Jessie Mahoney, MD

The solution to the physician burnout crisis isn’t more diagnoses or interventions. The antidote isn’t more modules, surveys, screenings, or questionnaires. What’s needed is cultural healing: One that we have so far been unwilling and/or too depleted to attempt.

Over the past decade, physician wellness has been medicalized. We’ve absorbed it into the very system that made us unwell. We’ve labeled it as pathology—when in fact, it’s a predictable outcome of …

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In medicine, we were taught to value humility over pride. To downplay our successes. To “just do our job.” Even as we achieve remarkable things, we rarely pause to acknowledge them, let alone celebrate.

Pride feels risky. Many physicians worry that being proud means being egotistical, self-important, or inconsiderate of others who may be struggling. We were trained to attribute our successes to the team, to luck, or hard work—never to …

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In medicine, we’ve long relied on the oxygen mask analogy to justify self-care: “Put your own mask on first before assisting others.” It’s a powerful image—but it’s not enough.

Oxygen masks drop in emergencies. Putting them on is a reactive action. They keep us alive—but they don’t help us thrive.

For many physicians, the oxygen mask has become the gold standard of wellness. In a culture that rewards self-sacrifice and martyrdom, “putting …

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We were taught that sacrificing ourselves is noble. That resilience is enduring. And that suffering and struggling are valiant.

We were taught rest is optional, complacent, lazy—something for other, less busy, less important people.

We were also taught to see “self-care” as somewhat indulgent.

Self-care is often thought of as something earned. A guilty pleasure.

Even the words commonly used in medicine to describe caring for ourselves—”self-care”—sound indulgent.

“Caring for ourselves as well” is not …

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Practicing medicine today is not what most of us envisioned when we chose it as a profession. We still love science. We still love health. We still love helping patients and being healers.

But the practice of medicine has changed—and continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Navigating this shifting landscape requires a new mindset—one rooted in adaptability, self-awareness, and resilience. The way we were trained to practice medicine twenty or …

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What if the cost of being a “good doctor” didn’t have to be your well-being?

For many physicians—especially those drawn to lifestyle medicine and whole-person care—this question feels quietly radical.

We’ve been conditioned to give until we’re empty. To serve at the expense of our sleep, our health, and sometimes even our sense of self.

We were taught to sacrifice.

To stay

…

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For nearly two decades, I sat in meetings, listened to leadership discussions, and navigated the institutional maze of advocating for funding for physician wellness programs.

I saw the hesitation. The skepticism. The “we don’t have the budget for that” conversations.

And yet, I also saw what worked.

For the past five years, I’ve worked independently, designing high-impact, transformational wellness experiences for physicians. And I’ve helped hospital systems, departments, and organizations across the country …

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To be the best healers possible for others, we have to show compassion for and take care of ourselves.

I wrote a previous article published in KevinMD titled, “Self-care is not selfish: It’s imperative to save the practice of medicine.”

Self-care includes doing no harm to yourself.

During our medical training, many habits and thought patterns were deeply ingrained. These thought patterns, while they may have been helpful in …

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