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

The key to physician happiness: Be you as a doctor

Jos J, MD
Education
April 25, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share

When you enter medical school, you have this very esteemed white coat ceremony.  It’s a memorable occasion, where speakers tell newbie medical students and their families all that it means to wear such a coat: the responsibility, the ethical code, the professionalism, the compassion all intertwined to make up the very fabric of each emblemed cape.

My coat was part of my dilemma.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t be all the things that it represented; I just felt that it had its own large persona, and there wasn’t enough room for singing, laughing, dancing me.   You see, when I entered medical school, I was still hoping that someone would discover me as an artist.  I was a recording singer with an ambition for superstardom.  I would record in 15-minute intervals in my home studio after 45 minutes of studying.  Although I liked medical school, it could not compare to my love for music.  Could a doctor have another passion?  I didn’t think so at the time. Every time I put that crisp white coat on, I pretended to be someone very different.   Less of me, I thought, more of who I thought a doctor should be; and so I began to stifle myself, and I became very unhappy in the process.

It wasn’t until the third year of residency that I heard two amazing mentors tell me, “Be you as a doctor.”  I know that sounds incredibly simple, but to me it was profound.  Be me? I went home and contemplated this saying over and over.  Be you as a doctor.  I thought about how being me would including humming during procedures, singing for my patients, asking questions apart from the character, location, onset, duration, intensity of pain.  I would improvise off the script and find joy in not just being me but searching deeper into who my patients are.  From that day on, my world changed.  I let myself free to be me between the button and the button hole of my white coat.  It was awesome. I felt I was running wild and discovered the secret of happiness: I got to be me!

It’s not just music that the white coat tends to suppress.   I know mothers and fathers that don’t speak about their children, world travelers that are restrained to tell their stories, photographers, painters, dancers, cooks: all doctors that seem uniform under one blank canvas cover.  Maybe, the white isn’t for uniformity at all, but for us to bring our own personality and color into the mix.  Maybe our profession would be that much more vibrant and enjoyable if doctors felt free to be who they are.  Be you as a doctor.  I hope those words change your life as they did mine.

“Jos J” is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician.  She can be reached on her self-titled site, JosJ MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Why the cancer moonshot is already off course

April 25, 2016 Kevin 13
…
Next

To help some patients, we have to change our attitudes

April 26, 2016 Kevin 8
…

Tagged as: Medical school

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Why the cancer moonshot is already off course
Next Post >
To help some patients, we have to change our attitudes

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Medicine rewards self-sacrifice often at the cost of physician happiness

    Daniella Klebaner
  • A physician joins TikTok to talk sex education

    Jennifer Lincoln, MD
  • Finding happiness in the time of COVID

    Anonymous
  • Osler and the doctor-patient relationship

    Leonard Wang
  • Overspecialization in medical education: Is it hindering physician growth and stifling innovation?

    Katherine Bishop, MD

More in Education

  • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

    Vaishali Jha
  • Residency match tips: Building mentorship, research, and community

    Simran Kaur, MD and Eva Shelton, MD
  • How I learned to stop worrying and love AI

    Rajeev Dutta
  • Why medical student debt is killing primary care in America

    Alexander Camp
  • Why the pre-med path is pushing future doctors to the brink

    Jordan Williamson, MEd
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

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

View 6 Comments >

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

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

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

The key to physician happiness: Be you as a doctor
6 comments

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

Loading Comments...