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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills

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to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.

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When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find

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that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research

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program.

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Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.

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However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

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For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians

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the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.

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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

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I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is such a pleasure to be talking with you today.

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I'm especially excited to be talking with you about today's topic.

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What to do if you don't like your job?

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Maybe raise your hands if there are parts of your job that you hate.

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Yep.

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Raise your hand if you just hate all of it.

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Yep, that was me.

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That was me when I first started.

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I hated my job.

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I was so miserable.

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And I remember, you know how you put on a brave face for everybody, and you're like,

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oh yeah, it's going great.

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And they're like, oh, how's work?

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Because you know, your family never really knows what you do.

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They're like, yeah, I know my kid is a physician, but I don't really know what she does.

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I don't know.

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My daughter is a physician.

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I'm not sure what she does exactly.

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I guess she takes care of people.

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They have no idea all the facets of your job.

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So when they ask you how are things going, the only thing you really say is, of course,

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it's going great.

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Well, at least for me.

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And it's not because I was telling a lie.

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It was just because, you know, you know what?

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It's too hard to go into why, what doesn't work, you know.

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But the people who know you know you.

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And they can tell.

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They can tell when you're miserable in your job.

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So that was my experience.

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I had a so I went to an event and one of my really great friends was there.

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And I remember she had an opportunity.

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So it's one of those things where, you know, you're you turn around and you say something

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or you encourage the person beside you.

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One of the ways she encouraged me, she was like, I know you hate your job.

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And I was like, is it so obvious?

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Is it so obvious?

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But in reality, I was miserable.

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And the people who care about you, they can tell when you are not happy.

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And I remember thinking as she was just encouraging me, I was like, is it so obvious?

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That I hate what I'm doing because she was actually wishing me a new job.

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And what's interesting is that I didn't get that new job.

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I actually actually to some extent, I did.

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I mean, I'm still in the same job, but I love my job today.

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And I love my job not because I changed it, but because I changed.

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And with me changing, I changed my job circumstance.

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And so that's some of what I want to talk to you about today is that just because it

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is horrible doesn't mean it has to stay horrible.

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And I just want to invite you to think about what to do if you don't like your job.

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Whatever part of it you don't like.

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Maybe you're like me down now.

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You're like, oh, I love the whole job.

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I love my job.

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I really do.

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I enjoy it very much today.

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But maybe like most people, you hate it.

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You're like, no, I hate this job.

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Or maybe you hate it 40% of the time or maybe just 10% of the time.

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I think most people will fall into the category of, I hate what I'm doing.

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So the first thing I want to tell you is to relax.

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Just relax.

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There are so many people like you.

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This is a common problem.

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There is no problem of hating your job that nobody has had before you.

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This is good.

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You are in great company.

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And some of you may be thinking, wait a minute, why is this a good problem?

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So everybody has problems.

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I should be happy about that.

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No, I'm just saying relax.

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Like, you know how it is when you have a problem and then you look around and nobody else has

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the same problem and you're like, wow, it's just me.

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I have problems.

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So that's what I'm saying.

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I'm saying that this is not a you problem.

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This is a many people problem.

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And so you are normal.

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You are absolutely normal.

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So I want you to pause and say to yourself, I am normal.

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Oh, oh, I didn't hear you say it.

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Say it again.

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I am normal.

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Thank you.

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Great.

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I am normal.

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There's so many people who don't like what they do.

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And I want you to relax because you're in good company.

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And that's number one, relax.

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Don't let it stress you out.

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Don't be anxious about it.

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Don't hate yourself and don't be ashamed.

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Please, I want to actually pause on this and say, don't be ashamed, because that's the

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problem.

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When we think that we have a problem that nobody else has, sometimes there's shame that

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comes with that.

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And to some extent, there's fear as well.

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It's like, oh, what's wrong with me?

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Why aren't I better?

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How come I can't get it together?

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And I want to tell you that the shame is a lie.

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If so many people have the same problem, then it's not something to be ashamed about.

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It's something for us to come together and encourage one another and then to come together

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also and have compassion on each other.

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And so don't be ashamed.

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Don't feel like you've done something wrong.

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Don't feel like you made the wrong choice.

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Don't feel like, oh, I didn't negotiate if I was a better negotiator.

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It's not you.

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It's OK.

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It's the way it is.

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And so that's the first thing I want you to know is just to relax.

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Don't be stressed about it.

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Don't get anxious about it.

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First of all, just chill.

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One of the reasons you need to chill is that not much good comes out of being anxious and

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stressed.

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Like you're tense.

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You're like blaming yourself.

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Not much will come out of that.

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And so you might as well just let it go.

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So number one is to relax.

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Number two is to celebrate.

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You got to celebrate because the mere fact that you recognize that you hate your job

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means that change can come.

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It's that you are poised to make a change happen.

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Here's the thing.

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When you hate your job, but you've never said it out loud, you've never said, I hate this

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thing, you're living in denial.

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And as long as you have not acknowledged the thing that's true, as long as the elephant

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in the room is just hanging out with nobody saying, hey, there's an elephant.

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Does it belong here?

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The elephant can keep going.

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The problem can keep going forever and ever as long as everybody's just playing it cool

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and saying, OK, this is not real.

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Everybody, this is a lie.

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It's not real.

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But the moment you stop and say, this is a problem, oh my goodness.

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And you know you're a physician.

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This is real.

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And if they're just trying to quit smoking or they're trying to quit substance use disorder,

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the first step in getting free is saying, I have a problem.

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And so the moment you acknowledge that you hate what you do, to whatever extent you hate

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it, that is already something to celebrate because you have owned the problem.

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And because you've owned the problem, you now have power to make a decision about how

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that problem comes to an end.

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And so it is so amazing to be where you are right now in the place of realization, in

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the place of recognition.

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And so I want to invite you to celebrate.

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I don't know what you do.

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Sometimes I'll dance a jig or I'll jump up and I celebrate by dancing.

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I'm celebrating for you right now.

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And please don't look at me like I'm crazy or listen and think, is she OK?

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I'm telling her I hate my job.

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And she's like, go celebrate.

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But I really am.

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Because we are at the point, we're on the cusp of major breakthrough because you've

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acknowledged that you hate this thing.

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So what are we going to do about it?

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All right.

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That's number three.

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Number three is choose.

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So what do you want to do about it?

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You've come to this place where you now finally accept, you realized it for a long time, but

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you finally accepted.

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You finally verbalized your hatred for this thing, whether it's your whole job or just

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pieces of it.

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You finally, you finally figured it out.

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So what do you want to do about it?

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And this is a really important point.

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And I just want to pause because this is the point at which people go back.

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They take a step back and say, you know what?

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I'm just going to go back and pretend.

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I'm going to go back and pretend this doesn't exist, that I don't hate this job.

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I'm just going to keep going.

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And that's choice.

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That's a choice.

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And that may be the choice you make, the choice of going back to the place of denial.

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I hope you will make a different choice, but the choice is yours.

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But the first thing is that you're going to choose.

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You're either going to choose to sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist,

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or you're going to choose to do something about it.

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But the choice is yours.

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Maybe we'll make that choice for you.

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Some people are like, well, my mentor will help me.

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Maybe and maybe not.

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But we're not going to let it depend on somebody else.

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What do you want to do about it?

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Some of you are like, okay, well, it'll just work itself out.

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And you know what?

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Maybe it will, but maybe it won't.

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Many things don't work themselves out.

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Many things actually get worse.

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And until you choose that it's going to be different, it cannot be different.

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Until you choose to do something differently, you will always get the same result.

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And so what do you want to choose?

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How do you want to move forward now that you've come to the realization that there is something

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in your job that you don't like?

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What do you want to do about it?

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And I think it's so important for you to honor your role as the decision maker.

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And one challenge that comes to us, especially as a gift from our training, is that we can

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outsource decision making.

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We can outsource decision making to the attending.

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We can outsource decision making to the mentor.

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We can outsource decision making to many people.

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Oh, the medical director says we should do X. Therefore, that's what we do.

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In medicine, there's so many opportunities for outsourcing.

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And you can outsource the decision to someone else.

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You can't guarantee what decision they'll make.

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And most likely, they're just going to keep doing what's already happening.

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And so you're maintaining the status quo by outsourcing the decision.

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But the decision is yours.

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And I want you to choose to do something differently.

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I want you to choose to do something differently.

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I'm going to pause here and remind you that we have a webinar today at 6 p.m., about five

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steps to transition from clinician to research leader.

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And because it's happening today and this episode is happening today, you may miss it

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if you catch the episode late.

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I just want to invite you to still come and check out our next webinar, because I will

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be doing more than one webinar.

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And so if you've missed the webinar on November 20th, you should definitely check out the

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next webinar.

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And you can find that out by looking at our website, clinicianresearcherpodcast.com, or

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checking out the COAG Coach website.

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That's COAG, C-O-A-G, C-O-A-C-H dot com.

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And then if you go to our events tab, you'll see what the next webinar is.

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Anyway, so I just want to invite you to choose something different.

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And if you're not sure what to choose, go where people are talking about making different

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choices and see if any of those choices are choices you want to make.

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But definitely don't choose to go back to a life of denial.

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Don't choose to going back to continuing the work you hate.

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And don't choose to just, you know, give it all up and say, you know what, medicine was

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00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,560
never for me in the first place.

247
00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:11,120
And that brings me to number four.

248
00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:12,960
Number four is to ask questions.

249
00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:18,080
Now, if you are in the place where you 100% hate your job, it took you a while to get

250
00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:19,080
there.

251
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,200
You did not first start out by hating, right?

252
00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,720
You actually kind of started out in love with your job because it's the only reason you

253
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:25,720
chose it.

254
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:30,040
Ooh, or maybe you chose it out of obligation, I'm not sure.

255
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,040
But what do you actually not like about the job?

256
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:34,720
Is it absolutely everything?

257
00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:40,240
And sometimes the pain of how we feel about our jobs is such that it just overwhelms everything.

258
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,920
We're like, well, you know, I just hate everything.

259
00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:45,960
And you know, it just it is what it is.

260
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,800
In reality, there's sometimes one thing that's driving the hatred.

261
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,760
And so honestly, it does behoove you.

262
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,360
Oh, gosh, I use that word.

263
00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,000
But it does behoove you to stop and say, what is it that I hate?

264
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,000
What's this thing?

265
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:08,960
When you have a splinter in your finger and it hurts so much, it's important to acknowledge

266
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,720
the splinter and to take it out because it's the splinter that's the problem.

267
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:17,160
Yeah, everything you touch hurts because of the splinter that's making your hand throb.

268
00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:18,580
And so you can be like, I hate that.

269
00:13:18,580 --> 00:13:19,580
It hurts me.

270
00:13:19,580 --> 00:13:20,580
I hate that.

271
00:13:20,580 --> 00:13:21,580
It hurts me.

272
00:13:21,580 --> 00:13:22,580
But in reality, it's the splinter.

273
00:13:22,580 --> 00:13:26,320
And if you could just address this one splinter, everything goes back to where it needs to

274
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,100
go.

275
00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:30,980
What are you going to address the splinter?

276
00:13:30,980 --> 00:13:32,800
And so that's a question I'm asking.

277
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:33,800
What do you hate?

278
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,640
And don't tell me I hate everything, because I doubt that's true.

279
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:38,960
For most people, it's not true.

280
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:44,060
There is a one thing that if you could just fix, there is a one thing that if you could

281
00:13:44,060 --> 00:13:47,120
just fix, everything would be better.

282
00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,240
And so what is it about the job that you don't like?

283
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:51,840
What is it about the job that you don't like?

284
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,880
I remember a story and this happened to me, true story yesterday.

285
00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:00,840
I was on the plane and somebody leaned back in their seat while I was typing on my computer.

286
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,040
I'm working on a manuscript, trying to get it out the door.

287
00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,600
And this person just leans back.

288
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,400
So the first thing that happens is my computer kind of goes flying forward.

289
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:13,320
And then I'm literally sitting with my computer like under my chin, you know, because their

290
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,360
seat has leaned so far back.

291
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,880
OK, so maybe if I was in first class, it wouldn't be a problem or in business class, but I wasn't.

292
00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,400
And so all the space counts.

293
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,960
And so I literally turn around to this person and I'm like, excuse me, I'm not able to work

294
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:28,400
because you've leaned back.

295
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:33,560
And the person beside me, really, really such a wonderful, kind person, he turned around

296
00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:34,560
to me.

297
00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,060
He was like, you know what, your table can come forward and your seat can lean back too.

298
00:14:38,060 --> 00:14:42,880
And that was so important because I was so focused on this is the problem and this woman

299
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,280
who caused the problem is the one who's going to fix it for me.

300
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:51,280
And as long as it depended on her, I was going to be stuck trying to convince her to turn

301
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,800
around and make it work for me.

302
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:59,200
But the moment I recognized my own power to change the way my computer was and to lean

303
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:04,040
back in my own seat to wow, what a world of difference it made.

304
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:09,400
And so the things that we don't like, sometimes we feel paralyzed to move forward in changing

305
00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:15,440
them because if only my division chief would make the change, if only my mentor would change.

306
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,720
And in reality, they can do whatever they want.

307
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,640
What do you want to do?

308
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:26,120
And so the first step to deciding that is asking, what is it about the job that you

309
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:27,120
don't like?

310
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,960
What is a thing that you want to change?

311
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,480
Okay.

312
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,640
The next thing is to travel back in time.

313
00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,960
Go back to the place of your first love for this job.

314
00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,880
You did not start by hating this job.

315
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,300
There was something about it that made you say yes.

316
00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:49,600
You said yes because there was something about this job that you loved.

317
00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:50,780
What was it?

318
00:15:50,780 --> 00:15:52,600
You got to go back to that place.

319
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:53,600
What was it?

320
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,400
What was the love at first sight?

321
00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:57,800
What was the thing you're like, you know what, this is what I want.

322
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,040
I'll take all the other stuff because of what I want.

323
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:06,100
And that's so important because as physicians, we're so used to living in the place of obligation

324
00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:07,100
that we'll just take everything.

325
00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:08,400
We're like, yeah, I have to do it.

326
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:09,880
I guess I'll do it.

327
00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,680
But yeah, this is where it takes you.

328
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,600
It takes you to the place of burnout.

329
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,800
60%, greater than 60% of physicians are burned out in their job.

330
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,880
That was a statistic, I believe, from 2020.

331
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:22,080
It's a big deal.

332
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,320
So many people are just going through the motions.

333
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,040
They're just doing whatever is necessary.

334
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:30,680
And I'm telling you that doing whatever is necessary is not what gets you to loving your

335
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:31,680
job.

336
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:32,680
It's like, what do you want to do?

337
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,360
Because the thing you want to do, people need that.

338
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:36,360
You want to do it.

339
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:37,360
People need you to do it.

340
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,720
So this is not like if I leave all the stuff I'm obligated to do, nobody will do it.

341
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:42,720
Oh, I will tell you.

342
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:47,240
People will jump and doing all the things you leave behind because for some other people,

343
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,600
the thing that hurts you is the thing that makes them thrive.

344
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,720
So stop feeling guilty that, oh my gosh, who's going to do the work?

345
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,040
There are people waiting for you to get off so that they can come on and shine.

346
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,920
And so you are there, like, hating what you're doing, living with drudgery, and people are

347
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:09,080
just waiting for you to move out of the way so they can do it with joy.

348
00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:15,600
And so yes, please give yourself permission to go back to the place of your first love

349
00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,560
because that's the thing that you want to hold on to.

350
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,860
And it may be, it may be that you say, I'm quitting this job.

351
00:17:22,860 --> 00:17:23,860
That's okay.

352
00:17:23,860 --> 00:17:28,560
But you want to know the thing that you love because whether you stay in the job or you

353
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,200
move somewhere else, you're going to want to expand the thing you love.

354
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,040
You're going to need to do that no matter where you are.

355
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,840
What is it that you liked about the job in the first place?

356
00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:39,840
Remember that.

357
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:41,880
Hold on to that.

358
00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,920
The next thing you want to do, number six, is investigate.

359
00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:46,200
What can you do about it?

360
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,800
Okay, we've come to the point of realization, we've decided we're going to choose to make

361
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:50,880
a difference.

362
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,560
We're not waiting for our mentor to tell us what to do.

363
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:55,840
What can you do?

364
00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:00,920
Okay, I hate seeing patients with this particular diagnosis.

365
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:02,400
Maybe your thing is fibromyalgia.

366
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,440
You're like, I hate fibromyalgia.

367
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,680
And again, please, if you're listening and you have fibromyalgia, this is not, I'm just

368
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:08,680
using an example.

369
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,440
Okay, this is not about you.

370
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:11,920
It's not about fibromyalgia.

371
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:13,540
It's just about an example.

372
00:18:13,540 --> 00:18:17,240
Today you're like, I don't want to see anybody in clinic anymore who has fibromyalgia.

373
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,320
Well, what can you do about it?

374
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,360
Who can you talk to?

375
00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,600
Who's in charge of your schedule?

376
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,980
Spoiler alert, you are.

377
00:18:26,980 --> 00:18:30,080
But who's putting these patients on your schedule?

378
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,480
And what conversations can you have?

379
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,160
What will people do with requests?

380
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:37,160
So find out.

381
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,120
This is an investigation time.

382
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,560
Sometimes we just don't know.

383
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,560
Like, oh, they'll never let me do it.

384
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,080
But who did you ask?

385
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:45,840
Did you make that assumption?

386
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:46,840
Wow.

387
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:51,520
The number of assumptions that we live with, the number of decisions we make that are based

388
00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,120
on faulty information is incredible.

389
00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:55,480
You don't know if you don't ask.

390
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,960
So if you've never asked, you actually don't know.

391
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,400
So this is not like, oh, my division chief will never let me stop seeing fibromyalgia.

392
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,280
Like, when did you ask that question?

393
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,400
And if you haven't asked, it's an invitation to ask.

394
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,520
And you're asking not necessarily because you're ready to make the ask or you're not

395
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,240
necessarily ready to say, this is what I want.

396
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,880
You're asking first for information.

397
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:24,400
And I just want to remind you, as a clinician who sees patients, if you're going to help

398
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,360
anybody, you first of all always start by asking.

399
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,620
Like, has there ever been a time someone shows up and you're like, oh, OK, it must be hypertension.

400
00:19:31,620 --> 00:19:32,920
I won't take your blood pressure.

401
00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:34,960
You start by asking.

402
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,800
The only way you can help is by asking questions.

403
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,200
And so I'm going to invite you to ask questions.

404
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,600
What do you need to know to decide?

405
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,840
And some people are quitting jobs without finding out whether they can remake their

406
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:49,840
jobs.

407
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,440
And that was what happened for me.

408
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:52,720
I stayed in the same place.

409
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,160
I remade my job.

410
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,760
Actually, I've remade it many times over.

411
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,160
I'm continuing to remake it.

412
00:19:58,160 --> 00:19:59,160
And guess what?

413
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,080
I'm going to remake it again because you can do that.

414
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,680
But you find out, like, what is possible here?

415
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:05,760
You ask people.

416
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:06,760
You go check.

417
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:12,780
You go check it out and find out the information you need so that you can come to an informed

418
00:20:12,780 --> 00:20:14,440
decision.

419
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,880
And number seven is to negotiate.

420
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,800
So sometimes people just say, I quit.

421
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,120
And they go elsewhere.

422
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:21,120
And it's OK.

423
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:22,120
You can quit.

424
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:23,200
Quit any time you want.

425
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,160
But don't quit because things are hard.

426
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,120
Quit because you're strategically quitting.

427
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,960
It's like this is a strategic decision to quit.

428
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,200
Not I just quit because it's too hard.

429
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:33,960
Don't do that.

430
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:34,960
Negotiate.

431
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,960
Even if you're quitting, even if you're leaving the place where you are, negotiate while you're

432
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:38,960
still there.

433
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:40,640
It may be like, oh, I've given my two weeks notice.

434
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,800
Well, negotiate so that you can enjoy your last two weeks.

435
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,840
And even if you're like, well, in another year, I'll be leaving, well, negotiate so

436
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,000
you can enjoy your last year.

437
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,800
Whatever you do, it is time to negotiate.

438
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,520
What does it mean?

439
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,400
What do I mean by negotiate?

440
00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:00,780
What I mean is now that you've clarified what you want and investigated what you can do

441
00:21:00,780 --> 00:21:03,680
about it, well, go see what can be done.

442
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:04,680
Just go see.

443
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:05,680
Go ask questions.

444
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,520
Go say, hey, I heard that I don't have to see fibromyalgia.

445
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,520
I heard that I can choose what I see in my clinic.

446
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:18,680
How can I work with a scheduler so that fibromyalgia is no longer added to my panel?

447
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:19,680
And you know what?

448
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,580
Until you do that, you won't find out that someone has been doing a study and they're

449
00:21:22,580 --> 00:21:24,920
trying to gather all the patients with fibromyalgia.

450
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,920
And they are so happy to take them off of you.

451
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,240
Imagine that.

452
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,440
You've been holding them back from their success because you've been so afraid to ask or to

453
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,400
negotiate.

454
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,300
And so I invite you to negotiate.

455
00:21:37,300 --> 00:21:40,560
And if you don't know how, don't tell me you don't know how because you do.

456
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:41,560
I see you.

457
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,960
I know you negotiate for your patients pretty consistently.

458
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,200
But if you're afraid to, you don't feel like you know how, you should reach out to a friend.

459
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:50,360
You should reach out to me.

460
00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,280
And I can give you some pointers, but it's not just me.

461
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,800
There are many people who are going to help you.

462
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,280
But just don't stay stuck.

463
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,520
Don't stay stuck in a job you hate.

464
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,560
Don't stay stuck in a situation you don't want.

465
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,560
Don't do it.

466
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,520
Because, because we need you.

467
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,160
We need you to thrive.

468
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:11,440
We need you to thrive because as you are, if we're your patients, if you thrive, oh,

469
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,700
it makes her such a more enjoyable experience.

470
00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:20,060
If we're your colleagues, if you thrive, it makes her such an enjoyable experience.

471
00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:25,340
If we're your bosses and you thrive, it makes our job so much easier.

472
00:22:25,340 --> 00:22:31,080
So in reality, when you choose to do something about the fact that you hate your job, you're

473
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,160
doing it not just for you, you're doing it for everybody around you.

474
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:40,480
And so if it's too hard to motivate yourself on the basis of, oh, well, it's selfish, just,

475
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,920
you know what, motivate yourself on the basis of the fact that we need you to be at your

476
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,280
best because we hate being around you.

477
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:47,480
You're so miserable.

478
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,400
Yeah, that's kind of strong.

479
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,760
But can I just be honest with you?

480
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:52,760
You're miserable.

481
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,800
And we can tell.

482
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:55,800
I was miserable.

483
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:56,800
My friend could tell.

484
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,920
I thought nobody could tell, but they could tell.

485
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,880
Because when you're miserable, people can feel it.

486
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,720
Your kids can feel it.

487
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,840
You're yelling at them not because you hate them, but because you hate you or you hate

488
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:08,840
your environment.

489
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:13,240
But maybe it's your significant other and the way you're not as kind and courteous as

490
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:18,900
you used to be just because you're living with this pain of the job that you're in.

491
00:23:18,900 --> 00:23:20,280
And so do it.

492
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:21,320
You don't do it for you.

493
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:26,480
Do it for the rest of us, the rest of us who need you at your healthiest, at your best.

494
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,560
Do it because it serves you and it serves them.

495
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,680
Do it because it serves us.

496
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:33,680
All right.

497
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,320
It's been a pleasure talking with you today.

498
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:38,840
Somebody else needs to hear this.

499
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,000
You know, 60% of us are out there hating our jobs.

500
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,480
And so please forward this to just one person today who's told you in the last week, I hate

501
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:47,840
my job.

502
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,360
Forward this to just one person.

503
00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,080
And for you, it's time.

504
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:54,920
It's time to make a decision.

505
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,560
It's time to act.

506
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:02,320
It's time to stop living in a situation you hate and to start to ask, how can I make it

507
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,360
exactly what I want?

508
00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:06,560
I want to thank you for listening to me today.

509
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:16,840
I look forward to talking with you again the next time.

510
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:22,200
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast where academic

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00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,920
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

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00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:28,980
have a mentor.

513
00:24:28,980 --> 00:24:35,080
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

514
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:36,840
Someone else needs to hear it.

515
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,880
So take a minute right now and share it.

516
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:46,360
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

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00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:52,480
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.