What to do when nobody has trained you to lead

In this CMDA Student Pulse Podcast conversation, Davis Melin sits down with host Bill Reichart to talk about what leadership looks like when you are still in training and don’t yet have the title, experience, or authority you wish you had. Davis shares how trainees can lead from the middle of the team by first learning to lead themselves well, by honoring authority without becoming passive, and by speaking truth with grace when something needs to be said. The discussion also gets practical about the pressures of medical training, the challenge of leading up in real time, and why leadership in a clinical setting matters not only for teamwork and patient care, but also for witness and character. It’s a thoughtful, honest conversation for anyone who wants to become the kind of physician-leader others can trust, follow, and genuinely enjoy working with. ------------------------------------------------ Born and raised in Minnesota, Davis Melin grew up in a family that loved playing hockey and going camping (especially in the Boundary Waters!). He went to Wheaton College in Illinois for undergrad, the University of Minnesota for graduate school where he studied epidemiology and attended medical school at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Virginia. Davis is thrilled to be starting residency in PM&R at the Mayo Clinic in 2026. Within PM&R he is interested especially in inpatient medicine, and has a dream of doing missions as a family with his wife of over 5 years, Mandy, and their kids, Moses (3 y.o.) and Eden (1 ½ y.o.).