Dr. Hammer is the author of the award-winning (IPPY) book, GAIN Without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Healthcare Professionals.

A popular guest lecturer, he frequently speaks around the world in order to share his philosophy with physicians and other medical professionals. Dr. Hammer’s clinical focus is in pediatric cardiac anesthesia and pediatric critical care medicine. His research is in developmental pharmacology and immunology, and he has an active laboratory with multiple ongoing studies in these areas.

He has published widely on topics related to pharmacology and perioperative care of children undergoing cardiac and thoracic procedures as well as organ transplantation. Dr. Hammer is a health enthusiast and meditator, utilizing a non-duality and mindfulness-based approach, including the GAIN method.

He is a member of the Stanford WellMD initiative. He is currently the Chair of the Physician Wellness Task Force for the California Society of Anesthesiologists and a member of the Wellness Committee for the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer on Wellness at institutions worldwide.

He teaches GAIN to medical students, residents and fellows at Stanford. Practicing medicine is a privilege. It is immensely rewarding. Yet more and more physicians are suffering from burnout. In order to provide an efficient and effective antidote to burnout, Dr. Hammer created GAIN Without Pain, a four-step process of meditation and mindfulness. GAIN is an acronym for Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment. GAIN practice can substantially reduce stress and increase well-being in as little as three minutes a day.