Physician wellness and work-life balance are hot topics in today’s medical arena. It is on the minds of medical students, residents, and physicians in practice. While the concepts and methods to achieve it are enticing, the question remains: how does the individual physician achieve it? Some believe that system-wide changes in medicine will get doctors closer to these goals. Then there are the supporters of strategies that physicians can implement to shift their mindset as the first step toward their goals.

Personally, I believe the answer lies in a combined approach. Let’s face it: Not every change in the work environment will appeal to all professionals. I like the idea of being empowered to create a career that blends in nicely with my life rather than leaving it to others who do not fully understand my needs.

How does a doctor educated and trained in a system that puts everyone else and everything else first make the shifts and become part of the creative process? Here are ten telltale signs that you’re a physician in need of a mindset shift as the first step toward physician wellbeing and work-life balance.

1. You followed the clear path from medical school to residency training to an amazing attending position and find yourself asking: “Now what?”

2. You have a great work ethic, are often willing to cover for a colleague and receive fantastic evaluations but little meaningful feedback for your next level of growth.

3. You experience success, but in between the success you live in the valley feeling like an imposter: not good enough and suffer from wavering self-confidence.

4. You are not experiencing what you truly desire in your life and career despite changing positions, roles, and even location.

5. You are in a rut, want a way out, but don’t want anyone to tell you what to do.

6. You feel guilty that your life and career are flowing while you watch colleagues struggle, so you downplay and minimize your achievements and fail to celebrate them.

7. You quickly join the water cooler conversations about what’s not working in health care.

8. Your inner critic takes center stage in most conversations.

9. You lack the life skills and strategies to manage the inherent stress of caring for sick patients that will promote your well-being, so instead, you focus on the problems of the current climate in medicine.

10. You silence and ignore your intuition and the inner voice that tries to get your attention and guide you toward your next level, personally and professionally.

The first step to change is to recognize the signs that a shift is needed.

It’s a powerful step. Without it, doctors can change jobs and positions and decrease the number of shifts worked and still find themselves no closer to the work-life balance and wellbeing they read about and crave.

Our thoughts and beliefs must align with what we desire to achieve in this new era, when medicine finally acknowledges the importance of physician life.

Stephanie Wellington is a physician, certified professional coach, and founder of Nurturing MDs, dedicated to guiding physicians from stress and overwhelm to ease and flow in the demanding medical field. She empowers clinicians to infuse new energy into their careers and reconnect with their identities beyond the stethoscope. She can also be reached on Facebook and LinkedIn.

She is a speaker, author, and recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. If stress and overwhelm are part of your practice, get started with the free guide: “15 Ways to Infuse New Energy.”

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