Stress-Less Physician

As a child, I hated talking about feelings. Yet here I am, years later, talking about feelings all the time. The reason is because I adhere to the idea that feelings are why we do what we do. Whether we’re motivated by fear, anxiety, grief, love, compassion, connection, exhilaration… whatever it is, we act based on feelings. Our natural tendency is to mostly avoid feelings, especially negative one...

Fear of making the wrong decision. That struggle with the question: Is this choice or that choice the “right one?”... This fear plagues most, if not all of us. And back and forth uncertainty over choosing can leave us living in indecision and suffering anxiety over potentially making a wrong choice. But what, exactly, defines a “wrong decision”? The encouraging truth is that defining what is a rig...

Every physician has had a difficult or challenging patient at some point. And, let’s be real, anyone can be difficult for another person, given the right circumstance. But for doctors, especially, demanding patients can be a source of immense stress. The encouraging truth, however, is that it doesn’t have to be, even when the experience is quite negative. There is a solution to handling a frustrat...

Ever feel like you don’t belong? Like, at any minute, people are going to find out that you’re not as smart or as accomplished as you appear? That your successes are undeserved or illegitimate? That’s Imposter Syndrome thinking. And if you’ve struggled with it, know that it’s more common than you may realize. The inability to internalize achievements is one, if not the main, source of imposter syn...

Being on high alert, looking for what’s wrong, constantly staying attuned to anything that could go wrong – those are typical tendencies of any physician.  And that only gets reinforced as we go through our schooling and training.  This programming results in what I term  Doctor Brain , a condition that intensifies stress and anxiety when we need to remain calm and focused. Unf...

We get to believe whatever we want.  It may sound wild and irrational but it’s true. Of course, this is not to suggest that we ignore proven facts, such as in science. Yet there are many areas wherein we can choose what we believe. We can rewrite what we believe about ourselves, about our abilities, about our capacity to decide how we think, how we feel, and the life that we live.  Much...

Follow the show Apple Podcasts  |  Google Podcasts  |  Spotify  |  Everywhere Else We all describe our lives and careers as stressful. In so many different phrases we hear it over and over. But  what if believing certains things are stressful is nothing more than a  myth ? Welcome to the 2nd episode of my  brand new podcast, Stress-Less Physician . I’m...

As physicians, we’re typically pretty good at assessing how others feel, both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, we’re often less adept at identifying how  we  personally feel, especially emotionally. When we’re in doctor mode (which is pretty much all the time), what I call  “Doctor Brain” kicks in . We’re constantly on  high-alert, looking out for danger . We’re so fo...

The Stress-Less Physician Podcast teaches busy practicing physicians how to reduce your stress levels, create a better balance between your medical career and personal life, and have a sustainable and enjoyable clinical practice. Learn how to feel better now while designing a life and medical career that feel good to YOU. Dr. Sara Dill is an Ivy-League educated, practicing dermatologist who has wo...