Learn how to 'Live Your Best Life'

Starting your career as a physician is exciting, but it can be lonely, too.

"We can be part of a team but still be in these transitions in our careers where it can be so isolating," said Katie Jobbins, DO, FACP. "Early career physicians often think, 'I've been a resident, and I've had the squad of people who are around me my entire training, and now I'm all alone.'"

To help, ACP recently supported the implementation of a free structured professional and leadership development program for resident, fellow, and early career physician members. "We offer guidance on how to move through your career … what are the support structures, and what is the scaffolding that exists," said Dr. Jobbins, a member of ACP's Council of Early Career Physicians and one of the program facilitators.

The program, called "Live Your Best Life," launched last year and includes five online educational sessions, one per month, followed by group coaching with ACP leaders. Sessions include Designing a Career Path That Supports Your Values and Strengths, How to Ask for and Get What You Need, How to Promote Your Best Self, Fostering for Others and Creating for Yourself a Sense of Belonging on Your Teams, and Planning for Transitions and Beyond.

Marion McCrary, MD, FACP, Governor for the North Carolina Chapter, who founded the program with Tammy Lin, MD, FACP, noted that such professional development skills are not necessarily taught in medical school or during residency. "For us, it was really a chance to sort of give back and to create something that we wish we would have had when we were at that stage in our careers," she said.

Dr. McCrary and Dr. Lin, Governor for the California Southern Region III Chapter, developed the curriculum and brainstormed how to make it available across multiple chapters. "We knew to be able to do that we'd have to be sort of strategic about the times that we offered it and the days that we offered it," Dr. McCrary said.

The program's first iteration, held from May to September 2023, included 60 participants from 23 chapters ranging from New York to Hawaii. Each session was offered via Zoom on a weekend morning and on a weeknight, to give participants two opportunities to join in.

Faculty pulled from ACP's established network of Well-being Champions presented a didactic session on the title topic, and ACP leaders were on hand in complementary sessions to offer mentoring advice and to share their insights. Participants were able to ask questions or present scenarios and ask the leaders to comment and help them think through specific issues, Dr. McCrary said.

"It gave participants the opportunity to meet people who are where they want to be in the future, hear how they got there, and see what they learned, and maybe just make them a little bit more approachable in that way," she said.

Another goal of the program is to help attendees think differently about career development in medicine, said Dr. Jobbins, who is an associate professor of medicine at UMass Chan Medical School–Baystate.

"Let's reframe a lot of what we were told is how we're supposed to be, and really think about what we can do to be purposeful as we move forward in our careers," she said. "How we can design a career that fits our values and our wants and our needs, and really think about this idea of what gives us joy?"

The program allows residents and early career physicians to consider the lives they want to build for themselves as they move on from their training, said Mukta Panda, MD, MACP, one of the program facilitators. "In medicine today, we do an amazing job teaching how to take care of patients. However, we are not very intentional [about] teaching or allowing for conversations about how to live life," she said. "As we start our jobs, our focus is so intent for those eight or more quality waking hours that we are at work, but our life is happening around us."

Dr. Lin said that the program may be particularly helpful for bringing together certain groups, such as women in medicine, international medical graduates, and those practicing in more rural or isolated areas.

"Sometimes, when I'm talking with fellow Governors, it's hard to connect with everyone, especially if a chapter is primarily based on one side of a state," she said. "During the sessions, to help us take roll, we would have everybody put their name into the chat and add contact information so that people could connect, even if it was virtually."

Building these connections is key, said Dr. Panda, who is a professor of medicine, former assistant dean for well-being and student education, and chair of the department of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Chattanooga and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians-London. "Each person's needs are unique, their journeys are unique, and many times they find people whose journeys and needs resonate," she said. "That was our hope, also, that through these opportunities, we would build connection and networking beyond the structure of this program."

Roger Khetan, MD, FACP, Governor for the North Texas Chapter and one of the ACP leaders who joined the program, agreed. "All of us who want to live well and enjoy life need to remember to just connect with someone. It doesn't have to be in your practice, doesn't have to be in your state, but they need to connect with someone who they can relate to and talk about issues," he said. "One of the biggest things about this program was to hopefully let younger physicians know that you're not out there by yourself, that other people have gone through this before."

That camaraderie and the ability to learn from others were highlights of the program for Hassaan Sattar, MD, FACP, an early career physician who practices in Hattiesburg, Miss. "You could be a participant five years out in practice and be talking with a resident who is just making a decision about whether they should pursue a fellowship or become a hospitalist or which career path they should choose," he said. "Everybody has their own experience … so you get to exchange a little bit of that and see whether you can help each other."

Participating in the program helped him decide about what clinical setting to practice in, he said. He also noted that the program offered him a greater sense of connection with ACP leadership in particular. "I can email them to ask questions and discuss any particular phase that I'm struggling in," he said. "At the end of the session, they sent us contact emails, things to look forward to, and encouraged us to stay in touch."

Some of the program participants last fall came prepared with specific questions, such as how to get recognized at work and how to advocate for payment for administrative time, said Dr. Khetan, who practices at North Texas Preferred Health Partners and is a physician adviser at Baylor Scott and White Employee Health in Dallas.

"Those are things that I think we all have been asking ourselves in the past: 'Shouldn't this amount of work that we're putting in on making a schedule be worth some compensation? If I don't feel like I'm being treated well or respected, how can I explain that to my colleagues?' Those kinds of discussions can be constructive," he said.

Dr. Jobbins said she enjoys facilitating and participating in the program as an early career representative because she's recently lived through many of these experiences.

"I totally get it: It's so easy just to say yes to everything that someone throws at you, because you don't want to disappoint people, or you're afraid you're going to fail, or you're going to be seen as not being a team player," she said. "Realistically speaking, [the program] allowed me to share my journey with others, to give people permission to be vulnerable, and to see myself as someone they could relate to."

The program teaches participants to consider their values, promote their best selves, prepare for transitions, and find their own community, among other skills, Dr. Panda explained. "I would tell early career physicians that this is an opportunity that I feel is a true gift, and just come and experience it," she said. "There are no requirements except for you to be present in whichever way you want, and share your experiences, and share what your needs are."

"We really want to help people build the confidence so they can do this career that they've invested in, that they know where they want to go," Dr. McCrary added. "I'm hoping that they would feel like the time they invest in this will be paid back to them multiple times in different ways, and it's really something that can help them now and in the future."

Recruitment for the second year of the program, which will kick off in May 2024, began in February and is open through April 30. Interested ACP Resident/Fellow Members and members who are early career physicians can apply online.

Dr. Jobbins encouraged anyone debating participating to contact her or any of the facilitators. "You shouldn't have to pick and choose between your home and your work. I am a doctor at home, and I am a mom at work. It goes both ways," she said. "We're all invested in this and really believe that this is a way to help with finding harmony in what we do. If someone's wondering whether this is worth their time to attend, any one of us would be happy to answer questions."