insights and updates about what we’re up to at Relias, visit us at ReliasHealthcare.com and follow us on your favorite podcasting platform.

Dr. Johnsey (20:24)
If you have any stories that help to demonstrate the humanity in healthcare, please let us know at reliablywell at reliahshealthcare.com.

Dr. Abraham (20:35)
We look forward to hearing from you and telling your story. Until next time, stay well, stay inspired, and keep bringing humanity to healthcare.