Hello! I'm
Susan MacLellan-Tobert
Susan MacLellan-Tobert, MD, PCC, is a retired pediatric cardiologist and International Coaching Federation–certified professional coach. She coaches physicians and healthcare leaders at the intersection of burnout, moral injury, and values-aligned leadership. She is the founder of Healing Edge Coaching, a coach instructor with the Physician Coaching Institute, and writes and speaks nationally on physician well-being and healthcare culture.
I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and attended medical school at the University of Alberta. I completed my residency and fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and went on to practice medicine in the Midwest for 28 years, including the final 22 years in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 2024, I retired from clinical practice to travel and spend more time with family.
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I am a Master Certified Physician Development Coach through the Physician Coaching Institute and a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. During my career, I had the privilege of leading the development of my health system’s internal physician coaching program, which also provides resilience training for residents. I regularly speak on topics related to healthcare worker burnout, suicide prevention, and work–life integration, and my writing has appeared on KevinMD and VITAL WorkLife Insights.
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Outside of my professional work, I enjoy Pilates, gardening, bird-watching, writing poetry, and spending time with my three grown daughters.
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My husband, who is also a retired physician, and I hovered near burnout for many years and ultimately found our way through it together. That shared experience became a turning point. It led me to explore coaching more deeply and, eventually, to found Healing Edge Coaching. Again and again, I saw that meaningful change didn’t come from pushing harder or fixing deficits, but from creating space—space to slow down, regulate, and reconnect with values and meaning that had been crowded out by urgency. Healing Edge Coaching was born at that threshold, where pressure meets possibility.
In my coaching work, I serve as a thought partner who comes alongside physicians and healthcare leaders to restore clarity, energy, and alignment. I help clients explore their values and strengths, loosen self-limiting beliefs, and develop a forward-moving, life-giving perspective—so they can lead and live from wholeness rather than depletion.