First things first.
Burnout sucks
It’s not a weakness
And it’s not your fault
Burnout is NOT caused by a “deficiency” of resilience
No way. No how.
Physicians, especially women physicians, are some of the most resilient people on this earth.
What physicians are exposed to and required to endure in their education and training would cause most people to crumble. To give up. To go running for a more normal life. A more sustainable lifestyle.
Physicians are expected to go without food, sleep, and sometimes even water (‘cause you know – no time for potty breaks when there’s work to be done) for extended periods of time. Not occasionally. Routinely. And then get up and do it the next day. And the next.
And to put the patients first at all costs. Even at our own expense.
This is how we were trained. Socialized in the healthcare system. Indoctrinated into the “club”.
Physician burnout is getting attention. Eyeballs. And even some resources. Employers are paying attention. So is the government.
Why?
Workforce factors
Who’s going to take care of all the patients when the doctors can’t or choose not to practice anymore?
Financial factors
It can cost healthcare systems upwards of $1M to replace a physician
Human factors
The mental health implications including the tragic consequence of physician suicide
Doctors are leaving medicine in droves.
We have to stop the hemorrhage of physicians, especially women physicians, from medicine.
What’s the solution?
Things need to change. Systems need to change. Regulations need to change.
It’s not the physicians that need to change. We don’t need to become more resilient.
We are ALREADY resilient.
But what if we DO need to change?
How is it that we may be contributing to the problem? To this unsustainable situation we’re in?
By allowing it?
By staying too silent?
With our words. With our actions.
What if we said NO.
No more.
Not me.
The healthcare system is broken, and doctors need to lead the change. I believe coaching is one of the keys to changing medicine. It gives doctors ownership and power over their own thoughts and actions, and it creates a ripple effect that spreads through healthcare teams, systems, families and communities.
Change is coming. But meaningful change for physicians is not going to happen overnight.
So what do we do in the meantime?
… to protect ourselves from burnout
… to burnout-proof ourselves
The answer is coaching, my friends
Coaching for physicians, by physicians
Coaching is an evidence-based intervention for physician wellness.
That’s why I took a chance and tried it. And it changed my life. My outlook. It changed everything.
And now, as a certified professional coach working with women physicians, it changes my clients’ lives. Not sometimes. Every time.
And it can change yours.
Are you ready to change your life?
If you’re suffering from burnout and you’re considering leaving your job or leaving medicine, click the link below to get my free guide created especially for women physicians.
Get your free copy of Should I Stay or Should I Go: A Career Decision Guide for Physicians
Here’s to changing medicine – one badass woman physician at a time,