Physician Women's Conference
Physician Women's Conference
Unmasking: What Holds Us Back
Unmasking: What Holds Us Back is a thoughtfully curated conference centering the voices and experiences of women physicians. Together, we explore the societal expectations, institutional barriers, and inner voices that shape our professional and personal lives. This conference is both a reckoning and a celebration, honoring what we have endured while creating space for authenticity, connection, and forward movement.
Keynote Speaker
Mel Thacker, MD, PCC, DipABLM is a double board-certified ENT surgeon and lifestyle medicine physician, certified Wayfinder Master Coach, and cofounder of The Hippocratic Collective. She is the host of Surgeons with Purpose and a two-time TEDx speaker, whose work illuminates the psychological, cultural, and identity forces shaping a surgeon’s life.
Her mission is simple and radical: to humanize the culture of surgery from the inside out. Through coaching, storytelling, and systems thinking, she helps surgeons love themselves fiercely, protect themselves as the asset, and step into a life guided not by fear or duty, but by courage and inner truth.
Speakers
Melisa Boersma, MD
Dr. Melisa Boersma is a physician, educator, and speaker whose career embodies excellence, resilience, and purpose. A former Division I athlete at Stanford University, she earned All-American honors in diving, led her team as co-captain, and competed at the national level. She holds a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford, an M.S. in Biochemistry, and an M.D., completing her radiation oncology residency in San Antonio. Board-certified in Radiation Oncology and Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Dr. Boersma serves as Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Kansas Comprehensive Cancer Center and Clinical Director of Radiation Oncology at KUCC North. She is a national advocate, educator, and researcher, recognized for her contributions to community-based oncology and physician well-being. As a professional mindset coach, she inspires audiences to harness resilience, clarity, and aligned energy to move beyond overwhelm and create meaningful impact in medicine and life.
Radiation Oncology
Elizabeth Woods, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Woods is a pediatric physician, executive leader, and passionate advocate for trauma-informed care and physician wellness. She leads innovative behavioral health initiatives—from crisis stabilization to integrated outpatient services—designing care models that prioritize safety, connection, and family engagement. In her career as an Army physician, hospital medical director, and academic educator, Dr. Woods has trained and mentored healthcare teams, launched high-impact programs, and built partnerships across communities, and health systems to expand access for vulnerable populations. Beyond her clinical and leadership roles, she empowers women physicians to lead with resilience, integrate well-being into demanding careers, and thrive while making a lasting impact, championing cultures where dignity, safety, equality and belonging are non-negotiable and enabling caregivers to flourish as they heal others. She is currently serving as Chief Medical Officer of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Program.
Pediatrics, Executive Medicine
Ana Macdowell, MD
Allergy, ImmunologyDr. Ana MacDowell is a certified life coach for women physicians and board-certified allergist. After years in clinical medicine, she recognized what so many mid-career physicians quietly experience: professional success on paper, paired with exhaustion, frustration, and a growing sense of misalignment. Through her coaching work and platform, The Resilient MD, Dr. MacDowell helps women physicians slow down, gain clarity, and reconnect with the version of themselves they’ve been too busy to hear. Her approach blends medical insight, mindset work, and practical strategy—without guilt, pressure, or hustle culture.
Known for her calm, grounded presence and thoughtful guidance, Dr. MacDowell creates space for honest reflection and meaningful change. She helps physicians recognize the thoughts driving burnout, redefine success on their own terms, and build lives that feel sustainable, aligned, and deeply fulfilling. Dr. MacDowell believes resilience isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about choosing differently. Her work empowers women physicians to reclaim their time, energy, and sense of self, one intentional decision at a time.
Anissa Rahman, MD
Palliative Care, Artist, Certified CoachBio Coming.
From Perfection to Presence: Exploring Mindfulness Through Art
A Mindfulness Workshop on Releasing Perfectionism, Hands-On Reflection, and Exploring Self, Calm, and Creativity for Women Physicians
Bekah McNeel
Journalist, AuthorBekah Stolhandske McNeel is from Austin, Texas, where she works as a journalist. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly, Sojourners, The Guardian, The Trace, The Texas Tribune, and more. Known for her ability to communicate the high stakes of politics and policy and bring clarity to complex systems, Bekah keeps the human beings most affected at the front of her coverage. Bekah is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where she earned a MSc in Media Studies. She is married to Lewis McNeel, an architect with Lake | Flato. They have two young children who, while they do not yet have careers, are very busy.
"If you see me at a party and I'm speaking, you need to come rescue the person I'm talking to, because they are not having a good time. Or better yet, I would like to invite you, the reader, into the corner with me to talk about the story I write over and over again: People are suffering."
This is Going to Hurt, among other books Bekah has authored offer a humbling space for assessing how we examine human suffering.
Michelle Powers, MD
Michelle Powers, MD, MBA, grew up in the Texas Panhandle and developed the classic physician habit of always looking toward the next goal, the next milestone, the next thing to accomplish. She earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed her pathology residency at Washington University in St. Louis. She currently practices as a pathologist in Oklahoma City.
Along the way, life added a few unplanned chapters. Michelle has survived Hodgkin lymphoma twice and underwent an autologous stem cell transplant, experiences that profoundly reshaped how she views medicine, ambition, and what it means to truly live well.
Outside the microscope, Michelle teaches yoga and works as a life coach, helping others navigate burnout, identity shifts, and the messy reality of being human in a high-performing profession. She brings a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, a touch of irreverence, and a deep commitment to helping people build lives that feel meaningful, not just successful.
Michelle believes healing extends beyond diagnoses and resumes, and that real growth often begins when we slow down enough to ask better questions about how we want to live.
Pathologist, Certified Coach, Yoga Instructor
Preliminary Speaking Engagements
Mel Thacker, MD- The Surgeon Coach, TEDx speaker, ENT
Keynote, Imposter Syndrome
Melisa Boersma, MD — Radiation Oncologist, Speaker, Coach
Drop the Cancer Story. Be A Human
The Best Version of YOU is doing what you LOVE: Where are you Exceptional?
Sonya Sloane MD —Orthopedic Surgeon, Speaker, Philanthropist
The Rules of Medicine: Racism & Gender (delayed to 2027 conference)
Sara Coffey, DO — Psychiatrist, Chair, Author
Unmasked & (Unpacked): Our Collective Experience During Turbulent Times
Amy Emerson, MD — Pediatrician, Birth to 6, State-Level Advocacy
On Her Terms: A Physician’s Path to Advocacy & Impact Beyond Clinical Practice
Ana Macdowell, MD — Allergy & Immunology, Certified Coach, The Resilient MD
When You Hate Your Patient: The Emotional Cost of Unsustainable Practice
Bekah McNeel — Author, Journalist
·Lies, Likes, and Lives: Medical Misinformation in the Digital Age
Shamed in the Spotlight: Media Scrutiny, Online Ratings, and the Gendered Burden on Women Physicians
Michelle Powers, MD SURVIVOR, Cancer Patient, Pathologist, Certified Coach
How to Keep Moving Forward When It’s Dripping in your Shoes: Surviving Cancer, Life and Medicine.
Leading Yoga Session
Anissa Rahman, MD — Palliative Care, Artist, Certified Coach
From Perfection to Presence: Exploring Mindfulness Through Art
A Mindfulness Workshop on Releasing Perfectionism, Hands-On Reflection, and Exploring Self, Calm, and Creativity for Women Physicians
Kristen Rice, MD — Dermatologist
Unmasking the Pressure: Science, Self-Care, and Shedding Shame
Elizabeth Woods, MD — Pediatrician, Executive Leader
Shedding the Mask: Breaking Barriers and Unlocking Potential for Women Physicians
Facing the Spotlight: Navigating Malpractice, False Accusations, and Professional Vulnerability as Women Physicians
Amanda Sheffield Morris, Ph.D., IMH-E®
Regents Professor, George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair
Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology
Director of OSU-Tulsa Psychology, Academic Council President
ACES, PACES & The Physician Woman
Additional speakers to be announced soon!
Psychiatry, Author, LeaderSara Coffey, DO
Dr. Coffey is an Associate Clinical Professor and Anne and Henry Zarrow Endowed Leadership Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences. Dr. Coffey completed her adult psychiatry residency at the University of Chicago and her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the Harvard Medical School's Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Coffey has served as a consultant to the Department of Mental Health in assistance with the implementation of Oklahoma Health Homes. In this line of work, Dr. Coffey served as an expert in collaborative care models and best practices of integration and collaboration. Dr. Coffey has also served on the executive team as the Director of Clinical Operations for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare. Dr. Coffey is currently the Medical Director for Oklahoma's Statewide Psychiatry Access Resources and Knowledge Line (SPARK) and the Behavioral Health Medical Director for OSU's Health Access Network. Dr. Coffey is the Lead of OSU's Help for the Healer ECHO.
