If you’ve ever wondered “Who am I when I’m not my role?” or “What comes after medicine?” this is the episode you want in your ears.

Today, I sit down with my dear friend Dr. Anne Pendo — internist, former chief wellness officer, certified physician coach, grandmother-with-a-tea-set, and lifelong hope giver — to talk about something we don’t talk about enough:

Life… after.

After the pager.
After the identity.
After the decades of being the one people turn to.
After the grief that rearranges your entire insides.
After the moment when you say, “I can’t keep doing this the way I’ve always done it.”

Anne shares how she spent more than 30 years in medicine asking herself four questions:

What matters most?
Who am I serving?
Am I making a difference?
And what’s the cost?

Those questions stayed with her through leadership, culture change, and personal tragedy.
They stayed with her after her son Robbie died.
And they stayed with her when she realized she couldn’t “work her way through” that grief — that the only way forward was to feel it fully and trust the helpers around her.

And eventually, those same four questions led her toward something new.

Not a quitting.
Not a losing herself.
Not a walking away.

But a gentle, honest, deeply intentional choosing of a life after medicine that still holds purpose, connection, presence, and meaning.

In this conversation, Anne talks about:

What surprised her most when she stepped away from clinical practice
Why she didn’t miss it — and what that told her
How she learned to rest for the first time since 1975 (yes, really)
The moment a Christmas card cracked her heart open and whispered: this is what you want more of
Being a “warm blanket” presence and why that matters in every kind of healing
How coaching became a natural extension of who she already was
The tiny joys — bedtime songs, tea parties with Eloise, Olive and Ollie’s therapy dog rounds — that keep her anchored now
And what it means to continue your purpose, even when your job title changes

This episode is tender and honest and full of the kind of wisdom that only comes from someone who has truly lived through the dark and still chooses hope — on purpose.

If you’re in a season of transition, grief, burnout, or asking yourself what comes next… you’ll feel so seen here.

Connect with Dr. Anne Pendo

Website: https://www.annependomd.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annependo/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annependomd/

Stay Connected with Chrissie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissieottmd
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solvingforjoypodcast
Website: https://www.chrissieottmd.com

🎧 Full transcript + more at: https://www.solvingforjoy.com

For Physician Coaches

Physician Coaching Collective: https://www.physiciancoachingcollective.com
Physician Coaching Summit: https://www.thephysiciancoachingsummit.com

Music by Denys Kyshchuk (AudioCoffee): https://www.audiocoffee.net

Life After Medicine: Dr. Anne Pendo on Purpose, Presence and The Four Questions Every Physician Should Consider