"I started planning my escape in late 2020. I would find a way to quit health care, to cease being a practicing physician altogether. Living the life of a doctor-mom, I felt consumed with daily obligations and duties.

Guilt plagued me for feeling burdened by this life, for feeling it was a monotonous prison. The guilt soon transformed to anger. I was not showing up to my life in a meaningful way. I held many limiting beliefs that blocked me from change. How did I get here? A child's dream of becoming a doctor sustained me into adulthood. The dream was an all-encompassing mass-like occupancy in my brain with space for few other dreams. Upon becoming an attending, my dream was realized, but I found myself with a huge void where this space-occupying lesion once lived. Now what? In the absence of childlike wonder, it did not occur to me to create new dreams."

Cathi Whaley is a hospice and palliative care physician.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Permission to burn the manual."

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out.

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Also available in Category 1 CME bundles.

Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info