It’s time to leave Medicine
Category: It’s Time To Leave Medicine
What if you did the opposite?
Einstein famously said: you can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created it.
In other words, the thinking that got you into Medicine is different from the thinking you’ll need to leave it.
So ask yourself this: what would happen if you did the opposite?
Not just in Medicine, but in every area of your life.
Drink tea? Try coffee. Always sit at the back of the bus? Try standing at the front near the driver. Vegan? Try meat. Meat lover? Switch to vegetables. Night owl? Go to bed at 9.30pm and join the 5am club.
Ask your friends/followers on Social Media: what would the opposite of me look like?
Read the responses and then try them on for size.
This is about changing your inputs in order to change your outputs.
And whilst it may feel silly or seem crazy, true insanity – to borrow from Albert again – is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Watch the video below…and dare to do the opposite.
It’s time to leave Medicine (Intro)
Here’s everything you need to know about this book in one page:
It’s time to leave Medicine. It’s time. You’ve been feeling this for a while and been working overtime to drown out the quiet but persistent voice that’s been telling you the score for a while now. A long while. You’ve argued with it, rationalised your arguments against it, and hidden behind your white coat and the weight of public expectations. Think of the patients. Think of all the sacrifices made on your behalf. How could you be so selfish? Etcetera Etcetera. But regardless, that voice inside you hasn’t changed her tune. It’s time to leave Medicine. It’s time to leave Medicine. You know this, but you worry about the implications and about having to figure out all the steps before you begin. You don’t. The only thing you need to do is accept the inconvenient truth: it’s time to leave Medicine. Once you embrace that and take a first step towards exploring it, all the other steps will start to reveal themselves. Reading this book is that first step on the journey.
Inoculated against fear
Inoculation is a way of developing immunity against a disease.
But immunity doesn’t mean that your body is insulated from the disease.
It just means that it’s been primed to develop a response that is able to handle and deal with the antigens of the disease.
The purpose of an antigen is to elicit an antibody response that maintains homeostasis.
The purpose of fear is to elicit an action that upgrades homeostasis…triggering actions that establish a new normal.
Everything is safe and secure, but operating at a different level.
The gaps between levels are why you feel the fear.
But really, fear is just there to help direct you to the higher levels you were designed to operate on.
So…what are you afraid of…and where is that fear pointing to?
Image: Gapingvoid
Unlearning Medicine®
You are inadequate.
Wait to be given permission.
Be afraid; be very afraid.
Make sure you pass the test, and the next one, and the one after that.
Your name is not enough: you need other letter in front of it and after it.
The more pieces of paper you have the better.
Careful; someone might sue you for that.
Who you are doesn’t matter. What matter is your letters, numbers and labels e.g FY1, Resident, MBChB, CCT, GP, FRCOG…
The only acceptable way for you to make a living is to trade time for money.
Your “other talents” don’t matter. All that matters is whatever we can extract value from in our Hospital Factory.
You are not allowed to be happy.
You are not allowed to feel rested.
You are not allowed to say no.
You are not allowed to walk away.
You are not allowed to have a life outside of your job description.
You are now allowed to take time to figure out how to cure the disease or solve the problem and put yourself (and us) out of a job.
You are not allowed to fail.
You are not allowed to try something different.
You are not allowed to escape the Rat Race (where your passive income exceeds your expenses).
You are not allowed to do something that “might not work”.
You are not allowed to reinvent yourself.
You are not allowed to only spend half of whatever you make (because you’re busy investing and saving the rest).
You are not allowed to trade the sunk costs of your parents’ sacrifices and expectations for happiness and fulfilment.
You are not allowed to live a life that does not revolve around us.
Yeah, these are some of the things you’ll need to unlearn that Medicine ® has intentionally drilled into your Soul (mind+will+emotions).
As has been said, what got you here won’t get you there.
Maybe the key to transforming your life is to experiment with doing the opposite of what Medicine ® has trained you to do.
Image: Gapingvoid
Rest, respect and reward
Rest, respect and reward.
Regardless of who you are or what you do, you could probably do with a lot more of all three.
In fact, you probably are your best self when you’re rested, respected and rewarded…where the currency for each quality varies from person to person.
At the same time, rest, respect and reward are not essential requirements for AI, robots, drones and semi-conductor chips.
They are able to do their best work without any of the things that are essential for humans to do their best work and be their best selves.
And they are definitely able to outperform humans who are doing work that could be done by a machine…but without the 3 essential components of rest, respect and reward.
It’s not a fair match-up, but it’s one that most humans have allowed themselves to be enrolled in because it feels safe (like vanilla ice cream laced with arsenic)…even though it’s the most dangerous thing they could possibly do.
Rest, respect and reward.
If you’re deficient or anemic in any of these areas, dare to find and take opportunities to supplement yourself.
If those who work with you are lacking in rest, respect or reward, be generous enough to help them find more.
And if you’re doing work that could be done by a machine…without the rest, respect or reward you need to do your best human work…its time to make a change before the machines arrive at your job description.
Because when they do, the little rest, respect, and reward that you do have will be a far distant memory.
Image: Gapingvoid
The Doctor will see you now
“The Doctor will see you now.”
What did you picture when you read that?
Just a hundred years ago, many people wouldn’t picture a woman as the Doctor.
Or someone black or Hispanic or “not White”.
Or someone with face piercings and tattoos.
And today, when a patient walks in to see the Doctor, they don’t expect to see a room full of experts all present to attend the meeting to discuss the patient’s concern.
Nurses, pharmacists, bioengineers, psychologists, psychiatrists, career counsellors, financial advisors, neurosurgeons…all present at this consultation to solve the problem from every angle, without worrying about wrapping things up in under 12 minutes.
No being “referred” and having to wait to be seen at some point in the future by “the specialist”.
No having your healthcare at the mercy of disconnected medical peers each trying to decipher each other’s writing.
Instead, a commitment to treating you as a team at every stage of the journey.
We don’t expect this…even though we would probably benefit from this approach.
We don’t expect this…even though we’ve got the technology and infrastructure to make this a reality right now.
And we don’t expect this, because we’re too busy justifying the status quo.
“The Doctor will see you now.”
We get to imagine what “the Doctor” could look like, and dare to make room for that expectation.
Image: Gapingvoid