I attended the largest physician finance conference in the US in 2020, when the pandemic lockdowns unfurled in real time. I gave a talk and led a panel on burnout at that time.
After my talk, I called home. My wife informed me that the kids' schools had closed indefinitely and suggested I might want to return home earlier than planned.
What I'd loved about that conference was the sense of novelty, the blogging superheroes I met (I sat by Harry Sit, a.k.a. the Finance Buff; I joined a table entranced by Larry Swedroe, whose books I've read and learned from) as well as the camaraderie with the folks who attended.
There were the old physician finance blogger friends from FIN CON 18 I got to pal around with.
I felt honored when a dozen conference goers opted to join me for an off site dinner at an Asian noodle house, and another dozen joined me the following day for a brown bag lunch overlooking a local landmark. I think unlike many other speakers opting for meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, I was offering more value-conscious options for nourishing meals.
Five years after that COVID-tainted conference, I returned as a panel moderator.
This go round, the novelty had faded, and most of the conference talks were on topics I've been reading and breathing for almost a decade. While I take some comfort in feeling validated, that was not my goal.
I'd thrown my hat in the ring and suggested the panel because it served as a pretext for a subsidized weekend with three friends of my choosing. I had specific folks in mind.
One was an ER doc from my group whom I adore for her tireless search for solutions on behalf of the docs in our hospital system as our chief medical informatics officer. I thought she'd be a natural talent on the panel, and I was not disappointed.
Another was a residency classmate, the soul of a writer and poet who somehow ended up in the ER. He'd attended my wedding, and we'd kept up over the years. He had learned of and pursued a path to FI independent of my own, and it just gave us one more interesting topic for our phone calls every other month.
The third was an invisible friend I'd known for almost 8 years, someone I met through this blog and who had even written guest posts, but whom I'd yet to meet in person. It was natural and easy to connect with him, and we spent a terrific weekend strengtheningĀ our bromance.
There were also the chances to talk to old friends from the physician blogging world. In a hotel hallway after hours, a friend and I discussed the challenges of making deep male friendships and integrating into a community in middle age.
Over a leisurely walk by a body of water, another friend I'd known from the physician finance blogger world shared a history of childhood adversity that he'd overcome to become a physician, as well as life's latest indignities as he recuperated from significant betrayals of the body.
Then there were the hallway conversations, brief, intense, and occasionally high impact. I met a lovely couple who'd brought their infant to the conference, and as they described their desire to take on more real estate exposure than their self-directed 401k would allow, I suggested a customized 401k plan - something they were unaware existed.
Another MD I sat next to during breakfast was trying to figure out what to do with her newly freed funds after having paid off her student loans and purchased a home. She mentioned her non-medical husband enjoyed directly managing the multiple real estate investments that he'd brought to the relationship, which kept him busy since he'd retired from his government job. I suggested she consider whether he would qualify for real estate professional status, where his paper losses might offset her W2 income on their joint tax filings.
These conversations in the interstitial moments of the conference were so enjoyable - speaking with motivated young docs who are eager to take control of their lives - that they were real highlights of the weekend.
The net effect of spending time with my tribe - old friends and new - was the sense that there are other weirdos like me who enjoy demystifying and taking ownership of their financial lives.
It's good for the soul.