Taking a break from medicine: a physician assistant's journey from burnout to world travel

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Recorded23 Apr 2025

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Physician assistant David Olson discusses his article, "Taking a break from medicine: a journey to rediscover joy and purpose." He describes feeling trapped in an unhealthy, borderline abusive relationship with medicine, citing normalized disrespect, intense pressure from employers focused on metrics over provider wellbeing, and the demoralizing impact of system failures, particularly during and after COVID-19. David shares his experiences with dwindling job satisfaction as a hospitalist facing staffing instability and later in the "wasteland" of primary care, highlighting how burnout severely affected his marriage and his relationship with his children, leaving him exhausted and short-tempered. Realizing incremental changes weren't enough, David and his wife made the drastic decision to take a year-long break from medicine to travel the world with their three young children, prioritizing family, joy, and quality of life over salary. This journey is his attempt to rediscover purpose and hope, offering encouragement to other health care professionals facing similar struggles to challenge limiting beliefs and consider bold changes for their own well-being. Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot. Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can. Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust. Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow. VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

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