Why Ignoring Intuition Is Hurting Clinicians (and Patients)

There’s a moment every physician and clinician knows.

If you’ve spent time in a cath lab, an ICU, an OR, or making high-stakes decisions under pressure, you’ve felt it. A tightening in the chest. A quiet pause at the table. A sense that something isn’t right, even when the vitals look stable and the protocol says proceed.

And too often, we override it.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Sam Propper

01:13 Sam's Journey and Career Pivots

03:57 Navigating Challenges and Doubts

05:06 The Cath Lab Experience

12:08 Becoming an Educator

18:18 Creativity and Intuition in Medicine

24:47 Magical Synergy in the Cath Lab

26:00 The Importance of Intuition and Gut Checks

26:52 Creating Educational Resources for Medical Training

27:25 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Creativity

28:22 Challenges and Rewards of Teaching

29:01 The Impact of Visual Learning

30:55 Balancing Compassion and Professionalism

32:46 Navigating the Medical Field with Intuition

38:29 Encouraging Change and Self-Trust

41:03 Personal Stories and Emotional Connections

44:23 Living with an Open Heart

45:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In modern medicine, clinical intuition is rarely named, rarely taught, and often dismissed. Training rewards certainty, speed, and control. But intuition quietly informs some of the most consequential decisions we make as physicians and clinicians. Ignoring it doesn’t just cost alignment. It can cost safety, creativity, and connection to the patient in front of us.

In this conversation, I sit down with Samantha Propper, a cath lab technologist turned award-winning educator and entrepreneur, and one of the earliest supporters of Open Heart. Sam’s path didn’t follow a straight line, and that’s the point. From years at the cath lab table to the classroom to founding Don’t Miss a Beat, her work has shaped how cardiac teams are trained, how they communicate, and how they advocate for patients.

At its core, this is a reminder for those of us practicing medicine today. Healing is not purely mechanical. It is relational. It is embodied.

If you are a physician, cardiologist, nurse, technologist, or clinician who has ever felt that quiet inner pull during patient care and wondered whether it belonged in medicine at all, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Samantha Propper and Don’t Miss a Beat

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dontmissabeat.youtube

Website and Textbooks: https://dontmissabeat.store

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontmissabeat

Facebook: https://facebook.com/dontmissabeat

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/dontmissabeat/posts/?feedView=all

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