Sarah Lea, MD, CEC, is a family and addiction medicine physician, Certified Executive Coach (Royal Roads University), TEDx speaker, and host of The Expanded MD podcast. She has additional training in resilience and leadership wellness through the Leadership Wellness Group and is a Certified Meditation Instructor, blending evidence-based leadership frameworks with mindfulness practice.

With over a decade of experience in clinical medicine, quality improvement, physician onboarding and education, and medical staff leadership development, Sarah knows the pressures of medicine from the inside: the blurred boundaries, the culture of self-sacrifice, and the quiet toll of burnout. A self-described recovering overachiever, she also knows firsthand how hard it is to balance family needs and clinical work when a family health crisis forces those priorities to collide. That experience showed her both what medical culture demands and what real collegial support looks like.

Her work rests on one idea: burnout in medicine is a culture problem, not a character flaw. Physicians are trained to value certainty, self-denial, and pushing through. That makes asking for help hard and offering it well even harder. Sarah’s coaching is grounded in LEADS in a Caring Environment and the CanMEDS roles of leader, communicator, and collaborator. She helps physicians lead themselves first and build cultures where no one has to struggle alone.

Her mission is to help physicians create a reality where they no longer have to choose between a successful career and a fulfilling life. Coaching with Sarah isn’t about adding to the to-do list. It’s about unlearning hustle culture, reclaiming agency, and building the tools to thrive in medicine and in life.

Geographic location: Victoria, BC, and available by Zoom

Certification/Years as a coach: ICF Certified Executive Coach as of May 2023

Email: hello@drsarahlea.com

Website: www.drsarahlea.com

Expertise:

Through coaching, group programs, keynotes, and workshops, Sarah helps physicians:

• Recognize and interrupt hustle-driven patterns of overwork.
• Lead with self-awareness, humility, authenticity, and presence.
• Align time and energy with core values to counter burnout.
• Support colleagues in crisis using practical tools like ring theory.
• Navigate conflict, difficult conversations, and change with curiosity rather than defensiveness.

Mantra: 

“Embrace the present moment, honour authenticity, and build connections that empower, heal, and inspire. True growth is found in aligning actions with values, dismantling hustle culture, and courageously walking the path toward transformation.”

Offerings

In addition to one-on-one coaching, Sarah offers group coaching programs that build community, accountability, and belonging in what can otherwise feel like an isolating profession. Self-paced self-coaching programs are also in development.