Why Bother Doing More Work As A Full-Time Physician

Every time I hear about a fellow physician is doing their patient charts late at night and in the weekends, I cringe. I know exactly how that feels. Feeling stuck because cutting down on the patient hours will likely not be a feasible financial plan in the long run. Feeling frustrated because no one really talked about the extra hours you would work for free. Feeling overwhelmed because you are already exhausted and your day seems to never end.

Although I have been consistently leaving work by 5 pm or earlier, charting after hours is still very fresh on my mind. What used to be a dream has become reality for me – leaving work at work by 5 pm. As helping other people brings me joy, it is natural for me to offer my help to other physicians on charting efficiency and gaining back precious time.

One big purpose in life for me is to relieve other people’s misery and to create more joy in their lives. This is the reason I wanted to be a physician, to help patients with their diseases so that they can feel better, physically and emotionally.

Many physicians are suffering. They are physically and mentally exhausted. This is at least partly due to the current state of the health system. The discussion of overhauling the health system will be another big topic of discussion at another time. As the demands from patient documentation increases, as the restriction from insurance companies increases, physicians are working much harder to receive the same amount of compensation as compared to years ago. Many physicians are working extra hours because of administrative duties and electronic medical record demands.

Although I am not quite the “dinosaur” physician, I have seen the difference of patient documentation over the years. Paper charts vs. EHR. Freely ordering imaging studies vs. peer-to-peer authorization most of the time. Whatever meant for better patient care resulted in more burden for physicians to bear.

As I have mastered efficiency in my clinical day, I realize how miserable I was in the past. Going through the motions with no end in sight was not the way to live.

Sharing is caring. Sharing with other physicians how to gain back time in their day is my way of helping them. It is a way to express my gratitude. Leaving work on time, having a life outside of medicine, having the time to choose what I want to do – all these were not available to me. It is my mission to help other physicians relieve their misery, so that they get to live life and create more joy.

The joy is tremendous. For the physicians who are able to gain back the time and energy for their well-being, my help is worth every bit. They get to create more joy in their lives. They get to create more joy in their patients’ lives because they can have more meaningful relationships with better connections with their patients. Who would you rather see – a happy physician or a miserable physician? With my help, maybe more physicians will choose to stay in medicine.

I am all for making the world a better place. My contribution is by both clinical medicine and physician coaching. I get to take great care of my patients and establish personal connections with them. Through coaching, I help physicians regain time, sanity and help them see that it is possible to create more joy in life and in medicine. This is why I bother to do more work.