72. Burnout Prevention by Thinking Outside The Box with Dr. Karen Hoffmann

Sep 1

Burnout comes up a lot in the physician’s space, and for a good reason. As women physicians, we are constantly exhausted from progressing our careers while doing everything society expects of women. The good news is that with a few mindset shifts and practices, you can get out of the box of burnout and start feeling like yourself again.

If You Want To Prevent Burnout, You Should:

Get clear on what your passion is and create a plan to help you go after it
Surround yourself with a supportive and inspiring community
Ditch the all or nothing mentality and focus on taking small baby steps towards your goals

Listen to Episode 72 Here

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Preventing Burnout With Dr. Karen Hoffmann

Karen Hoffmann, MD, FAAOA, is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Since joining Piedmont Ear, Nose, Throat, and Related Allergy in 2007, Dr. Hoffmann has specialized in the medical and surgical treatment of patients with Eustachian tube dysfunction, ear fullness, sinus, and allergy disorders, and hearing loss and chronic ear disease. She has successfully integrated compassionate and innovative care in private practice with clinical research and is passionate about helping others take care of themselves.

You Are In Control of Your Own Outcome

Being a mother, wife, and physician, Dr. Hoffman got to a breaking point when she realized that her all-or-nothing mentality and internal dialogue were contributing to her burnout. By taking small baby steps to move away from this mentality and towards a long game strategy, she was able to change her thinking and change her life.

Now, Dr. Hoffman shows up to work every day excited, which reflects back onto her and onto her patients. By finding clients that push her out of her comfort zone and inspire her to approach medicine in a new way, she is pursuing her passion in an inspiring way.

Find Your Passion and Run With It

One of the best ways to feel supported going forward in your journey is to find a community of other women and women physicians. If you don’t have support, you will feel like you need to do it all. And while your imposter syndrome may be holding you back from finding a community, showing up authentically and making yourself a priority is the best way to overcome it.

The changes you will notice when you start to take care of yourself can be drastic. By getting clear and focusing on your passion, creating a plan to get there, and surrounding yourself with other women who continue to lift each other up, anything is possible.

Homework for Women Physicians

Are you ready to prevent burnout by thinking outside of the box and prioritizing yourself? Share which ways you tackle burnout with me in the comments below!

In This Episode

Why we experience burnout early on in our careers [3:30]
How to use your thoughts and internal dialogue to determine your own outcome [6:49]
Tips for creating a balance between family life and your career [13:30]
Why being surrounded by a community of other women physicians is a gamechanger [15:28]
Advice for women who believe they don’t have the time to achieve their goals [19:20]

Quotes

“You try to do everything, and I think it is almost like you are on a hamster wheel. You just keep going and going and going. It took me quite a while to figure out that wasn’t really normal or sustainable.” [3:59]

“I ultimately have the power to determine my outcome based on my thoughts. My internal dialogue and thoughts are much more important than my external circumstance and how I experience and interact with the world. So it ultimately gives me the power to determine my outcome.” [7:34]

“There are really just so many hours in the day, and you can’t be everything to everybody all at the same time.” [14:11]

“Everyone has some imposter syndrome, I really think, unless they are a narcissist, and we just have to realize that everyone has that. And you just show up and do you, and you want to be your authentic self.” [18:25]

“You have to figure out where you are going so that you can come up with a plan to actually get there.” [26:09]