Losing Yourself - and Finding Your Way Back

Burnout rarely happens overnight. It often begins quietly, with lost sleep, neglected hobbies, less time with loved ones, irritability, dread about going to work, and the gradual loss of the person behind the physician.

In this deeply personal conversation, Dr. Diane Shannon draws on her own experience leaving clinical medicine and her years coaching physicians to explain what she sees in physicians who feel stuck, exhausted, or unsure whether they can continue practicing. She emphasizes that coaching isn't about telling physicians what is wrong with them or giving them a predetermined solution. Instead, it creates space for awareness, reflection, and better questions.

Dr. Shannon and Dr. Apgar explores the difference between dedication and self-sacrifice, the unique pressures experienced by women physicians, and how identity can become so intertwined with medicine that stepping away, or even imagining a different career, feels almost impossible.

The discussion goes beyond burnout recovery to ask a bigger question: What does a meaningful and sustainable career actually look like for you? From finding time for what you love to recognizing when you're on the wrong “ladder,” this episode offers physicians a practical framework for pausing, reassessing their lives, and rediscovering the possibility of joy in medicine.

Episode highlights

• Burnout is usually a slow drift, signaled by early signs such as dread, irritability, sleep disruption, and loss of exercise or connection.
• Physicians don’t need more resilience; they need awareness, better questions, and the distinction between dedication and self-sacrifice.
• Going upstream reveals the real drivers of workplace frustration, including the unique pressures women physicians face (caregiving, cognitive load, interruptions, and bias).
• Micro changes and small workflow experiments can produce outsized improvements in burnout and career satisfaction.
• Making medicine your entire identity makes transitions harder; rediscovering parts of yourself outside medicine is essential.
• Meaningful work and sustainable work are different questions, reserve at least part of your role for what you’re passionate about.
• Coaching is most powerful before complete burnout, especially during major life or career transitions, and recovery is possible (sometimes requiring time away).