Jessica Bunin, MD ~ Leadership Expert, Executive Coach & Healthcare Leader

Jess Bunin, MD, MHPE is a leadership expert, retired Army colonel, executive coach, and physician leader who helps leaders build trust, communicate through conflict, and lead with moral courage when the stakes are highest. 

Drawing on more than two decades of experience serving as a military physician, critical care intensivist, professor of medicine, and healthcare leader, Dr. Bunin equips organizational leaders and healthcare professionals with practical, evidence-based tools to strengthen communication, foster psychological safety, and create high-performing teams.

As Co-Founder of All Levels Leadership, Dr. Bunin speaks and teaches on civil discourse, trust, and self-awareness. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Self-Awareness and Trust: Leading Healthcare Teams from the Inside Out.

Dr. Bunin retired from the Army in 2023 after 23 years of service that took her to Iraq as a psychiatrist and Afghanistan as an intensivist. She served as Assistant Dean for Faculty Development at the Uniformed Services University and Program Director of Critical Care Medicine at Walter Reed. She is a graduate of West Point and Tulane University School of Medicine.

 

Most Popular Topics:

More Than Words: Civil Discourse as a Leadership Competency 

Teams don’t break from conflict, they break from unspoken conflict. Civil discourse is rarely taught, yet it shapes psychological safety, trust, and performance in every organization. It is not about being agreeable; it is about being able to navigate disagreement without eroding relationships or outcomes. Leaders can learn practical tools to shift how difficult conversations unfold, even in high-stakes environments.

The Architecture of Trust: How to Build and Rebuild Trust as the Foundation of Leadership
Trust is the foundation of performance and one of the first things to collapse under pressure. When trust breaks, communication narrows, collaboration drops, and teams move into self-protection instead of problem-solving. But trust is not abstract or accidental. It follows patterns, and it can be rebuilt intentionally through specific leadership behaviors that restore clarity, authenticity, and connection.

Moral Courage: When to Challenge, When to Resist, and When to Walk Away
Most leaders will eventually face a moment where staying silent is easier than speaking up. Moral courage is what allows someone to act on their values even when it risks discomfort, backlash, or career consequences. The challenge is not knowing what is right. It is having a framework for when to challenge, when to resist, and when to walk away while maintaining integrity and professionalism. 

 

Conversation Starters:

  • Your career has taken you from West Point and combat medicine to critical care, academic leadership, and executive coaching. Looking back, what has been the throughline?
  • You spent 23 years in the Army, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. What did those experiences teach you about leadership?
  • Why do self-awareness and trust belong at the center of great leadership?
  • You describe ‘self-awareness’ as a leadership competency, not a personality trait. How do you define ‘self-awareness?’
  • Civil discourse has become a charged phrase. What does it actually mean, and why do you see it as a leadership competency?
  • What does moral courage look like when speaking up comes with real consequences?
  • Many people are given leadership titles because they’re exceptional at their jobs. What leadership skills are often missing?
  • You teach a communication framework called CLEAR to optimize civil discourse. Can you walk us through it and share an example of it in action?
  • What’s the most common way well-intentioned leaders unintentionally break trust?
  • You served in two very different medical specialties – psychiatry and critical care. How did those experiences shape the way you understand human behavior under pressure?
  • What is the hardest conversation you’ve ever had to initiate as a leader, and what did it teach you about the cost of staying silent?
  • You’ve built frameworks like FRACTURE and TRUSTED to help leaders understand how trust breaks and how it gets rebuilt. What made you realize leaders needed language, not just intuition, for this work?
  • How can leaders challenge unhealthy workplace cultures without burning out or getting pushed out?
  • If you could go back and tell yourself one thing at the start of your leadership career, what would it be?
  • If a leader listening to this episode could do just one thing differently tomorrow, what would you want it to be? 

To download Jessica’s Conversation Starters

 

Partial List of Previous Podcasts:

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare with Andrea Austin
Soldier Pulse with Rebecca Patterson
Scalpel and Sword: Conflict and Negotiation in Modern Medicine with Dr. Lee Sharma
MedStory Studio with Spencer Lalk
The Podcast by KevinMD with Kevin Pho (Part 3)
The Podcast by KevinMD with Kevin Pho (Part 2)
The Podcast by KevinMD with Kevin Pho (Part 1)
BOSS Business of Surgery Series with Dr. Amy Vertrees 

 

Partial List of Previous Speaking Engagements:

  • American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • American College of Physicians
  • Association of American Medical Colleges
  • Association of Hospital Medical Education
  • Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine
  • Change Management Institute
  • CHEST
  • International Association for Health Professions Education
  • International Conference on Residency Education
  • Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Penn State University College of Medicine
  • Power of Women in Medicine Summit
  • Ross Center
  • Society for Education and Anesthesia
  • Society of Critical Care Medicine
  • St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
  • The International Summit on Leadership Education for Physicians
  • Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians
  • Uniformed Services University
  • University of Arizona at Tucson College of Medicine
  • University of Maryland School of Medicine
  • University of New Mexico School of Medicine
  • Wake Forest University School of Medicine
  • Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

 

Rave Reviews:

“Dr. Jessica Bunin, physician and retired Army colonel, is an exceptional podcast guest. Her appearance on the Scalpel and Sword Podcast was engaging, insightful, and genuinely inspiring. Jess brings an extraordinary depth of leadership experience while pairing it with the compassion and authenticity that help listeners connect with both her message and her story. She has a remarkable ability to make complex leadership concepts practical and relatable. It was a privilege to have her on the podcast, and I look forward to welcoming her back for another conversation!”
~ R. Lee Sharma, MD, MA | Podcast Host (Scalpel and Sword)

“Jessica was an excellent guest on The Podcast by KevinMD. She came prepared, spoke with clarity and warmth, and brought genuine insight that resonated with a physician audience. She made the conversation easy and engaging from start to finish, and I would gladly have her back. Any host would be lucky to feature her.”
~ Kevin Pho, MD | Podcast Host (The Podcast by KevinMD)

“As a podcast host, you’re always looking for guests who can make complex topics engaging, relatable, and easy to understand. Dr. Jessica Bunin does exactly that. She brought thoughtful insights, communicated with incredible clarity, and made for a genuinely enjoyable conversation. She was an absolute pleasure to have on the podcast, and I’d highly recommend her to any host looking for an engaging and knowledgeable guest.”
~ Spencer Lalk | Podcast Host (MedStory Studio)

“Dr. Jessica Bunin led an exceptional AAOS symposium, skillfully advancing a meaningful dialogue on restorative justice and civil discourse as essential approaches to confronting bullying, harassment, and discrimination in orthopaedic surgery. This session was both inspiring and impactful, bringing clarity, humility, and purpose to a critical conversation.”
~ Dr. Holly Pilson, Associate Professor | American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons

“Dr. Bunin delivered an engaging and highly impactful presentation on civil discourse in academic medicine. Her warm, relatable style drew the audience in, and the interactive breakout discussions kept participants actively engaged throughout. I especially appreciated the practical, actionable strategies she shared to deepen understanding and strengthen psychological safety, both of which are essential for transforming the culture of academic medicine.”
~ Dr. Celia Valenzuela, Vice Dean & Associate Clinical Professor | University of Arizona at Tucson School of Medicine

More About Jess: 
JessBuninMd.com 
AllLevelsLeadership.com
​​Upcoming Book: Self-Awareness and Trust: Leading Healthcare Teams from the Inside Out
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