I’m Dr. Mel Thacker, an ENT surgeon, master certified coach, and founder of Empowered Surgeons Group, where we learn how to design life and success on our terms.
Hello, Surgeons.
I’m so glad you’re here.
Life after training isn’t what you expected.
You thought attendinghood would include more fan fare and enjoyment. But in truth, you’re an adult with a high-stakes job.
Training taught you surgery.
Not life after.
Empowered Surgeons Group gives you the playbook.
The result?
Instead of falling in step with colleagues who are stagnating until retirement and striving to keep up with the Joneses, you show up purposefully and intentionally in every aspect of your life.
About the empowered surgeons program + space
In Empowered Surgeons, we set down comparison and competition, and instead pick up authenticity, transparency, and connection.
Here, we remember that life is bigger than the OR, and that being human is what actually supports you in doing this work well. No part of this requires a checklist on how to become the perfect surgeon or the perfect human. What you’ll find is an earnest teacher and partner wholeheartedly invested in your human side as much as in your surgeon self. Someone who understands the highs, lows, extremes, and particular challenges you face in surgery today.
Empowered Surgeons is a place to practice presence, boundaries, humanity, and leadership in the hardest rooms: the OR, the clinic, with your colleagues, and at home. I can’t fix the broken system for you, but I will help you find a way to live and lead inside it without losing yourself. In fact, you’ll find even more meaning in your work, in your moments away from work, and everywhere in between.
This isn’t just about your career. It’s about the culture of surgery, what kind of colleagues we are, and how we treat each other and ourselves. It’s about preparing you not just to survive surgery, but to have a life beyond it — because one day, whether by choice or retirement, you will.
I can’t know why you’re here until you tell me.
Maybe you’re exhausted. Maybe something major went wrong and it shook you. Maybe you’re just tired of feeling like you have to choose between your work and your life. Maybe you’re a new attending and feeling the weight of the world.
Whatever it is, I hope you’ll tell me.
xo, Mel
PROGRAMS + OFFERSLet’s explore what might be right for you, right now.
empowered surgeons, the online program + group
Empowered Surgeons is support designed specifically for surgeons who want sustainable success in the OR, clinic and beyond. It’s both a steady practice space and a reliable lifeline when things feel urgent.
It’s not a curriculum you check off, it’s something you can come back to over and over, whether for ongoing growth or in a crisis moment.
private coaching with me
1:1 is best if you want a dedicated space on your calendar with a high-level partner. It’s also for those moments when the thought of bringing your most vulnerable truths into a group feels paralyzing.
In this space, you get to practice the skills of being seen vulnerably, without pressure, without performance. This isn’t about dumping or trauma-bonding. It’s about learning how to show up as a competent, steady partner in relationship. Skills that will carry you into group spaces and beyond.
explore + expand: our twice a year retreats just for surgeons
We were never meant to do this alone.
Our retreats are our ritual against isolation. Time carved out to step away from the grind and back into connection, creativity, play, and honest conversation.
Here, you get to be more than “the surgeon.” You get to be human, witnessed by other humans who know what the work costs and what it gives.
It’s where you remember yourself, and remember that you belong.