COVID-19 as a Stress Test on Healthcare

CPSolvers: Antiracism in Medicine Series

Episode 29 – Clinician Burnout, Racial Health Inequities, and Reincorporating Rest into the Profession

Show Notes by Asya Pitre

October 29, 2025

Summary: In this episode, hosts Ashley Cooper and Sud Krishnamurthy sit down with Dr. Kriti Prasad and Dr. Khaalisha Ajala to talk about the heavy toll of clinician burnout, how it intersects with racial inequities in healthcare, and why reclaiming rest needs to be treated as both a personal and systemic priority. Together, they explore how exhaustion, moral injury, and structural racism are intertwined, and how these forces not only affect providers but also shape patient outcomes. The conversation explores both big-picture policy ideas and practical steps for everyday advocacy and healing.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions

2:30 Origin Stories

9:07 Research Study of Burnout in Healthcare Workers

14:05 Advocating for and Humanizing Patients

22:07 COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Clinician Burnout  

28:19 Research: The Blueprint for Overcoming Burnout Exists

34:00 Policies to Ameliorate Clinician Burnout

39:08 Destigmatizing Mental Health Among Healthcare Workers

48:00 Nonprofit organization: A Tribe Called Health

56:00 Closing Remarks 

Credits

• Written and produced by: Ashley Cooper, Sudarshan Krishnamurthy, and Team
• Hosts: Ashley Cooper and Sudarshan Krishnamurthy
• Infographic and Audio Edits: Ashley Cooper
• Show Notes: Asya Pitre
• Guest: Dr. Kriti Prasad & Dr. Khaalisha Ajala

Guest Biographies:

• Dr. Kriti Prasad is an Internal Medicine and Primary Care Resident at Boston Medical Center and volunteer faculty at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Her research focuses on clinician stress and burnout, antiracism in medical education, and trauma-responsive care. She hopes to practice as a primary care and palliative care physician in safety-net settings.

• Dr. Khaalisha Ajala is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University and Assistant Site Director of Education for Hospital Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital. A leader in DEI initiatives, she has built mentorship programs for underrepresented students, is a global health educator, and is founder of A Tribe Called Health, a nonprofit blending hip-hop culture with health advocacy.

Episode Takeaways

• Dr. Prasad and Dr. Ajala share how their personal journeys, families, and communities drew them into medicine and continue to inspire their advocacy.

• Dr. Prasad’s research reveals that nearly half of healthcare workers experienced burnout during the pandemic, with women, Black, and Latinx clinicians reporting higher rates of burnout. Traditional measures of burnout may not capture the unique challenges faced by minoritized providers.
• Both guests highlight how implicit bias can show up when clinicians are stretched thin, and how advocacy at the bedside and through our notes can counteract harm. Exhaustion and moral injury ripple outward, influencing not just clinician well-being but also patient care and health inequities.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep issues in our healthcare system and left lasting trauma for providers. 

• Dr. Ajala shares how her nonprofit, A Tribe Called Health, reflects the intersection of her passions for hip-hop and medicine.

• From reducing administrative burdens and strengthening resident unions to normalizing mental health support, the guests underscore the importance of systemic change. On a more personal level, they emphasize building community, incorporating wellness into training, and helping clinicians reconnect with the “North Star” that first called them to medicine. Honoring your humanity is a form of advocacy for yourself and your patients.

References

1. Ajala, K. (2022, September 1). The Blueprint for Overcoming Burnout Exists. The Hospitalist, Society of Hospital Medicine. https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/33039/practice-management/the-blueprint-for-overcoming-burnout-exists/
2. Lawrence, J. A., Davis, B. A., Corbette, T., Hill, E. V., Williams, D. R., & Reede, J. Y. (2021). Racial/Ethnic Differences in Burnout: A Systematic Review. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 9(1), 257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00950-0
3. Khullar, D., Prasad, K., Neprash, H., Poplau, S., Brown, R. L., Williams, E. S., Audi, C., & Linzer, M. (2022). Factors associated with patient trust in their clinicians: Results from the healthy work place study. Health Care Management Review, 47(4), 289–296. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35170482/ 
4. LeClaire, M. M., Poplau, S., Prasad, K., Audi, C., Freese, R., & Linzer, M. (2019). Low ICU burnout in a safety net hospital. Critical Care Explorations, 1(5), e0014. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6927682/ 
5. Prasad, K., McLoughlin, C., Stillman, M., Poplau, S., Goelz, E., Taylor, S., Nankivil, N., Brown, R., Linzer, M., Cappelucci, K., Barbouche, M., & Sinsky, C. A. (2021). Prevalence and correlates of stress and burnout among U.S. healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national cross-sectional survey study. eClinicalMedicine, 35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100879
6. Prasad, K., Poplau, S., Brown, R., Yale, S., Grossman, E., Varkey, A. B., Williams, E., Neprash, H., Linzer, M., & for the Healthy Work Place (HWP) Investigators. (2020). Time Pressure During Primary Care Office Visits: A Prospective Evaluation of Data from the Healthy Work Place Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(2), 465–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05343-6
7. Prasad, K., & Prasad, P. (2023). Affective Solidarity and Trauma-Informed Possibilities: A Comparative Analysis of the Classroom and the Clinic 1. In Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education (pp. 69–88). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003260776-7/affective-solidarity-trauma-informed-possibilities-kriti-prasad-pritha-prasad

Disclosures 

The hosts and guests report no relevant financial disclosures.

Citation

Ajala K, Prasad K, Krishnamurthy S, Cooper A, Pitre A, “Episode 29: Clinician Burnout, Racial Health Inequities, and Reincorporating Rest into the Profession” The Clinical Problem Solvers Podcast – Antiracism in Medicine Series. https://clinicalproblemsolving.com/antiracism-in-medicine/. October 29, 2025.

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