Inner Practice of Medicine 2025

What an honor to host this group of remarkable physicians in this weekend physician-only retreat. We learned from each other, shared our experiences in medicine and practiced new skills. Most importantly, we saw that our experiences in medicine, although through the lens of many different specialties, are similar in ways that allow us to support each other deeply. We saw that when we are given a safe space to open up and share, we are able to reconnect with our intentions to serve and know that we are not doing this alone.

Here are some comments the participants this year:

J.C., MD - Neurology "Inner Practice of Medicine was a healing and transformative experience. In just a few days, all the participants formed a tight and meaningful community. The wisdom shared both from the Upaya Zen Center teachers and from the physician participants will stay with me in my medical practice. I left with multiple concrete ideas for improving my own medical practice and my own well-being in and out of my professional life."

R.R.C., MD - Psychiatry "I went into this program knowing it would be a helpful and unique experience but it far exceeded my expectations. From the teachers to all the incredible colleagues that I met, the experiences were meaningful and valuable in ways that are hard to describe. It always felt safe to be vulnerable and speak our truths. I have never felt more appreciative and grateful and plan to return to Upaya for a future retreat."

Dr. O.L. journaling in the beautiful garden of Upaya Zen Center

J.L., MD - Palliative Medicine "This program provides important constructs to meet the suffering of patients and clinicians with integrity and enhance wellbeing."

A.G., MD - Infectious Diseases "This program helped me to resolve some deep suffering I was experiencing related to how my current job situation threatens my integrity as a physician and a person"

F.C., MD - Family Medicine "It was a hard weekend because seeing the truth about oneself and the world can be hard, but it is necessary. This unique experience allowed me to find kindred hearts; a rare community (but maybe many are looking for) where we share the love of healing… healing our patients and ourselves. The concepts and tools that were shared in this retreat might seem 'logical'… but aren't normal in our biomedical culture. These knowledges should be passed on to everyone that works in the healthcare system if we're looking to bring well being to our patients and ourselves. To end with a cliche, this would make the world a better place."

D.M., MD - Internal Medicine, Addiction Medicine "I came here not knowing what to expect. I am leaving today feeling connected, grounded, and grateful. I would highly recommend this program to all physicians."

J.S., MD - Hematology Oncology "Open mind to others different than you by age, gender, race and religion. Location promotes opportunity for stillness and silence"

E.S., MD - Emergency Medicine "Very open honest conversations about physicians and our challenges with our own well being. This openness will translate to our patients and how we care for them. Thank you for creating this space."

J.O., MD - Radiation Oncology "This retreat was the most meaningful and supportive experience of my career. I've never felt so understood, connected, or grounded among colleagues who are usually guarded and competitive. It reminded me why I chose this path and gave me a sense of renewal I didn't know I needed."

M.B., MD - Pediatric Surgery "There is such an enormous need to address the epidemic of healer distress. This program is unique in not only defining the issues, but in equipping clinicians with the tools they need to continue their work and train the next generation."

O.L., MD - Emergency Medicine "The retreat was a transformative and grounding experience for me. It provided me the opportunity to truly slow down the pace of my thought, examine it, and reframe and rejuvenate it in a way that is both kind and generous to myself. It tremendously helped me with my feeling of helplessness, and I believe other physicians will also benefit tremendously from this retreat."

D.N., DO - Emergency Medicine "This program can help physicians be more effective and compassionate and help prevent physician attrition due to burnout."

A.T., DO - IM/Peds "Inner Practice of Medicine was a great conference/retreat for physicians struggling with connecting to their initial intention for practicing medicine. It allowed for focused reflection on the medical system, barriers, supports and ways forward for addressing issues in our field. I think for those ready for this reflection, it is a wonderful opportunity."

K.M., MD - Emergency Medicine (Resident) "This program came at such a pivotal time for me. In contrast to typical wellness culture, which often asks us to do more modules, trainings, and tasks outside of work, the focus of this retreat was self-stewardship, physician distress, and looking inward, which was refreshing and liberating. Nearing the end of residency, listening to a room full of physicians share their innumerable lessons learned from many combined years of practice was so grounding. It gave meaning to the cliche that we cannot heal others until we heal ourselves. Medical education, despite its recent efforts, does not equip us with the mental toolkit to foster resilience and agency amidst a collapsing healthcare system. This retreat gave me the seeds for those tools, and the motivation to water them."

J.H., MD - Pediatrics "It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with physicians who are dedicated to serving the underserved and interested in contemplation and reflection. I was inspired by everyone's open heartedness and vulnerability. Together we found meaning out of the madness and found comfort in each other."

C.T., MD - Family Medicine "This program served as a beacon of hope in what can be seen as an increasingly bleak landscape of medical practice for American physicians. Tools for transforming and working with the pain and suffering that, as physicians, we inadvertently accumulate in our training and in our daily medical practices, are simply not taught in a meaningful way for the vast majority of physicians. The outcome of that is harmful to our health as physicians and is negatively impactful on our patient care. The retreat provided an introduction to a framework for practice that engenders healing as well as an opportunity for reconnecting with our personal intentions and values. It was a nurturing experience."

C.S., MD - Pediatrics, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry "It is so rare to have time to pause and reflect in medicine, much less with a group of insightful physicians from different specialities who share the heavy burden of practicing in a system that thwarts our deepest intention to serve. This retreat nourished the deep commitment to medicine and to supporting the broader community of humans who have been called to heal. I have such deep gratitude for this experience- it was life affirming."

L.H., MD - Surgical Breast Oncology "I greatly benefited from participating in the Inner Practice of Medicine conference at Upaya Zen Center. I became interested in the conference because of the value I've found in Buddhist teachings for my personal and professional life and the conference looked to be a good way to connect with other like-minded providers. I was not disappointed. This conference should be required for all medical students and all providers as a refresher course every few years. To me, the goal of the conference is to reinvigorate us as physicians and to get us back in touch with the healing part of medicine. We are so caught up in the relentless daily frustration of our practices that we have almost completely lost the ability to draw on our healing capacity. This course forces us to re-examine how we practice and gives us practical tools to stay centered, remain calm in the non-stop operational and administrative challenges, and to focus on what we have been trained to do; to heal patients. The setting of Upaya is so serene and perfectly supports this kind of contemplative practice. I have experience with mediation and basic Buddhist principles but if a physician didn't have that same exposure, they would still find the subject and tools important and useful. There were a couple of highlights for me. Firstly, the ability to formally practice in the zendo (and to practice with others) was a sacred experience for me. It brought my meditation practice to a higher level which I was able to bring home with me. Secondly, being at the conference with providers from many other specialties was a new and wonderful experience for me. This dynamic allowed us to draw and mutually learn from all our individual stories and experiences which deepened the conversations."

Inner Practice of Medicine program reflections