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

Quiet firing in medicine: my journey from burnout to freedom

Shawn McGargill, MD
Physician
August 1, 2024
Share
Tweet
Share

As I sit in this dark room in an empty house in solitude, I still wonder how I got here.

I have been the subject of quiet firing that resulted in my mental and social health suffering. It soured my work relationships, consumed my day, made me an angry person to everyone, including my family, and gave me anxiety. It culminated in exactly what the system wanted: me leaving. It was not my desire to go, but the environment created around me was toxic.

I know my experience is not isolated. Medicine has become a business now more than ever. COVID-19 showed some of us the dark side of health care that we had not expected. It also sowed some seeds for others to manipulate situations to their advantage. I experienced this situation, and it resulted in the loss of my job. It nearly ended my career as I pondered leaving medicine.

My experience in quiet firing is exactly as it sounds: often subtle but firm pressure, manipulative changes, and general discomfort designed to make you want to leave. It is a cold, calculating, passive-aggressive business approach to help guide a person away from continued employment. At first, you may think it is a small event that you simply overlooked, but those events quickly add up and escalate. Your work is never good enough, your approach is overlooked, you might even be ignored, and over time you wonder how you could even improve. Could this truly be your problem, or is something else at play here? Eventually, time, examples, and intuition tell you something is not right.

I was at this juncture. Early on, I was gaslighted to the issues, then I was blamed, and finally, ultimately, ignored. I spent months cleaning up so many messes and staying relevant when I was already forgotten. It took time to convince myself it was not a problem I could control and that, after seven years, my employment was over. I had lost all trust in my superiors and, eventually, the health system. I asked for help from anyone who would listen, including HR. I tried to get help from people who were much more important and powerful than I was. There was plenty of ghosting, but a few offered advice. They advised it was time to leave. Staying would only invite more mental and academic pain. And in the end, my superiors would find something they could use to officially fire me.

Know that if you are experiencing this, it is hard. It is infuriating and certainly not fair. It makes you ask if medicine is worth the hours, the sacrifice, the mental challenges, the angry patients, the constant legal threats, etc. My advice is to take a step back and look at this situation. Would you let your spouse, child, or best friend struggle through this day after day? Would you tell them to keep enduring, keep taking the punishment, and asking for more? I doubt you would recommend this course of action. Then why should you? Is it your pride in being a physician? Is it the familiarity of a situation that keeps you in that type of environment? Do you think you can rise above pettiness or overcome a challenge? You are enough and are valuable to so many. You must find a place that values you just as much. It is out there. From one quiet-fired doc to another, how long can you afford to keep going in your current situation? As I nearly did, I have not reached that end limit. You are enough.

Shawn McGargill is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician. 

Prev

How knowledgeable patients face suspicion in medical care [PODCAST]

July 31, 2024 Kevin 0
…
Next

Private equity's takeover of health care: a patient's nightmare

August 1, 2024 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: physia, Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How knowledgeable patients face suspicion in medical care [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Private equity's takeover of health care: a patient's nightmare

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Maternal instincts in medicine: the dual journey of motherhood and healing

    Nicolette Siringo
  • Physician burnout: the impact of social media on mental health and the urgent need for change

    Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Amy Bissada, DO & Jen Barna, MD
  • From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

    Homer Moutran, MD, MBA, Caline El-Khoury, PhD, and Danielle Wilson
  • Medicine won’t keep you warm at night

    Anonymous
  • Delivering unpalatable truths in medicine

    Samantha Cheng
  • My healer, please guide me on this journey

    Michele Luckenbaugh

More in Physician

  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Why compassion—not credentials—defines great doctors

    Dr. Saad S. Alshohaib
  • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

    Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

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 2 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

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

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

Quiet firing in medicine: my journey from burnout to freedom
2 comments

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

Loading Comments...