Feeling lost in in Medicine is hard. It is isolating. It is confusing. It is frustrating.
When you’ve spent so much time, effort and resource towards being a doctor, it takes a lot of internal work to accept that you don’t really want to do it anymore. It can be a decision that comes to you overnight because of a particular event. Or, it can be a decision that takes a long time, after a culmination of years spent with an aching feeling that things just don’t fit, something is missing and that there is something out there better suited to you.
You feel guilty that you don’t want to be in such a noble cause anymore. You feel guilty about letting others down, especially when they have supported you in so many ways to get to where you are.
A multitude of thoughts and questions circle around your mind, on repeat:
• What will I do instead?
• How will I stay financially safe?
• How am I going to find a new path?
• How will my family respond?
• What will my colleagues think?
• What will my friends say?
You find yourself rooting around for answers. Exhausted from overthinking (and work of course), you end up searching for the answers on Google, phone glaring late into the night when you ought to be catching up on much needed sleep and rest.
You read about ‘alternative careers for doctors’: pharma, medical writing, medical research, medical education, health tech, management consulting. You sigh and your heart sinks because none of these options are appealing or reachable to you. You start to cry tears of frustration and a feeling of hopelessness grows.
You read a blog by an anonymous medic who writes about how they feel just like you: stuck, sad and hopeless. It gives you some comfort to know that others out there share your feelings towards being a doctor, but it doesn’t practically solve the issues and dilemmas you face.
You scroll through Instagram aimlessly. Nothing is really helping shift the heavy feelings you feel.
Eventually, you fall asleep.
You wake up unrefreshed, unmotivated and wishing that you didn’t have to go into a stressful, unfulfilling day of work. But you are resigned to it: you get ready, you show up and you perform. You still make sure your patients are getting the best care that you can give because deep down this bit still resonates with you.
It’s just that the reality of being a doctor isn’t how you expected it to be and no matter which setting you try (NHS, private, UK, abroad) it still doesn’t seem to work out. It’s disappointing and you don’t feel any clarity or focus.
In the midst of this, it’s so hard to know how to solve the problem of:
• Finding a career that will fulfil you
• Finding a career that will sustain you
• Discovering what you are good at
• Discovering your passion
• Taking the first step, taking the leap
• Taking steps to meaningful success
I have been through this journey. I felt all these things too. I have felt the anxiety and had the sleepless nights. I have had many false starts. I have tried different paths.
It took time and it took deep reflection to identify what about being a doctor didn’t work for me and what did, and to understand why. I signed up for coaching and through this I built my self-awareness and confidence. I grew the courage and strength to follow my inner voice and values and to define my version of success.
It still took a lot to take the leap into something new and to commit to it.
But when I did, I felt layers and layers of heaviness and regret slip away.
I felt light. I felt happy, I felt positive and balanced. I felt ease.
I enjoy my work. I look forward to work. I feel excited about my work.
I feel hopeful and optimistic about my career. I work in alignment with my values.
It’s not easy to ride this wave alone. Coaching gives you space to think, talk and reflect. It helps you to understand your priorities and work out a strategy. It helps you reconnect with what matters to you and how to fulfil your true purpose in a career.
You become empowered. You embrace your true potential.
This has been part of my journey so far…
If it any of it resonates with you, please get in touch. I provide one-to-one careers coaching for female doctors. I specialise with doctors from South Asian backgrounds. The first call is always free.
Coaching. Because Google doesn’t have all the answers.