Dismantle the “hero” myth to save the human inside
Anthony Chin-Quee, MD
BOARD-CERTIFIED SURGEON
AWARD-WINNING STORYTELLER & TV WRITER
HEALTHCARE INNOVATOR
SPEAKING FEE: $10,000 - $15,000
Meet Anthony
Affectionately known as the “Patron Saint of Leaving Medicine”
Former Medical Consultant for ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Writer for FOX’s The Resident
A mainstage performer for The Moth reaching an audience of millions
Dr. Anthony Chin-Quee is a rarity in the modern workforce: a Board-Certified Otolaryngologist (Harvard, Emory) who successfully traded the operating room for the writers' room. He is a physician, a storyteller, and a disruptor who argues that the most radical act of self-preservation is the refusal to be a martyr for a broken system. He challenges audiences to look beyond the title on their business card and reclaim the agency required to live a life of passion, balance, and—most importantly—to live out loud.
Anthony’s journey is defined by his refusal to stay in the box. In his critically acclaimed memoir, I Can’t Save You (Riverhead Books), he provides a searing, candid account of how medical residency shattered the mind of an empathetic doctor—and the arduous task of piecing it back together. With the precision of a surgeon and the soul of a poet, he dissects the toxic culture of perfectionism that plagues high-stakes industries. He exposes a "good old boys" culture that demands invincibility and marginalizes anyone who doesn't fit the mold, revealing the moral injury and burnout that flourish when a system demands you sacrifice your humanity to save others.
A seasoned creative, Anthony transitioned into mass-market media to scale his impact. As a writer and medical consultant for hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy and The Resident, he distilled complex social issues into understandable mainstream storylines. His ability to captivate an audience has led him to the Mainstages of The Moth and the pages of Forbes, where he advocates for a shift in how we view success and professional identity.
Today, Anthony is operationalizing his advocacy as a founding developer of Shift.AI. It is the first platform of its kind designed to make doctors more effective, not just more efficient. By rejecting the traditional "wellness" narratives that simply ask workers to endure more, Shift.AI uses technology to build personal agency and combat moral injury. He is also the creator of Social Rounds, a weekly podcast where he and a fellow surgeon drop-out offer unsolicited, irreverent, searing, and joyous opinions on pop culture and the state of medicine, proving that there is indeed life—and laughter—after the white coat.
SPEAKING TOPICS
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In fields like the military, law enforcement, medicine, education, and finance, perfectionism isn't just a personality trait; it's a survival mechanism. But it comes at a cost. In this talk, Anthony introduces the concept of the "Hidden Curriculum"—the toxic, unwritten rules of elite industries—to show how we internalize unfair standards. This talk provides a roadmap for high achievers to deliver excellence without sacrificing their identity, teaching them how to give the system what it wants while carving out exactly what they need.
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In high-stakes fields like medicine, law enforcement, and education, the epidemic of attrition and mental health collapse is often mislabeled as "burnout," but the data reveals a darker reality: skyrocketing rates of suicide, addiction, and attrition are actually associated with Moral Injury—the psychological trauma of violating one's conscience to serve a broken system. In this talk, Tony unmasks the "suits of armor" high achievers wear to hide this pain, and demonstrates through a moving personal story how he rediscovered purpose by prioritizing human connection over cold efficiency. Instead of "numbing out" or relying on hollow wellness perks, audiences will learn to reclaim their agency in the face of moral injury, discovering that the only way to survive a toxic culture is to reconnect with the very purpose it tried to crush.
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We are often taught to hide our mistakes, but silence only breeds shame. When we refuse to accept the reality of failure, our self-images can fracture, leaving us painfully isolated and adrift. In this talk, Tony argues that the antidote to this shame and isolation is storytelling. Drawing on his experiences as a surgeon and acclaimed storyteller, Tony illustrates how sharing our deepest failures can actually liberate us. This session explores how embracing vulnerability not only heals the individual but empowers everyone around them to take risks and grow.
