Docs Who Cut Back: Where Are They Now?

I enjoyed many guilty pleasures in my TV gorging teen years, but none were so satisfying as tuning into a "Where are they now?" program. Whether it was one hit wonders on VH1 or my favorite child actors from Punky Brewster, Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, I could not get enough of this silliness.

There was the male front-man for a hair band with tight leopard print pants who delighted in admiring throngs of women in his heyday, who later decided to drive an ambulance in NYC to broaden his range of experience.

Another was the former child star who robbed a Las Vegas liquor store with a pellet gun, was nabbed, and then had bail posted by a sympathetic Wayne Newton.

There was something weird, tragic, and utterly fascinating about seeing where the mighty had ended up - especially (and I admit this with shame) if they had fallen.

It's in a completely different sense that I propose to provide some follow up on a few interviewees over the years. Contrary to the schadenfreude inherent to the reality TV shows of my youth, we can share a collective sense of joy in the accomplishments of colleagues who decided to challenge the status quo and order off the menu.

What happens when docs cut back? Are the same problems they faced before magnified? Or does a little time and head space do wonders for the creative soul?

Dr. K, from interview #14, is an OB/GYN who implemented some radical changes to overhaul a workaholic practice that was no longer consistent with her priorities and desired lifestyle. She was married in a dual-doctor household, and her older partner's retirement was the prompt she needed to give up her position as department chair, ditch her consuming full-time OB practice, and switch over to a 2 day a week contraceptive clinic.

From a professional standpoint, she loves the freedom it provides (no nights, no call, no problem) as well as the rewarding patient interactions, both live and virtual (her youtube channel on IUDs has >600k views!).

In the personal realm, she reports that switching to part-time practice gave her the schedule flexibility space to explore new creative outlets. She fell unwittingly in love with singing, songwriting, and vocal music performance, a passion she had not previously explored. With a musician mentor in her corner, she's now working on releasing an album...more to come!

Vagabond MD, is "clinician zero," a.k.a., my very first interview in the series. He's an ex-Howard Hughes Medical Scholar and fellowship trained interventional radiologist whose career as a partner in a busy community practice eventually led to a severe bout of burnout.

He began to strip off layers of aggravation, first leaving behind the interventional responsibilities (and call duties) of his radiology position, followed next by time-consuming leadership roles, and eventually cutting back to 3 days per week.

Ever the industrious personality, even as he cut back he was continually exploring alternate work opportunities and networking with colleagues. At the time of his interview, he served as medical director for a national imaging center company.

Following his original interview, he accepted a part-time gig working for old friends in a premier mountain resort town that allowed him to experiment with working in a spot where recreation was only a few steps from the door.

Most recently, he made a clean break from clinical medicine...only to accept a full-time non-clinical position that is performed 100% remotely! More to come from the horse's mouth...

Dr. Mo, from interview #15 , is an entrepreneurial family practice doc known for his candor who taught many of us how to optimize the practice of telemedicine through his blog posts, at one point offering online courses on how to successfully leverage the strengths of different platforms.

His tendency for speaking unapologetic truth to power, simple frugality, decision to spend significant time living abroad in Spain, and his continual iteration in making inroads into the med-tech space make him a trailblazer in redefining how a physician lifestyle can be compatible with that of a digital nomad.

Since COVID hit, Dr. Mo has divided his time between Oregon and California, and is currently preparing to depart for several months in Oaxaca, Mexico. He is working on obtaining an overseas medical license that will allow him to eventually both live and practice medicine in Spain, where he owns an apartment.

He's had to dial back his digital presence (blogs, podcasts and youtube have been taken down) to accommodate concerns of employers who require their workforce to have less of a digital footprint.

Professionally, he's enjoying consulting for med-tech startups. The experience of working with engineers one day and customer operations the next means he is continually learning and expanding his skill set. While the hourly remuneration is less than what he might earn clinically, it is offset by the flexibility of putting in the hours in a manner that accommodates his schedule. He's averaging 6 hours per day in his consulting work.

He's been spending his free time either in rock-climbing gyms or on site at outdoor climbing spots. And a pleasant personal surprise - an inquiry by a blog reader about his digital nomad lifestyle led to an in person meeting, which led to new romance. Some benefits of being a physician finance blogger are priceless...

This update just goes to show that there is often more life after less medicine!