The Physician Philosopher Podcast

Here is a rewind episode of one of our favorites. 

“Someday when I become a resident, it will be better.  I’ll be making money. “

“One day, as an attending, things will be so much better than they are right now.  No one will be able to tell me what to do!”

“When the kids are a little bit older, things will be easier.”

I am here to tell you that if you think when you accomplish your next goal life will automatically be better, you are likely suffering from an arrival fallacy. 

Here is how to snap out of the matrix, and find the reality you really want today.

Love the show? Heck, want to work with me? See how we can here! www.thephysicianphilosopher.com/coaching

Have you ever wanted to lose weight (or get a six-pack) but it always felt too hard to get it done?

As a life coach for women physicians, Dr. Ali Novitsky shares her insight and expertise to show us how to achieve optimal health with simple strategies backed by science.

Ali Novitsky, MD is the CEO and founder of Life Coaching for Women Physicians.

Board certified in Obesity Medicine, Pediatrics, and Neonatology. She is a certified physician coach, nutrition and fitness expert, international speaker, blogger, and host of the podcast “Life Coaching for Women Physicians”. 

Ali attended Temple University School of Medicine and completed her Pediatric residency and Neonatal Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson/AI duPont Hospital for Children. She completed her coach training at The Life Coach School and The Mind Firm Method. 

Ali offers CME coaching programs designed for women physicians. Her programs are ever evolving and currently include: Jump Start, G.O.A.L.S. Society, and Transform. Ali also has a trademarked nutrition program called Mindful Macros® where she combines an intuitive and gentle nutrition approach to achieve optimal health results through food freedom.

Today’s thought is this: To lose weight (and achieve your optimal body composition) you actually need to gain muscle.

• How to identify and create a plan around your own personal health goals
• Why more activity doesn’t always mean better results
• The role of protein in your muscle-building pursuits (hint: it’s important)
• How to make food and activity choices that are sustainable for your life
• How to work with your emotions instead of against them with food and weight loss 
• How to honor your authentic body

Link: https://www.goals-society.com/g-o-a-l-s-society

When I first started out in entrepreneurship, I worked 60 hours a week in medicine plus another 20-30 hours a week on my blog and business. Business culture indoctrination often means we find ourselves believing we need to hustle 24/7 to get results, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

What’s really important about today’s episode is understanding how we can use technology not to worsen our constant availability – which can lead to burnout – but instead how to use that technology to set boundaries.

One thing we can agree on about today’s topic is this: doctors historically are under-savers. 

But when it comes to physician money management, exactly how much doctors should be saving is hotly contested. Lisha and I spent 15 minutes debating our perspectives before we even hit record! So we know you’re going to land with a variety of opinions.

Of course, how much and how you save are going to depend on your own financial goals and your current situation - the status of your student loans, whether you’re married or have kids or plan to start a family, when you want to retire, etc.

So by the end of this episode, we’ll give you two different options for figuring out how much money you should save - regardless of your situation.

https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/ACE

With today’s episode, we’re doing things a little differently. Instead of a podcast, you’re getting a sneak peek of the audiobook version of my latest book, “Determined: How Burned Out Doctors Can Thrive in a Broken Medical System.”

Yes, we’re talking burnout – a topic very familiar to you as a medical professional. It’s messy, it’s layered, and it’s part of the problematic state of medicine.

Burnout is twice as high in physicians versus the general population. Not only is that statistic alarming, but the potential consequences of burnout on medical professionals are staggering. Higher rates of substance and alcohol use, depression, and suicide are not uncommon problems in medicine.

On the systematic front, burnout has been linked with higher physician turnover, worse patient care and outcomes, decreased patient satisfaction, higher healthcare costs, and increased risk for major medical errors.

Burnout is costly for physicians and for the patients under our care.

But as Albert Einstein once wisely said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” 

In this week’s episode of The Physician Philosopher podcast, I’m sharing my audio recording of the first chapter of my book. 

• The top 5 reasons physicians feel burned out
• Why we need greater focus on personal and professional autonomy in medicine
• How compassion serves as a key factor in burnout recovery and systematic change
• The role of purpose and how it deepens our professional experience

Take a listen on your favorite podcast listening platform and leave a comment.

 All the best, 

~Jimmy 

I can’t tell you how often other physicians ask me, “Hey, I understand the math, but I just don't know: should I be paying off my student loans? Should I be investing and maxing out my 401k, or should I be paying off a car?”

There’s advice out there that says you should invest at all costs, that anyone who doesn't put all their money towards investments is crazy. Then, at the other end of the spectrum is the school of thought that says you shouldn’t do anything else until you pay off all your physician debt.

As with most nuanced subjects, it’s not black and white. 

The right path – for YOU – depends on a lot of different factors. When figuring out whether to pay off debt versus investing, it requires more than just math –  because humans aren't robots. 

https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/ACE

Given that this is the 100th episode of this show, I thought it would be pretty cool to share the stories of those who have listened to this podcast and had their lives changed as a result.

And today is doubly-special, because The Alpha Coaching Experience (ACE) is finally open again. It’s been six months since we opened the doors last, and we only open the program twice per year.

So, instead of me telling you about the impact ACE has had on doctors, I thought I’d let three doctors who have gone through the physician coaching program share their stories. Here’s how they overcame their situations to create the time, financial freedom, and mindset shifts they needed to practice medicine on their terms.

HTTPS://thephysicianphilosopher.com/ACE

My good friend, Peter Kim, from Passive Income MD is a serial entrepreneur, physician in anesthesiology, and a great friend and family man. Sharing my enthusiasm for physician finance strategies that prioritize freedom, Peter is also a bit of a side-gig guru.

Conversations with Peter are always fun, especially when we get to talk about different approaches to financial freedom. Over the years, Peter has conducted extensive trial and error research and fine-tuned the art of the physician side hustle. I can’t wait for you to absorb the knowledge and wisdom he was willing to share with The Physician Philosopher community.

https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/RISE

Dr. Ubell is a master certified life and weight loss coach who struggled with her own weight for decades before finding a permanent solution. 

In 2016, she founded a weight loss program that has

helped over 1,300 physicians achieve the same peace and freedom surrounding food. 

Her podcast, Weight Loss for Busy Physicians, has been downloaded over 6 million times and she is the author of the forthcoming book How to Lose Weight for the Last Time; Brain-Based Solutions for Permanent Weight Loss.

In this show, we’re going to dive into her book. So, if you have ever wanted to lose weight and keep it off… this is for you.

Click here to register for The Rise of The Self-Determined Physician → https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/SDP

Physicians that have carved out a life they love through entrepreneurship have one major thing in common: they work on their mindset.

I once had massive skepticism about mindset work and coaching. But there's a reason why people say that when it comes to personal finance, it's 20% math, 80% mindset. If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve come to hear that phrase over and over and over. 

But until we take that leap of faith and try it, we don't quite understand what it means when people say they're working on their mindset, or the place it has in the entrepreneur journey.

Dr. Vikram Raya’s journey to becoming a physician entrepreneur is a prime example of this.