I’ve been working with women physicians intensively now for six years, and I’ve noticed a few things.
The women I work with are amazing. They are altruistic and caring. They are resilient, independent, and able to put others’ needs before their own. They are smart, detail-oriented, and care about getting things right.
If you’re a patient (and we all are at some point), this is exactly what you want in your doctor. Plus, the ability to subjugate your needs is a requirement to get through pre-med studies, medical school, and residency training. If you’re a third-year student holding the retractor for an abdominal surgery and you have to pee, or hydrate, or eat something, OK—too bad.
So physicians rely on traits like self-sacrifice, pleasing others, and perfectionism to successfully become physicians.
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Over the past decade, and especially the past three years, time pressure has escalated for health care workers. For physicians, some of the underlying causes are understaffing, shortened visit length, and a huge increase in patient messaging. Whereas in the past, they may have had some slack in their schedule so they could write the “perfect” note or cover seven problems in a patient visit or take 20 minutes to confer with a specialist, now trying to do this results in frustration, exhaustion, or burnout.
This is where the habits and ways of being that got physicians to be physicians can wreak havoc. However, what’s needed is not to swing to the opposite pole and never sacrifice or please others or go for perfect, but to modulate. And this requires quieting those sabotaging inner voices that load on the guilt and self-criticism.
Easier said than done, but it is possible. I’ve seen the freedom that comes when these sabotaging voices are silenced enough that women physicians can confidently say no, set healthy boundaries, protect some time for themselves, and aim for excellence rather than chasing perfect everywhere.
If this sounds familiar, know that the shift from stuck to flourishing is possible.
Diane W. Shannon is a physician, professional coach, author, and health care writer who helps women physicians build influential, sustainable careers without sacrificing their well-being. She can be found at dianeshannon.com.
She brings more than 20 years of expertise in physician burnout, women physician leadership, and building sustainable physician workplaces. After experiencing burnout early in her own primary care career, she dedicated her work to understanding why talented physicians struggle and what it takes for both individuals and organizations to thrive. Drawing on her experience as both a physician and award-winning health care writer, she helps women physicians expand their leadership, navigate career transitions, and avoid burnout, while partnering with health care organizations to retain physicians, develop women leaders, and strengthen workplace culture.
Dr. Shannon is coauthor of Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine, a TEDx speaker, and cofounder of Lead Your Way Academy. Her writing on burnout, cognitive load, and physician well-being has appeared in Massachusetts Medical Society publications, the American Medical Association’s STEPS Forward toolkit series, and on WBUR. She shares updates on LinkedIn and Instagram.
