This is a hard post to write. It is also important. I have escorted trainees to the emergency room for urgent evaluations. A colleague has stayed at my house so they did not have to be alone. And I have helped absorb schedule changes so a peer could seek help privately, so that no one […]
There are two monitors on my desk. One has Epic open. The other holds my calendar, and most days a partially read echo sits behind it. My phone rests next to the keyboard with email open. That is the setup in my office. The setup in clinic, on my couch, in the passenger seat, and […]
I work with a lot of high-earning physicians who still feel trapped in a job or specialty they’ve clearly outgrown. It’s very common for physicians who spent years as W-2 employees to keep operating that way once they own a practice. They work 50- or 60-hour weeks, don’t take time off for holidays, and give […]
I’m standing in the shower wiping soap out of my eyes, and I’m three exchanges deep into an argument that I’m losing. I can feel my blood pressure rise. As I grit my teeth and prepare for another witty comeback, my partner yells from the other room, “Are you done yet?” and jolts me out […]
It is faculty annual review time, and if I am being honest, I dread it. The reasons are not clear. I have been full professor for a while now, so the review carries less weight than it once did. I believe in the intent behind it. The process was built to support promotion, to make […]
You just pitched an idea that was weeks in the making. The pushback starts, and some of it is hard and pointed. All eyes are on you. Each comment lands somewhere behind your sternum, like a blow from a heavyweight boxing champion. The room is expecting a response, and you have about two seconds to […]
The academic year is four weeks old. Maybe you are assembling a promotion dossier. Maybe your annual review is on the calendar and you are already rehearsing the conversation. Or maybe the promotion came through in July, and you have spent the past month quietly wondering what comes next. Opportunity is rarely the problem in […]
Showing up has never been your problem. You put your head down. You gut it out. The strength that built your career is the one you reach for when the work gets hard. So you reach for it again. And again. Until showing up becomes second nature, even when you are no longer sure why. […]
What is the first question you hear when you walk in the front door after a long day? Or when you call a friend on Friday evening to check in? For me it is usually a variation of “How was your day?” Sometimes “What’s up?” or “Anything new?” Once in a while it is an […]
You have 15 minutes to make your case. Funding for the program you want to build. Protected time. A new hire for your division. The data sits in front of you. The slides are ready. You have thought through what you want to say and how you want it to come across. Now take a […]
