The Defiant Career
Medical Culture Wasn't Designed For You. Your Career Strategy Should Be
The Defiant Career is a podcast about career strategy for women in medicine, hosted by Dr. Qaali Hussein, a double board-certified trauma surgeon and mom of six, that teaches women physicians how to advance their careers, navigate hostile workplace cultures, and avoid burnout.
Listen to every episode.
Hit play below for the latest episode.
Submit a Question
Got a question you wouldn't ask out loud?
Ask it here. I'll answer it on the show. Anonymously, if you want.
The best questions on this show come from women dealing with something they can't talk about openly — a workplace situation, a relationship decision, a family-timing question, a piece of advice they keep getting that doesn't sit right. Tell me what's going on. I read every one personally.
The kinds of questions I'm looking for:
- A career decision you're weighing and the tradeoffs you can't quite name
- A life decision — relationship, family timing, caregiving, health, money — that you know is going to shape your career
- A workplace situation you're navigating that you can't talk through openly
- A piece of advice you keep getting that doesn't sit right, and you want a counter-perspective
- A moment of bias or discrimination you're still deciding how to respond to
- The sense that you don't belong in the room, and whether it's you or the room
- A question about applying the Defiant Career Strategy to your specific situation
Your name stays private.
By default, I read questions anonymously. I describe the situation — the industry, the role, the dynamic — without ever naming you. Your email is only so I can let you know if your question gets featured. Never shared, never sold.
If you're sitting on a question and wondering whether it's worth submitting — submit it. The questions women hesitate to ask are usually the ones a hundred other women are also wondering about. You're not the only one. You might just be the one who asked.
About the Host
Dr. Qaali Hussein
Dr. Qaali Hussein is a double board-certified trauma surgeon, founder of Defiance Academy, and host of The Defiant Career, a podcast about career strategy for women in medicine. She is the creator of the Defiant Career Strategy and the author of DEFIANCE: A Career Strategy for Women the Rules Weren't Written For. She practices trauma surgery full-time and is a mother of six.
