Go from burnt out to FIREd up.
I’ve written previously about my attempts to teach our children about investing in order to demonstrate the value of letting your money work for you. With the raging bull market, it had been an easy lesson, since every time we checked their investments they could see gains. Now comes the greater challenge. How can I teach my kids to stay …
You don’t have to become a refugee from medicine. Welcome to the first installment in what I hope will become a shared playbook for physicians who seek role models: docs who cut back to improve work-life balance. Mime in a shrinking box, anyone? When burnout strikes, the reflex is to desperately search for an escape hatch from medicine as quickly …
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett describes himself as a repurposed physician, which is one of the more delightful descriptions of a retiree’s encore career I’ve heard to date. I had the pleasure of meeting Cory (forgive my Californian’s desire to remain on informal terms) at FinCon18, and he was far more than I expected: former rock star Stanford student (as a …
Sometimes the people we love are those most likely to sabotage us by insisting on forcing our unconventional narrative to fit within their traditional story framework. My wife’s grandmother, a widow, had developed dementia and moved to an assisted living facility. My wife’s aunt, a successful attorney in her 50s who happened to be single, had come from out of …
Have you heard the news? He has started a blog! I’m referring to Gasem, the brilliant retired anesthesiologist with rapier-sharp wit who’s opinion seems to be two standard deviations off from the mainstream and simultaneously far more sound than the mainstream, if that’possible. Please check out his site and show him some love in the comments. Gasem has supported many …
Alternate Title: The Father, The Son And The Holy Crap! Careers in medicine have evolved over time. It’s always been a hard path, but previously, you knew what you were getting when you signed up. Recent changes have eliminated significant autonomy and prestige from a medical career. Increased debt conspires with decreased satisfaction until we unexpectedly encounter an Apparent Longevity …
Alternate Title: Carolina In My Mind This weekend was spent in North Carolina strengthening ties with people we love but see less often than we’d like. BT is one of those people. He was not a typical emergency medicine resident Most of us were single. BT was married with a kid. Most of us had family in California BT was …
I’m starting a series on Docs Who Cut Back, and I’d love to share your story if you have the time and inclination. The therapeutic window of a drug tends to describe the range of doses in which it has the desired clinical effect. Too little and you lose the benefit you sought. Too much and you might die. Medicine …
Physicians frequently get the choice roles in prime time television (if that’s even a thing any more in the era of Netflix), so it’s easy to forget that working in the Emergency Department is a team sport, where emergency nurses comprise the front line. One of our docs put up a saying in the doctor’s lounge long ago: ER doctors …
Leif (better known as Physician on Fire), is a genuinely down to earth person, the type that gives Minnesotans their well-deserved reputation. Mostly aw shucks wholesome Fargo, with just enough mischief to remind you his state also gave the world the artist formerly known as Prince. I met PoF for the first time at FinCon, and saw him answer the …