Victoria Silas is an orthopedic surgeon and physician coach. She can be reached at Medical Minds Consulting.

Letting go of perfectionism: a New Year’s resolution for self-compassion

Physician
February 4, 2024

Last week I drove to my favorite trails in Point Defiance Park. The roads seemed oddly empty and quiet, even for “the time between the years” as I’ve heard it called. Perhaps I hadn’t noticed it before, since in medicine, it’s always been just another week when most people don’t work, but we always had a full schedule.

The day was overcast, as it so often is during winter in the …

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Letting go of perfectionism: a New Year’s resolution for self-compassion

Discover the power of breathing: How a lesson in pediatrics helped me find inner calm

Physician
March 7, 2023

“Until I know you better, I will tell you how to breathe!”

It’s my first day at the pediatric orthopedic hand specialty clinic on my pediatric ortho rotation in my third year of residency.

I have just been barked at by the professor emeritus, a retired Army colonel, who runs the service.

He didn’t tell me how to breathe, but he affected it.

Prior to this, my upper-level resident told me that I have …

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Discover the power of breathing: How a lesson in pediatrics helped me find inner calm

Why reaching your goals won’t bring lasting happiness

Physician
February 11, 2023

It’s January, so much of social media, news, magazine articles, and the like turns to goals, goals, goals.

Having a goal for your life is like having a diagnosis for a patient.

Now you have a direction (for healing). You know what you have to do to get there (the specific treatment), you know what the obstacles might be (complications), and yet you have to keep an open mind in case you …

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Why reaching your goals won’t bring lasting happiness

Learn to round on yourself

Physician
August 11, 2022

I always think of the beginning of July as the New Year in medicine. It’s when medical students become interns, interns become residents, and residents become newly minted attendings. With each change is an increase in responsibility.

I remember paying even more attention to the history and physical each time I crossed that threshold. With an increased sense of purpose and responsibility. This was true in the office and during admissions …

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Learn to round on yourself

You have the right to boundaries

Physician
May 17, 2022

World events have me thinking about boundaries. Countries have boundaries. Often they are based on the land’s physical features, but not always. Boundaries are created over time and may need to change for various reasons. So too with our personal human boundaries.

When we speak of personal boundaries, we can mean the physical boundaries of our skin. Or we may mean the psychological or social boundaries that we live with and …

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You have the right to boundaries

Addressing burnout in the time of COVID

Physician
March 10, 2022

I’m hearing from my physician coaching clients that they are beyond exhausted by this pandemic. They experience judgment toward people who won’t get the vaccine. They are frustrated and angry with the situation. And then they feel guilt or shame for feeling this way.

Both doing the actual work and being a witness to human suffering had already worn doctors out. The additional emotional toll caused by these uncomfortable feelings occurs …

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Addressing burnout in the time of COVID

How physicians can restore themselves on vacation

Physician
February 25, 2022

As the latest pandemic wave seems to be easing, I am again thinking about traveling. I love to travel on vacation. A staycation can be nice, especially if there’s a lot to do around the home, whether that’s working on my home (decluttering and organizing anyone?) or just getting all the little things done that I usually don’t make time for. A break from working, but still at home.

Those homestay …

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How physicians can restore themselves on vacation

Groomers at PetSmart have more autonomy than physicians

Physician
December 26, 2021

“You do not rise to the level of your goals.  You fall to the level of your systems.”
– James Clear, Atomic Habits

I had a bit of a revelation recently when I brought my dog in for grooming. Some background: My dog is ten years old and has a double coat from hell (although very pretty). She also had a spinal cord injury in November 2019 and has residual weakness in …

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Groomers at PetSmart have more autonomy than physicians

How a physician learned to stop reacting to overnight calls

Physician
August 23, 2021

I’m currently reading What Happened to You by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, and being reminded that I react rather than respond when I am in a trauma activation. When that happens, I don’t have access to higher cortical functions like critical thinking. And as Gabor Mate, MD, would say, I don’t respond to what’s happening; I respond to my perceptions of what’s happening. And actually, I …

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How a physician learned to stop reacting to overnight calls