The Worthy Physician

Send us Fan Mail

“The stronger the roots, the more the tree is going to be able to stand the stormy winds.”

This quote comes directly from today’s episode with Dr. Rozina Lakhani, an integrative psychiatrist who’s sharing her insights on burnout and the importance of keeping yourself grounded in order to get through rough times more easily.

Through her podcast, Happy and Healthy Mind, speaking engagements and new book, Dr. Rozina Lakhani is helping others find awareness and learn tools to manage the inevitable stress of life. After her own intense experience with burnout, she practices daily gratitude and more techniques staying on top of your mental health, such as brain dumping and journaling.

Tune in to learn about the power of gratitude, and how you can change your perspective to live a healthier life for yourself and your patients!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Rozina Lakhani on burnout and how she avoids it
• Learning the power of gratitude
• Why is being grounded important?
• Burnout caused by the stress of medical school and her career
• Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque’s experience of burnout
• Dr. Rozina Lakhani’s self-dialogue journal technique
• Peace of mind and Dr. Rozina Lakhani’s new book
• Practicing a system of awareness and checking in with yourself
• The effect of chronic stress on the body

This experience is powered by CMEfy – an AI-powered platform that directs learners along a pathway to capture reflections at point of inspiration, point of care. Clinicians may earn CME/CE credit via ReflectCE, the accredited activity portal. https://earnc.me/N09rlZ

Find out more about Dr. Rozina Lakhani:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

Podcast

You can listen to her podcast, Happy and Healthy Mind with Dr. Rozina, on Apple Podcasts !

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

On this episode, it is a recap over lessons learned.  Over the last few months, I have sat down and talked to amazing physicians, and non-physicians alike. Burnout has been the topic, but also spirituality, self care, boundaries, finance, using your voice and more.

Spirituality affects our being and how we interact with others.
What we do must come from love.
Use your voice to speak up for yourself.
Understand finance.
Your spirit knows.
Self care is not selfish.

For the full episodes, please head over to your favorite podcast listening app!

Links for Support:
https://physiciansanonymous.org/
https://physiciancoachsupport.com/

Join our private Facebook group:
  https://urlgeni.us/facebook/physicianworthy

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:
Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn 

To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts!

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

As discussed in a beginning series [two of the first episodes of the podcast], Dr. Bean, a physio psychologist, discussed four boxes to see if our lives are balanced.
The work box, play box, family box, and social box.  Over all of it is the spiritual box, as it influences how we as humans interact with all around us--including ourselves.

In this episode, I will cover my spiritual journey and recent travel.  I find that I had to balance by spiritual box in order to balance my other boxes.

This week, there is a challenge.  Listen to the episode, and participate.  You may learn more about yourself via the exercise.

Link to the download is below:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Join our private Facebook group:
 https://urlgeni.us/facebook/physicianworthy

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:
Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts!

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

We are spiritual beings.
It is integral to the human essence and soul.
We have lost the understanding and awareness of our physiology. We don't recognize distress from flight or fight. We end up in burnout. We start to shut down. We run on autopilot. Humans are social creatures. We need our tribe and ways to connect...to replenish our energy or cup. When one box (work, play, family, spiritual) becomes unbalanced or overwhelmingly consuming it can tilt one to burnout.

Connect with the universe. Connect with source.  What is it telling you?

Santuario De Chimayo:
https://www.holychimayo.us/

Join our private Facebook group:
 https://urlgeni.us/facebook/physicianworthy

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:
Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts!

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

Physician’s are trained to put patients’ needs above their own at all costs. Sick? Take medicine and power through. Feeling depressed and lethargic? Suck it up and think about the patient’s problems instead of your own. This learned act of putting your own needs to the side time after time causes suffering on both a physical and emotional level.

On the show today to speak about her journey to find balance being a medical professional and healthy human is Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang, a hospice & palliative care physician, mindset & life coach and author. She also hosts The Purpose Filter podcast, which helps living people apply dying lessons before it’s too late.

Like many physicians, Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang’s identity was so wrapped up in medicine that she couldn’t see the other parts of herself. Her position in palliative care was always a difficult and emotional experience, but the COVID-19 pandemic tested her in ways she could have never imagined.

Her time working in New York during the height of the pandemic was marked by a loss of control, leading to panic attacks, excessive crying, and burnout. As she shares on this episode, she experienced suicidal thoughts and was forced to take steps towards healing.

To anyone listening to this interview, Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang wants you to remember that you DO have control over your own life — even if it doesn’t feel that way. You are resilient and you can start living a life in line with your hopes and values!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang’s career journey
• Experiencing burnout and putting the patient before yourself
• The trauma of being a medical professional
• Experiencing suicidal thoughts during the pandemic
• Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque’s advice to anyone dealing with mental health issues
• The type of doctor Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang has always wanted to be
• How therapy helped Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang
• The importance of self-care
• The story of Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang’s mental health worsening during the pandemic
• Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang’s post-traumatic growth
• Final words of wisdom from Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang

This experience is powered by CMEfy – an AI-powered platform that directs learners along a pathway to capture reflections at point of inspiration, point of care. Clinicians may earn CME/CE credit via ReflectCE, the accredited activity portal. https://earnc.me/N09rlZ

Find out more about Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang:

Website

Instagram

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

We know that life as a physician gets busy.  We neglect ourselves, our relationships, and our own humanity at times.  With going to school non-stop, giving up our youth to study medicine, it is easy to burn out and to burn up.  It starts to be a way of 'being'. 

Mental health is health. 

Dustin Steffey and Jaden Norvell sat down and shared their perspective on burnout.  Coming from humble beginnings, Dustin shares his story, and Jaden provides perspective.  Dustin obtained his Doctorate Degree in Organizational Leadership. He spent his time in his doctorate studying behaviors of people with an emphasis on the millennial generation.  Jaden is pursuing his undergraduate degree from Colorado State University.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dustin and Jaden co-host the podcast Choppin With Fire
• Dustin's experience of burnout
• Being burned out is reality for many
• Human factors are not taken into account in an organization
• Industries are working harder with fewer people
• Cultivate relationships
• Seek help, including young men.

Connect with Dustin and Jaden:
Choppin With Fire 

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Join our private Facebook group: https://urlgeni.us/facebook/physicianworthy

To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts!

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

Doctors are admired for dedicating their lives to jobs that are vital to the health of our society, which makes it easy to see them as superhumans. Even within the medical profession itself, doctors are taught in a stoic culture with militaristic training that results in lack of sleep, food, and self.

This education affects the health of doctors themselves, but also the doctor-patient relationship. Dealing with the emotions and pain of their patients is overwhelming, and doctors can easily experience burnout, causing mistakes, lessening patience, and breeding apathy.

On the show today to talk about these issues is Dr. Diana Londoño, the founder of Physician Coach Support, where doctors can get peer support over Zoom 24/7. She is also a certified life coach, and one of the few female Latinx urologists in the country.

Dr. Diana Londoño has experienced burnout twice herself, inspiring her to write and speak passionately about wellness and humanity in medicine on social media and on television. She says if her platform, Physician Coach Support, can pull just one doctor from the brink of burnout, it is all worth it.

Tune in to hear her thoughts on burnout and treating doctors and patients as humans, plus find out how love can heal many things!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Diana Londoño’s background
• The start of Physician Coach Support [www.physiciancoachsupport.com]
• The falsehood that medical professionals are perfect
• How connection between coaching and being a doctor
• What happens when you experience burnout
• Energy and mysticism
• The importance of love and good intentions
• How suicides in the medical profession affect Dr. Diana Londoño
• Replenishing your energy
• Self-awareness and listening to your body
• Dr. Diana Londoño shares three pieces of wisdom

This experience is powered by CMEfy – an AI-powered platform that directs learners along a pathway to capture reflections at point of inspiration, point of care. Clinicians may earn CME/CE credit via ReflectCE, the accredited activity portal. https://earnc.me/N09rlZ

Find Dr. Diana Londoño on these socials:

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

Being a physician is not easy by any means.  We live in a fast paced world, that is just getting faster and faster. 
We are constantly bombarded with messages for work or play, and other sounds from the world around us.
As for physicians, we are like race car drivers...always going at our top speed! 
We need to learn to pump the breaks before we crash into the wall of burnout.
On this episode, I spoke with Rita Farruggia, who has experience in corporate America in marketing.  She is no stranger to a fast paced life and taking work home.  Yet, she made the transition to living a balanced life.  She is self taught, and took her passion for living a wellness lifestyle and created www.happybeingwell.com.
She goes over very simple ways to practice self care throughout the day, and how to be efficient [something we physicians love to do] while doing so. 

She has resources on her page @ https://happybeingwell.com/collections/resources [journal, meditations].

What is discussed on this episode:
-Ways to rejuvenate and why it is important.
-Rejuvenate to refill your cup.
-Forgive yourself for procrastination.
-Get to know ourselves better and realize what are the roots behind our behavior? What's the motivation behind our behavior based on the life conditioning, based on the experiences that we've had. That, so that we can actually understand our psyches more.
-Better the relationship with yourself.
-Ask yourself, what is the cost of this behavior?
-Self care is not selfish!

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

To listen to more episodes, head to Apple Podcasts!

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

It's no secret that becoming a medical doctor is considered one of the most revered and respected professions in the world. Then why are physician satisfaction rates so low and burnout rates so high?

This is a question our host Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque is determined to get to the bottom of and find solutions to change this “norm” across the profession. 

In today’s episode, we have invited Dr. Nii Darko, a trauma surgeon and podcast co-host alongside his wife Dr. Renee Darko called Docs Outside The Box.

After years working in a hospital setting, both Dr. Nii Darko and Dr. Renee Darko decided they wanted to take back their autonomy and decided to change the way they provide healthcare where they are the masters of their own domain and not under the thumb of the faulty system they once were a part of.

It is a road less traveled, but it has opened life up for both Dr. Nii Darko and Dr. Renee Darko, where they don’t feel the burn out and can essentially give better care to their patients because of it.

So this begs the question, if doctors took back their autonomy, would it increase satisfaction? Also, what does taking your autonomy look like and how can we achieve it? 

All these questions and more will be answered in this episode, so be sure to tune in and find out!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Who is Dr. Nii Darko and Dr. Renee Darko?
• What is locum tenens and its benefits?
• The loan debt issue for medical professionals
• Things medical students should consider early in their careers
• The importance of hiring a contract lawyer early on in your medical career
• Learning how to advocate for yourself as a medical professional
• Finding autonomy as a doctor
• How to increase physician satisfaction
• Important conversations we need to have to address the burnout problem
• Why are many physicians suffering with their mental health in silence?

Connect with Dr. Nii Darko:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Check out Docs Outside The Box on Apple Podcasts!

Connect with Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque:

Instagram

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, I sat down with a fellow classmate from medical school, Dr. Anna Esparham, MD.  She is commonly known as Dr. Anna, and is a triple board certified physician in pediatrics, integrative medicine, and acupuncture. 

Dr. Anna has always been adventurous in her daily practice of life, and in she dives into detail about life, career, and personal experience with burnout and chronic pain. 
To say the least, she has an impressive list of accomplishments, including her own spiritual journey that she has had over the last several years that has led her to find her authentic self, which has influenced her career changes/shifts.

-Medicine is time consuming.  Make time for yourself.
-When we become disconnected with our authentic selves, there are consequences.
-Dr. Anna beautifully said, "The more I lost sight of myself the more I lost connection with my spirit."  
-"I am like this combo of  play spirit and just trying to bring completeness and healing with whomever I become connected with and when I am limited in that capacity, I feel I can’t bring out my true gifts."  Don't limit yourself....you limit your potential!
-Trust yourself!  You know.  This is when the healing truly happens.

Earn CME:
This experience is powered by CMEfy – an AI-powered platform that directs learners along a pathway to capture reflections at point of inspiration, point of care. Clinicians may earn CME/CE credit via ReflectCE, the accredited activity portal.
https://earnc.me/N09rlZ

Info  for Dr. Anna:
Dr. Anna Esparham, MD , founder of Health Is PowHer, Is a
nationally-recognized physician who healed herself from
multiple chronic conditions from near death shock to issues
with chronic pain and autoimmune disease. She is now a
coach helping women learn how to heal themselves for
good. Health Is PowHer's Podcast serves women who want
to learn about how to overcome all the Issues that come
with life. She has conducted several research studies and
Is published In several peer-reviewed medical journals.
She has been featured In the New York Times, Shape
Magazine, Healthy Children, and More!

You can find her at www.healthispowher.com

Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice.  This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone.  If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.


Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books

Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker

Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads

Battle of the Boxes

21 Day Self Focus Journal