Life on autopilot. Intense guilt that comes from even questioning your happiness with privileges like yours. A feeling of not being present in a way you would love to be at home. A professional life that requires way more self-sacrifice than you’re comfortable with. If you said “yes!” to any of these (or all of them), Understory was built for you—and you belong here.
The system may never change. But the way you operate within it can. (Wild thought, we know.)
While you’re doing an incredible amount of good in this world, you’ve lost sight of your needs along the way (likely under all those stacks of paperwork to fill out and dishes to do). You’re running on empty and feeling numb—but yours isn’t exactly the kind of physician burnout a spa day can fix (no matter how good the massage). You know something needs to change… but understanding how to get off the hamster wheel and back to the sense of meaning you’re seeking? That’s a thought you barely have the energy for.
If you’re ready to find your inner compass and remember yourself again—this is your place.
…with online courses that don’t promise to teach you how to “have it all”—but simply offer real women doctors real relief.
We aren’t here to encourage you to “level up” or “be a badass”—the world demands that of you enough. Instead, we built our collection of CME-accredited online courses around one simple goal: to help you learn to listen to yourself and create the kind of change that leaves you feeling refreshed and reconnected as a result.
These aren’t your typical self-care courses left to die in your inbox. Built by and for doctors, women have called our courses “literally a life-changer.” We replace burnout bandaids and empty mindfulness trends with practical, real-life guidance.
Designed to offer real results (Yes, it actually helps)
On top of much-needed relief, a supportive community and a thoughtfully-curated care package delivered right to your doorstep (say what?)—each of our online courses also offers CME credits for physicians.
CME-accredited
Yes, you get CME credits (bonus!)
Our online courses are built with a deep respect for your time (think: bite-sized, distilled information). Varying formats designed to fit into your busy lifestyle allow you to engage in a way that aligns with your schedule (because it's high time things got a little easier for you).
Suited to your schedule (Yes, you have the time)
Find lasting support, meaningful connections and the much-needed experience of finally listening to yourself
“Fabulous course. It really helped me prioritize my real goals and desires in life – not the ones I’m told I’m supposed to have, but my true, big picture goals and desires”
Helped me prioritize my real goals
Dr Claire P.
“This course will open your eyes to the bigger picture of your life and reawaken the dreams that got overshadowed by medicine. It will feel uncomfortable opening up and remembering, but by the end, you’ll be inspired to live life a bit more intentionally.”
Dr Maelle L.
Inspired to live life
“I didn’t know how much I needed this until I started working through the exercises and realized how out of sync I was.”
Dr Lauren A.
I needed this
Not sure where to start? Try bookending your work day with this sanity-saving freebie.
You read that right—it’s FREE
Snag two short-and-sweet (and super effective) audio lessons to listen to before and after work while you’re chugging coffee or trying desperately to decompress. The first helps you tap into the resilience you already have within you—the second encourages you to find rest and ease before you return home. Meditations? Sure. Mindfulness exercises? Yup. Just the potent, punch-packing practice you need to finally start reclaiming your joy? Now we’re talking.
This is a self-paced digital course that arrives in your inbox over 8-weeks. In a world where busyness abounds, we wrote Revive to help brilliant female physicians come back home to themselves. This course includes 8 CERT+ Mainpro credits (CFPC approved), and Understory's foundation package of essential goodies to support your rediscovery.
Revive
Join us whenever you heart desires.
Come join us for some deep diving
Our Signature Offering
The Immersive
A 12-month course for women doctors who are ready to own (or stop disowning) the state of their emotional well-being. Each month explores one theme and comes with 4 CFPC Mainpro+ credits monthly alongside an insular cocoon to explore the human experience in community through a 90-minute Zoom session facilitated by world renknown experts.
Years of change and emergency measures have left so many of us feeling completely drained, and for those at the frontline, it can be hard to step back and take stock. This workshop is all about permission: permission to consider how you feel in this moment; permission to reconnect with your original passions and motivations; permission to delve into the disconnect between then and now, the sense of loss and bewilderment that comes when our work feels impossible.
The Winter Compass
September 10th, 2022 10am - 1pm
A course for women doctors who are feeling trapped, overwhelmed and out of control of their own emotional well-being—Empower gives you an actionable approach for taking back your power both at work and home, regardless of what’s thrown your way. Back by popular demand, this course runs October and November 2023 again!
Empower
Starts: October 11, 2023
Past Courses
SOLD OUT!
BACK AGAIN!
We understand just how many balls you have in the air (in the form of messages in your EMR inbox, stacks of paperwork staring you down and loads of laundry awaiting your return home)... and we’re here to empower you with the tools you need to re-group and renew yourself.
Founded by two women doctors, Understory is an accredited non-profit that offers women in medicine a safe space to explore the needs they’ve long neglected. Fewer pain points, more aha! moments—here you come.
The Understory Story
Hit pause and reflect
