Letting go

When you leave medicine there is a big transition to make, particularly in relation to who you are. Your whole identity is so tied up in your role as medical practitioner that when you leave medicine it takes time for not only you but others too to see you as you are not as your profession.

Some things are so ingrained it’s difficult to let them go. I still from time to time make an ‘instant diagnosis’ when someone goes by with some distinctive body language. However i don’t want to be involved anymore in the conversations about diagnoses with friends who still insist in relating their symptoms in great detail.

So what can you do?

 If you are still involved in medical work then that’s OK, but I’m addressing people like me, wanting to get away from all things medical. Find out who you are without the white coat and the stethoscope and begin to develop yourself in other ways. You may be drawn to something still connected with medicine but different. I coach doctors, www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk,  because I realised that my thirty years of working as a doctor gives me an understanding of the stress of medical practice. You, too may find a way to use your medical experience and ut it to use in a different and interesting way. What do you think? Please add your comments.