When you want to change anything about your job, practice, career or life ... and fear or uncertainty stops you ...

Your are contemplating a step that is TOO BIG.

In psychology it is called "telescoping". Here is an example.

If you wanted to walk from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the opposite rim - on the trail that goes down and through and up the other side of the gorge (it's a thing...) - you would not try to do it in a single step. You would not attempt to leap from the south rim and expect make it all the way to the north rim. It would be scary (and most likely, fatal) to make that attempt.

This is telescoping. Looking from where you are to where you want to be (like you are peering through a telescope), noticing the huge distance and giving up before you start. It's such a long way. I will never make it. 

NOTICE: If you don't try to leap the whole canyon in a single bound, there is a trail that takes you the whole way. You just have to take regular old steps, one at a time.

Telescoping is when you think about a big goal, notice the distance from where you are to where you want to be, and fear motivates you to give up. 

This fear is also a clear sign to take a different approach

That goal IS attainable.

You just can't do it in a single step

How to spot a psychopath inside a complex bureaucracy.

It is a consistent feature of bureaucracy. Psychopath doctors and senior leaders almost never get walked out of the building despite years of complaints and truly outrageous behavior. When they finally are fired or brought to justice just a small amount of digging reveals National-Enquirer-headline-style shenanigans.

Here is the latest in the healthcare industry press:

Prominent Johns Hopkins physician on leave amid misdiagnosis, bullying claims

You can read the details. They will sound familiar. 

... "multiple comments by pathology physicians and residents stating they did not feel comfortable speaking up regarding 'intimidation' or 'bullying' behavior by a department leader, indicating they were forced to change diagnoses, issue addendums and defer to the leader's wishes over several years, thereby potentially leading to harm to patients."

This is a complete failure of leadership.

They failed to take appropriate actions at any point in a multiple-year history of suspicious, self-serving and dangerous verbal tirades and actions - all occurring in a healthcare workplace.

As a professional coach, when I design and deliver a training to a group of physicians, we are laser-focused on TRANSFORMATION.

Physicians desperately need proven tools to Get Home Sooner, Build Life Balance and Recognize and Prevent Burnout. These tools must transform their day-to-day experience from burnout to a healthier practice experience. If you pull them away from their patients for a wellness training, you must understand ...

• Education by itself is always insufficient.
  
  
• The only way to get New Results is to take New Actions.
  
  
• Your trainer must push participants to plan a New Action in order to trigger the transformation you seek. 
  
  
• Without this final training step, your money and time have been wasted.
  
  
• Contact Us Today to Get Started on a Transformational Training for Your People

What do you think the US healthcare industry will look and feel like in 2023?

If you want to call US Healthcare a "system" today, what will that "system" look like in the year 2030 and how will it handle the healthcare needs of an older, sicker population?

With nearly everyone calling for system change and reform, "burn it to the ground" and more ... let's look at the demographics of the US Physician Workforce and imagine healthcare in 2030.

Here's my crystal ball. What is does yours look like?

I am not exactly sure WHAT will happen, and I believe I have some clarity on HOW it will go down.

[ CME link is at the bottom of this blog post ]

The Shortest Path to Healthcare Profit is also the Shortest Path to Physician Burnout.

This cartoon/meme is the most powerful way to illustrate it.

Preventing Physician Suicide Part 2:

Reaching out to a suicidal physician colleague

[ Part 1 - The First-Person Experience of Suicidal Ideation - is here ]
[ Part 3 - Coaching a suicidal physician client - is here ]

Unfortunately, we cannot stop all physician suicides for two simple reasons.

• Doctors are too good at hiding their struggle and distress. Our "never show weakness" programming is so very strong.
  
  
• We know the anatomy and physiology, so doctors are very good at themselves.
  
  

What we can do is reach out to any of our colleagues who appear to be struggling.  

In this post you will learn:

~ How to recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout and suicidal ideation

~ A proven method to reach out to that friend/colleague, simply and effectively 

The end result is lives will be saved that would be lost without your caring and outreach.

Preventing Physician Suicide Part 1:

Recognizing You Are At Risk

The First-Person Experience of Suicidal Ideation

[ Part 2 - Reaching Out to a Suicidal Physician Colleague - is here ]
[ Part 3 - Coaching a suicidal physician client - is here ]

The first step in preventing physician suicide is recognizing a clear and present danger of suicide in an individual person - be that you or someone else.

This recognition comes in two parts.

First Person:
You recognize when you are in danger, step back and get support.

Second Person:
You recognize someone else is - or may be - at risk and reach out to offer support.

• In this podcast we will explore the First-Person experience of suicidal ideation, so you can understand what happens on the inside when suicide risk is high.
  
  
• In Part 2 we will explore how to recognize suicide risk in a colleague and reach out to them to offer support. 
  
  
• In Part 3 we will discuss how a physician coach works effectively with a suicidal physician client
  
  

Watch or listen as Pam Pappas MD and Penelope Hsu MD - two of our coaches at TheHappyMD.com share these life saving tools.

The hidden patterns in Physician Wellness

As a physician coach since 2010, I focus on helping physicians build a much better practice and become a much more effective leader.

At this point, I have been extremely fortunate to accumulate 40,000 doctors worth of coaching and training experience since 2010. It has been a rich and rewarding learning experience.

This perspective has revealed clear patterns  -- a set of habits nearly all happy, healthy physicians use to create and maintain that positive state, even in these very difficult times. Without these habits to protect your connection to Purpose as a Lightworker, physician burnout is a constant threat to you and your family. 

This is the latest in a series of posts about these Seven  Habits of Physician Wellbeing.

As working conditions in the front-lines of healthcare continue to deteriorate, you may choose to speak up to your senior leaders.

What can you say to make them take notice and do something about the overwhelm, short staffing, burnout and the digital overload of the average work day?

Do you trust yourself to talk with your CMO about these issues without losing your temper?

Let me show you a power question that actually allows you to see the future of your organization.

I have discussed physician wellness and corporate burnout prevention strategy with nearly 1000 leadership teams since 2010. Here are the strategy and questions I use in these crucial conversations.

The answer to the first question below will give you two important insights:

• Is my practice safe here in the long term?
• Will this organization survive the boomer doctor retirement cliff and still be in business in 2030?