More Than Just a Doctor: Discovering Your Full Potential

What if being a doctor isn’t unlocking your full potential? 

Doctors today find themselves in a unique position: They are suffering burnout at alarming rates, a rapidly changing medical industry is stripping them of autonomy, they experience low pay with high workloads, and a labor shortage is creating backlogged schedules and diminishing patient trust. 

For many, it’s not the dream career we imagined when applying to med school and hoping to be rewarded for the positive impact we have on the world. 

High student loan debt, the corporatization of medicine, the influence of private equity hospitals, and changes in reimbursements and insurance have affected the field of medicine. Because physicians can’t practice and thrive in the same way as a generation ago, there is a pervasive loss of identity. What does it mean to be a doctor? 

As a result, more and more doctors are looking to retake their identity by supplementing their medical career in other ways. That could be through entrepreneurship, passive income, pursuing hobbies, or being intentional about finding a work-life balance that rounds out their identity with more family and friends. 

The hamster wheel of medicine is real, but I’ve found that you can actually thrive in medicine and practice how you want to if you explore your full potential. This week, we’ll look at those possibilities and why they’re needed more than ever.

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Why Do Doctors Want More?

From the outside, it seems like doctors have it all. It’s a high-income job that has held a place of social respect in popular culture. Movies and tv romanticize the drama and impact that doctors have. More and more, that idea is becoming a Hollywood narrative. So what’s the true story? 

Just consider that the average student loan debt of a new physician is $250k. This is on top of reimbursements decreasing as much as 10-20% each year. When you add everything up, the medical field is not exactly offering the promising upward mobility it once did. 

More and more, doctors are living paycheck to paycheck and, in some cases, facing contracts with ultimatums and lower pay. Administrative micromanagement is creating burnout and a lack of real job security. 

But what if you were able to reclaim your identity as a doctor by looking beyond the profession? What if, instead of worrying about whether or not you’ll be assigned that extra shift to make ends meet, you instead chose to pursue other aspects of your identity—perhaps as an entrepreneur or friend? 

Reigniting your passions and exploring your full potential may be the key to combating the current situation. Reducing burnout is possible if we build our identity beyond our status as physicians.

Doctors Are More Than Their Profession

Early in my career, I thought of myself as just a doctor. I realize now that because it was the only thing I cared about, if I were to lose that, I’d have lost myself. When I realized that is when I decided to become much more than just my profession by pursuing many dreams. 

When you take on more roles, you grow as an individual. You, like me, are more than just your profession.

Now I’m so much more than just a doctor. I’m a father, a husband, an investor, a business partner, an entrepreneur, a landlord, a podcaster, and many more. If, let’s say, I decided to stop being a landlord, I’d still have so many other purpose-driven aspects of my identity to keep me thriving. 

There’s value in pursuing elements of your life that aren’t connected to medicine. You’ll grow closer to your family and friends and have time to experience hobbies, travel, leisure, and anything that lets you explore your full identity or practice self-care. You are a whole human being, and being a physician is just one part of that. 
Ask yourself this: What if your medical situation changed? Who would you be?

When you place your entire identity into the confines of medicine, you’re needlessly increasing your financial and personal risk.

Diversify your identity to curtail the negative effects of burnout and job insecurity. You won’t be only tied to your professional accomplishments; you’ll be a multifaceted individual with passions, dreams, and a life beyond the clinic.

Redefine Your Identity

Life is short–in fact, time is our most precious commodity—and I encourage you to live a life that follows your passions immediately.

What passions or hobbies have you always wanted to try? Pursue them! If you always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, challenge yourself to learn how to play five songs within a year. Then come open our PIMDCON event so we can see your success. 

While I’m talking about passions, let me talk a little bit about entrepreneurship. In my experience, passions often lead to side hustles. And side hustles help you generate additional income that makes you less reliant on your medical income. By rounding out your identity and earning money along the way, you have the possibility to hedge against rapid changes in the healthcare industry. It’s the same principle as diversifying your investment portfolio. Essentially, it’s you diversifying yourself rather than leaving all of your eggs in one basket. 

Even better, side hustles created from passions tend to be a one-two, knockout punch of positivity. They earn you scalable income while leaving a net-positive impact on the world. That income potential can be a catalyst to reclaiming your time and finding an ideal work-life balance. 

There is also this concept of the “solopreneur,” or somebody operating a single-person business. Research shows that these individuals are at the lowest risk of burnout. To put it another way, they are happier because they have control. So, as you realize your full potential through entrepreneurship, it’s okay—and even more beneficial—to start small. 

Pursue your interests and passions outside your medical career to find connections with others that are deeply personal and help you return to your foundational whys—or your core values. As those experiences add up, you’ll build a robust sense of purpose and true identity. 

By being connected to how you spend your time, you’ll contribute in more meaningful ways and strive for better outcomes. Those rewards will lessen and even offset the burnout you may be feeling in your medical career.

Start Living Your Ideal Life

Let’s face it, we became doctors because we wanted to help people. Once we realize our full potential, it reinvigorates our passions and sense of autonomy. When you build yourself out this way, you’ll bring that same passion and vigor back to medicine. And your colleagues and patients will feel it. 

And if you’re earning money from side hustles, you’ll have more leverage to choose how you want to practice—no need to hunt for extra shifts or accept bad contracts. Embracing your full potential is essential for any doctor feeling the effects of burnout or financial stress. 

Here at Passive Income MD, we support fellow physicians as they navigate these uncertain times. Find that support by connecting with like-minded individuals at the Passive Real Estate Academy, in-person at PIMDCOM in September 2024, or with the Leverage and Growth Accelerator Community. 

By striving for our full potential, we give ourselves a chance to live our ideal lives. We hope you take actionable steps to put yourself on that journey. More than that, we hope to help you on that journey. Thanks for reading, and until next time, keep striving to thrive!

Peter Kim, MD is the founder of Passive Income MD, the creator of Passive Real Estate Academy, and offers weekly education through his Monday podcast, the Passive Income MD Podcast. Join our community at the Passive Income Doc Facebook Group.

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