The Physician Philosopher

The number one thing people talk about when approaching death is the idea that they wish they had been unapologetic about who they are and what they wanted in life. So often as physicians we seek the validation of others rather than unapologetically seeking our own validation.

The current system of medicine doesn’t help either. This system quickly turns doctors into external validation junkies. Our entire self-worth can become attached to who and what other people think about us as physicians. But what if you knew your self-worth and made decisions from what is most important to you? This idea (and how you get there) is what we are going to dive into on today’s episode.

People often talk about the hamster wheel of life or, what I call, the achievement treadmill. Why do physicians run on the achievement treadmill even once they have achieved success? What does it mean to be content or to have enough? There is a beautiful place in life where we operate not out of anxiety. On today’s episode we are going to talk about the art of having enough. Hang on, because it might just change your life.

When you find yourself reaching for your phone when you are off the clock to check your email. Or drinking not because you are enjoying that IPA, but because you are avoiding something. Or when you begin to think about all the people that need you to respond to their text within minutes, you might be buffering. Buffering is very common in our culture today, but it isn’t a way to live life that will help us feel like the person, parent, and physician we want to be. Today I am going to talk about something Napoleon taught us years ago that might just help you uncover the real reason you are buffering today.

With 30-40% of physicians being sued on average, this is a topic that needs to be discussed in terms of how we can help doctors mentally and emotionally handle the fear of a lawsuit. If you have ever been in this situation or if you are living in fear that you someday will be, this episode is for you.

Join me today as I walk you through how you can beat the fear of a lawsuit so that this one idea that maybe has happened to you, or the fear that it may happen in the future, not impact how you practice medicine and live life.

Most of us have this thought wired into our brains that we have to work hard all the time or we are not going to be successful or enough. But what if the answer to being both successful and enough wasn’t found is how much time we spend on work. What if the answer actually was found in taking time away from work?In today’s episode of The Physician Philosopher, we dive into the idea that when your to-do list is piling up and you aren’t exactly sure what the next step ought to be, maybe it is time for you to step back and take a break.

This episode is about doctors and a big turning point – realizing that leaving medicine isn’t the answer to feeling trapped in medicine.