Physician Assistant Burnout: Tips, Tools, and Interviews with PA and Life Coach Hope Cook

Hi! Thank you for listening! I'd love to get to know you; send me an email at [email protected] or visit ⁠my website⁠ for more "words of Hope." My book is coming out later this year, and if you'd like to be on my list of first readers or beta readers, please let me know!

Are you interested in having me ⁠speak⁠ at your event? Do you want to hear more about ⁠group coaching?

Key points:

1. Think about career choices in terms of sustainability, what needs to happen to allow you to work in medicine for years to come?
2. You don’t have to sacrifice your needs and your health for your patients and your job
3. Ask yourself what YOU need first and foremost. Only then can you serve others. You can’t provide compassionate care if you’re burned out.
4. Create a margin between what you spend and what you make so you’ll have the freedom to walk away if you need to.
5. First ask yourself which values matter the most to you. Then look at how you show up on an average day, does this support your values and how you want your life to be?
6. Pay attention to your health. Your body will let you know when your values and priorities are misaligned.
7. Don’t become so entangled in your identity as a PA that you lose sight of your own self-worth.
8. Let go of guilt over making job changes. We’re all adults, we’re free to make choices and live lives without regret.
9. This job is not your “one shot.” We add exceptional value to the healthcare system both as providers to our patients and colleagues with the doctors we work with.

Tracy Bingaman’s info:

⁠Website⁠, ⁠FB⁠ ⁠Instagram, ⁠

⁠Tracy’s free quiz on burnout

You asked for more ideas on how to change the giant ship that is your life, your career, and your struggles. So here are about a dozen other ways you can steer the ship toward a new shore, including how to manage your time and money.

Thank you for listening. I'd love to get to know you; send me an email at [email protected] or visit my website for more "words of Hope." My book is coming out later this year, and if you'd like to be on my list of first readers or beta readers, please let me know!

Are you interested in having me speak at your event? Do you want to hear more about my mastermind?

This episode is full of small, almost too-simple changes I've made over the years to help me still like seeing patients and shift the way I think about my "have to" list.

If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple iTunes so others can find it!

Want more Words of Hope? My burnout book will be coming out later this year and I'd love for you to be a beta reader or on my list for first-readers. Sign up on my website (in the comments, let me know if you'd like to be a reader). ⁠⁠⁠www.coachhopecook.com⁠⁠⁠

If you or someone you know is a PA with an inspiring story or words of wisdom to share, please reach out via my website.

If you're interested in working together, ⁠⁠⁠please reach out!

Michele knew nothing about YouTube, but she knew there was a gap in the PA world. Cool and unique PA careers exist, but no one seems to know about them. Thus began her journey to educate PAs and NPs about all the options out there by interviewing PAs doing interesting jobs. Her Youtube channel is The Medicine Couch and here's her LinkedIn profile.

Take home points:

1. If a job is a "bad fit" use it as valuable information about what to steer away from rather than beating yourself up
2. If what you seek isn't out there, consider creating it yourself
3. Notice what piques your interest, then investigate it with books, podcasts, blogs, or other PAs
4. Be okay with imperfection; it will help you grow into a better version of you
5. There's no reason to be stuck when it comes to medicine; the options are plentiful. Don't give up, keep exploring options
6. Consider niching down in your practice. Figure out what interests you and make that your "thing."
7. The sunk cost principle is a fallacy. You never waste the time, energy, and money you've put into your job, it will serve you in some capacity at some point.
8. Support each other; we're all on the same team.

Enjoy today's episode> Share with a friend and subscribe to my podcast. Want to discuss speaking engagements with me? Reach out via my website or email, [email protected]

Remember dear listseners, there is always Hope.

After spending time dreaming and getting to know the new you, post burnout, you'll get to a point where you're ready to make big changes. Maybe you change specialities or maybe you stay put and work part-time or change your duties. How do you know what to do? Because this is a frequent question, I decided to put all my answers in an episode to help you navigate the changes and decisions that lie ahead.

If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple iTunes so others can find it!

Want more Words of Hope? My burnout book will be coming out later this year and I'd love for you to be a beta reader or on my list for first-readers. Sign up on my website (in the comments, let me know if you'd like to be a reader). ⁠⁠www.coachhopecook.com⁠⁠

If you or someone you know is a PA with an inspiring story or words of wisdom to share, please reach out via my website.

If you're interested in working together, ⁠⁠please reach out!

The good news is that you won't stay in the "barely surviving" stage of burnout forever. At some point, the smoke clears, and you rise from the ashes. But you're a different version of yourself. How do you decide who you'll be going forward? What will be different?

You may be surprised what the answer is!

If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple iTunes so others can find it!

Want more Words of Hope? My burnout book will be coming out later this year and I'd love for you to be a beta reader or on my list for first-readers. Sign up on my website (in the comments, let me know if you'd like to be a reader). ⁠www.coachhopecook.com⁠

If you or someone you know is a PA with an inspiring story or words of wisdom to share, please reach out via my website.

If you're interested in working together, ⁠please reach out!

Get ready for some ah-ha moments with these powerful questions. I've noticed a pattern when I ask PAs these magic questions, and I've included them in this episode. Sit and listen when you're free of distractions so you can see what bubbles to the surface as I ask them.

Being married to a forester, we talk about controlled burns, what measures need to be taken beforehand and what they do to prevent the fire from getting out of control. Listen and reflect on your own work life and burnout.

Want more Words of Hope? My burnout book will be coming out later this year and I'd love for you to be a beta reader or on my list for first-readers. Sign up on my website (in the comments, let me know if you'd like to be a reader). www.coachhopecook.com

If you or someone you know is a PA with an inspiring story or words of wisdom to share, please reach out via my website.

If you're interested in working together, please reach out!

Did you enjoy today's podcast? Share it with another PA and subscribe! If you want more information about healing from burnout or want more resources and information (including my free mini book on recovering from burnout), come on over to my ⁠⁠site⁠⁠. Find out more about coaching or upcoming events. I'd love for every one of you to pop over and say hello!

Take home points:

1. Be intentional about relationships and invest in them early on and throughout your career.
2. PAs have a remarkable skill set that transcends the practice of medicine. We can literally work in any industry (sales, communication, tech, publications, research, leadership, etc.)
3. Always look for a sense of joy in what you do. Misery is not an option. If you're miserable, stop doing what you're doing and find something else as soon as possible.
4. Prioritize balance in your life. Know what you want in your center. Live with intention and purpose
5. Figure out WHAT you want, HOW you're going to achieve it, WHY it matters to you, and WHEN you want to do it.
6. Time is finite. Allocate the time and resources you have in order of your priorities.
7. Forgetting your core priorities or who you are as a person can lead to burnout. Invest time in contemplating who you are and what matters to you.
8. Life favors the specific ask and punishes the vague wish (quote by Tim Ferris)

For Terry's LinkedIn link, click⁠ here⁠

Podcasts mentioned: ⁠Smart Less⁠, ⁠Tim Ferris Show,⁠ ⁠Huberman Lab⁠, ⁠The Drive with Dr. Peter Attia

Have you noticed that you're hypervigilant when it comes to "making" other people happy? Do you scan everyone else's emotions but rarely think about what YOU need? Does the term "self care" make you mad because you don't have time for that when you're too busy taking care of everyone and everything?

If you answered yes to any of these, you might be mixing up the perfect recipe for burnout. You might be codependent.

I've been there and I still struggle with it. Let's talk about ways to reverse it! Listen to today's episode for tips and tools to combat codependency and burnout.

For those of you who'd like to learn more about healing from burnout or who want more resources and info, come on over to my site. Find out more about coaching or hiring me for a speaking engagement, or pop over to say hello!

Have you ever felt everything inside you say "YES!"? Or maybe "NOOO!" These are huge clues from your subconscious (also known as your gut, your spirit, your intuition, or your essential self). I'll share times in my life when I've had this whole-body knowing and give you tips on how you can access this same knowing in your body.

If you'd like more "words of Hope," head to my ⁠⁠⁠⁠website ⁠⁠⁠⁠and find out how we can work together, or just check out the free resources and my mini book on overcoming burnout (the actual book will be published later this year!)

If you'd like to try Magic Mind, those cute little green energy (coffee alternative) drinks, click ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ for a 20% discount!