Is it really possible to blend your medical practice with the life you want to live?
In training we are taught to work hard, put patients first, and just deal with any voids in your life because you knew what you were signing up for. The subject of discussing other priorities in your life is simply not welcomed in most arenas inside the medical space. We begin to question our decision of medicine AND what that decision means for the other priorities in our lives. Some physicians begin to think there is something wrong with them, they weren’t cut out to be a doc, or no one else has this problem. The truth is that, in general, while most of us do love being a physician, we also have thoughts like this. These issues deserve to be addressed in order to take care of our female physician colleagues.
Women Physicians are leaving medicine at rate that far exceeds our male counterparts, and what would be expected in other fields. The University of Michigan published a study in 2019 that showed as many as 40 percent of women physicians leave their jobs or move to part-time within 6 years of completing residency. Since the pandemic, this has only intensified. Interestingly, in 2019, the medical school classes around the country enrolled slightly more than 50% female students. Can you imagine what the trend will be if we continue to lose our female physicians?
I’ve been practicing medicine for over 25 years and have loved the skill, the colleagues, and the patients. I have also struggled with it, been overwhelmed at times, and tweaked my practice in many ways. What I want my female colleagues to know is they don’t have to give up .medicine in order to have the life they want to live! They do have the option to be the wife, mom, runner, athlete, or whatever other goals, while still practicing the skill they worked so hard to achieve. It took me over 20 years to figure this out, so I’m hopeful that it won’t take you as long. Please know there are strategies and frameworks that can help you achieve whatever result you want for your practice. I want you to have the choice! If you decide leaving medicine is really what you want, then you have every right to do so. However, why not learn these tools that make it possible to let it be your choice, and not just the result of exasperation. I see so many women physicians that are frustrated, overwhelmed, and feeling unsure of how to fix this. I love helping them begin to see the hope, joy, and satisfaction in blending it all together in a way that works for their individual situation. Back to the original question, “Is it really possible to blend your medical practice with the life you want to live?”, Absolutely! Let’s go!
