Are you a primary care or hospitalist doc charting at 11 p.m., staring at RVUs, and wondering, “Is this it?”

In this episode, Dr. Nadia Sirdar, an internal medicine physician and founder of Bethesda Modern Primary Care, shares how she walked away from hospital medicine to build a Direct Primary Care practice that actually feels human again.

We get into:

• The breaking point: The exact moments that made her realize volume-driven hospital medicine was costing her joy, family, and health.

• Finding DPC (and her tribe): How one podcast and one DPC Summit turned “someday” into a launch date and gave her a new community overnight.

• Building a non-elitist clinic: How she navigated the “concierge vs DPC” branding tension to create a practice that’s relationship-based, prevention-focused, and accessible.

• Her clinical niche--menopause & perimenopause: Why midlife women are falling through the cracks in traditional care, and how longer visits + deep relationships change everything.

• Replacing hospital camaraderie: The role of the DPC community, local events, and even her kids passing out flyers at farmers markets in keeping her motivated on hard days.

  
  

If you’re a physician quietly dreaming of DPC but scared to leave the system, this conversation is a roadmap and a reality check.

Guest Resources & Socials

Website: bethesdadoctor.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnadiasirdar/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/drnadiasirdar

FB: https://www.facebook.com/nadiasirdarmd/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drnadiasirdar

You can book a free 15-minute discovery call with Dr. Sirdar to see if Bethesda Modern Primary Care is the right fit for you.

If this episode hits home and you’re “DPC curious,” get my free 5-Day DPC Confidence Course: short daily emails with specific actions to go from “maybe someday” to a concrete plan.

👉 DM me “COURSE” on Instagram or go to https://harmonyopshealth.com/dpc-confidence-course to enroll.

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If you're an employed physician feeling dissatisfied, a DPC dreamer preparing to leap, or a mom balancing family and a new practice, this episode is your guide to embracing the required entrepreneurial transformation.Dr. Una shares her personal journey from pediatrician to seven-figure business owner and provides the mindset shifts and concrete strategies necessary to thrive in your practice and your life.Who it's for:Physicians feeling the "nudge" toward something more than the employed status quo.DPC founders who are struggling with marketing, sales, or work-life balance.Moms in medicine who feel pressure to "do it all alone".You’ll learn:

• How to use introversion as a superpower and manage your social energy by defining it as recharging in solitude.

• Why the "gravitational pull of your former self is real" and how to intentionally fight the habit of reverting to old behaviors.

• The critical necessity of defining your business goals to clearly identify distractions, making it easy to say no to non-aligned opportunities.

• How to build a "home team" to take care of household demands, understanding that there is "no award category for mom that did it alone".

• Why focusing on the right discomfort (like marketing) is essential, as your comfort zone is where the status quo lives.

• The danger of having a "safety net" job and how your backup plan can become your real plan, hindering your growth and commitment.

Guest:Dr. Una, founder of EntreMD, host of The EntreMD Podcast, two-time best-selling author, and pediatrician who helps physicians build profitable businesses.Want help taking the first steps?Dr. Una encourages physicians to remember their proven capacity for dramatic transformation and to find the next step and start taking it. Stop waiting and let your future 90-year-old self be your motivation.DM me “DPC” on Instagram and I’ll send you my Dr. Una companion workbook + the 5-Day DPC Confidence Course: short, residency-friendly emails with concrete daily actions to move you toward opening.Guest links:Website: https://entremd.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/entremds/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrUnachukwuLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/druna/

If you’re a resident dreaming of DPC or an early DPC doc staring at an empty panel, this episode is your proof that you can start from nothing and still win.

Dr. Catherine Lok opened River Rock Clinic in Asheville with zero patients, got hit by a clinic-destroying hurricane, and still built a thriving, values-aligned DPC micropractice

Who it’s for:

• Residents planning to launch a DPC straight out of training

• Early-stage DPC docs who need reassurance, strategy, and proof that you can build from nothing.

  
  

You’ll learn:

• How Dr. Lok opened with zero patients, survived a clinic-destroying hurricane, and still built River Rock Clinic in Asheville, NC.

• The one thing she wishes she’d done sooner

• Why networking outperforms ads for patient growth.

• How SEO + local-specific blogs filled her schedule fast and the exact blog topic that performed best.

• The power of micro practice creativity: shaping your day, your clinic flow, and your life with intention.

• Her approach to mutual aid, community collaboration, and combating DPC isolation

• Practical tips on labs, OMT as an access funnel, and reducing specialty referrals with time-rich care.

Guest:Dr. Catherine Lok, founder of River Rock Clinic DPC (Asheville, NC). DO, integrative-leaning primary care, OMT practitioner, champion of DPC mutual aid and community-building.

Want help taking the first steps?

DM me “DPC” on LinkedIn and I’ll send you the 5-Day DPC Confidence Course: short, residency‑friendly emails with concrete daily actions to move you toward opening.

Guest links:

Website: riverrockclinic.com

Email available on site for DPC questions & meet-and-greets.