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.

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 who has listened 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!

Find out more about Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang:

Website

Instagram

Podcast

You can listen to her podcast, The Purpose Filter, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts!

Originally Published on https://www.theworthyphysician.com/blog

Sapna Shah-Haque Internal Medicine Physician

Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque, MD is a board certified Internal Medicine physician. She was born and raised in Kansas, and attended medical school at the University of Kansas [KU] School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at KU-Wichita as well. After experiencing burnout herself, and watching other physician colleagues burn out, it became a passion of hers to look into different aspects of burnout. While the system does need to change, as it is broken, this podcast is a way to reach physicians and possibly shed light on what is not an isolated situation.