Doctor Me First

By Errin Weisman

Fellow physician colleague, you've come to the right place. The Doctor Me First Workbook has all the mindset exercises and kicks of encouragement you need to move out of burnout and into a career and life you love.  

Inspiring, information sections of the book include:

• Working Your Inner Burn
• Detoxing Your Envi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Momosa Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jul 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781950459087

Errin Weisman

Errin Weisman, DO, is a life coach, podcaster, and fierce wellness advocate who helps inspire female physicians and working moms to do the work they love and absolutely love life. Her work in the world is to openly tell how she faced professional burnout early in her family medicine career so that no one feels alone. Her goal is that all know that change is possible because "if she can do it, so can I" and that you can have a joy-filled and sustainable career. Dr. Weisman lives and practices life coaching and medicine in rural Southwestern Indiana, and she loves her roles as farmer's wife, athlete, and mother of three. Besides being sassy, she enjoys getting mud on her shoes, teaching her children to catch tadpoles, and reading great fantasy novels.

Book preview

Dear Colleague

In 2014, I recognized that I was burnt out and was desperately searching for a way to survive and possibly find joy again. I couldn't find a sassy, no BS workbook, so I created exactly that, and I'm so thrilled to share it with you.

By divine intervention and with a little luck, I stumbled upon a wonderful life coach who helped me recover from the wear and tear of medicine. As I got more interested in the self-improvement world, I saw a huge-ass need for healthcare-specific material. Many of the exercises I will be sharing in Doctor Me First are adapted from commonly used coaching tools.

My hope is that this workbook will be exactly what you need, so use it as it applies to you. Feel free to pick and chose exercises, change words, color up the pages, or work straight through with your #2 pencil.

My hope is that after completing this book, you will have steps to help you walk through and out of burnout, the ability to achieve the control and balance you desire, several tips on how you can thrive rather than survive in healthcare, and the ability to move forward to a life you desire and deserve.

For some of the exercises, I have provided examples. These are intended to help you understand the exercise and are not meant to be used or suggest how you should answer. Write your own experience! Remember, there are no wrong answers, and no one is grading this.

I have made it my mission that no one should have to experience burnout alone or be unable to find the help they seek. I hope Doctor Me First truly does doctor your spirit.

In fullest gratitude,

Errin Weisman, DO

Is This Burnout or Depression?

Have you ever wondered: Am I depressed or am I burnt out? I know I did. I even contemplated starting myself on an SSRI just to see if I felt better. We know that chronic stress can lead to depressive states, and classified burned-out physicians meet DSM-V criteria for major depressive disorder. But I don’t think it matters what the DSM-V says about MDD, adjustment disorder, or chronic work stress. I don’t think you need to go through a huge inventory of the MBI (a standard burnout assessment by Christina Maslach, PhD) to know something is just not right. I think of burnout as a situational stress syndrome. At least, that's how I experienced it. For most physicians, adjusting their internal perspective and making changes to their external environment will improve or resolve their symptoms.

Read the following statements and circle any that apply to you. I believe this is evidence enough to say, Hey, something's going on here! I don’t want to live like this anymore!

Emotional exhaustion

Overwhelming fatigue

Loss of motivation

Cynicism

Sense of ineffectiveness

Discouragement

List any that I missed:

• Dissatisfaction

• Feeling disengaged

• Feeling frustrated

• Feeling fearful

• Feeling trapped

• Feelings of failure

• Anxiety

• Worry

• Feeling downhearted

• Feeling deflated

• Hopelessness

• Disappointment

Is This Burnout or Depression?

Now that you have put some words with what you have been experiencing, let's expand on it.

Pick a few word/statements from the previous page that you feel strongly toward. Write them below and write the thoughts that pop up in your head as you read these words. Write any examples of why you chose these statements.

Example of what I would have written:

Emotional exhaustion: I feel like I have no more emotional energy to give my husband and children when I come home. I’m empty, dry, and I don’t know how to fill up. And I feel guilty about this. Sometimes I just feel like a zombie stumbling through my day.

The Mindful CT Scan

In 2015, I started to attend yoga with my BF Beth as a way to exercise and take a break away from everything. I loved the exercise component and the fact that I still had that muscle memory from my previous athletic careers.

As the class wound down and the sweating slowed down, the instructor would have us do a body scan to prepare for savasana (resting pose). She had us get comfortable, close our eyes, then start to notice our breathing, followed by the positions of or sensations in our bodies. She said things like, Take a deep breath, filling your body. Now exhale and relax more deeply, or Feel Mother Earth cradling your contact points, or Bring attention to your breath. (Insert my eye rolls here.)

As a type A science nerd, I had a really hard time embracing my inner woo-woo!

But I do embrace the fact that this type of mindfulness has been proven