Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

How blogging relieved a physician from the daily grind

Kristi H. Angevine, MD
Social media
October 24, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

Martin Seligman, PhD, in his book Authentic Happiness, references a colleague, Mike Csikszentmihalyi, when discussing the concept of “flow.”  For Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, flow is that feeling one gets when fully engaged or “in the zone” with an activity during which the passage of time seems suspended.  Often, the activity is aligned with one’s natural, signature strengths.

For me, flow comes when I’m mountain biking: There are moments without thoughts, it’s just my bike, the dusty trail, the chase, and the breeze cutting through sultry Chattanooga climate.  I also feel flow when I’m fully present with my husband and our two-year-old daughter.  It’s there when we are caught up in laughing as she runs from my tickling, pummels herself against my husband’s legs, sticks her head between them and yells, “Do it again!”

At work, I’m in sync when I’m conversing, unhurried, with my patients.  Collaborating to ensure they genuinely understand their own health is fulfilling, and the work is more vocation and less job.

I’m an OB/GYN in private practice in Tennessee.  My own sense of flow diminished as I struggled with a busy practice, unpredictable hours, and having a daughter.  Fortunately, I’ve reclaimed that flow, through blogging and biking.  These two rather disparate endeavors have allowed me to feel more grounded in my work as a physician.

Fresh out of residency, my income came from a hospital guarantee and I had leisurely time with a small number of patients.  My patient volume peaked right after I delivered my daughter and my hospital income ran out.  Quickly, I learned about the juggling act required to balance family, self-care, and seeing enough patients to pay overhead.  My struggle centered around the daily rushing between patients while maintaining a calm, happy facade, even when I felt exhausted.  In no way did I want my own stress to ever make a patient feel rushed.  Despite my wonderful partners, camaraderie at work, and my own awareness of efficient time use with patients, even if everything went perfectly, at the end of most days, I was sapped.  I kept thinking, there’s got to be a better way. How can I do health care differently?

At the pinnacle of my work stress, a dear friend and colleague, Dr. Susanna Carter, quit her OB/GYN position and transitioned to wellness coaching.  Her journey starting her business turned me on to the tenets of lifestyle medicine and the exercise is medicine organization.  That led me to read about physician burnout and preventive medicine.  In thinking about how I could apply lifestyle medicine and population health insights to my own life, I realized that starting a women’s health blog was part of the answer and getting back on the bike trails was the other.

I began prioritizing biking, and I started a website with articles and a newsletter.  Blogging has allowed me to efficiently get information to my community of patients and do something more creative than my usual daily grind.  It often streamlines my interactions with patients in the office because they have read something that I wrote beforehand.  Similarly, I now send patient education emails during pregnancy and do virtual pregnancy coaching via Skype and phone calls.  As for commitment to exercise, biking keeps me healthy and connected to the visceral challenge, satisfaction, and glee that come from zipping through the woods or picking my way up long, technical climbs.  Both have brought fun and flow back into my life.

Kristi H. Angevine is an obstetrician-gynecologist. This article originally appeared in What Works For Me.

Prev

How I learned to be realistic and survive internship

October 23, 2014 Kevin 2
…
Next

The lack of joy at the doctor's office, and a reason why

October 24, 2014 Kevin 6
…

Tagged as: OB/GYN

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How I learned to be realistic and survive internship
Next Post >
The lack of joy at the doctor's office, and a reason why

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Kristi H. Angevine, MD

  • Changing the habit of physician drinking

    Kristi H. Angevine, MD
  • Physician coaching: the new normal?

    Kristi H. Angevine, MD

More in Social media

  • First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

    Sara Meyer
  • What teenagers on TikTok are saying about skin care—and why that’s a problem

    Khushali Jhaveri, MD
  • How social media and telemedicine are transforming patient care

    Jalene Jacob, MD, MBA
  • How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup

    Nigel Cameron, PhD
  • How I escaped the toxic grip of social media

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • Why doctors must fight health misinformation on social media

    Olapeju Simoyan, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Mastering medical presentations: Elevating your impact

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • A day in the life of a WHO public health professional in Meghalaya, India

      Dr. Poulami Mazumder | Physician
    • Why women doctors are still mistaken for nurses

      Emma Fenske, DO | Physician
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Mastering medical presentations: Elevating your impact

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • A day in the life of a WHO public health professional in Meghalaya, India

      Dr. Poulami Mazumder | Physician
    • Why women doctors are still mistaken for nurses

      Emma Fenske, DO | Physician
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...