DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast

“It’s easy to let pressing matters get in the forefront without sort of thinking, ‘Hey is this something that’s being put on me by something else, or is this really something that I want to do?’ And you have to sometimes be selfish about saying, ‘Look, this is important to me and I’m going to do this.’ You know, ‘I’m going to do it right now.’” -Neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Webb In today’s episode, Jill talks with Neurosurgeon and father, Dr. Michael Webb. Dr. Webb is a proud father and in this conversation we find out how he balances his life to make time for medicine and family. We hear how, since residency, he has had a regular schedule of coming home from work and spending time with his son, which he continues to do to this day. He talks about looking forward and realizing that things that might not mean that much today may have a big impact over the course of five to ten years. Tune in to hear a loving father tell about how he manages work/life balance.  Dr. Webb went to medical school at Loyola University Chicago. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at University of Virginia and his fellowship in spine surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute. You can find him currently at NeuroTexas. Our New DocWorking THRIVE Membership is coming in July!! You’ll get ongoing Small Group Coaching with our Experienced Team, Ongoing Coaching Support in a Private Community that Fosters Peer Support and Mentorship, and superb virtual courses to include ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ with Gabriella Dennery MD and Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer, and ‘A New Era of Leadership,’ with Lisa Kuzman, and so much more!    Join our community by clicking here.   At DocWorking, our specialty is Coaching Physicians. We bring an exceptional experienced team to Coach Physicians to achieve the best in life and medicine.    Doctors devote their lives to caring for others. But does that mean they must sacrifice their own health and wellbeing? Absolutely not!   At DocWorking, we have developed a unique way to embrace it all.   The caring for others that you do so selflessly AND the caring for YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY that you crave in order to bring it all into the perfect balance specific to YOU.   What if we told you that you CAN have it all? The career you dreamed of when you decided to become a doctor AND the life outside of medicine that you desire?   DocWorking empowers physicians to get back on the path to achieving their dreams.   At DocWorking, we understand the tug between life and medicine–a desire to make an impact through your specialized skills but a longing for more time to prioritize your own dreams and ambitions.   We understand because we are a team of physicians and experienced coaches who have been successfully coaching physicians for more than 10 years.   Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage executive coaching. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable.    Our Coaches Will Show You How!   It’s Time to Prioritize the Health and Wellness of Physicians! DocWorking is here for you!!   To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!  Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer, at Amanda@docworking.com to be considered.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“There’s no guesswork, there’s no, ‘Oh how am I going to be covered? What if they change this thing or that thing?’ You know what the deal is.”-Anjali Singh In today’s episode, Jen talks with Anjali Singh about malpractice insurance. Anjali is a Certified Financial Planner and Financial Advisor. Anjali has some important tips for physicians especially when looking at negotiating a new contract or leaving your current employer. She and Jen discuss the types of malpractice insurance and the important differences between them. This is an eye opening discussion with an expert in her field. Tune in to hear what you really need to know about malpractice insurance when it comes to your livelihood. Anjali is a Certified Financial Planner and Financial Advisor. She is a Trusted Resource of DocWorking. She specializes in disability, life, malpractice, commercial and workers comp plans. She has been working exclusively with healthcare providers since 2000.  Our New DocWorking THRIVE Subscription, is coming in July!! Small Group Coaching with our Experienced Team, Virtual Courses, Ongoing Coaching Support in a Private Community that Fosters Peer Support and Mentorship, to include virtual courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ with Gabriella Dennery MD and Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer, and ‘A New Era of Leadership,’ with Lisa Kuzman, and so much more!    Join our community by clicking here   At DocWorking, our specialty is Coaching Physicians. We bring an exceptional experienced team to Coach Physicians to achieve the best in life and medicine.    Doctors devote their lives to caring for others. But does that mean they must sacrifice their own health and wellbeing? Absolutely not!   At DocWorking, we have developed a unique way to embrace it all.   The caring for others that you do so selflessly AND the caring for YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY that you crave in order to bring it all into the perfect balance specific to YOU.   What if we told you that you CAN have it all? The career you dreamed of when you decided to become a doctor AND the life outside of medicine that you desire?   DocWorking empowers physicians to get back on the path to achieving their dreams.   At DocWorking, we understand the tug between life and medicine–a desire to make an impact through your specialized skills but a longing for more time to prioritize your own dreams and ambitions.   We understand because we are a team of physicians and experienced coaches who have been successfully coaching physicians for more than 10 years.   Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable.  Our Coaches Will Show You How! It’s Time to Prioritize the Health and Wellness of Physicians! DocWorking is here for you!!   To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“It’s not going to happen overnight, let’s be clear about that, and it’s not just going to happen with one thing.” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD  In today’s episode, Coaches Jill Farmer and Gabriella Dennery discuss going from languishing to thriving in a post Covid world. We learn what it means to be languishing and how to find out if we are in that state or not. The first step is to acknowledge how you are feeling. Then we get some real life advice on how to move through languishing and come out the other side. The goal is to be thriving or flourishing. Tune in to find out what steps you can take toward thriving today!   Our New DocWorking THRIVE Subscription, is coming in July!! Small Group Coaching with our Experienced Team, Virtual Courses, Ongoing Coaching Support in a Private Community that Fosters Peer Support and Mentorship, to include these virtual courses: ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ with Gabriella Dennery MD and Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer, and ‘A New Era of Leadership,’ with Lisa Kuzman, and so much more! Join our community by clicking here  At DocWorking, our specialty is Coaching Physicians. We bring an exceptional experienced team to Coach Physicians to achieve the best in life and medicine.    Doctors devote their lives to caring for others. But does that mean they must sacrifice their own health and wellbeing? NO!    At DocWorking, we have developed a unique way to embrace it all.    The caring for others that you so selflessly do AND the caring for YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY that you crave in order to bring it all into the perfect balance specific to YOU.   What if we told you that you CAN have it all? The career you dreamed of when you decided to become a doctor AND the life outside of medicine that you desire?   DocWorking empowers physicians to get back on the path to achieving their dreams.   At DocWorking, we understand the tug between life and medicine–a desire to make an impact through your specialized skills but a longing for more time to prioritize your own dreams and ambitions.   We understand because we are a team of physicians and experienced coaches who have been successfully coaching physicians for more than 10 years.   Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable.  Our Coaches Will Show You How!   It’s Time to Prioritize the Health and Wellness of Physicians! DocWorking is here for you!!   To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“As a physician, you have a great deal of negotiating power.” -Employment Attorney Jim Barna In today’s episode, Jen talks with employment attorney Jim Barna about physician contracts. Jim has a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with physician contracts that we are thrilled to get to tap into here at DocWorking. Tune in to hear about non-competition agreements and what you can do about them, the things you can ask for that may not be offered to you up front and much much more! Whether you anticipate negotiating your first contract out of residency or fellowship soon, are considering switching jobs, or are happy where you currently are, you will be glad you listened to this episode!  Jim Barna is an employment attorney who has represented physicians and medical practices for over 25 years. His Bachelor of Arts degree is from Stony Brook University. His law degree is from Washington University in St. Louis.   Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now    To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“Be careful what you wish for! I was hoping to spend more time with my family and my children. Of course, my decision wasn’t calculating with the fact of the pandemic. So what I ended up with was almost like an immense immersion.” -Dr. Jiuming Ye    In today’s episode we celebrate Father’s Day with Dr. Jiuming Ye. Jen and Dr. Ye have a rich, interesting conversation about his life, starting with his childhood in China during a time of turmoil. For years he had no formal schooling, yet he ended up graduating from medical school. He then came to the states for graduate school in pursuit of his PhD. At this time he was doing research until he realized he missed clinical medicine. We pick up the conversation today, now that he retired early almost a year ago from a successful medical career as a nephrologist. His dream of retirement was to spend more time with his family and children and to travel and spend time on his interests. But he didn’t count on the Pandemic. Tune in to hear how things turned out and a really great perspective on parenting and the resiliency of children!    Dr. Jiuming Ye received his M.D. at Capital Institute of Medicine, Bejing PRC. He earned his M.S. at Eastern Illinois University and his Ph.D. at State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and served as Chief Resident of Medicine at VAMC/Mount Sinai School of Medicine. His fellowship was completed in the Renal Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.  Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now    To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“Give me a reason why I’m doing this. Why is this significant for me? Because personally, I’m not a terribly extrinsically driven individual. If I don’t have that intrinsic drive that this matters to me for a reason, then every goal in the world is not going to make a difference.” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD  In today’s episode, Coaches Gabriella and Jill break down the difference between goals and intentions and why that matters. Everyone has goals, spoken or unspoken. But you don’t hear as much about intentions. As it turns out, intentions play a very important role in achieving our goals. Setting intentions might just be the answer you’ve been looking for to help you move toward achieving more meaningful goals in your life.    Excerpt from the show:   “Gabriella, what do we mean when we say goals and what do we mean when we say intentions?” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer   “Well, think of it like you're playing darts and you're shooting for that target in the middle, so that's your goal. The goal is the end result but the intention is your aim. It's your mindset. It's your thought process, your motivation. Why do you want to hit that target? That's what we speak about when we speak about intention. Both can be very specific and that's also important. But in coaching we talk about Smart Goals. They are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-bound. One of the common coaching goals for clients is, ‘I want to get in shape,’ or at least that's the general vision. It's like, ‘Ok, well how do you want to do that?’ As we continue to explore that question, I had a client not too long ago that said, ‘Ok wait. I like walking and I have a window of time at six o'clock in the morning to get up and do some walking before the house gets busy. So let me use that time to walk.’ ‘Ok, great. How long do you want to walk?’ Because we want to get specific now. ‘Well, it’s going to be 20 minutes.’ ‘What days of the week?’ ‘Well, I’m going to do it on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.’ ‘Great.’ So now we have a Smart Goal and it's time bound, which is important. It gets in the schedule, 20 minutes, three times a week at six o’clock in the morning. Then what happens? It backfires. Why? What if you miss a day? What if you oversleep? What if it rains etc., etc.? Any number of reasons. ‘Oh this is so easy, why can't I get it done? I don't understand, it's not that big a deal. I used to do this 10 years ago.’ Then it can really snowball into this self critique, negative self talk, etc., etc. So goals by themselves, I think, work for some people very effectively. People who are used to having those kinds of markers, they work very well with goals. ‘Three times a week, I’m on it. Got it.’ But for most people it's just another item on the to do list that keeps getting longer and it never gets done. That can be an incredible source of frustration. So we want to set somebody up for success. With that client I started asking, ‘What was your experience ten years ago? What was it like?’ In the end, really the conversation wasn't about what you did but it's about how it felt. ‘How did your day go as you started at six o'clock walking and did you notice a difference between the days when you went walking and the days that you didn't? What was that experience like? How did that impact the rest of your day? How did you feel at the end of the day when you got home from work etc. etc.?’ So we started going through that exploratory coaching process and just really relating to an experience that she already had. At the same time saying, ‘What was good about it? What was memorable about it?’ Because that's where the intention comes from. Yes, ten years forward it may be a completely different plan, but at the same time it's like, ‘Well what's the intention? What are you going for? What makes it believable to you?’ So we want to get it from goal, ‘I’m setting this goal because it's a good idea,’ to an intention. So this client said, ‘My intention is to create me-time in the morning because that's what I really want.’ ‘Oh, so the goal is not about exercise at all. It's about creating me-time, now we're talking!’ So once those little lightbulbs, one after the other, went off and we were able to combine the goal with the intention of creating me-time first thing in the morning ‘So I can feel at peace as my day begins’ or ‘I can feel energized before my day begins.’  You know, why are you doing what you're doing? That's the intention. It speaks to your why and your goal speaks to how you're going to do it. So now the walk was one means of many of creating me-time. Then we started having these little moments throughout the day where she could do that. ‘Well, ok, one of my patients just missed (an appointment). Let me go walk around the neighborhood and see some new sites. There's another opportunity for me-time and combines a little exercise at the same time.’ So we got to play with the idea and really expand the idea by giving it a little more teeth, a little more bite. Making it more believable and more relevant to this particular person as opposed to ‘I’m exercising because that's what I'm supposed to do.’ So the intention really jazzes everything up. It lends a certain excitement to the goal, more than just a goal by itself. Does that make sense, Jill?” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD “One hundred percent, I love that. I think you spoke to something important, right? Which is the people who say, ‘I set goals that I don't achieve and then I have self-loathing and I beat myself up. It's very demotivating. I'm either on the wagon or off the wagon of getting it done or achieving what I want to achieve.’ Then there's the people that actually always do achieve their goals. They're checking off the list. I have a client that did that. It's like, ‘Here's where we want to be in terms of revenue.’ All those goals were getting checked and then this client is saying to me, ‘So why is it that I feel so uninterested and I'm burning out even when I'm reaching all the goals?’ I think goals in and of themselves, the target, is not where the meaning comes from. It's not where the richness comes from. So if we're not careful and we just do the extrinsic goals, just the markers, just the check off the list things, just the meeting of the department goals. For this particular physician I'm talking about, over time, we may still achieve them but we're getting less motivated, we're getting less meaning out of it. We know that burnout research tells us that physicians who have more connection to why their work matters burn out less, or a way to treat burnout is to be able to connect to why your work matters. So to me the intention is getting connected to why your work matters. There's been some other research that was done of military academy graduates from a number of years ago, and I'll just summarize. It said that people that had extrinsic-only goals, what rank I want to be, what weight I want to be, what my marital status is, were actually far less successful. That was measured by whether they achieved those goals versus people that had more intrinsic goals like, ‘I want to be a leader.’ There's the intention to lead. ‘I want to be somebody who is great at handling obstacles and challenges and stays calm in those times.’ Those more intrinsic intentions that people set and then balance with a way to get there that was measurable and achievable and not just pie in the sky. ‘Oh I have this intention but I'm never going to do it.’ That's where it seemed like the magic happened.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now    To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“…What I want is to help my kids be as fully human as they can, and to be open to the full breadth of the human experience. That includes happiness and it includes a whole bunch of other things in between, and the more capable I can let my kid be themselves and experience and understand the resilience of moving through the breath of that human experience, that's a lot more important than me trying to keep them happy all the time.’ I was like, ‘Dang that was good!’” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer In today’s episode, Jill talks with Parenting Coach Margaret Webb. “Whether you are parenting a child that you didn't expect when you were expecting or you're just finding parenting in general really challenging especially with the pressurized life of a physician, today we have some ideas. Margaret is going to share a specific process that she's found to be wildly successful both in her own life as a parent and as a parenting coach and that seems to work really well with physicians.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer Excerpts from the show:   “So Margaret, give us just a thumbnail sketch for those of us who don't know your story about your life and what you know about physicians when it comes to parenting the child that they didn't expect.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Yes, I'm excited to be here. I am married to a neurosurgeon and we have been married for 25 years. We were married at 23, so I've been through the whole medical school, residency, fellowship, practice starting process with him. While we were doing that, I was teaching as an elementary school teacher and then became the mother of our now almost 18-year-old son who is autistic and is like Jill said, ‘Our best teacher ever,’ and really challenges us to look at things differently, which at first was really frustrating and kind of challenging, but it's actually been one of the best gifts ever. It's taught us so much about ourselves and how we approach things. I'm really excited to share the process that we use all of the time that helps us every single day.” -Margaret Webb   “So walk us through it a little bit if you would.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer   “Yes, so it’s TIANT. Kind of like giant but with a T... So the letters stand for T for Tension, I for Intention, A for Attention and then the NT stands for No Tension. However, I like to clarify that with it (sometimes) being Less Tension. When I first learned about the importance of setting intentions I thought, ‘Ok, this is great. Setting an intention is wonderful. So I'm just going to start with setting intentions for how I want parenting to be or how I want the day to go or how I want this trip to be.’ Then I realized that there's a step before that. Because usually in life, at least in my life, there's usually something that causes tension that leads me to want to set an intention. So that's why the T is very important. When my husband and I would talk about this he's like, ‘Yes, people come to me and they've got tension in their life. They’ve got something that's wrong. Like they're not feeling well, they've got pain, they've got symptoms and so that is what is causing them tension. Then we figure out what is the intention. They want to not have pain, they want to feel better. Then the attention is what are all the different approaches that can help us to address this. Then at some point there are things that we can't control, which is the no tension or less tension.’ When I apply that in parenting it's the same thing. It's realizing, ‘Ok, this particular situation is causing me tension.’ It might be, ‘Oh my child is having a tantrum or a meltdown,’ or, ‘They are having certain behaviors or there's problems at school.’ So that causes tension. Then to take a pause and think about what is our intention? What do we want? Why do we want this? And I find this so fascinating because oftentimes people will recommend certain therapies or certain activities and they’ll recommend them to their friends. They'll say, ‘Oh you need to do this. You need to go see this person or you need to try this therapy. You need to do this particular activity, sign them up.’ And parents are like, ‘Okay.’ It's kind of like they end up playing a game of whack-a-mole where it’s, ‘Ok we’ll just do this, do that.’ But if you press pause and think, what is the intention behind why we want to do this, why we want to try this, what is it going to give us? Then that helps to bring clarity whether or not that actually feels good. Whether it fits in the family plan, whether it's in alignment with what you're wanting. If so, then awesome. Then you go to the next step which is the attention. Ok, well then, what does this look like and what questions need to be asked? What information, especially if you have a child who has special needs or learns differently or just has information that you know could help those who are working with your child, bringing that to the conversation to kind of get the big picture of what is the attention I can give to this? That's so empowering before you even get into something. Now if you check in with your intention and it's not something that you feel ok with, then the attention shifts to, ‘Ok, that's good information. It's not a good fit for us right now.’ That's another thing, sometimes people don't know what to say when other people are giving recommendations. So having something like, ‘Well, that's very interesting and I'm so excited that that worked for you,’ or that you love that, but ‘That's not a good fit for us, for our family, right now and I’ll just tuck it away.’ Having things like that can be really helpful just to help you feel more comfortable in challenging conversations like that. And then the No Tension (or the less tension) is releasing the need for things to go in a specific way because we're not in control. We can't control everything and if we feel like we can control things then that brings a kind of needy, graspy energy to the situation which doesn't leave room for learning and growth. It’s, ‘It has to go this way and it has to go right the first time,’ which, as a physician you know that you're not in control of everything and of how things go. Sometimes things work great and sometimes they don't work great and you have to go back to the beginning of the process of ‘Ok, now here's the tension and what do we do, and how do we proceed from that?’” -Margaret Webb “I love the last part. TIANT is Tension, Intention, Attention. (Tension) That's the sign post. The intention is how I want to feel and who do I want to be in this process, not just letting yourself get drug by it. Attention is the good old fashioned steps that you're taking. Then the No Tension (less tension), I think that’s something that can be so helpful for physicians, too. Because I know in working with my physician clients, that like a lot of humans and particularly humans who are a little bit prone to perfectionism, there can be a lot of attachment to the outcome. Another thing that is very common in physicians is curiosity, a love of learning. So if you can set aside a bit of the perfectionism and the white knuckling, gripping of the outcome in this situation, whether it's a challenge with a child, whether it's a tough conversation you're having with your vision head, this process works for that as well. Getting curious and being open, as you said, for some growth or possibility after you've taken the action is something that also comes naturally to physicians and it's going to be better serving you than that tightness or attachment to the outcome. Is that how you see it too or am I seeing it in the same way the process was intended?” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Absolutely. Yeah, I always look at it like before I would play with the process, it was like a horse with the blinders on. Only a very limited view of what was possible. With this process, it's like the blinders are off and I can be curious and I can be open to brainstorming and to looking at things happening in different ways. In ways that might require some mental wiggling and shifting because it might be a little uncomfortable to venture into different ways of being. But the more I do it, then the easier it becomes and I see I don't take things as personally. Because it's like, ‘Oh, ok, all right let's try this. How about this?’ You know, it just opens things up.” -Margaret Webb “I know a lot of my clients in academic medicine, when we can reframe those situations like, ‘Wait. Ok, yeah.’ Sometimes results of research that are different than the hypothesis can have even more powerful findings than what it was when things lined up with the hypothesis. I think that taking some curiosity, some willingness to be an experimenter in this process called life, and in this process called parenting, even if you're on your second, third, fourth, fifth kid, each kid provides its own laboratory for learning new things, as I can attest to as the parent of more than one. I know your husband, the neurosurgeon, has said that he thinks this process works particularly well for physicians because they get it, because it's kind of similar to the work they do. Why do you think that is?” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Well because when we were talking about it, he's like, ‘This is what we do.’ Patients come to us and this is what we do. We listen to their stories and the listening of the stories then reveals often where the tension lies. Listening to the story then can also help with what they're actually wanting, which then helps him to be able to decide. But having that process also he’s like, ‘It helps to do something else that is really important in parenting that's part of this is to not get tangled up in the stories. Like you're listening to the stories but not jumping into the stories of your patients. Just like you don't want to jump into the stories of your kids, which really can be very challenging. Because it's like, ‘Oh we want them to be happy, our intention is for them to be happy!’ But sometimes we can't control that. So being able to stay separate from that and being the observer and being curious about what's actually going on here that isn't necessarily on the surface, and I think physicians are brilliant at that. They have the brain patterning and they have the experience of hearing the stories that they can be like, ‘Oh wait. Hold on, ok, this person is saying this, but this is probably what's actually going on.’ I think the more that you can do that as a parent, then you start seeing patterns of, ‘Ok what's actually going on is maybe they're embarrassed.’ So this kind of bizarre behavior or their little snarky comments or whatever different things show up on the surface, the behavior looks one way but if you can tap into that curiosity and seeing what’s actually underneath this embarrassment. I mean there's so many different things. A lot of times with kids who have learning differences or who have a diagnosis of a variety of things, it can be emotional regulation, sensory overload, chronological age is different from the developmental age that they're behaving at in that moment, which can be really tricky because they can shift within seconds. So navigating that can be a challenge. Power struggles, needing to close loops, so those are some things. But you have to have kind of a checklist of, ‘Oh yeah. Ok, these are the typical underlying causes, but when they show up they look like this.’ So that's the story but what's the understory? I think physicians are really good at that.” -Margaret Webb “ I love that. I think you bring up a really good point. We can get really attached as parents whether our kids have challenges. I mean, every kid has challenges. But as parents we get really attached sometimes to needing our kids to, ‘Be happy.’ Which really means, ‘I want my kid to kind of be perfect so I can feel good about myself as a parent and I can feel safe and know I'm doing a good job.’ I got some really good advice from a wise person when my kids were in those younger years of transitioning into early elementary. I was like, ‘I’m trying to do all I can to make sure that they're happy and well-adjusted.’ She said, ‘You know, I really think if I could say something to my young parent self (this was somebody who was older than me by a few decades), I would say what I want is to help my kids be as fully human as they can, and to be open to the full breadth of the human experience. That includes happiness, and it includes a whole bunch of other things in between, and the more capable I can let my kid be themselves and experience and understand the resilience of moving through the breath of that human experience, that's a lot more important than me trying to keep them happy all the time.’ I was like, ‘Dang that was good!’ Margaret Webb is a parenting coach who specializes in supporting parents with children who are on their own developmental timeline or who simply march to the beat of their own drum (ie. Autism, Anxiety, ADHD, ADD, SPD, Apraxic, Dyslexic, Learning Differences, etc.). She and her neurosurgeon husband of 25 years thought that they knew what to expect while they were expecting their now 17 year old son but quickly learned he had other things in store for them. Turned out that the most powerful and helpful lessons for them involved shifting their own expectations and internal rules rather than placing all of the focus on him.    You can find Margaret Webb on her website, MargaretWebbLifeCoach, you can email her at margaretwebblifecoach@gmail.com or you can find her on Facebook and Instagram.   Related episode: Episode 49: Parenting the Child You Weren’t Expecting Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now    To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“One of the things that is so great about doing this work is you have a direct effect on helping injured people, and that's one of the things that makes it so gratifying: Your ability to use your medical knowledge, your background, your training in a way that is non-clinical but is still really helping people.” -Armin Feldman MD In today’s episode, Dr. Jen Barna talks with Dr. Armin Feldman to find out all about his medical legal consulting business. Dr. Feldman began consulting on medical cases for attorneys thirteen years ago and has never looked back. He has a thriving consulting business and he also has a very thorough course to train physicians who would like to have their own consulting business, full-time or as a side gig. Tune in to hear the ins and outs of the business and see if it’s something that might be for you!   Go to MDBizCon.com to check out Dr. Feldman’s business or to get in touch with him.   Dr. Feldman practiced psychiatry for over twenty years. For the past thirteen years he has been doing medical consulting in Colorado and he also teaches other physicians all over the country to do this work.   Excerpts from the show:   “I'm joined today by a guest that you'll find very interesting, especially if you're a physician who has ever considered taking on a side job or even starting a business outside of your clinical work but you still want to use your medical training. Why don't we start out by hearing about your specialty and how that led you to start your consulting business?” -Dr. Jen Barna “So asking me about my specialty is actually kind of an interesting question. I am a trained psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. But when someone asks me about my specialty, what I tell them is, my specialty is forensic medicine. It's what I've been doing for the past 13 years. The kind of forensic medicine I do is something that really wasn't done before I started doing this 13 years ago. So for a long time, maybe for centuries, we've had physicians that act as medical experts in legal cases. What I did about 13 years ago, well even to back up from that, before I started doing this work, my area of specialty in psychiatry wound up being mild traumatic brain injury. I wound up owning outpatient head injury rehabilitation clinics around the country and a treatment program of my own design. I think we did a great job helping head injured individuals get back up on their feet. Well, I was fortunate enough to sell those clinics, and in that work I testified as an expert witness really more times than I want to remember on behalf of my patients who were either being cut off from medical care or offered some pittance of a settlement. So I learned a lot about our legal system, how healthcare is delivered in this corner of medicine, the adversarial nature of the work and so forth. So I was thinking about what I wanted to do next. I thought, well, maybe what I could do is just consult to attorneys on any kind of medical question that came up in a case. That turned out to be a good thing, an unexplored niche, and as they say, the rest is history. And that really has developed now over the years into a new subspecialty of forensic medicine that involves doing the pre-trial, pre-litigation medical consulting to attorneys, but primarily in worker's compensation cases and personal injury cases, although physicians in any specialty can learn how to do this work.” -Armin Feldman MD “If I'm hearing you correctly, what you're doing is different from being an expert witness. How does it differ from being an expert witness?” -Dr. Jen Barna “You’re correct about that. In fact, I'm a medical consultant in legal cases and there's a huge difference. In fact, the two totally different things between being a medical expert in legal cases and a medical consultant in legal cases: one is, I consult on any kind of medical question that comes up in a case and the physicians that I’ve trained do this as well. All of our work is pre-trial, pre-litigation. So we are helping attorneys to better negotiate and settle cases. We're helping attorneys to save time and we're helping attorneys to get the appropriate medical care for the clients and help them to negotiate through all the medical issues that come up in their cases. Now one of the things that makes this kind of consulting viable and makes it go is that in the areas of the law in which I consult, personal injury and worker's compensation, probably nine out of every ten cases settle and that's where we come in. So anything that we can do as medical consultants as opposed to medical experts and very specific services that we offer that is going to help that attorney to better negotiate and settle the case for more money with less attorney time and help them with medical issues in the case including helping them to get appropriate care for their clients. That's something that a lot of attorneys are interested in. Now not every attorney thinks it's the next best thing since sliced bread. There certainly has been plenty of demand all over the country for years for these kind of services. Now on that one out of ten case that can’t be negotiated and so the attorney is going to litigate that case, they're going to do depositions and go to trial. In those cases the attorney is going to need medical experts in every area of the injury. But for the purpose of negotiating and settling the case, what the attorney needs are well reasoned, well-thought-out medical opinions, reports and other services that are going to help them to settle that case.” -Armin Feldman MD  “I’ll give you a quick example. Now of course this never happens to me anymore because attorneys in Colorado know who I am and this falls away for other consultants as well. But when I first started, let's say I was hired by an attorney to answer a question concerning a rotator cuff injury in the case and then they needed me to prepare a report and that report was eventually going to be used in the settlement process. So I deliver that report with my medical opinions. By the way, my reports are always seen by opposing counsel, they are almost always seen by insurance adjusters, they are often seen by judges, treating doctors, IME doctors and others. So they are hardly behind the scenes. So opposing counsel gets that report. What's the first thing they're going to do? Well they're going to look me up. So they might pick up the phone and say to the attorney that hired me, ‘Well why should I pay any attention to this report? Dr. Feldman is not an expert in rotator cuffs.” And what my attorney is going to say to them is, ‘Well look, Dr. Feldman acts as a medical consultant for me in all my cases and I can tell you if we can't get this issue settled in the negotiation based on Dr. Feldman's opinions and how he backs up those opinions with evidence from the medical literature, and you force me to take this case to trial, when I hire my retained orthopedic surgeon, they are going to say exactly what Dr. Feldman said in his report. In fact, they would be relying on the same literature that Dr. Feldman quoted in his report.’” -Armin Feldman MD   Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now    To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“The key is to be okay with being uncomfortable. To be okay with asking questions. To understand that it is perfectly natural to be asking questions and to be curious about the answers and to check in with yourself.” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD In today’s episode, Coach Gabriella and Coach Jill walk us through deciding to stay or go in our career or current employment. Gabriella knows from her own experience that this can be a difficult situation and Jill also has experience in making a career change. They draw on their coaching expertise and also their experience to guide us through what steps we should take to help us make these decisions, how to make them with the right mindset and what pitfalls we should stay away from.     Excerpts from the show:   “Gabriella, I know as a coach you probably have heard from people and I know you had the lived experience of making this decision yourself. What do you think drives people to get to the point where they're trying to decide to leave or stay in their career most often?” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Well that's an excellent question because what is the driver? I think the driver is two things. One, what's kind of pushing you out of a career? In other words, is there a sense of dissatisfaction, perhaps burnout may be one of the reasons. And what's pulling you out? Maybe it's wanting to experience new things. Maybe to develop another skill set, maybe it's going in a different direction. So I think the conversation really starts with clients and with physician friends who are going through this process right now. What matters to you most? I think that's probably the first determination. What are your core values? Can you list three or four? So we will go through some exercises around that, simply because that's probably your starting point. What is most important to you as you make these decisions? Because these decisions are not easy.” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD “So how do you decide what's most important to you? That can feel like a really big and sometimes even overwhelming question.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Yes, there are wonderful inventories that you can do online, there are lists of core values that you can find online. Just search core values and they'll pop up. Then just literally sit down with the printed list and circle your top 10. Then go to your top five from the top ten list. Then trim it down to three. So come up with three to five. It could be something like, ‘I value integrity,’ ‘I value honesty,’ ‘I value benevolence’ or ‘I value ambition’. It could be any number of things, there's no right or wrong, better or worse. It really is what speaks to you. Be honest with it. I would say take one of those inventories and really just sit with it and take care of circling the ones you want. Because I have no doubt with the pandemic a lot has shifted, life considerations have shifted, age shifts a lot. So it's good from time to time to check in with yourself and to have that list of values in front of you. That way you get to remind yourself of what those are. Especially when it comes to tough decisions like a career change, which can be made a lot easier when you have an idea of how to articulate what matters to you most.” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD “I agree with that 100%. I would even say once you get down to distilling it to those three to five values that really matter to you most, take another look and make sure they're actually your values. Because what I see happens sometimes in clients is they actually have accidentally integrated somebody else's values or dreams or wishes for them. And when they really look at it for themselves they're like, ‘No.’ Or a season of life has changed and what they valued in their 30s feels different to what they are valuing in a new season of life. So I think it's ok to look at them and just double check against your own kind of gut or what one of my coaching friends calls your hut, your heart and your gut, to see how that feels. I love this idea of really focusing on what matters to you. I work with physicians a lot but I also work in other sectors, financial services and law and other places doing coaching and time and stress management consulting. A lot of times what happens is when people are talking about career change they want to move away from something. ‘I'm sick of my boss.’ That's one of the most common reasons that people make a job change is because of their direct supervisor or leadership, or, ‘I'm tired of XYZ.’ What I think, it's similar advice that you hear from marriage counselors: If the only reason you're leaving something is just to get away from it, there's a good chance you're going to repeat it. So I really like having the idea of those core values as a destination of what you're moving toward as opposed to only thinking exclusively about all the things that are wrong with what you're moving away from. Because I have seen it in physician clients where they end up accidentally repeating the same dang thing over and over again at a new location believing that’s going to fix everything as well.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer “Really again, it's the motivation. Even if the situation feels untenable and it's like, ‘I’ve got to make a change because I can't thrive here.’ Then it's still being clear on what you want to create or cultivate for yourself, wherever you move to and whatever it is you do, moving toward that. I think that's a really important emphasis. If you all don't take anything else away from today, it's getting clear on what you want to move toward as opposed to just what you're leaving behind. Another thing that I tell people is: Alot of times when people are feeling some angst or agitation around a shift, that it's ok to sit for a minute and let some clarity come in. Sometimes when people start feeling irritated or agitated they just feel like, ‘I gotta go.’ I had a wise teacher once tell me, it's like if you scoop up a cup full of river water. It's kind of cloudy because there's a lot of sediment and stuff moving, but if you let it sit even for a relatively short period of time, the sediment tends to go to the bottom and you get clear water. I think that's a good metaphor for this, too. Sometimes if you're activated, if you've had a situation that feels frustrating, in the midst of it, often I think it's an ok thing to wait until some of that agitation or irritation has cleared before you make a big decision. It doesn't mean you won't end up making the decision to leave or stay but I think people tend to have more regret about decisions they make when they're all stirred up in an emotionally activated state instead of waiting to sort of process that emotion.” -Master Certified Coach Jill Farmer   Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians.   Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now        To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran

“I practice medicine differently from other people and what I do is good, and I’m good at what I do, and I don’t have to do it like everyone else.” Kisha Hartwick MD In today’s episode Coach Gabriella Dennery MD talks with Dr. Kisha Hartwick about being a practicing psychiatrist and an ordained minister. Dr. Hartwick believes in taking the whole patient into perspective, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Tune in to hear about her integrative approach to medicine and how her beliefs guide her in all areas of her life.  Dr. Hartwick went to medical school at Emory University School of Medicine. She completed her psychiatry residency at Morehouse School of Medicine. She was chief resident of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine. She completed her ministerial training at Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She is completing her interprofessional fellowship at the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine and works as an Emergency Department Psychiatrist at Cape Fear Valley Hospital. Excerpts from the show:   “So Kisha, why did you choose psychiatry?” -Coach Gabriella Dennery MD “Oh, that’s an easy one! So when I decided to go into medicine I thought I would do something very general. I thought I would come back to my little tiny small town and be the town doctor and practice family practice. What I found out when I got into medical school is that I was so excited to get to all the clinical rotations once I got through the bookwork part. But when I got into those rotations I was not loving it. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I've just made the biggest mistake of my life.’ I kept having trouble in my rotations because I would be in the room talking with a patient working on whatever they were there to work on for the day and my preceptor always had to knock on the door and pull me out and say, ‘You're taking too long, you've got other patients waiting.’ So that was a problem until I got into psychiatry. Psychiatry was the first place where I could sit and talk with people and not feel like I had to put the whole conversation into eight minutes or less. I felt like I could not only address the issue that they came in for that day but really look at why that's an issue in the first place. So if Mrs. Jones came in because her blood sugar was high, they wanted me to just fix the blood sugar. But nobody was stopping to ask why is the blood sugar high in the first place? What's going on in your life? She wants to talk about how she's worried about her son and stresses at work and all of these things. Psychiatry I found to be the only place that I could spend time with patients to actually address those things.” -Kisha Hartwick MD “Does being an ordained minister have an impact on your approach with patients?” -Gabriella Dennery MD  “Oh it absolutely has an impact. Even at the beginning I kind of thought that I would be a practicing psychiatrist who was a closet minister, if that makes sense. Like I think I thought my patients and colleagues might never know that I'm a minister. Not that I would hide it on purpose, but it felt like two separate parts of my life. However, as I moved through the process of being ordained, (I was) recognizing that every part of my life is ministry. So there's two ways that being a minister affects how I show up with patients. Number one, being a minister affects how I show up in my own life. How well I do with taking care of myself, how well I do with maintaining awareness of my connection with spirit, how well I do with keeping myself grounded and centered because the better I can be in those ways the better I can show up for my patients, so that when I'm in the room, just me and the patient and the door closes, I'm not worried about thinking about my issues, my life problems, my things. I'm able to fully focus on what it is that this patient needs from me right now and trusting and knowing that I'm fully equipped to offer whatever that is. Also knowing that part of being fully equipped to offer whatever it is that the patient needs from me right now means that all of what that patient needs isn't just coming from me as a person, as a human, but it's the spirit who's working through me to support this patient and to really make room for healing to happen.” -Kisha Hartwick MD “So the pandemic, what was that like for you in terms of being a witness (working in the Emergency Department) to all of this?” -Gabriella Dennery MD  “I feel like we signed up for this. As physicians we signed up for serving. We signed up for taking care of people at their greatest moment of need and as a minister it's like I've double signed up for that. So, honestly it was a hassle donning the PPE and all the layers of masks and shields and taking one set of clothes and changing before I get into the unit and changing again before I get to my car. Keeping a separate pair of shoes and you know the things we kind of had to do to keep ourselves protected was a hassle. However, I felt and still feel very grateful and very humble for the opportunity to serve at that moment. Was it scary? Yes. Was it a hassle? Yes. Was it difficult? Absolutely. You know people are worried about dying. And although as a psychiatrist they weren't coming to see me because of a Covid positive status, I saw some people who had Covid positive status who didn't know until after I talked to them. In fact, I picked up a lot of folks because we would screen people for Covid before we would admit them to the psychiatric unit and they'd be all ready to go to the psychiatric unit and they’d come back with a positive test. They didn't know, we didn't know, and now you're in the hospital for a different reason. It's interesting to see and I saw this happen a few times. The people who came in the hospital because they were suicidal and thought their life wasn't worth living, and I said, ‘I’m going to keep you in the hospital. I'm going to admit you to the psychiatric unit where we can make sure you stay safe and help you get back to a place where you are no longer feeling suicidal.’ The moment that test came back positive for Covid all of a sudden life was important to them. All of a sudden it's a different perspective. So that's kind of what my interface with Covid looked like. I think my biggest area of service was with my teammates. The nurses and techs who spent more time in the room with patients than the rest of us do, they are the people that when the doctor leaves the room the patient will say, ‘Can I ask you a question?’ I think that the biggest toll has really been on them. So I just took it on as my personal project to check on my people, my staff, my nurses. Just check in with them and ask, ‘How are you doing and how are you managing?’ To show them that even though the rest of the world gets to shut up in their homes and close off and don't have to come out, and we do, we still don't have to be victim to this experience. We are called for this and God chose us for this. We still don't have to be victims to this experience. I'll remind the staff members that their presence here is important and these patients need you. What you are bringing and what you provide and what you bring to the table, if you weren't here to provide it they wouldn't be getting all that they need. Honestly, I literally would say this very often, ‘Everybody can't do this. What we're doing right here today on this shift and this hospital and this emergency department, everybody can't do this. But you guys can do this. You guys are doing this and you guys are great at doing this.’ So I think it's the difference between having the perspective of, ‘Oh God, here we are and it's so unfair that we have to be here.’ No. It's not unfair. It's what you were put here for.” -Kisha Hartwick MD We have exciting news! Our live course, STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back is coming soon! Life is too short to be stretched so thin. Do you want more time to focus on what matters most to you? Our power packed plan fits easily into your busy day! Coaches Gabriella and Jill have taken all their best strategies from coaching hundreds of physicians over multiple years and folded them into one efficient course. You can easily practice these bite-sized strategies on your timeline: anytime, anywhere. Are you ready to invest in yourself, reclaim your time and minimize stress? Click here!      Get One-on-One Coaching with Coach Gabriella Dennery MD Get One-on-One Coaching with Master-Certified Coach Jill Farmer   DocWorking believes the time has come to prioritize the health and wellness of physicians. Professional coaching is transformational. Elite athletes, award-winning actors and top-performing executives all know this, which is why they embrace coaching to achieve such extraordinary success. Leading corporations also know this, which is why they encourage coaching for employees at every level. Smart leaders leverage the power of coaching to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable. Our Coaches Will Show You How!   Our New Virtual Courses ‘STAT: Quick Wins to Get Your Life Back’ and ‘A New Era of Leadership’ are Almost Here!  Learn More Now        To learn more about DocWorking, visit us here!   Are you a physician who would like to tell your story? Please email Amanda, our producer at Amanda@docworking.com to apply.   And if you like our podcast and would like to subscribe and leave us a 5 star review, we would be extremely grateful!   We’re everywhere you like to get your podcasts! Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google, Pandora, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Amazon, YouTube, Podbean   Some links in our blogs and show notes are affiliate links, and purchases made via those links may result in small payments to DW. These help toward our production costs. Thank you for supporting DocWorking: The Whole Physician Podcast!   Occasionally, we discuss financial and legal topics. We are not financial or legal professionals. Please consult a licensed professional for financial or legal advice regarding your specific situation.   Podcast produced by: Amanda Taran