The Responsible Resident
The Responsible Resident Podcast is a short-form educational series designed for medical students, residents, and fellows who want clarity around financial decisions during training, without pressure, sales, or noise.
Hosted by Amber Stitt, co-owner of MD Disability Quotes and a 15-year specialist in physician income protection, this podcast focuses on what truly matters during medical training: timing, underwriting, and protecting future earning power.
Most residents believe financial decisions can simply be handled later. What this series explains, calmly and clearly, is that some decisions are influenced by health history and timing. Flexibility exists during training, but it does not last forever.
You don’t need to take action immediately. The goal is competence first, so when decisions matter, you’re prepared.
If you’re in training and want to understand your options before they narrow, this podcast is for you.
Episodes
33 episodes
Can Non-U.S. Citizen Physicians Get Life Insurance?
Can non-U.S. citizen physicians get life insurance while working in the United States? Yes, foreign citizenship does not automatically mean life insurance is unavailable. For international physicians, medical resi...
Can You Trust AI for Life Insurance Research?
Can physicians trust AI when researching life insurance? AI tools can make life insurance easier to understand, helping physicians research terminology, compare policy concepts, explore underwriting questions, and organize in...
How Does Life Insurance Underwriting Work for Physicians?
Life Insurance Underwriting: What Physicians Can ExpectHow does life insurance underwriting work for physicians?Life insurance companies evaluate mortality risk using medical history, prescriptions, family histor...
Should Physicians Buy Life Insurance During Residency?
When Should Physicians Buy Life Insurance?Should physicians buy life insurance during residency or wait until they become attendings?The right time to evaluate life insurance depends less on your job title...
What Are Living Benefits in Life Insurance for Physicians?
Life Insurance Living Benefits for Physicians: What Can Your Policy Do While You’re Alive?As a physician, your financial plan is designed around protecting more than what happens if you die. What happens if you survive a seriou...
Life Insurance Laddering: Why One Policy Doesn't Have to Solve Every Need - RR S2 Ep 4
How Does Life Insurance Laddering Work for Physicians?What is life insurance laddering?Life insurance laddering uses multiple policies or coverage layers with different term lengths to match different financial needs and ...
Term vs. Permanent Life Insurance, What Are You Actually Trying to Solve? RR S2 Ep 3
Key Takeaways:Should physicians choose term or permanent life insurance?The better question is what job you need your life insurance to do. For many residents and early-career physicians, term life insurance can ha...
Why Physicians Need Financial Education Beyond Medicine
A Letter From the Founder: Why Physicians Need a Different Kind of Financial ConversationWhat if medical school had one more class?A class focused on everything that comes after medicine, including career decisions, finan...
How Much Life Insurance Does A Physician Actually Need? - RR S2 Ep 2
How much life insurance does a physician actually need? The answer is not one universal income multiple, or an online calculator. For residents, fellows, and early-career physicians, determining the right amount of life insurance me...
Why Physicians May Want to Think About Life Insurance Differently - RR S2 Ep 1
Life insurance is not really about a policy. It is about protecting the people, plans, and possibilities that depend on the life you are building.In this episode of The Responsible Resident Podcast, Amber Stitt begins a new series focuse...
Top 5 Reasons Physicians Get Declined for Disability Insurance (and How to Avoid Them) - RR Ep 22
What can cause a physician to be declined for disability insurance? In this episode of The Responsible Resident, Amber Stitt explains the five most common underwriting challenges physicians face and, more importantly, how to avoid t...
Can GLP-1 Medications Affect Your Disability Insurance Underwriting? - RR Ep 21
Can taking Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, or another GLP-1 medication affect your disability insurance application? In this episode of The Responsible Resident, disability insurance expert Amber Stitt explains how dis...
6 Assumptions That Keep Physicians from Buying Disability Insurance - And Why They Deserve a Second Look - RR Ep 20
Why do so many physicians postpone buying disability insurance? Is employer group disability insurance enough? What are the biggest misconceptions about physician income protection?In this episode of The Respo...
What Is an Elimination Period? Understanding When Disability Benefits Actually Begin - RR Ep 19
What is an elimination period in disability insurance? How long do physicians have to wait before disability insurance benefits begin? Understanding the disability insurance waiting period is essential when designing an ...
Physician Disability Insurance Hidden Tax Trap: Why Deducting Premiums Could Cost You Later - RR Ep 18
Should doctors deduct disability insurance premiums, or protect tax-free benefits later? In this bonus episode of The Responsible Resident Podcast, Amber Stitt breaks down one of the most misunderstood physician disability insur...
Why Group Disability Insurance May Not Be Enough for Physicians with Ethan Abramowitz - RR Ep 17
Do physicians really have enough disability insurance through their employer? What are the hidden limitations of group long-term disability (LTD) insurance, and how does it compare to individual true own-occupation disability insura...
What Physicians Need to Know About COLA Riders & Future Purchase Options with Ethan Abramowitz - RR Ep 16
Should physicians add a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) rider to their disability insurance policy? How do Future Purchase Options (FPOs), also known as Future Increase Options (FIOs), protect future earning power and insurability?...
Expert Legal Advice from Disability Insurance Attorney Ethan Abramowitz - RR Ep 15
What happens when a physician files a disability insurance claim? How do own-occupation disability insurance policies, residual disability benefits, and group disability insurance contracts actually perform during a claim?In this episode...
Amber Shares Why She Created The Responsible Resident - RR Ep 14
Why does disability insurance planning matter so deeply for physicians and how do early financial decisions shape long-term freedom and resilience?Disability insurance for physicians, financial resilience, income protection, and physicia...
How to Pick Your Disability Insurance Advisor - RR Ep 13
How do physicians choose the right disability insurance advisor and what is the difference between a captive agent and an independent advisor?Physician disability insurance, underwriting strategy, own occupation coverage, and independent...
Extra Features in Your Disability Insurance Contracts - RR Ep 12
What built-in disability insurance features should physicians pay attention to when comparing policies?Own occupation disability insurance, ancillary benefits, waiver of premium, presumptive disability, and physician income protection ex...
Should You Add a Catastrophic Disability Rider to Your Disability Insurance Contract? - RR Ep 11
What is a catastrophic disability rider (CAT rider) in disability insurance and should physicians include it in their policy design?Catastrophic disability insurance, own occupation coverage, and severe disability planning explained clea...
Should You Add a Cost of Living Adjustment to Your Disability Insurance Contract? - RR Ep 10
Should physicians add a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) rider to their disability insurance policy?COLA rider, inflation protection, disability insurance for physicians, and income protection strategy explained clearly.In this ep...
Disability Insurance Premium Payments - RR Ep 9
How do disability insurance premiums work, and which pricing structure is best for physicians long-term?Fixed premiums, projected level premiums, and graded premiums explained for disability insurance planning.In this episode of <...
How To Pick the Best Disability Insurance Purchase Option - RR Ep 8
What are Future Purchase Options (FPO), Future Increase Options (FIO), and Benefit Increase Riders (BIR) in disability insurance, and how do physicians use them to grow coverage over time?Disability insurance for physicians, income prote...