Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
KevinMD
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
  • 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
KevinMD
  • 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
  • About KevinMD | Kevin Pho, MD
  • Be heard on social media’s leading physician voice
  • Contact Kevin
  • Discounted enhanced author page
  • DMCA Policy
  • Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices
  • Group vs. individual disability insurance for doctors: pros and cons
  • KevinMD influencer opportunities
  • Opinion and commentary by KevinMD
  • Physician burnout speakers to keynote your conference
  • Physician Coaching by KevinMD
  • Physician keynote speaker: Kevin Pho, MD
  • Physician Speaking by KevinMD: a boutique speakers bureau
  • Primary care physician in Nashua, NH | Kevin Pho, MD
  • Privacy Policy
  • Recommended services by KevinMD
  • Terms of Use Agreement
  • Thank you for subscribing to KevinMD
  • Thank you for upgrading to the KevinMD enhanced author page
  • The biggest mistake doctors make when purchasing disability insurance
  • The doctor’s guide to disability insurance: short-term vs. long-term
  • The KevinMD ToolKit
  • Upgrade to the KevinMD enhanced author page
  • Why own-occupation disability insurance is a must for doctors

10 signs to know when to quit your job

Pamela Wible, MD
Physician
March 26, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

Attention all nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, doctors and anyone else in health care: Here are the top 10 warning signs that it is time to quit your job. The first three are mine. The rest are from colleagues. If you recognize anything on this list, please quit your job.

10. You feel nauseated when you see your clinic logo. You alter your commute to avoid streets with your clinic’s billboard.

9. Discouraged by the general despair among clinic staff, you try to be joyful. Then you’re reprimanded by the clinic manager for being “excessively happy.”

8. You dream of leaving medicine to work as a waitress.

7. You envy your sickest patients and/or you develop a perverse pleasure in your patients’ pain.

6. You pray you will be diagnosed with cancer so you can get some time to sleep.

5. You spend your nights trying to keep patients alive while you imagine ways to die by suicide.

4. You work 16 to 24 hour shifts and have not had sex with your spouse in months.

3. You are a top-rated doctor, yet you daydream about walking into traffic, jumping through the window, or just dying in the course of a normal day.

2. You are counting down the days until retirement during patient appointments.

1. You change your computer password to “f*ck [name of hospital where you work]!!!”

Pamela Wible pioneered the community-designed ideal medical clinic and blogs at Ideal Medical Care. She is the author of Physician Suicide Letters — Answered and Pet Goats and Pap Smears. Watch her TEDx talk, How to Get Naked with Your Doctor. She hosts the physician retreat, Live Your Dream, to help her colleagues heal from grief and reclaim their lives and careers.

Image credit: Pamela Wible

Prev

The problem with price transparency

March 26, 2017 Kevin 7
…
Next

Digital tools should not adversely affect the doctor-patient relationship

March 27, 2017 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

< Previous Post
The problem with price transparency
Next Post >
Digital tools should not adversely affect the doctor-patient relationship

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Pamela Wible, MD

  • When health care professionals lose everything

    Pamela Wible, MD
  • Surgeon suicides: Unveiling a silent crisis

    Pamela Wible, MD
  • 13 tips for depressed doctors who need confidential mental health care

    Pamela Wible, MD

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • It is our job to change the rhetoric on who physicians are

    Simran Kripalani
  • The one job robots can never take away from doctors

    Jeffrey Cannon
  • A teacher’s job is to show love first

    Catherine Cheng, MD
  • Trauma from my first anesthesia job

    Patrick Flaherty, CAA
  • Nurse practitioners! Tips for negotiating your first job

    Monica Elston, FNP-BC

More in Physician

  • How credentialing and culture impact physician mental health

    Namit Choksi, MD, MBA, MPH, MPP
  • Why listening is the core of patient-centered care

    Claudy Bonne Année, MD
  • Why relationship-centered care matters in medicine

    John Wei, MD
  • How one doctor navigated orthopedic residency while pregnant

    Christen Russo, MD
  • A humorous parody of medical specialties and the modern patient

    Sidney J. Winawer, MD
  • Surviving a hospital blizzard as a physician on call

    George F. Smith, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Rethinking the role of family physicians vs. specialists

      Ronald L. Lindsay, MD | Physician
    • A humorous parody of medical specialties and the modern patient

      Sidney J. Winawer, MD | Physician
    • Administrative burden is driving severe physician burnout

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Pharmacy closures threaten our entire public health system

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • Clinicians are failing at value-based care because no one taught them the system [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Artificial general intelligence and the future of surgery

      David Stonko, MD | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • The controversy over Maintenance of Certification for grandfathered physicians

      Bernard Leo Remakus, MD | Physician
    • Why clinicians fail at writing expert reports

      Tracy Liberatore, Esq, PA | Conditions
    • Rethinking the role of family physicians vs. specialists

      Ronald L. Lindsay, MD | Physician
    • How hindsight bias distorts clinical medicine

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The cost of time constraints in primary care: Why doctors feel rushed

      Ann Lebeck, MD | Physician
    • Health insurance incentives and alternatives to opioids for chronic pain

      Molly Candon, PhD and Daniel Clauw, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • The hidden risks of AI documentation tools in clinical practice

      Elizabeth Vainder, MD | Tech
    • How credentialing and culture impact physician mental health

      Namit Choksi, MD, MBA, MPH, MPP | Physician
    • Why GLP-1 medications require expert nutrition guidance

      Deanne Brandstetter, MBA, RDN | Meds
    • Why current solutions to physician burnout are failing

      Bill Pressey | Conditions
    • Clinicians are failing at value-based care because no one taught them the system [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why listening is the core of patient-centered care

      Claudy Bonne Année, 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 25 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

    • Rethinking the role of family physicians vs. specialists

      Ronald L. Lindsay, MD | Physician
    • A humorous parody of medical specialties and the modern patient

      Sidney J. Winawer, MD | Physician
    • Administrative burden is driving severe physician burnout

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Pharmacy closures threaten our entire public health system

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • Clinicians are failing at value-based care because no one taught them the system [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Artificial general intelligence and the future of surgery

      David Stonko, MD | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • The controversy over Maintenance of Certification for grandfathered physicians

      Bernard Leo Remakus, MD | Physician
    • Why clinicians fail at writing expert reports

      Tracy Liberatore, Esq, PA | Conditions
    • Rethinking the role of family physicians vs. specialists

      Ronald L. Lindsay, MD | Physician
    • How hindsight bias distorts clinical medicine

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The cost of time constraints in primary care: Why doctors feel rushed

      Ann Lebeck, MD | Physician
    • Health insurance incentives and alternatives to opioids for chronic pain

      Molly Candon, PhD and Daniel Clauw, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • The hidden risks of AI documentation tools in clinical practice

      Elizabeth Vainder, MD | Tech
    • How credentialing and culture impact physician mental health

      Namit Choksi, MD, MBA, MPH, MPP | Physician
    • Why GLP-1 medications require expert nutrition guidance

      Deanne Brandstetter, MBA, RDN | Meds
    • Why current solutions to physician burnout are failing

      Bill Pressey | Conditions
    • Clinicians are failing at value-based care because no one taught them the system [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why listening is the core of patient-centered care

      Claudy Bonne Année, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today

Copyright © 2026 KevinMD.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme

  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

10 signs to know when to quit your job
25 comments

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

Loading Comments...