Anne M. Hirsch, MD, FACP is a physician coach who specializes in medical communication. Her work chairing her local hospital's Peer Review Committee has provided her with significant insight into how physicians communicate – particularly when they do so poorly. Her mission is to help other physicians master communication in a medical setting to improve patient outcomes and enhance the physician experience.
Anne M. Hirsch, MD, FACP, Certified Physician Coach
Please tell us more about you and what drives or inspires you.
Physicians are notoriously amazing at what they do. Their skills are valuable to the community and to the patients whom they serve. However, communication is typically not a high priority.
When they are under significant pressure related to their work, they can occasionally have less-than-desirable conversations with their colleagues that can lead to difficult interactions, hurt feelings, and consequently bad patient outcomes, and in the worst cases, formal discipline at their institutions.
It does not have to be this way.
When physicians communicate well, they can be the most effective people in the world.
My name is Anne M. Hirsch, M.D. I have been an internal medicine specialist since 1992, been in Peer Review since 2014, and have worked directly with coaching physicians since 2022 and have experienced this firsthand.
Physicians are constantly under immense pressure and misunderstandings occur all too frequently because of the stressful environments in which they work.
Learning to communicate effectively, despite the constant pressure, can shift not only their efficiency, but also their enjoyment of medicine to help to prevent burnout and moral injury.
I work with physicians to help them see their interactions in a different way and move from constant misunderstandings to effective communication that creates a major shift in their work (and home) environment.
My goal is to understand what type of communication style physicians have and improve how we communicate with our colleagues, while also addressing the reasons behind why we say and do what we do.
P.S. I have created a 12-week program, Medical Communication Mastery, during which we will work together to address all of the reasons why this happens. Find me on LinkedIn and DM me for details.
What Is Physician Coaching?
Physician coaching is a relatively new field wherein physicians work in a collegial manner with another physician coach to work toward a goal delineated by the client. Goals can include areas of concern raised by the physician or their colleagues, or they can relate to areas of interest where the physician wants to gain clarity regarding how to move forward in their life. Many physicians have found coaching to be invaluable in helping them to address communication issues, burnout, or deciding whether or not to remain in their current practice setting. Physicians are generally more comfortable discussing these issues with another physician who has the same background, training, and mindset and understands from where the physician is coming.
How did you become interested in Physician Coaching?
I became interested in Physician Coaching when I realized how burnout and moral injury affect physicians in their day-to-day interactions—frequently leading to poor behavior, ineffective communication, and/or medical errors. My work in Peer Review has shown me how and why these events occur, and how mentoring to assist with improving medical communication can make all the difference in terms of how physicians interact with each other, medical staff, and their patients. I have also seen how much it can impact communication at home—with the people about whom you care about the most.
What is your mission?
My goal is to help my colleagues to improve their communication at work so as to improve patient care, and in doing so, help to decrease burnout, moral injury, and the stress associated with practicing medicine in today’s current healthcare environment.
What is your business called?
My coaching business is called Physician Coaching With Anne. Although I coach physicians on any and all topics, my area of special interest is in medical communication. I believe that this is the area where I have the most experience and expertise, having worked in Peer Review since 2014.
What are your core values?
My core values are honesty, integrity, and commitment. I have centered my coaching business around these values and I try to exemplify them in all that I do. I work with other physicians around their own set of core values, because I have found that living according to your values helps to keep everything in perspective. This allows physicians to make decisions about saying “yes” or “no” to situations when they arise, ensuring that their decisions align with their own core values.
What key advice do you have for achieving success?
I believe that the definition of “success” is in the eye of the beholder, and thus everyone’s ideas about this may vary widely. In the area of medical communication, it centers around listening intentionally to what others are saying—not just hearing them and thinking about what you are going to say next. It centers around making the other person feel that you truly understand what they are communicating to you so that they feel heard—even if you disagree with them. It centers around treating the other person as you wish to be treated—even when the other person triggers something in you that is unpleasant or brings up uncomfortable emotions.
What kind of audience do you target your business toward?
I choose to only work with physicians and other healthcare professionals because I understand their training, their mindset, and their struggles, having lived through all of these things myself. I recognize that physicians frequently only want to work with other physicians who have dealt with their same struggles—and come out on the other side. This increases my credibility and effectiveness as a coach.
What services does your business offer?
I currently offer one-on-one coaching with other physicians, group coaching with other physicians, and speaking on various topics associated with medical communication, peer review, burnout, impostor syndrome, and physician wellness, among others All of these offerings help to address medical communication and other stressors that are common to physicians.
What are the criteria for a client to work with me?
Coaching involves an equal partnership in which we work together toward a common goal. I am not the “teacher” and the client is not the “student”—we work together as equals to achieve the goals set forth by the client at the beginning of our coaching agreement. Life happens, and as issues arise during the course of our work together, we address those things as they develop as well
What sets your coaching business apart from others in the same field?
Most physician coaches work with clients on a specific topic or to achieve a defined goal, which is true for me as well. However, there are very few coaches who work with physicians who may have come before their Peer Review Committee at their hospital or clinic, been discussed or appeared before the Medical Executive Committee (MEC), at their hospital or clinic, or been issued a Corrective Action Agreement or Stipulated Order from their state’s Medical Board. These are frequently physicians who would benefit from medical communication coaching to improve their behavior and prevent patient harm. This is my area of expertise.
How do you know if you have achieved a successful outcome when working with a client?
Every client brings their own issues and personality to coaching. Some are more resistant to the idea of “needing” coaching, whereas others have a fair amount of insight into the concerns that have been raised. Some physicians come to coaching to improve their communication, even when nothing untoward has occurred, especially if they have had “close calls” with previous interactions. At the end of our work together, a physician knows that they have achieved success when they feel confident in their communication style at work and have the tools to avoid allowing their emotions to get the better of them and affect their interactions in the future. Their co-workers often comment about the change in their demeanor and communication, which confirms the transformation that has occurred.
Can you share some success stories from your coaching practice?
I have many success stories that I can share. Please refer to my LinkedIn page and request my “Little Black Book of Medical Communication Insights,” which highlights several examples of how physicians have worked to change their communication styles and improved their interactions in clinical settings.
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