🌿 What does it truly mean to "BE" in medicine?
In this deeply moving episode, Dr. Joy Falkenburg shares her remarkable 20+ year journey practicing rural medicine in Custer, South Dakota. Her holistic, faith-infused approach to patient care will inspire you to see medicine through the lens of presence, divinity, and deep human connection.
🔹 **What You'll Learn:**
✔ How presence and spiritual grounding enhance patient care
✔ The power of forgiveness and self-awareness in healing
✔ Why embracing mystery and uncertainty is essential in medicine
✔ How Dr. Falkenburg integrates faith, intuition, and science
✔ The emotional challenges and beauty of rural family medicine
📌 **Timestamps:**
0:00 – Welcome + Introduction
2:10 – Life force, identity & divine presence
6:33 – Showing up at a dying patient's bedside
11:00 – Why "being" comes before "doing"
17:45 – Presence over protocol: building healing gardens
24:20 – Authenticity, emotion & showing up as your full self
31:00 – Forgiveness as medicine: the labyrinth approach
37:50 – Teamwork, soul leadership, and vulnerability in care
45:15 – Redesigning healthcare: curiosity, love, and empowerment
55:42 – Personal illness, spiritual resilience & patient advocacy
🎧 **Join Our Community:**
🌐 Website: https://systemofcreation.com/
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeingInMedicine
❤️ iHeartRadio: https://iheart.com/podcast/263-being-in-medicine
🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1wMaMHLPUoWXJXSs0ridIp
🎙️ Guest Info
Dr. Joy Falkenburg
Family Medicine Physician, Custer, South Dakota
Today's guest is someone whose life and work truly embody what this podcast is all about. Dr. Joy Falkenburg is a board-certified Family Medicine physician who has spent the last 25 years practicing deeply intentional and holistic care in Custer, South Dakota. She grew up on a ranch just 30 miles from where she now serves — a fourth-generation steward of both land and community.
Dr. Falkenburg isn't just a doctor — she's a life force. Whether she's guiding patients through their final moments, planting healing gardens outside the hospital, or inviting presence and prayer into the exam room, she brings divinity, authenticity, and deep human connection into every part of her work.
She's also an entrepreneur, the founder of drmamajoy, a business blending vacation rentals, farm tours, and rural wellness. But perhaps one of her most beautiful creations is the Healing and Wellness Garden at Monument Health — a sacred space where patients and staff can reconnect with nature and their inner peace.
🧠 Key Episode Highlights
🗣️ Memorable Quotes
"I identify as a life force. When I show up, I show up as an expression of divinity." – [00:03:10]
"If I could see the divinity in everyone — even someone yelling at me in the ER — imagine the healing that could happen." – [00:05:00]
"Sometimes, all we can do is say: I don't know the answer — but I'm here with you." – [00:14:32]
🔑 Key Takeaways
