I've heard all the reason why you can't make changes. Hell, I've even spoken most of them myself. Let me tell them to you and why it's just not true…
“I’m stuck in this position because I am participating in a loan repayment program.”
Yes, those agreements have some penalties for not completing them: immediate or full repayment, increase in interest rates, an added penalty. So what!
Take the hit and get out. Why stay miserable for a 16% interest rate or 10k? Isn't feeling better WORTH it!
Get creative on how to pay the penalties or additional interest and GET OUT FROM UNDER THIS ENSLAVING CONTRACT!
Ask help from someone who has been in a similar situation to you and see how they handled the potential penalties. (ahh-hhmm...been there...maybe I can help!)
Ask to be released from the contract. (You never get what you don't ask for.)
Find a position that is willing to take on these burdens as part of your signing bonus. Or ask your new company/group to take this on as part of your compensation model.
Think: Are these penalties really that bad or am I making them bigger than what they really are?
No matter, do not let these burdens keep you in a place of darkness, feeling trapped or indebted.
“I can't leave my job because I really love some of my patients.”
Best advice I ever got on this topic was… ‘There's always one more patient. You have to learn to walk away.’
We do become really attached to our people. I have wept with patients, for patients and because of patients. At the end of the day, you cannot do this because of other people. Live your life and work your work for YOURSELF. You can't be fulfilled if you living your life for other people who aren't even in your family!?!
Your fulfillment must come from inside of you and your passions.
You will continue to touch lives no matter where you go and what you do.
Sure, you will miss these current relationships. But you will also make new relationship.
You may be missing out on helping and curing patients you may never have interacted with if you stay where you are now. That's a food for thought!!!
“If I quit, then I'm a failure at medicine." -or- "If I quit then I'm just not cut out for this."
Did you get through medical school?
Did you get through residency?
Did you pass your boards?
Where in the hell do you see any failure in that?
Just because a job doesn't work out, it doesn't mean that you are inadequate or incapable of being a wonderful physician.
In no way are you an absolute failure because you recognize that where you're working is not aligning with who you are as a person!
This is where I get clear about the difference between a job, profession and career. Your job is where you go, who you work for and what you do on a daily basis. Your profession is the occupation or trade that you received trading/education in. Your career is your life's work. It's the combination of all jobs, occupations, skills, knowledge and experience. It's the journey.
My career is to help others. My profession is physician and life coach. My job is currently an EM physician at a small Indiana hospital.
You can change jobs. You can change professions. Your career is lifelong and about walking your journey. Job changes are just part of the path! It's not FAILURE, it's just adaption.
My definition of true failure: "You only truly fail if you give up all hope and never take another step forward, never try again or give another chance."
“I don't know what else I could be besides a doctor.”
Physicians are some of the most intelligent and creative individuals that this Earth has.
Whatever we trap ourselves in the box of thinking that there is nothing else that we can do besides practice medicine in the exact same way that we are doing now then we lock our creativity and intellectual power out.
There is not only the decision to stay or go. There are literally thousands of different opportunities that you can pursue by just being you.
Do you like writing? Write content within medicine, blogs for patient education, blogs for companies, write something totally out of the healthcare realm, like a fictional novel or children's book.
There are no limits when you discover what the desires of your heart and start dreaming how to pursue them.
I hear, "I just want to help other people." Well, you can help others WHILE not practicing medicine. You can help people and practice medicine in a totally different way. You can help people and practice traditional medicine but do it the way that is sustainable and invigorating for you.
The key here is you must stop putting yourself in a box with limitations and start opening your mind up to the infinite possibilities of what you can do with your skills, your creativity, your intelligence, your passions, and your desire.
I hope this was helpful to shift your mind frame from "oh that can't happen" to "HELL YES." Let's make it happen. I want to be your coach. CLICK HERE to schedule.
If you want more information about how I change my practice or what I'm doing to help other positions change their practice, hang out with me on social media!
Check out my program DOCTOR ME FIRST on how you can live a life that goes from just surviving to thriving.
Be well!