Redesign Life From Burnout to Balance

Doctors refocus on purpose, boundaries and sustainable careers

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash

Medicine can be a calling — and a crisis, especially when deep passion meets relentless exhaustion. For many, the system demands more than souls can give.

Faced with long hours, emotional strain and rising burnout, many physicians are reimagining what their professional lives could look like

Some stay and reshape their roles. Others step away entirely. In both cases, the goal is the same: to build a life that’s sustainable, purposeful and more aligned with who they are now.

Keep Learning Alive in Healthcare

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Remo-tito Aguilar, OB-GYN and infectious disease specialist Dr. Helen Madamba and psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Miaco have all pulled themselves back from the precipice at one time or another in their careers. Indeed, theirs might be a work in progress.

Aguilar will never forget what an emergency medical technician told him one night: “The patient died on the way to another hospital, Doc.”

That was only 30 minutes after Aguilar received the referral — a multiple-injured patient from a hit-and-run.