Category: Burnout

Falls Creek Falls, WA in the Spring

A Primary Care Doctor’s Husband’s Solution to Burnout: Just Care Less

by M, posted in Burnout

When I went into primary care, I had dreams of being able to prevent disease.  I had dreams of doing my part to help this broken, expensive healthcare system - chronic diseases directly attributable to obesity make up 80% of healthcare spending in the US.  If I could just catch deadly habits before they caused harm and set people on a better course, I could do so much good, I told myself. What I didn't take into account was for this to work, the people I took care of would need to also buy into this dream.

TGIF: I’m all out of empathy

by M, posted in Burnout

I've been ready for it to be Friday since Monday afternoon.  It's been a trying week, and as I came into the office this morning, I was readying myself to make it til 5 o'clock through sheer willpower.  I charged up my computer and opened the electronic medical record.  Welcoming me were 10 online messages from patients sitting in my inbox from overnight, some of them sent at 2 in the morning. I sighed, knowing my 2 cups of coffee I chugged this morning was not even going to be close enough.

Spider Web, Columbia Gorge, OR

Should We Encourage People to Become Doctors?

by M, posted in Burnout

Recently, a friend of mine approached me and asked if I would help her with her MCAT studying.  She would be a non-traditional med school applicant after taking a few years post pre-med to do great and wonderful things, including organizing cancer research at a local academic centre.  Because of a few gap years, she felt the need to ACE this standardized test to prove she still has the academic chops to both herself and prospective medical schools. Immediately, I froze. Seeing that I've just been pulling myself out of burnout and in the process have heard from so many of my colleagues sharing their own burnout stories with me, I looked at her and thought: Do I have a moral and ethical responsibility to protect you from yourself and your idealism?

Entrance to the Underground River, Palawan, Philippines

Exploring Semi-Retirement at the Ripe Old Age of 32

by M, posted in Burnout

Welcome to semi-retirement After my burnout epiphany, I made the decision to cut back on work at the end of 2017.  I knew what I was doing wasn't sustainable, so it was time to take charge. The overachiever that I am, I had it all planned out - I was going to take every other Wednesday off, starting February 14th, Valentine's day.  What a great act of self love!  I would transition into semi-retirement - down to an average of 40 hours a week from 55-60. It was going to be amazing... in 6 weeks. ...

Guler Ice Cave, Trout Lake, WA

A Millennial Doctor’s Burnout – Part Two

by M, posted in Burnout

It's time for a mindshift - what will I gain by working less?  What material/costly things can I let go of in order for me to get my life back?  Am I really allocating my time and money to the things that are important to me, or am I devoting my resources to things that help me put blinders on to a bad situation for a time? What would you gain with less? ...

Forest lit tree in Deception State Park, WA

Finding happiness through suicidal thoughts?

by M, posted in Burnout

Earlier this year, I met a doctor who by all of society’s standards was doing well for herself.  She was working as an anesthesiologist making insane amounts of money - she just bought her dream house in one of the most sought after sub-developments in town, was working toward paying off her student loans, and after being too busy to do any of the life things during residency (doctor training after med school) she just got married!  Life was finally going her way - after 10+ years of delayed gratification, she felt she was finally getting her piece of the American dream. Fast forward 10 months, right before Thanksgiving I saw her again, except I almost didn’t recognize her this time around.  Gone was the aura of excitement and happiness she had when I first met her. ...