From Burned Out to Reinvented: Building a Direct Specialty Care Practice with Dr. Traci DeSplinter

What if you don't actually need to leave medicine - you just need to practice it differently?

In this episode of Navigating Possibility, I’m joined by fellow OBGYN Dr. Traci DeSplinter, who is 25 years out of residency and has recently made a significant career pivot.

After years in employed general OBGYN practice, Traci found herself questioning whether she wanted to continue in a practice environment where the culture had changed and increasingly long shifts were taking a toll. But she also knew that she wasn't ready to give up the parts of medicine she loved most: caring for women over time and building meaningful, longitudinal relationships with her patients.

Rather than simply retiring or moving into hospitalist work, Traci created another possibility.

She launched a direct specialty care practice focused primarily on women in midlife, combining comprehensive gynecologic care with menopause management, metabolic health, weight management, and preventive care.

In this conversation, we talk about what it actually looks like to reinvent your medical career—including the emotional, financial, and logistical pieces that don't always get discussed.

In this episode, we explore:

• What prompted Traci to reconsider her career after 25 years in general OBGYN practice

• How changes in organizational culture and increasingly difficult call schedules influenced her decision

• Why hospitalist work wasn't the right fit for what she loved most about being an OBGYN

• How becoming a direct primary care patient herself introduced her to a different model of healthcare

• What direct specialty care looks like from both the physician and patient perspective

• Building a practice around longer visits, accessibility, and longitudinal relationships

• Why Traci chose to focus her practice on women in midlife

• The additional training she pursued in menopause care, lipid management, and obesity medicine

• How she is using a combination of direct care and locums work while building her new practice

• The unexpected lesson she learned from returning to obstetrics in a healthier work environment

• The importance of mentorship, coaching, networking, and finding a community when making a major career transition

• The imposter syndrome and self-doubt that can accompany starting something new

• Why reinventing your career doesn't mean you have to close the door on your previous career

• The importance of midlife preventive health and thinking about how we want to age

• Why it's never too late to create something new

One of my favorite parts of this conversation is Traci's realization that she wasn't necessarily burned out on obstetrics itself - she was burned out on the environment in which she was practicing it.

That distinction is so important.

Sometimes the answer isn't "I need to leave medicine." Sometimes it's "I need to figure out what needs to change."

And sometimes, as Traci demonstrates, the answer is creating an entirely new way to practice.

At 58, she is building a new professional chapter on her own terms - and her answer to the question, "What does possibility look like in your career right now?" is beautifully simple:

Hopeful. Boundless.

If you've been wondering whether it's too late to change direction, whether your skills can translate into something new, or whether there might be another way to practice medicine that better aligns with your values, I hope this conversation gives you some ideas to consider.

About Dr. Traci DeSplinter

Dr. Traci DeSplinter is a board-certified OBGYN with 25 years of experience in practice. She has transitioned from employed general OBGYN practice into direct specialty care focused primarily on women in midlife.

Her practice incorporates comprehensive gynecologic care, menopause management, metabolic health, weight management, and preventive care, with an emphasis on providing women with the time and access needed for more comprehensive care.

Website: www.refinedwomenshealth.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TraciDeSplinterMD

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/tracidesplintermd/

A question to consider

Are you actually ready to leave your career—or are you ready to change the way you're practicing it?

Sometimes those are two very different questions.

🤝 Work With Me

If this episode resonates, I'd love to talk about how we can work together.

I work 1:1 with women physicians who are:

• Burned out and questioning their future in medicine
• Navigating contract non-renewal or job loss
• Planning an intentional exit from clinical practice
• Exploring advocacy, leadership, or nonclinical career paths

✨ Schedule a free coaching consultation to explore what’s next.

About the Podcast Navigating Possibility — A Podcast for Women Physicians Ready to Reclaim Their Power

Navigating Possibility is the podcast for women physicians experiencing burnout, career dissatisfaction, or major transitions in medicine.

If you're a woman doctor considering leaving clinical practice, exploring nonclinical careers, or seeking a more sustainable and aligned path, this podcast is for you.

I’m Dr. Christina Adams—OB-GYN, physician coach, and former burned-out doctor. I help women physicians move from survival mode to self-trust, clarity, and empowered career decisions.

Each episode includes:

• Physician burnout recovery tools
• Nervous system regulation strategies for high-achieving women
• Conversations about leaving medicine or redesigning your role
• Coaching insight for intentional career transitions
• Advocacy conversations about systemic change in healthcare
• Real stories from women physicians redefining success

This is your space to breathe, reflect, and remember who you are beneath the white coat. You are not alone. There is a growing movement of women physicians reclaiming autonomy, identity, and possibility.

✨ Subscribe, share with a colleague, and help reshape the future of medicine.

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Keywords: 

physician career transition, physician burnout, women physicians, OBGYN career transition, physician entrepreneurship, direct specialty care, direct care practice, menopause care, midlife women's health, alternative careers for physicians, physician career change, reinventing your medical career