The Worthy Physician

When We Stop Wondering, We Stop Living. Wonder on Purpose.

• Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque MD

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We explore how curiosity, play, and presence restore our humanity in medicine and keep clinical work meaningful. A bluegrass afternoon becomes a real-world reset that shows why fun isn’t optional for resilience, empathy, and good care.

• losing curiosity under stress and paperwork
• presence as a clinical skill and reset
• bluegrass day as a model for restorative play
• recharging through family, community and music
• reframing appointments as human meetings
• laughter as medicine for brain and body
• three takeaways: micro-curiosity, scheduled fun, permission to be silly
• a weekly challenge to try one curious question or one fun act

As always, if you have found this episode helpful, like, share with a friend


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!
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Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Speaker 00:

Welcome to another episode of The Worthy Physician. I'm your host, Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque, Reigniting Your Humanity. So we're going to do something a little bit different today. Not too sure what happened, but we're going to try something new. It's a raw recording, no editing. So somewhere along the way, many of us in demanding professions, particularly medicine, lost something precious. Our curiosity and our sense of wonder. And with it, we lost, I think, the natural joy and fun that really can only be seen. Very raw, realistic in your face with kids. Today I want to explore why curiosity and fun are not luxuries, but essential. Essential for life, for medicine, not just for our patients, but for us. I think we forget our humanity along the way. And along with that we lose our sense of wonder, not just about things related to medicine, but in life. Or even I think a bigger question, how can I impact my community? How can I make people feel better? How can I make people's lives better? So we ask these questions. We learn about the amazing human body. But I think at some point along the way, not always, and not in any particular timeline, but things start to blur together. Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks. And over time, under stress, sleep deprived, maybe even lack of socialization with others outside of medicine, building up of deadlines, RVUs, charting, the bane of my existence, and many of ours, curiosity turns into almost an obligation. The spark of wonder gets buried under paperwork, protocols, and productivity measures. And when the wonder disappears, so does the fun. Why does fun restore us? Maybe it's because we're not doing anything in the moment except for being present. We're playing. I see that a lot of my kids. Um about two weeks ago we went to a bluegrass festival here in our hometown. It was it was amazing. Um it was amazing watching their eyes light up to see different people and their eyes to just wander not through not just through the sea of people, but at the different vendors, the colors, listen to the music, get lost in the music, get lost in the environment, get lost in playing outside, and just being just being in the present moment. And even when the I became overcast, thought maybe we'd have to cut the afternoon short because of rain. It didn't seem to phase them. We came prepared. We had a backup plan. Well, I had a backup plan. But they were not bothered. They weren't bothered by the heat because we were able to cool off with water. Not just drinking, but dumping it on the back of our necks or head, and it was everything was great. If someone got hungry, we had snacks, and everything was great. I can truly tell you after that afternoon, and after getting lost in the makeshift parking lot, wandering around in the heat, and the sea of people and vehicles. I truly came back recharged. Not because of the music was fun. The people watching was amazing, uh, but it was truly the fact that I was able to spend time with my favorite human beings and not have to worry about anything. So for me it was not wasting time. It was truly being outside connecting with my family, connecting with the community. Um not just the community in which we live, but the bluegrass community was fascinating. I can't wait to do it again next year. But for me, fun that fun, that play, that atmosphere uh of maybe I didn't create anything but memories for myself, for the kids. But it was fun and an expression of wonder. And I for me it was a version of play. It allowed for a space of creativity, of innovation, of really to reset my brain. And reconnecting to the human side or even with other humans that inspire me and remind me of why I get up and do what I do. I think all that's important in medicine when if we were to look at every appointment as a potential, let's reframe it as a meeting. Even though in the exam room I'm not diminishing the uh conversations that take place in the exam room. There are some of the most heartfelt and some of the most difficult conversations we have. And we see patients at their most vulnerable points. But let's say we have we see three to four patients an hour. That's three to four meetings, if you will. And as a physician, and I know many of my colleagues, most of my colleagues do, not all, pour all their being into that appointment. On top of the multiple interruptions during the day between patients, on breaks, after hours, and all the um paperwork that I referred to earlier. But going back to that fun and that rewiring of the brain, that ability to let loose and to just be to reconnect with the human side of ourselves allows us to bring that human side into medicine. When was the last time you laughed at work? Not cynically, but really had a deep full body belly laugh. If you can't think about it at work, how about at home or out in public? Or by yourself. And to the listeners, if you cannot recall when the last time that you truly laughed, what do you need in this time and space to search for an opportunity or a piece of humor that would truly make you laugh? Laughter, play, relaxation truly does the mind, the body, and the spirit or soul. Very good. So three takeaways. Microments of curiosity. Well, what's that? Maybe it's just noticing something around you in your familiar place that is new. Or maybe taking a ten-minute walk, fifteen-minute walk, and noticing the color of the flowers. And as we progress further into fall, maybe it's simply acknowledging and enjoying the color of the leaves and the changes that are upon us. As crazy as it sounds, schedule some fun. Put something on the calendar that makes you lay up. Put it on the calendar as if it were a doctor's appointment or a deadline. As I'm not always a fan of scheduling things, sometimes if we schedule it, it is more likely to happen. And as we get closer to the holidays, there will be more activities um popping up that might ignite the creative side. And they don't always have to be organized. Sometimes it's just a walk-out in nature. Allow yourself to be silly. I give you permission for imperfection to have silly humor or use it and to play. What does that look like? Sometimes for me it is watching an Adam Sandler movie because I think he's absolutely hilarious. I do not have to think, and laughing uh resets my brain. If it's something that I am doing after the kids go to bed, it might be an episode of South Park. Absolutely, I do not watch it with the kids because it's not kid friendly. Not at this age. But I do not feel guilty about laughing at toilet humor. We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. George Bernard Shaw. Take things too seriously, everything too seriously. Things start to look dimmer. Those hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, and everything blurs together. Time passes way too quickly. So sometimes to make it slow down, I do just that. Go spend an afternoon in the grove listening to music and enjoying my favorite little human beings. When we lose curiosity, we lose fun. And we when we lose fun, we lose part of what makes us humans. And as physicians and the demand of our profession, I challenge you to reclaim wonder and joy. It's not to be put on the back burner. It's part of our survival. It's part of our core as human beings. So this week, I challenge you to ask one curious question or do one fun thing for just you. And take notice of what changes, what shifts internally and then externally. Because when we allow ourselves to wonder, to plan to have fun, we remember that medicine at its heart is all about living fully and being fully alive. As always, if you have found this episode helpful, like, share with a friend. Because you're not alone. You might feel invisible. But I see you. Take care.