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.
Tag: Burnout
Should We Encourage People to Become Doctors?
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?
Exploring Semi-Retirement at the Ripe Old Age of 32
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. ...
When Being an Overachiever is Ruining Your Life
Everyone has that one friend who's just winning at life. The one who has all their stuff together - the perfect job, the Pinterest worthy home, chairs some impressive committee and yet still finds time to volunteer at the local shelter. They glide through life with ease and grace - no word is ever misspoken, nothing is ever out of place and you're pretty sure they are part of the gorgeous I woke up like this tribe. Recently, I realized I'm that friend for some people. And quite honestly, that horrified me so much I was inspired to drop some knowledge here.
A Millennial Doctor’s Burnout – Why now?
After I posted my burnout story, I was dumbfounded by how many people reached out to me. People who I hadn't spoken to in years, all of them telling me the same thing: "I'm burned out too. And I thought it was just me. Thank you for sharing your story."
A Millennial Doctor’s Burnout – Part Two
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? ...
A Millennial Doctor’s Burnout – Part One
People like me are at high risk for burnout. Type A personality? ✓ Perfectionist?  ✓ Healthcare professional?  ✓ Too stubborn to admit you're struggling/ask for help?  ✓ I was pretty much doomed from day one. ...
Finding happiness through suicidal thoughts?
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. ...