A Force to Be Reckoned With feat. Maureen Leahey

 ⚠️ This episode contains an open discussion of intimate partner violence. If this is something you are currently navigating or have experienced, please take care of yourself as you listen. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. You can also reach them online at thehotline.org

What does it look like to rebuild your life from scratch — not once, but over and over again — and still show up as one of the most accomplished people in the room?

This week, I sit down with my good friend and classmate Maureen Leahey — UVA peer mentor, Raven Society inductee, UPCEA Outstanding Student of the Year for 2026, full-time healthcare auditor, and single mom — to talk about what it actually takes to keep going when the system, and life itself, has given you every reason to stop.

Maureen doesn't just have a résumé. She has a story. One that includes surviving intimate partner violence, rebuilding her career from the ground up, losing her father, raising her daughter on her own, and refusing at every turn to let any of it be the final word on who she is.

In this conversation, you'll hear Maureen talk about the moment she almost questioned whether she was the right mother for her daughter — and what pulled her back. You'll hear about the provider who dismissed her, and the one who finally listened and changed everything. You'll hear about faith that isn't routine or performative, but forged in some of the hardest moments a person can face.

Maureen's message is simple and it hits hard: surviving something doesn't define you. Healing is possible. And life — even after everything — is worth showing up for fully.

This one's personal. We think you'll feel that.

National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233 | Text START to 88788 | thehotline.org

Topics covered: intimate partner violence survival and recovery, non-traditional student life, faith and resilience, trauma-informed care, healthcare leadership, the patient experience, and what it means to build a life on your own terms.

Heads Up: 

The conversations on Scrub Talk are meant to inform and inspire, not replace medical advice. The voices on this show — including mine — come with strong professional backgrounds and even stronger opinions. That doesn't mean anything you hear is medical guidance for your specific situation. Always talk to your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider about your own health. We're here to explore, not prescribe. 

Transcript

Dominick 0:01

Hi everyone, I'm Dominick Ramos and this is Scrub Talk. Before we get into today's episode, I want to be honest with you about something. For the longest time, I've carried this belief that most healthcare managers just don't get it. That unless you've actually been inside the system, and I mean doing wound care, cleaning bedpans, holding people's hands in some of the roughest moments, getting bashed by caregivers and patients, you're not really qualified to run in. I know how that sounds, and I'm not gonna fully walk it back either. But I want to tell you about the moment that belief became somewhat complicated. A few years ago, I was working in surgical oncology and I was starting to experience burnout. Starting to wonder if any of this was worth it. At the time I'd come back to school to finish my bachelor's, and I remember sitting in one of my first management courses, just feeling like nobody in that room understood what it actually felt like. One of my classmates had made a comment about how doctors just don't care, how they treat patients like numbers. And then all of a sudden, this woman spoke up. She started by sharing her experience about how she had felt dismissed as a patient. And from that point on, I just tuned her out. I'll be honest, I had her in my crosshairs. I thought to myself, here we go. Another hot take that I need to correct. And then she pivoted by acknowledging that her experience shouldn't be used to characterize the whole profession. She acknowledged that doctors and nurses, everyone on the front lines and behind the scenes are under enormous pressure. And that pressure is changing the way that we deliver care in this country. And the way she said that kind of made the whole room stop and think instead of just react. Her name was Maureen Leahy. And I remember thinking, okay, this one's different. Maureen and I don't agree on everything. Our backgrounds are different. Our faith is different. Our politics are different. But she has this ability to hold her own point of view while still making space for yours. Diplomatic without being soft, disarming without being a pushover. And in a field where I spent years feeling like I was going to have to do this all by myself, that matters more than I can really say. This episode is personal to me because I got to interview one of my good friends and someone who I really admire and look up to. And I hope you feel that way when you listen. A note before we start. It's okay to step away. And it's definitely okay to skip this one entirely. I mean that. No hard feelings. This is Maureen Leahy. Welcome to Scrub Talk.

Maureen 4:06

Thanks, Dominick Ramos.

Dominick 4:11

How are you doing today?

Maureen 4:13

I'm doing super. How are you?

Dominick 4:15

I'm doing all right. I know you just got off work. How was work?

Maureen 4:19

It was a very long day.

Dominick 4:20

Yeah. Yeah. Appreciate you taking the time to sit with me and uh have a discussion. I uh I prepared a little something for you because if you know you know me pretty well, I I have to embarrass the heck out of you by telling my yeah, by telling uh bragging about you to pretty much all our listeners. So I'm gonna read this out. Tell me if this, tell me if this tracks, okay? So Maureen Leahy, she is an undergraduate student in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at the University of Virginia.

Maureen 4:52

Wahoo Wah

Dominick 4:53

Wahoo Wah. Right.

Maureen 4:55

Yep.

Dominick 4:56

She's pursuing a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Health Science Management. She is a highly accomplished Who serving as the peer mentor for the Bachelor of Professional Studies and Health Science Management degree program at UVA. She's also a member of the University Judiciary Committee, a member of the Beta Iota Sigma chapter of the Alpha Sigma uh Lambda something honor society.

Maureen 5:24

National Honor Society.

Dominick 5:25

Yeah, for non-traditional and uh for non-traditional college and university students. She's also a recipient of the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society Scholarship. Outside of school, Maureen is a full-time auditor for Sentera Health. She is a full-time mom and more importantly, one of my good friends. I have a question for you.

Maureen 5:50

I think you left something off.

Dominick 5:51

No, wait, no, I'll get to that. Just give me a second. I have a question for you.

Maureen 5:54

Uh-huh.

Dominick 5:55

Um, do you think you have enough on your plate?

Maureen 5:59

Apparently not.

Dominick 6:00

Apparently not. Like, uh have you considered world domination, taking over a small third world country. How in the world do you do all that?

Maureen 6:12

I don't know. I just wake up and you know, start the day. Thank God for letting me open my eyes and just put my feet on the ground and piss off the devil because I'm awake. And then just go to it.

Dominick 6:25

Okay. Well, I appreciate that. That's a very um well decorated answer. But I am concerned about you because you have like so much going on. Like that can affect your mental health, Maureen.

Maureen 6:36

And I can't is this an intervention, Dominick?

Dominick 6:39

Yeah, I think it is. And I can tell you with almost full certainty, full confidence as a man, by the way, who has received an A in women's health. And I'm also certified in mental health first aid, by the way. I think you've got way too much going on.

Maureen 6:53

Are you p- are you trying to mansplain my life to me?

Dominick 6:56

I have no idea what mansplaining is. I personally do not. Oh my gosh. That all that's a joke, by the way. I hope no one really thinks that. I'm trying to mansplain to you. But I'm really curious. What is your why?

Maureen 7:19

Oh man. Wow. Well, world domination, I guess. Yeah. No. Uh I mean there's a lot of there's a lot of depth to the why. Um, why, which part of the why are we talking about? Why am I developed the way that I am to keep pushing in some inhumane way because I'm working full-time, I'm a single mother, and I'm also highly successful at school and also a member of the Raven Society.

Dominick 7:53

Oh, yeah, that's right. Oh my gosh, how can I how can I forget that you are a member of the highly coveted and secret the the most select group of university students, the Raven Society?

Maureen 8:07

That's why I had to whisper it, because it's like it's semi-secret hush hush.

Dominick 8:10

Yeah, it's like a it's like a secret society that also has a public website.

Maureen 8:14

Right.

Dominick 8:15

Can you I'm curious, what was your initiation into the Raven Society like?

Maureen 8:22

It was very interesting. There's only so much I can explain about it because it is lock and key, you can't really talk about the actual ceremony itself, but it's very Edgar Allan Poe in the spirit and the essence of Edgar Allan Poe. Everything that you could possibly imagine. It was really cool. It was, I felt like I was a 20-year-old college student and not a 50-year-old college student. And that's it was pretty awesome.

Dominick 8:55

Yeah. Speaking of, you know, being a college student, what was it like uh getting inducted as a not um, you know, you're you're pretty young still, but but not as you know, your traditional college student. Like were there other people who were in their 40s and 50s getting inducted?

Maureen 9:14

Or so there was, I don't I didn't check his age, but there was somebody else older. Okay. Um and I believe he just graduated last weekend. And he was he was also inducted. I think, but there's also like with the Raven Society, you can be inducted when you're an alumni, um, because it's like based on also the contributions that you're doing for the community. So there's a lot of people, and then sometimes I think also professors are brought into uh the Raven Society. So it's pretty cool, it's a really good recognition. Like, I think the first time you told me about it way back like in 22, um, we were talking about these different secret clubs. Then you told me about the Raven Society, and like, no way, there's actually something for egg alipo here. And then I looked it up, like, oh, so I put it on my kind of like a sticky note that I have on my um my monitor at work, just so I can have it kind of like in my line of sight, almost like a like a visualization board. Um, and I knew like once I achieved the uh National Honor Society recognition, I was just like waiting, um holding my breath almost, waiting for that call from the Raven Society. So yeah, it was pretty cool.

Dominick 10:37

How'd that feel?

Maureen 10:38

It was awesome. Like the thing that's funny is I didn't like when the person called me, it wasn't a recognized number. And usually I don't answer numbers I don't recognize because it's you know typically spam or whatever. And so when I answered, I was a little bit not so nice because you know, I don't know who's on the other end. And then when she told me who she was and ran through the spiel, I'm like, wait a minute, hold on. Are you actually telling me that I'm getting I was I've been like asked to go and be a member of the Raven Society? And she said, Yeah, like, oh my gosh, I think I'm gonna cry. This is so amazing. So yeah, it's cool. It was pretty, it was humbling, exciting. Yeah.

Dominick 11:27

I want you to answer the question I asked you first before you had to tell everyone about being a member of a secret society. Geez, dude.

Maureen 11:37

Well, um, you know, my why is like it's a lot. Uh it's not only for doing what's right um to raise my daughter and to give everything, um, every opportunity for her. Um as a single mom, it's a little bit of a struggle sometimes. Um, when, you know, like how are things going to add up at the end of the day with paying bills and making sure food's on the table. So part of my why is definitely for my daughter, so that she has every opportunity um possible, you know, to be a successful adult. But it's also for me. Um, like for school, I think this has been more of a healing journey than I've realized that was actually gonna happen initially when I applied to EVA. It was essentially to get my degree so I could move up. That's the other part of the why is to move up in the uh workplace. However high that goes, I'm not really too sure. Um and over the years, like I've seen that my skills can also be applied maybe as a college professor one day back in um in the BPHM program or the BIS. I think they've shifted it to the BIS healthcare specific program. Um and then maybe one day for like publishing two books, um, and then using that platform to uh be a public speaker. So yeah, just tell my story, I guess, is another part of the why. And I'm never settled or satisfied. I always want to be doing something, whether it's improving my life or helping other people, you know, achieve their potentials.

Dominick 13:33

So I wanted to add one more thing to that really extensive list of accolades you have there. This past spring in April, you were recognized by the UPCEA, it's the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. You were recognized as the outstanding student of the year for 2026 at their uh national conference in New Orleans. How did that make you feel?

Maureen 14:12

Um stunned, I think I'm still processing it. Um you know if you would have told me four years ago that I would have gotten into my all-time favorite college and university um ever since I was in high school, I would probably say that you're lying. There's no way how would I ever be able to get into UVA? And then going forward, you know, to not only get all the recognition that I've received, but to stand in a national conference to receive an award with photographers and borderline professional paparazzi in the university circuit. Um, and I say that laughing because every time I walk, because my face was in the, you know, the magazine that we had for the conference. So I had people walk in up to me that I've never seen before ever, like, oh my gosh, you're you're her. I'm like, hi, yeah, I'm I'm me, yes. Um, you know, so it was it was a nice uh, I guess it was like a really good way to feel recognized, supported by the school. Like there was, I believe, 10 people um from our program um and UVA out to support and then also to attend their the conference for their you know academic side.

Dominick 15:42

So I don't mean to laugh, and I'll tell you why I'm laughing. So Maureen and I have been, oh my god, we have been in so many classes together. And I just think you have like the ultimate bragging rights. Just to say that out of all the students, pretty much in our program, you're the most outstanding. And the reason why I say this is because in one of our classes last year, one of our classmates just had the audacity to introduce we're already laughing about it. He just had the audacity to introduce himself as yeah, I'm the I'm the poster child for this university, for this school. And I thought to myself, man, you cannot get any more humble. And now, when we get in class with him, probably in the next semester or so, you get to say, I'm the most outstanding student in all of the country.

Maureen 16:50

I mean, the thing that's funny is like I didn't I didn't announce it because that's part of my, I guess, the humble nature of I don't want to take away from other people. Like, I understand like that individual had his moment, but when you're working in a leadership world, you're supposed to step aside at some point and let other people have their moments. Like we have a lot of people in our program who've been featured in the UVA today, and it's amazing, you know, to see um students spotlighted for whatever the reason is. So I I mean, I let one of our professors know, like, hey, um, I'll be attending the UPSIA conference. Um, so I may have to get a couple days grace period for my assignments, and I'm not gonna say who it was because I really like him, but he said, What's Upsia? Like, oh no. Okay, this is something you should probably know because you're, you know, a teacher, a professor. So um, yeah, it I I think there's obviously like certain professors who who want to brag um about me like I'm his own daughter, if you know, like that's probably a bold statement. But, you know, like I'm very like I'm closer to that individual. But, you know, I don't want to always have the spotlight on me. It's a little weird, you know, to be uh like I'm definitely not made for Hollywood um or anything like that. So it's it was a nice, it was nice to have, but it's definitely not something I would want all the time because that's a lot of pressure to have put on your shoulders. Like I I noticed this past semester I was kind of like mentally psyched myself out, like, oh gosh, I have all these things on my shoulders now. Like I can't just be a regular student and go to go to school. I have to be, you know, living up to this example of um what all these awards are behind me, and then I just had a mental check and said, no, like that's that's not at all what it is. So kind of like stage freight when you're trying to write a paper.

Dominick 19:08

Speaking of writing a paper, you submitted you had to submit a essay, a personal statement to UPCEA to be considered for this award.

Maureen 19:19

Right.

Dominick 19:20

I was reading it and normally whenever you submit some sort of personal statement, it's very God, what's the term? Usually they're well crafted. Not to say yours wasn't well crafted.

Maureen 19:43

Is there something wrong with me? Dominick.

Dominick 19:46

No, no, no, nothing wrong. I mean you did have some grammatical and syntaxes there. All jokes aside, you uh in your submission you wrote about something that was pretty personal. I mean like I mean very personal in such a very vulnerable yet bold profound statement.

Maureen 20:23

Why this story? Why did you decide to do that? So, what's the statement that you're talking about?

Dominick 20:33

Do you not remember your the work of art?

Maureen 20:36

It was a three-page paper. I don't know which part you're talking about, just so I know how to answer your questions.

Dominick 20:44

You wrote about before starting this incredible academic journey, I sat down with my nine-year-old daughter Trinity and explained that UVA has an incredible program for me to complete my degree. As life does come with its share of challenges, some may be more monumental than others. In 2014, my daughter and I overcame a life-changing, traumatic event as a result of domestic violence. What made you do that?

Maureen 21:14

So part of the submission is you have to paint the whole picture. You have to give, you're not um, you're not just a number. You're not just your grade, you're not just your GPA, you're a whole person. So as adults, when we're in school, as a non-traditional student, we have to give the whole story. And since UVA uh and a lot of the people behind the scenes know my story because they've, you know, we've done interviews, multiple articles have been published, you know, people want to hear that. Um, and typically, and I know we weren't gonna really talk about this situation. Statistics, but not really the statistics, but when you go through domestic violence, um there's almost like this shadow over a person making them uh like with this idea that you're not a good person. You must have done something to deserve this. Um, I've actually had people ask me, well, what did you do to make them so bad? But that's also the ignorance that was in the state that I lived in. Um so you know, other things that I've read through before I became a mom is um single parents, especially single mothers, typically their children are um not going to be successful, that they're going to live in poverty, that they're not gonna have a healthy life, all the things that we talk about in our classes. Um, and that's just you know, one of those um stereotypes that are meant to be broken. And I am a very fierce, determined. Um, I don't usually throw this out there, Scorpio, that when you do wrong by me, or if you hurt me or my child, or you put her in harm's way, you have to deal with the consequences. And after that, you know, was ironed out with the courts, I had to figure out how to restart my life, like what the direction is. I was in school to be a chiropractor, so I had to take everything in my clinical background and then shift to the administrative side because safety was way more important to me than a degree.

Dominick 23:51

I want to know what that was like. Walk me through you basically restarting your life. How did that happen?

Maureen 24:01

So the irony is I knew like when I was at sitting at the OBGYN office while I was pregnant, I was looking through a magazine and I saw I'm like, oh, this is interesting. You can do coding from home and have a remote position. I had no idea what coding was because I've only been, you know, on the receiving end of the data that, you know, coders put in. So I always had that in the back of my head. So when that happened, I had to, I just started looking up like, okay, what are some programs I can do to like brush up on billing and coding. So I did. I found um, I think a school in Colorado that was like a self-paced school, paid for it. It was supposed to be a 12-month school. I think I had it done in four months. Um, and then when I moved back to Virginia, um, I talked to a recruiter at who is like at a coffee shop event for Sintera, and you know, it showed her my resume, and she said, Oh, well, if you since you have this coding experience and this billing experience, you need to get your credentials as a CPC through AAPC. It's the credentialing board. I said, Oh, I had no idea that was a thing. Okay, I'll go take care of that. And then I did that. I sold my TV because I had moved, you know, back here. I didn't want to take money from my parents, you know, even though I was like living with them to like help take care of my mom and my dad. Um I had a brand new TV. I sold it, paid got just enough to pay for the um the test, and then studied for it, and then took the test and passed it the first time. Apparently it's a test that you know, like people fail several times um because it's it's pretty challenging. Um, and then I just it took two years for me to get my foot in the door at Santa, and it's been almost nine years in August. It'll be nine years my anniversary.

Dominick 26:17

Congrats.

Maureen 26:18

Thanks.

Dominick 26:20

What made you want to go back to school?

Maureen 26:25

Um, I well, it's unfinished, unfinished business. Like, you know, in my 20s, um, I was in a like I was married to someone not her um by her biological person. Um, but I was married and followed his Navy career around and um never had the opportunity for myself to like be in one place for more than two years um to finish my degree. So I knew it was just something I had to get done. I know like I'm the youngest of four, so my siblings all have their degree, and my brother has his master's. So it just coming from a family where getting your degree is important, um it was just something I had to finish. And then I also knew that to move up at work or in any healthcare organization, you need to you need a degree at this point in the game. You need at least a bachelor's, if not a master's, depending on how high you want to go. So yeah. Now, Dominic, I know you have more questions than this.

Dominick 27:44

I'm thinking. That is a lot. That's a lot to go through. And there are a lot of people who go to school, people who are fresh out of high school, and you're basically expected to have life figured out before you can even drink alcohol legally. But I can't imagine the amount of pressure that it must be for someone who has gone through some pretty significant life events, has a child, is a single mom, and is deciding to pursue a bachelor's, even if it's part-time, that just as as little classes as we take, it is not part-time. It's another full-time job.

Maureen 28:46

Yeah.

Dominick 28:47

So I'm trying to just trying to imagine how you're able to do it.

Maureen 28:56

Well, the benefit is I'm single, so I don't have to worry about, you know, a relationship over my head because I hate to say it, no, no shade against men, but you know, I can't do a relationship with someone who wants to be texting a hundred times a day, like they're in high school. Like I actually do have a life, so it's it makes it a lot easier when when you're single, your social life is very low because I'm not 21 and clubbing. You know, I'm taking this time around to go to school extremely serious. And something I know, like looking through some of the things that I've talked about in past interviews or written about, this is something I'm taking the time that I'm doing for school is taking away time for my daughter. So if I'm going to be doing that, and she's been along for the ride for, you know, since 2022. So I better get the grades that I need to because why am I why would I take away time for my my child if if I'm not gonna give it my 100%? Like I'm not I've had like people have have approached me about like maybe going to be a practice manager, which I do not want to do um at all uh by any stretch. I've been that already. Um that's a 40 to 80 hour a week job. And that takes a very special kind of person to do that because I don't want to leave my daughter until she is maybe in high school or in college when I can maybe go back into the office. You know, like kids when they're this this young, not that she's as young as she as she was when I started. It's just not, you know, she needs to have that balance.

Dominick 30:56

Yeah, you're very thoughtful in a way that you consider pretty much every single variable. And I really appreciate and admire that about you because it it takes a lot of strength to do that. We touched a little bit on your experience with intimate partner violence. And how in the world do you go from that to just how do you go how do you pick yourself up like that?

Maureen 31:31

I mean, when there's nobody there, then you have to. Like that's not, you know, it's not a syndicate TV show. I don't want to name drop, you know, because this is a podcast. But uh you don't you're not on camera, you're not fighting with a judge, you're not doing any of that, like this is real life, and you know, you just there's just no room for failure. When you're raising a child, there is absolutely no room for failure. And if you make mistakes, that's fine. You know, that's okay, it's gonna happen, but you have to do everything that you can to give that person that, you know, she came for me. She was a gift from God. I prayed for her for a very long time. Yeah. And I wasn't gonna cry, but you know.

Dominick 32:37

Was there a time where you just wanted to give up?

Maureen 32:41

You know, the closest I came to not really giving up was when I was um shortly after we moved in with my parents, um, you know, I was up late. She was, we were sharing a room, she was fast asleep, and I had a conversation with God. Like, am I the right person for her? I don't have a job. I can't seem to get a job to save my life. Um, maybe she's better off going to my sister. And almost instantly I had a voice in my head, not that I'm mentally unwell. I had a voice in my head saying, absolutely not. You need to get rid of that thought immediately. You are what she needs. And I said, Yes, sir. Okay, God, got it. Like that's who whether it's God or, you know, who knows? Past relatives, I don't know. But someone shook me down to my spirit, like through the core. I said, Okay, got it. Noted. Not that not that I was contemplating, you know, SI or anything like that, because that's not I I love living. I'm gonna be dragging my feet, or what it what's the saying, you know, like you're gonna be like so old, but like like parting until you get to the grave or something like that. There's some funny saying out there where, you know, like I'm gonna be going in with stretch marks and and and wrinkles and stuff like that. I'm not gonna be going in with, you know, Botox and plastic because I want to be living life and enjoying myself and living all the way to the end. You know, maybe I'll be 99 or 100, you know, but I want to live a very long life just so I can see Trinity grow up, and maybe if she has kids, if that's what she decides to do as an adult, you know. Because life is amazing. Like people are just so stuck in this doom scroll mentality, and then kind of bring it out into the real world, and there's just so much anger out there, it's just you know, life is pretty awesome.

Dominick 34:52

I wasn't gonna mention this, but some context for the listeners. We agree on a lot, however, we have very different views about how we see the world, especially sociopolitically. One thing I really appreciate appreciate about you is that we're able to sit down and have a conversation and not be grabbing for each other's necks.

Maureen 35:26

I I know.

Dominick 35:30

That's just something that we're missing out on today. Um yeah, this is a very my intention with with this podcast is to be very apolitical. But when I initially started podcast, I mean podcasts, so when I initially started Scrub Talk, it was because the temperature in the room was just so hot and unbearable. And especially when it comes to healthcare nowadays, there's just so many differing opinions on how we deliver care. And it it was really there was a lot of perspective that that just kind of hit me when we started doing violence against healthcare workers and we started murdering CEOs of healthcare companies.

Maureen 36:22

Yep.

Dominick 36:22

And so hopefully people will will, you know, be able to listen to this. You know, we haven't had to disagree much yet, but you are a fascist, I hope you know. Just want you to know that. But you have a very unique perspective, and I and I really do appreciate that you're able to hold more than one truth at once. Because not many people are doing that today. Yeah. You've mentioned your faith a couple of times. What role has that played in your life?

Maureen 37:02

Oh, I mean, life-saving. Down to the very like cell and every cell in my body. Yeah. Absolutely life-saving. I could go into great detail about um, you know uh visions that I've had before um becoming a mother when I went through a weekend retreat when I lived in Chicago.

Dominick 37:31

Um This retreat didn't involve like, you know, wearing hoods or anything.

Maureen 37:36

Okay. Sorry, I had to drop that. Okay. We're not doing Edgar Allan Poe stuff.

Dominick 37:42

No, no burning of crosses, nothing. No, no.

Maureen 37:45

So it was just like we went to like a we had a weekend retreat, like an adult retreat through the church that I was going to and um had the opportunity to be baptized again, and the water came from the Jordan River. So I chose the option. Some people chose to just, you know, have the sign of the cross. I chose the option to be completely doused in the water, like head to toe, which has been done a couple of times, but not not too many times. Um, and I believe there's like maybe 12 people in the room, 12 to 18. Um, and what yeah, so that uh was a very profound and life-changing moment. I um to give you a little detail. So is it like the oldest part of the um it's like where where the retreat was is like a uh not a monastery, but where like priests go to learn how to be, you know, to get their education to be a priest. Um, and it was in the oldest part of the campus in a very old room, and it was of course Chicago during the winter, cold, dreary, um, overcast. And in this room, there's one stained glass window like off to the side. And I knelt down on a towel. Uh, the person who was like the um like the director, like overseeing, you know, the adult faith um group. So he was the one that was dunking like dousing me in water. When I knelt down, there was a sunbeam that came right through the stained glass window. I looked up, and then I saw this man transformed into Jesus, and Jesus was right in front of me and baptized me.

Dominick 39:59

Wow.

Maureen 40:00

And ever since then, I have had zero doubt in my faith. You cannot go through something like that and have doubt ever. And it's not like I was raised Catholic, I went to Catholic high school, and it was just more of a routine formality type thing. But once you, once I went through that, it became a much deeper understanding and how connected we are, you know. And then of course, other circumstances like when I did go through that traumatic event in 2014, I had maybe 30 seconds left to live because he was it was strangulation. So who do you call out to? I couldn't make a noise because you know, if your airways closed, you can't do anything. So I yelled the loudest prayer in my head, like, okay, God, now is I need you now. If you can't save me, at least save Trinity. And then instantly he was off of me and yelling in my face like a psychopath, but that's besides the point. You know, so there's just different moments. Yeah. And of course, when my dad passed, which probably is going to send me into tears, but you know, like when he passed, I was the one that was holding his hand and prayed over him. Um and right before, you know, I looked towards the end of his bed and saw, like, through the window, a very bright light, but not like sunshine light come through his window. And I just paused because I knew that was more like the Holy Spirit or maybe my mom who passed um in 2016, someone to come in to someone to come get him. Like, it's time to go home. So yeah.

Dominick 42:04

You write in your in your submission. Life presents challenges in ways that are heartbreaking yet poetic. Of the challenges I've been met with, the loss of my dad in March is one that still comes with heartache and tears. My parents instilled value, honor, and integrity, teaching me how to steer my vessel with faith and not fear. And in the stillness of the afternoon, I held his hand and told him that we're okay. It's time to go home to be with mom.

Maureen 43:18

We had Pandora playing, um, because he liked Billy Joel and Neil Diamond and the Beatles, or not really the Beatles, the Beach Boys. So um I've never been in the room with someone passes, but when he did, I swear to God I could feel his spirit just dancing happy, free. And somehow controlling the radio because we s started hearing a lot of his favorites and then almost like Speaking to my sister and Trinity and myself through the TV that had Pandora on it. So if people who are out there listening think that there's nothing after death, then you have to really rethink.

Dominick 44:25

Oh my God. Yeah, I've been thinking about grief a lot lately.

Maureen 44:32

Yeah.

Dominick 44:36

You have a story that is rarely told. And if it's told, it's because there's usually a sad ending that has transpired. You've got such a an amazing life that you seem to be living. And you're very resilient. And sometimes I feel like working in the field that we work in. It can be so hard to it's just hard.

Maureen 45:26

Yeah. Yeah. I mean when you're like you're a frontline worker.

Dominick 45:32

Yeah.

Maureen 45:33

So it's hard because you can get attached to patients. And even though you may want them to have a winning story, it just may not be in their cards. And that can be hard when you take that home. And yell at Bam.

Dominick 45:54

That little piece of shit.

Maureen 45:58

Oh my gosh.

Dominick 46:01

Dude.

Maureen 46:02

That's his cat, by the way.

Dominick 46:03

Yeah, my cat, Bam. I love him to death. He is not your average cat. And I, you know, that's the funny thing. I've I I always had so many misconceptions about cats because you always think of cats as these like really moody, uh-huh, kind of like passive aggressive serve me.

Maureen 46:25

Yes.

Dominick 46:27

But him, he's like a golden retriever. He talks to me a lot. I so I told you I rushed home because I need to go get my stuff so we can record. Um he was rolling over on his stomach. Oh my goodness. Just meowing really loud and just talking to me. And I was just like, dude, you are so adorable, but I need you to get the heck off of my cart. He just was so relentless. He just wanted to talk to me. That's all he does, by the way. He just like sits next to me. Sometimes I'll be like deep and focused, right? And then next thing you know, because uh there's like a little stand next to me, I'll just hear him like screech, meow, like, and I'm just like, I'm go, uh. And then he like looks at me, and I'm just like, what the heck are you doing there? Get away from me. He's he's done that a more than his fair share of times. But yeah. Uh just going back though, I I am I did want to kind of like figure this out alongside you. Like, how in the world did you just like with everything you've been through, how in the world did you decide that, yeah, I want to still work in a business that is about caring about people?

Maureen 47:47

Well, I mean, gosh, like I went through school to be a massage therapist, so that is like one of the positions uh in healthcare where you are you were giving your all, you know, in a legal environment. You know what I mean? Yes. Yeah, because so like people come in broken. Like I've had not to like get into details, but I've had patients who uh have gone through like a car accident and need work so that they can recover. So you put your heart into it to make sure that that person gets better. So that pretty much goes for, I'd say, a lot of people in healthcare because they go to school to learn a knowledge, you know, learn a skill. I mean, and try to help other people. You know, like one of the things I've always believed is like the leadership style that I have is more of a servant leader because I want to serve others. And then after taking our last leadership class, I also realized that I was more servant and transformational because of the simple fact that I want to not only help others, but help them live to their fullest potential. Because I know for myself in past positions, I have not had managers who want that. They are more like, how dare you outshine me? I need you off my team, which is really in poor taste because when you're in a leadership role, you should be earning your position because of the exemplary work that you're doing, not who you're hanging out with outside of work, you know, to get promoted. And that happens a lot, whether it's healthcare or, you know, finance or whatever the industry is.

Dominick 49:49

Yeah, some healthcare leaders just suck. It seems like a lot of the people who go into leadership have a lot of ego and baggage that they bring with them.

Maureen 50:05

Yes, yep.

Dominick 50:07

And God, it's just really frustrating. That that's all I can say about it.

Maureen 50:13

Oh yeah. Yes.

Dominick 50:15

Yeah.

Maureen 50:15

Yeah. Cause it's I mean, if you're if you're trying to move into a position because of the money or because you need to have more power, you're really in the wrong position. Maybe go into politics, you know.

Dominick 50:30

Um can I interrupt you for a second? That's really interesting because that's something that I hear a lot of people say about doctors.

Maureen 50:38

Right.

Dominick 50:39

You don't go into it for the money.

Maureen 50:40

Right.

Dominick 50:42

And I personally feel, like as someone who's going to be a physician someday, that people need to stop saying that statement about people who are like me who are going into the field and they need to start saying a little bit more about the people signing our checks.

Maureen 50:56

I mean, I understand like providers needing to get a higher salary because their student loans are really, really high. But there's also liability that they're carrying. Because when you're managing patients' health, there is a massive liability that goes along with it. And the higher your skill level, like anesthesia or cardiothoracic or whatever it is, that would be more risk involved with whatever you're doing, that is why they make the money that they make, not necessarily to take home a check that's $400,000 a year as an example. It's because they have to pay a lot in liability insurance, unless they work for maybe, you know, a healthcare organization that covers it for them. And then maybe they wouldn't get paid as much because, you know, the benefit is being paid by their employer. You know, I'm tired of like seeing people in leadership, and I know we've talked about this before when they go into a healthcare organization and they have an MBA, but they have zero healthcare experience. You have to know like what you're ordering or asking people to do. You have to have some sort of understanding what it what it is that you're asking before you like roll out these different demands or requests or however you want to take it. You know.

Dominick 52:20

That brings me to a very interesting point here because our our professor um and program advisor, he is an economist. And he always likes to push back on us when we talk about money. Because he's one of those blood-sucking MBAs, by the way. We love Mark. We love Professor Rath. How in the world do you lead an organization with experience in healthcare but no practicality or discipline financially? How do we balance that?

Maureen 53:06

Well, I mean, depending on how high up you are in the organization, you would have someone who would have the finance knowledge. Um, like for me, for example, I work with the revenue cycle team management, whatever you want to call it. That is directly involved with money. Do I have an MBA? No. Do I want to get an MBA? No, thank you. Um simply because I don't want to be paying that kind of tuition because it's really expensive. Um, but it's also not something I'm driven to do. I think I'm more along the lines of like policy change. I think after we talked recently, I was thinking like, do I really want the healthcare administration degree? Do I want to be like dual mastered with healthcare administration and pol like public health? I don't know. That's a conversation for over the summer that I need to figure out, you know, like because it's there's just so many things involved with healthcare. And having gone through what I've gone through, it's different. You see a completely different side of the world from the legal side, how things are not handled with the utmost care. Not necessarily that it's the judge's fault, um, because he was very a level of mad. I've never seen someone sitting on a bench um when I gave my victim statement. Um, you know, because it's in those circumstances, a lot of times the harsher uh sentencing comes when there's a fatal statistic and not someone who's survived. Um, and things that I've gone through that we've talked about before as a patient. Having providers like having a little bit more tact or decorum when it comes to um, we love that word decorum. When it comes to like how do you talk to your patient, maybe don't minimize their experience and try to cover up what they went through with antidepressants or push that like you're pushing some sort of medication that you don't want as someone you're when you're processing that level of trauma, you do not want to mute your emotions because it can just sneak up and find you many years later. Um, so how do we how do we train our providers to have more trauma um experience? There's a word trauma something. Trauma-informed care. Yeah. That yes, from our women's health class.

Dominick 56:07

That I got an A in, by the way. Okay, I just want to make sure. I got like I got like a 99.9, by the way. Yeah.

Maureen 56:15

Nice.

Dominick 56:15

Yeah.

Maureen 56:16

So it's just it's just one of those things where you have to like, you know, pr like patients are not a number, right? Providers are also not a number. I think if we just look at it in a little bit more human approach, treat each other like a holistic individual instead of like, oh, I have to get you out of here in 15 minutes because that's the speed of seeing my patients. I have to see six in a certain amount of time frame. Like that's that's unfortunately how healthcare is driven today.

Dominick 56:52

We're all kind of screwed when it comes to this healthcare system. We just there's so much that we have to deal with. I uh it's initially why I did this program because I feel like I heard a lot about my family members struggling with assimilating into the system. It's part of why my my granddad retired pretty early. Like I think he was 60 when he retired. Most physicians are still practicing into their 80s. Right. And he did that because he did not want to deal with all the all the bureaucracy and all the rapid changes that were happening in the private sector. He just wasn't gonna deal with it. So yeah, just medicine is not what I grew up understanding. And I I I imagine it's this pretty much the same thing for you, too. It's a lot to sit with.

Maureen 57:58

So even though we, you know, like there might be this idea that we're screwed, we're really not. We just have to be a little bit more vocal. Yeah. It's you can tell patients, you know, to be an advocate for yourself, but we should also be advocate, you know, for um working in healthcare. You know, like the whole point of going through this program is to move into some sort of leadership position, right? Whether you're a physician or being bossed around by a physician named Dr. Ramos. Uh that sounds good.

Dominick 58:36

That's the way can you say that one more time? Just one more time for my ego

Maureen 58:40

You know, but it's just one of those things where you have to um find ways to make a positive change um and then learn to work with each other.

Dominick 58:53

Yeah.

Maureen 58:54

Not uh have the negative mentality of we have a sh a sinking ship. Oh my gosh, what are we gonna do? We're not on the Titanic, we're not, you know, uh doing a reverse to hit the iceberg again. That's just I think a lot of things, a lot of times people don't realize that healthcare is also driven by decisions in Congress. Doesn't matter who's who is POTUS, um, because that's like that's how politics work, not to get into the politic tangent. But that's like a lot of things are passed down, approved by Congress with Medicare, like telehealth. You know, every year we've been um waiting right up to the deadline, like, okay, are they gonna extend the ability to have telehealth visits outside of behavioral health? And that's all Congress. That's all they're the ones that are making the decisions. So we just have to kind of like do the best that we can. And then other things that I've noticed, you know, especially being on this side, um, is that there are opportunities when they are like revising CMS and when they're revising a lot of different things within um coding and compliance, and what are they gonna allow this time? Because you know, every year things are approved, or sometimes they're um deleted, like different coding is deleted. There is time for um the public to be able to share their opinion. And that's where as healthcare providers or maybe administrative people have that opportunity to share their concern over something being approved or denied. Um so it's a lot, it's a lot deeper than I think probably the regular um non-clinician patient understands.

Dominick 1:00:54

Yeah, you bring up a very good point. And we we both have said that we don't want to get political. But when I think about it just like broadly, more broadly, uh you can't have a healthcare system without politics. Right. And I think that's one of the first lessons we learned in like our management class, like how healthcare uh overlaps with so many industries. It's not just a medical industry, it's a tech industry, it's an environmental industry, it's a government industry, which is really I don't know. Because I imagine if like we're sitting in a Starbucks right now, I imagine you can also say, like, oh, well, the service industry is like that. But even then, I mean, a bad review against a barista isn't as impactful as a bad review against a physician or a nurse.

Maureen 1:01:56

Right.

Dominick 1:01:57

And that's really interesting to think about.

Maureen 1:01:58

Especially when you have a survey to fill out every office visit.

Dominick 1:02:02

Yeah. You rely on that stuff. It's like our life force nowadays. And just it it kind of scares me sometimes. Because And now I'm gonna have to be worrying about that when I start practicing. I have to worry about people's feelings.

Maureen 1:02:22

Well, yeah, you do have to worry about feelings when you're a doctor.

Dominick 1:02:25

I mean, yeah, yeah. Bah, you know.

Maureen 1:02:28

Unless you're like the highest, most sought-after physician that you can just walk around the hospital floor and be all gruff and grumbly.

Dominick 1:02:37

That's gonna be me. No, I I mean I definitely feel feel weighed more than I am um hard on people. But at the same time, it's it's just incredibly just difficult to kind of sit with. And yeah, and you I just have to give myself some grace though. And I know that's really important. I am curious about, you know, you mentioned the the career path you're you're thinking about right now, and you want to go into some level of leadership that's beyond practice management. Um what is like the ideal leadership position that you would strive for early on? Okay. Like we know like hospital CEO is possible president, vice president. Yeah, but like what what's like the first position you'd like to step into?

Maureen 1:03:33

Oh, well, I mean, um, you know, a director would be nice. Um I don't know. I mean, the thing is like when we have our degree in hand, it opens up a lot of doors, not just um manager, but like there are director positions that are posted currently that with a bachelor's that I would qualify for.

Dominick 1:04:03

I don't know exactly what I want to do overall, but I know Well, I I guess like in a more broad sense, I don't think people realize how many different I don't even know what categories of leadership there are.

Maureen 1:04:23

Honestly, I I mean I do enjoy like working in the revenue cycle. So if I was a director in the revenue cycle department, that would be pretty cool because there's a lot of different things that are that go into it. You know, it's not just numbers and it's not just pushing um you know claims out the door, it's also like addressing issues maybe um to help providers or operations, like director of operations would be pretty um that would be a great job to have as well, like especially if overseeing like I don't know, cardiothoracic or general surgery or something like that, because those are all things that I enjoy, like from the quality and the coding side. Um because they're just very, very unique, very not not that like every part of healthcare is is special, but to me, it's like seeing what surgeons are able to do when they save lives is just there are moments I've actually stood up and clapped for the note that I'm reading for an off note, and I'm being very serious because it's like not that you're reading like a drama series, but when you see someone and they're crashing for whatever the reason is, and you just say, Come on, please, like get there in time, get the stent in, or maybe get them to the OR and have them um, you know, do a cabbage or something like that, like whatever, whatever the procedure is called for. And then you see that the doctor gets in there, they're you know, do what they need to do, and the patient comes out and they feel great. It's absolutely amazing. That's what humans are able to do when they go to college.

Dominick 1:06:05

I'm very interested in what you just said because you described a scene almost perfectly out of a movie, yet it was based off of a note you were auditing.

Maureen 1:06:18

Yeah. Yeah. Because that's how it is. Like Widowmaker, uh, you know, widowmakers used to be detrimental.

Dominick 1:06:30

What's a widowmaker?

Maureen 1:06:32

You know, a heart attack that makes that has no survivability. Um and now like you're able to get if you see the patient within, I think it's like half an hour or 90 minutes. I'm not really too sure which one it is. I'm not the doctor, obviously, but um, you know, physicians are able to get in there, like especially cardiologists are able to have the patient come in within a certain time frame, and I'm really sure it's like 90 minutes. Pretty certain it is. And then, you know, do what they need to do as a cardiologist, and then the patient is good. Sometimes they walk, they go home in a couple days.

Dominick 1:07:11

Are you privy to the statistics that Sintera has about their door to balloon times?

Maureen 1:07:18

Oh, I I at one point when I was working with cardiology, I was.

Dominick 1:07:22

Okay. I'm just curious. I I wonder like how like like on the coding side, if you're supposed to be aware of that stuff, that's all.

Maureen 1:07:31

No, you're not. You just basically code whatever the note is in front of you. But for me, I always like to know that stuff because it makes my job more interesting. So yeah.

Dominick 1:07:44

Yeah. Coding is very interesting. I'm encountering just a a a tinge of that in my current role. I absolutely hate it. And now I know why providers are just so eager to offload that part of their job. I don't think people realize that. How much how much work goes into putting together an office note?

Maureen 1:08:10

Mm-hmm.

Dominick 1:08:10

Yeah.

Maureen 1:08:11

I mean, you're not going to school to be a coder. You're going to school to be a doctor. Yeah. Your primary focus is to be a doctor. But for the compliance standpoint, you have to have a good note that's going to support what you're doing.

Dominick 1:08:26

Yeah.

Maureen 1:08:26

Yeah. I didn't realize that we were going to talk about work.

Dominick 1:08:31

Yeah, sorry. It kind of flowed in naturally to it all. I mean. Hey guys, it's Dominic. And Maureen. An average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. More than 12 million men and women over the course of a single year.

Maureen 1:08:53

One in four women and one in seven men aged 18 and older in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

Dominick 1:09:05

Everyone deserves a healthy, safe relationship.

Maureen 1:09:09

If you or someone you know needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is here 24-7.

Dominick 1:09:17

Call 1-800-799-SAFE-7233.

Maureen 1:09:24

Or text start S-T-A-R-T to 88-788 or visit the hotline.org. You are not alone.

Dominick 1:09:39

All right, we're back because Maureen so rudely had to make me pause this recording. No, I'm kidding. Uh, nature calls. You've had like so much going on in your life. And I mean, I didn't I just don't can't imagine what that must feel like, you know, going into the healthcare space or as a patient. And I'm like really curious about, you know, what what has like gone on that has made you feel like a number or like a statistic in the way that you phrased it.

Maureen 1:10:20

You know, there's a lot of things that I could talk about. I think the one that stands out the most is when I was going through um, so I have also a certification as an integrative nutrition health coach. When I was going through that program, we were talking about vitamin D deficiencies and what to look for. There's a lot of symptoms that go along with that, by the way. Like a ton. And um living in the climate, if you're not like living in Florida year-round, and if you live basically north of the Mason-Dixon line, I believe it is, you're going to see some sort of like drop in your vitamin D, especially during the winter months, because you don't have the sun exposure. But also when you are working inside and you're not, you know, like a construction worker who's outside or doing paving roads or something, you're also going to see a drop in vitamin D. Vitamin D is really important. It's not just a regular vitamin, it controls a lot in your body. So it also plays into your autoimmune system. So when I was going through this class or this program, uh, this is like shortly after, uh, I'd say within eight months, maybe, um, after the uh domestic violence took place, um, I realized that there is a possibility that I have a deficiency. I should probably go find a you know PCP to run some labs for me. And then I found someone, went into the office, um, explained the situation. And rather than listen, she told me, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna order your labs like maybe in four months. You need to be on an antidepressant. I said, that's that's jumping the gun. Why would you say that I need to be on an antidepressant rather than running labs because the symptoms that I have, which was like a very long list, pointed to having a deficiency. Oh, well, you've been through, you know, you've been through um that trauma, that domestic violence. So you need to be on an antidepressant. And I said, well, with all due respect, I would rather have the labs drawn. That's a much easier thing to address than starting the process of taking a medicine that I'm not asking for because that is not how I'm going to heal myself. I'm not going to recover from what I went through and also be a present mother if I'm going to be on something that's muting my emotions. So rather than listen, she gave me her resume. And we talked about women's health, right? But we don't talk about how some women are as physicians and how they um, I want to say mansplain, but it women's plain, right? Well, I went to school here in this country and I went to school here, and I have my residency here, blah, blah, blah. So I say what you do. I'm not going to do the labs until like the next three to four months. And I said, okay, well, congratulations on your education. I'm very happy for you. I don't care about your resume. If you cannot do what I'm asking as your patient, I will go somewhere else. Um, I'm done with this, you know, visit. I'm gonna leave. Have a great day. Please do not have your staff call me to reschedule. And then when I left, I told them, your doctor does not listen. Please do not schedule me. Do not call me for rescheduling, none of it. Um, and then I'd say with the same, like that same week, I came across someone um uh I think it was on Facebook, actually. Like how you know Facebook ads pop up sometimes. Um I found an integrative medical doctor and call made a call to the office and said, Hey, you know, can I get seen? And I told him everything. He said, Of course, of course you have a vitamin D deficiency. Look at where we live. Of course I'm gonna do that first. And of course I'm gonna run an autoimmune panel on you, and of course I'm gonna do this and this. That only makes sense. And he told me, you know, you have you have PTSD. It's natural for you to do what you're doing. It's natural for you to like have the emotional experience that you're having and you're going about it the right way. And lo and behold, my my vitamin D is a 16.9. Whoa. That's very low. And low on a lab is you shouldn't be below like 32, I think is what it is now. Ideally, a doctor might say you should be around 50, although I think I've seen it go up to 100 as being in the normal range. Um, so I started, you know, fueling my body with a high dose of vitamin D. And then within four days, I started feeling great. Fatigue was gone, the cold, coldness was gone, um feeling like I was depressed, even though I wasn't depressed, that was gone. And that's all like there's a lot of things that point to deficiencies, like your symptoms and stuff like that. So, you know, it's just yeah, that's that's the one that stands out the most for sure.

Dominick 1:16:34

How did it feel for your provider to essentially validate you?

Maureen 1:16:41

I think I was crying, if I remember correctly. And he was just super happy, not attached to a hospital system, had his own independent practice. He, you know, held the credential as a medical doctor. He's able to prescribe things if people needed it. Um I remember his office had like um salt lamps. Like when he walked in, he definitely brought his culture from India over and integrated that in his practice. So it was it was wonderful to see. It was very, it was definitely like the point that I needed. Um, you know, and then he also worked with chiropractors in the area. I know your feelings about that, but um voodoo magic is what I think about chiropractors. So it I mean, it was, you know, that's the person that I needed um at that point in my life. And um, you know, he's the one that helped me, like I tested for Hashimoto's. So that's the thing with trauma, is that it can manifest and express itself in so many different ways. And for me, it decided to turn into an autoimmune condition to attack my thyroid. So it's different when you have an autoimmune condition because the generic synthroid is not really designed for someone who has um autoimmune because there's different things that are, you know, involved, different labs or lab values that are involved, different hormones.

Dominick 1:18:31

Do you feel like you would be where you are now without that provider?

Maureen 1:18:38

No. I think had that provider not s stepped in, like had our paths not crossed, I don't know what I would have done, possibly go to urgent care. I think probably would have been the next option, which that's not what urgent care is really designed for, you know, as we all know. So I mean, honestly, I thought it was like uh a sign from above, you know, that the same day that I came home frustrated there was this ad that popped up on Facebook. Although we know now that sometimes those things listen, right? So um, you know, it's the timing, the timing is was perfect. Yeah, you know.

Dominick 1:19:35

We've had a pretty heavy discussion today. We've touched a lot of very deep and also I think very timely topics.

Maureen 1:19:51

Well, I would say first and foremost, this is how our conversations usually go over the phone where there's banter, I'm called a fascist, um, you know, things like that. But at the end of the day, uh, we have a a very good um friendship. Like you're more like a brother to me than my uh brothers, but that's neither here nor there. Uh you know, I think there's times that we've been on the phone for what three hours maybe?

Dominick 1:20:23

Yeah.

Maureen 1:20:24

Sometimes after class because it's venting, a venting session after class, depending on which class it is and which student may have ruffled your feathers. Um but I mean, like for me personally, like, and I know I have said this before, I've said this to different audiences that the thing that I went through and what I went through to protect my daughter because she was not even one. It's not something that defines me. It is a part of me, it happened, it's part of my history. I took it more as God's not going to put this in my life without no, with with thinking that I'm going to fail. Like he's not gonna put something in my way if it's not meant to help me grow. So um I think there is like something I I read the other day where sometimes people get mad when they hear someone say, Oh, you know, you went through this very painful journey and it it was meant to help you grow as a person. Um and then it's almost like this bitterness of, no, it didn't. It was the determination to get my foot in front of me that made me the strong person who I am today. But that's kind of looking at in a way that you're missing the whole point if you look at it that way. Because ultimately, like for as we know, like my faith is very strong. So I know I know God knows what my journey is, He knows what what my path is, and there's no way that I would have been I would have faced this challenge without knowing that I was gonna use it for something good. You know, the sheer determination that I have isn't just to write a book about my experience or have that book also be a guide to help other people because it's what, one in three women have experienced some sort of domestic violence. And it's not just to maybe be a public speaker, but it's also one day to stand in front of Congress and have a very open, candid discussion because it's you know a part of mental health, whether it's the offender who has a mental health issue or the um survivor who ends up with a mental health problem as a result. Complex PTSD is recognized in other countries. In the United States, it's not. It's on the ICD 11 for other countries, but our system is still ICD-10 based, so it's still falls under PTSD. And it's not something that's always going to be treated by medication. You know, it's something that there are like different therapies that are holistic to help people. So I guess your question was, what else do you want people that do I want people to know about me? It's just I'm a very real person, I'm extremely resilient, and there is nothing I would I would allow to stand in my way um to you know, to take care of my daughter to better our lives, and maybe one day change the world to make it a better place.

Dominick 1:24:11

Well, you're already changing the world. So don't disappoint.

Maureen 1:24:21

I think there is something that Mark said that I may um uh in that what I sent you, um, a force to be reckoned with. And there is uh, you know, like that movie, you know, like the Wonder Woman movie, like the more recent ones, not not the 1980s Linda um Carter version, or I think that's her name. But that's something like that imagery is what stuck in my head for a very long time to help me become stronger. And then it's the you know, students like yourself, the faculty or professors pouring into me and just reaffirming that no, you were actually valued because that's the thing that domestic violence takes away from you is your value, your self-esteem. That's probably why I am happily single, because I don't want to have that vulnerability with someone to give them the opportunity to say something negative. Because I my reaction now would be probably not patient at all. You know.

Dominick 1:25:44

I want to do something fun for this episode. I'm gonna do some uh some a lightning round. Okay. Do you know what that is?

Maureen 1:25:52

No.

Dominick 1:25:52

Okay. Do I need to explain it to you as a um as a person who got an A in a in a woman's health class? I'm just gonna ask you just a series of questions and you answer them as it's like it's it's like speed dating, kinda. I don't know.

Maureen 1:26:08

Yeah, I've never done that before, but okay. One of my friends has encouraged me to do it. I told her, yeah, but you're in your 30s and I'm I'm 50. I think I've aged out of speed dating.

Dominick 1:26:18

No, there's there's no time like the present, in my opinion. Um okay. This is gonna be fun. All right. First question coffee or tea?

Maureen 1:26:28

Oh, that's tough. Both? Can I choose both? Sure. Both.

Dominick 1:26:35

Okay. Uh texting or calling.

Maureen 1:26:39

Uh well, you know, texting at first, but it eventually leads to calling. I know this is supposed to be one answer versus another. Um yeah. Calling. Wait, no. Text first before you call, unless you're Dominic Ramos future physician, then he can call.

Dominick 1:27:03

Sweet or savory?

Maureen 1:27:07

Savory.

Dominick 1:27:09

Tacos or pizza?

Maureen 1:27:11

Oh, tacos all the way.

Dominick 1:27:12

Pineapple on pizza, yes or no.

Maureen 1:27:16

Sometimes. Yes.

Dominick 1:27:17

Oh, ew.

Maureen 1:27:18

Yeah, sure, why not?

Dominick 1:27:20

Ugh. All right. Yeah. No, I don't like these answers. Okay. Um action or rom coms?

Maureen 1:27:31

Action all the way.

Dominick 1:27:37

Cooking at home or ordering takeout.

Maureen 1:27:44

Uh-huh. Both. I think it depends on school in session versus not.

Dominick 1:27:51

Yeah. Okay, this is not a this big question. We are a health podcast. Uh let us see. I don't want to ask that question. I don't want to ask that question. Oh, these sound like really good questions to ask. I don't want to ask this question. Um, are there any health or wellness resources you love? Yeah, freaking voodoo magic chiropractors. No, I can't I already answered that question for you already, so no. Um actually, this is a good one. What is uh what's your favorite way to keep fit and active?

Maureen 1:28:43

Um, well, walking on the beach would be ideal when it's not a hundred degrees out.

Dominick 1:28:50

We've had a lot of that this week.

Maureen 1:28:52

Yeah, yes, that was that was a struggle this week.

Dominick 1:28:55

Unbearable. It's mental health, May. What does mental health mean to you?

Maureen 1:29:06

That's a big question, Dominick.

Dominick 1:29:08

It is a very big question, but I want you to kind of like cut it down a little bit.

Maureen 1:29:16

Mental health. What does that mean to me? I would say you have to have some sort of self-awareness so that you can treat your um emotional side of life. Like, don't get so stressed out that you're going to fall apart and crumble in the corner. Find ways to relieve your stress first before you get to that point.

Dominick 1:29:45

What's the best decision that you have ever made for your health journey? Other than the voodoo magic practitioners.

Maureen 1:29:57

Somehow you knew I was gonna say that, didn't you? I don't know, Dominick. It all goes back to that one one chiropractor that I saw after I was in a car accident.

Dominick 1:30:10

Oh, fine. We can talk about the voodoo magic malpracticers. Go on, go for it. Yeah.

Maureen 1:30:21

Yeah. Definitely having someone to open my eyes to seeing a chiropractor.

Dominick 1:30:27

It's not that I don't have anything against chiropractors.

Maureen 1:30:30

I know. It's okay. Okay. It's okay.

Dominick 1:30:33

Yeah. I just think that they should not be prescribing or um pontificating or opining on anything that is out of their scope of practice, which is cracking backs. That's about it, you know?

Maureen 1:30:44

So that can go for anyone in the healthcare world, right? Maintain your scope of practice. Yeah. Yeah.

Dominick 1:30:55

I hate that word.

Maureen 1:30:56

Adjusting, not cracking. We're not eggs, right? Adjustments are healthy. Yeah. When you do it the right way, you know, get an x-ray first so that something isn't missed because you can't feel everything.

Dominick 1:31:14

I have a story for you about a voodoo magic practitioner that I think you'll appreciate. I used to volunteer with my granddad at these health fairs for veterans. I was essentially functioning like a medical assistant at the time. I was helping this one veteran. His name was Charlie. I was helping him through his intake. And I walked him through the health fair. He saw my grandma who took his vitals. He saw a bunch of other doctors. He saw my granddad. And mind you, this guy Charlie, he was a marine. 6'2, very stern, black gentleman, very nice. He was suffering from I don't even know what it was, but it was definitely like cervical spine pain. We had a chiropractor there offering um adjustments to people. Um he went to go see the chiropractor, forgot his name. He, you know, did his whole you know ritual ceremony, voodoo magic that I talk about. And I watched. And, you know, uh before that he was just going, oh, oh man, oh, oh, oh, I didn't like that. But when he had his neck twisted, I don't know the the appropriate terminology, but when he had his neck adjusted in one direction, this man's eyes lit up. It was like as if all the pain, all the all the baggage that he had been carrying was just like suddenly like lifted away from him. And I watched that man break down in tears. And it it was just so amazing.

Maureen 1:33:53

Yeah.

Dominick 1:33:54

Yeah. And that moment taught damn... How the hell did this guy learn this voodoo magic, you know? But really, it it it taught me how important this work is and how much I want to be there to be a part of that. I don't care what capacity it it's in. That just taught me a lot. So yeah, I do think voodoo has a place in medicine.

Maureen 1:34:32

It does.

Dominick 1:34:33

Yeah.

Maureen 1:34:34

Yeah. Especially if you go to New Orleans. There's definitely a lot of voodoo down there.

Dominick 1:34:39

Yeah. My last question for you. When you finally are are on the Ted stage giving your TED talk.

Maureen 1:34:53

Ted stage.

Dominick 1:34:57

What is the message that you want to leave your audience with?

Maureen 1:35:04

I never thought of that. That's a good question, Dominic. I would say probably two things. The first would be, um you know, when you have Jesus in your heart, you can overcome any challenge that's in front of you. Because that's your faith that's carrying through um whatever is in the way. And the second would be um an act of violence, whether it's on you as an adult or as a child, does not define who you are. It doesn't mean that you have to live constantly in the state of remembering. You can heal. There are ways to heal. You can get help. There's plenty of ways to get help. And certainly the biggest one, especially for domestic violence, it's okay to say no, this is not okay. You cannot do this to me, you cannot do this to my our child children. Whatever. You know what I'm saying? Because a lot of times women go back. And when women go back, unfortunately, that's when statistics go from surviving to being fatal. And that's something I never understood before I went through when what I went through. I never understood how someone could go back. But once you've been there, it's it makes sense when you have your livelihood stripped from you. You have your family and friends. Um, you are you essentially become isolated. Um oftentimes the offender is a manipulator and um a narcissist. There's a lot of gaslighting involved. So it's just learning how to identify those things so you don't repeat the same decision or find the same per same kind of person that would hurt you. And, you know, it you're not necessarily a victim. You survive something that's traumatic. So learn to live and embrace life and live life to the fullest because it's not meant to be sad. You know, the something that I read recently, which is a reminder, is that, you know, the same, the same God who gives you the sunsets and the sunrises and dolphins, or maybe your favorite dog, or bam, for you, is also the same God that designed you in his image. And there's no such thing as someone who's perfect. Even Dominic Ramos, future physician, is not perfect. We're all made in his image, and that's something perfectly imperfect, striving to be the best version of ourselves.

Dominick 1:38:42

Maureen, thank you so much for sitting with me.

Maureen 1:38:45

You're welcome, Dominick.

Dominick 1:38:48

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of Scrub Talk. Scrub Talk is produced by me, Dominic Ramos. If you like what you heard, please take a moment to leave a rating and review, and subscribe so you never miss an episode. A quick note before you go Scrub Talk is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing you hear on this show should be taken as medical advice. And nothing here establishes a patient-provider relationship. For anything medical, please consult with a qualified clinician who knows your situation. I'll see you on the next one.