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Pandora I Went from Burned Out Pediatrician to AAP President | Dr. Sue Kressley
Key Takeaways
- Dread serves as an early warning sign that your current career path or routine requires immediate attention and reevaluation.
- Feeling trapped ten years into a medical career is a common and valid experience, not a sign of personal weakness.
- When evaluating major career moves, it is crucial to weigh the risks of making a change against the often-overlooked risks of staying the same.
- Developing self-awareness and grace for oneself must come long before mastering the practice of true self-compassion.
- Treating your calendar like a closet that needs periodic purging helps create essential white space and protects your personal energy.
From the outside, our guest, Dr. Sue Kressly has an impressive career arc. she is the immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and led the organization during one of it's most politically turbulent moments in pediatric medicine with grace and clarity. Many of us found her to be incredibly grounding during that time, and appreciate the calm she brought during a tenuous time.
Sue Kressly is a tour de force and in this episode she opens up what people didn't see was happening in the background in her life. From feeling trapped 10 years into her career, losing both parents far too young, and the intense risk she took starting her own practice from scratch. She has a way with her words and shares a metaphor about her calendar being like a closet that needs periodic purging. It's practical, it's useful, it's poetic, and it's honestly a good piece of advice when it comes to protecting one's own energy.
Enjoy the double Sue episode! We've both come far and we're still works in progress. Takeaways:
- Dread is the early warning sign.
- Feeling trapped is real, and it's not weakness.
- Ask what's the risk of not changing, not just the risk of changing.
- Awareness of self-compassion comes before mastery of it.
- When there's no white space, it's time to clean the calendar closet.
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Want your burnout story featured on the show? Email us at it hello@stillpracticingpod.com for a chance to be read on an upcoming episode. Want more Dr. Sue Kressley?
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-kressly
Follow the show: Instagram @suedaniels.md and @stillpracticingpod
Learn more and get transcripts for EVERY episode at www.stillpracticingpod.com
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Connect with Human Content on Socials: @humancontentpods Produced by: Human Content Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:36 - Why Pediatrics? 7:25 - Leading the AAP Through Firestorm 9:25 - Burning Out 10 Years In 25:27 - Becoming an Accidental Informaticist 46:38 - Advice to Her Burned-Out Self
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr. Sue Kressly?
Dr. Sue Kressly is a pediatrician, the immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a practice founder who overcame significant burnout.
What did Dr. Sue Kressly discuss on Still Practicing?
She opened up about experiencing severe burnout ten years into her career, losing both parents young, starting her own practice from scratch, and leading the AAP through turbulent times.
What is the calendar closet metaphor?
It is a practical and poetic way to look at your schedule, suggesting that just like an overcrowded closet, your calendar needs periodic purging to remove what no longer serves you and protect your energy.