The Worthy Physician
"Reigniting your humanity and passion for medicine."
Welcome to The Worthy Physician, a podcast for physicians, other healthcare workers, and high-performing individuals seeking to reconnect with their humanity, rediscover their passion for medicine, and redefine fulfillment. This podcast offers reflection, healing, and authentic storytelling in a world where burnout, imposter syndrome, and overwhelming expectations are shared.
Medicine is more than a profession—it's a calling. Yet, modern healthcare often leaves physicians feeling disconnected, chasing milestones that fail to bring lasting satisfaction. The Worthy Physician challenges these narratives, prioritizing well-being, core values, and authenticity.
Why Listen?
1. Physician Burnout: Understand its causes and recovery strategies to rediscover joy in medicine.
2. Authentic Self: Explore your identity beyond the white coat and integrate it into all aspects of life.
3. Imposter Syndrome: Overcome doubts, embrace your worth, and value your contributions to medicine.
4. The Arrival Fallacy: Break free from achievement-driven dissatisfaction and find fulfillment in the present.
5. Core Values: Align decisions with what truly matters to live purpose-driven lives.
6. Financial Empowerment: Gain insights on managing debt, creating sustainability, and building financial literacy.
7. Real Stories: Hear physicians' struggles and triumphs, fostering connection and solidarity.
8. Healing Through Storytelling: Share and listen to stories that inspire resilience and growth.
What to Expect
Each episode blends:
- Engaging in Conversations with experts in medicine, psychology, and finance.
- Real-life stories from physicians who've navigated similar challenges.
- Practical Strategies for addressing burnout, improving balance, and enhancing well-being.
- A Supportive Community that celebrates your victories and offers encouragement.
Why It Matters
You are more than your profession—you're a human being with dreams and aspirations. The Worthy Physician reminds you to prioritize your values, honor your well-being, and reignite your passion for medicine.
Who Should Listen?
This podcast is for physicians seeking clarity, fulfillment, and alignment, whether struggling with burnout, imposter syndrome, or the pressures of the medical field.
Join the Movement
Redefine what it means to be a physician today. Subscribe to The Worthy Physician and take the first step toward a healthier, more compassionate approach to medicine.
The Worthy Physician
Confronting Inner Demons, Ghouls and Goblins: Embracing Imperfection and Reclaiming Mental Peace
Have you ever felt haunted by your own thoughts, especially during the stillness of the night? Join me, Dr. Sapna Shah Haque, on this special Halloween 2024 episode of The Worthy Physician as we confront the inner demons of self-doubt, perfectionism, and the relentless pursuit of flawlessness that often plague physicians. We'll explore how these inner specters can overshadow our humanity and discuss the importance of embracing our imperfections. Listen in for insights on balancing the high-stakes life of a physician parent, and the valuable lessons we can learn from the resilience and creativity of our children, even amid the chaos of last-minute Halloween costume changes.
As the sugar rush winds down and the night grows quiet, we'll tackle the discomfort of sitting alone with our thoughts. How do we address those nagging doubts: Am I doing it right? What could I have done better? Together, we'll challenge these thoughts, examining their roots and finding ways to reframe them for our well-being. Whether you're ready to face them now or prefer to shelve them for another time, I'll offer strategies to help reclaim your peace of mind. This episode is about reigniting our passion for being the best human beings we can be, even amidst life's haunting uncertainties.
Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice. This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone. If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.
Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books
Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker
Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads
Battle of the Boxes
21 Day Self Focus Journal
Happy Halloween 2024. This year on, today, what thoughts are frightening you, what thoughts are being spooky in your head? Even though it is the night of ghosts and goblins, we have to remember some of the scariest things that live within our own minds. So, today, what is really haunting you? What is your biggest fear? How much time do we actually talk about these things? While I do believe in positive thinking and positivity and mindfulness and mindset, no, it's not going to get you out of burnout, but what it will do is definitely help you focus on what the hell you need and hopefully try to quiet those sometimes what seem like spooky voices, negative thoughts, self-doubt, all those demons that I think clearly we as humans are very, very prone to have. But then you add a level of perfectionism with physicians, because it's what we do right With our job. It is high stakes, we can't be wrong, but at the end of the day, we're human and we have to embrace that humanity. So welcome to another episode of the Worthy Physician. I'm your host, dr Sapna Shah Haque, reigniting your passion and your humanity, and today I would say your passion to be the best human being that you can be. Now, yes, tonight we're going to, for those of us that have kids, we're going to rush home from work if we can, unless there are just things that happen and we can't do it and that's just life, right, that's just life as a physician parent. And that's just life, right. That's just life as a physician parent. But if you're crazy like me and you have kids and you're kind of flying solo this year, I'm going to run home Definitely. Hopefully they don't want to change their costumes last minute and if they do, they have 15 minutes to figure it out or it's going to be a bust for one of them, but I guess that gently teaches them, hey, problem solver. This is the reason why we try to plan these things. But again, they're plans. So what I can learn as a parent is things happen. Try to have a backup plan. Sometimes you don't, and that's just the way it is. Of course it will show the kid compassion. We'll still have a good time, because you all know that kids are really creative, they're really resilient and they're amazing, and within these moments is when I find that they teach me the best lessons. Now, what does that have to do with all the ghouls and goblins in our head? Sometimes it's just being able to quiet everything down enough in order to enjoy these small moments, these glimpses in time. Now, after everybody goes to bed, what does that mean? Everybody is going to be kind of conked out, probably from a sugar coma after they are done, bouncing off the walls. I swear the kids become rubber after all the candy. And for the listeners that are saying, why do you do that? Come on, it's Halloween, it's one night a week, one night a year. Live a little Moving on.
Speaker 1:What is it like to sit with these thoughts in the dark late at night? Sometimes being in silence can be uncomfortable. Sometimes those thoughts of self-doubt, of am I doing it right? What could I have done to make it better? Darn it, I really screwed up on whatever instance it was today, last week, last year all the thoughts of self-doubt can come forward. So this is when the haunting begins.
Speaker 1:Mentally, right, I would challenge you to think is this a true thought? Is that really how it happened? And if it's not, then let's try to reframe that. And if you can't reframe it, then let's just say, hey, we're not going to do this right now, put it in a box and open that lid when you're ready. Again, it does need to be addressed, but it does need to be addressed right now, like we tell our smokers pick a date, pick a quit date, put it on your calendar, tell somebody to hold you accountable, I would say that negative thought or series of thoughts, those negative feelings. If you're not ready to address it tonight At the bewitching hour, put a lid on it, put it in that box, put it on a shelf mentally, and then write down a date that you might feel more comfortable addressing it. Create some white space. Start taming those thoughts, those demons, internally, one at a time. Start taming those thoughts, those demons, internally, one at a time. And it's not going to happen overnight, it's not going to happen with one session. It's going to come back repeatedly because we're humans. Life happens. Life is not all unicorns and rainbows, and that's okay. That's learning how to dance in the hurricane. Remember you're human but you're still worthy of love, simply by existing.
Speaker 1:No parent has it perfect. I'm not a Pinterest parent and for those that are, it's fantastic. I'd love to know how you are able to do everything, or how do you delegate things. So if you're listening to this and you, you were thinking, yeah, I can do it all, fantastic. I would really encourage you to email me your tips and tricks at theworthyphysician theworthyphysician at gmailcom. Let me know how you can thrive and be a boss at work and at home, and all the other areas of life, because I truly would like to know. How do each of you delegate these things? What are your tips and tricks? So, if you found this helpful, like, subscribe, share with a friend, because we can all use camaraderie. We're going to be back in another two weeks. It's not going to be as raw and hopefully it will be much better edited. Unfortunately, my computer died and it's still in the shop, and that's just the way life is, so we're gonna roll with this. Happy halloween, guys and gals. Take care and enjoy.