Are you wondering how to deal with physician burnout? Have you ever had one of those moments where you look around at your life and think…. “is this it?”
I vividly remember thinking that during my residency. I wondered….
“Is this really it? Is this the career that I’ve sacrificed my 20’s training for?”
I felt disillusioned with my career and the whole medical system, but at the same time, I was afraid to make any changes.
I was afraid of leaving my residency and “throwing away” everything I worked so hard for.
My podcast guest this week, Dr. Errin Weisman, shines an incredible perspective on this internal struggle.
She encourages you to “throw your life away and get a new one.”
She asks fantastic questions such as:
Why are you clinging so tightly to something you hate right now?
If you are feeling like you’ve hit a brick wall of burnout and wondering what the heck to do about it…. you are not alone, and this episode is perfect for you.
Dr. Errin Weisman, podcaster, burnout coach and family medicine doctor shares about her journey from feeling burnt out and hopeless in 2014, to now crafting a life and career that she doesn’t need a vacation from. In this episode we talk about…
- How to recognize you are burnt out using the D’s, E’s and F’s of burnout.
- Why you have to sit with the suck and feel those painful, uncomfortable feelings.
- The importance of trusting yourself and leaning into your weirdness.
- Overcoming workaholism through detoxing
- What to do if you are scared of making a change and “throwing it all away”.
This episode is incredible, inspiring and is filled with real talk and actionable advice for moving through burnout and creating a life and career you actually enjoy.
Use the audio player above to listen in, or click here to listen on spotify or itunes.
Dr. Weisman’s personal journey of how to deal with physician burnout
Dr. Weisman initially decided to go into medicine in 1997. She was amazed that she was able to diagnose his brother with appendicitis. She figured out she can help others as well as doing what she loves which is science.
However, in 2014 she hit her brick wall of burnout. She had 2 kids during residency, all the student loans, she just bought a house and had her first job outside of residency but she still felt empty.
At first she had regrets about going into medical school and she thought that this was just how her life would be from now on. She had no idea how to deal with physician burnout and didn’t have any resources for helping her.
Symptoms of burnout
The first step in how to deal with physician burnout is bringing awareness to the symptoms of burnout. Here are the diagnostic criteria that Errin suggests.
D – Disengaged – Are you disengaged in work? Are you dissatisfied? Are you discouraged?
E – Empty; Exhausted – No energy how much sleep you get. Why am I here?
F – Frustration, Fight or Flight, Fear, (Fuck it I’m done)
Figuring out what you really want
You have to start figuring out what is it that you really want. Up until now you’ve likely just been taking whatever is in front of you and trying to make your square peg fit in the round hole.
To start to recover from burnout, you’ve got to learn to trust yourself again. Lean in to your weird.
You can start asking yourself questions like:
Tell me what the perfect day would be like. How does it feel like when you get up in the morning? What does it look like mid morning? What is the feeling you have when your head hits the pillow?
When Errin did this she realized that she wanted two things. She wanted a life that I don’t have to take a vacation from. She wanted to wake up without an alarm.
Overcoming workaholism is how to deal with physician burnout
Growing up, we are wired to get recognitions at school. But when we grow up, no one will tell if we get an A+ in life. We are the ones who will decide on where we want to be in our lives.
1st step of recovering from workaholism is being aware of the recurring situation/addiction. Then you have to ask yourself “why?” It is actually not about the addiction but rather what is lying underneath that (the reason behind it). If you are feeling burntout, then your detox will be rest, sleep and maybe even just sitting with yourself.
If work is your drug, then rest is your detox. You have to stop running and distracting and numbing and learn how to really sit with yourself again.
This process involves discovering both your light and dark side. Enjoying your light side and embracing your dark side. Shining a light on your dark side.
What if you are scared of throwing it all away?
Ask yourself, “what am I really throwing away?” If it pertains to your practice, well no one can take away your experiences from you. If you are contemplating throwing it all away, Errin invites you to lean into that. Why are you clinging so tightly to what you hate right now anyways?
Sometimes throwing away your old life to get a new one is a necessary step for how to deal with physician burnout.
Remember if you are feeling burnt out:
You’re not alone. You’re not broken. You have done hard things in the past. You will do more hard things in the future. You can do this!
Connect with Dr. Errin Weisman:
Listen to Doctor Me First Podcast
Connect with Errin on Instagram
