Do You Love Your Job?

There was a time in our lives where all we can think about was dreaming, imagining, fantasizing about our role as health care professionals. I certainly remember mine vividly. I can pinpoint the day I decided to follow my call in medicine, I have no shame in admitting that I was at home, wearing a white lab coat from my biology class, when entertained playing to be a doctor I decided to become one.

Even before the pandemic I was hurt by seeing medical professionals disliking, or even hating their jobs. I have heard expressions like “this is just a job”, “it pays the bills”, or when asked how are you today? “I’m here…” It really eats my soul. We all have the right to love our jobs. Our occupation is the answer to a sacred call, an intimate vocation. Is the way to express in a unique way our abilities and skills in this planet. No one else can do what we do in the way we do it.

I despise the fact that so very few people get to say: “I love my job.” I dream with healthcare organizations, hospitals, clinics, medical offices filled with professionals who love their jobs, who see themselves as a person placed in this time and place to fulfill the mission to serve others. Can you imagine if you were surrounded at work by people who loved their job? People who wake up every morning ready to contribute with all their skills and abilities to improve others’ lives? I certainly do. I dream about it frequently. Do you know why? Because that’s what we all deserve. It’s a right, not a privilege, it should be the rule, not the exception. How can we do it? First, start with you. Examine where are you in that journey for fulfillment. Be the leader you wish you had. Then, demand from the organizations we work, that they provide an environment in which we want to come to work, where our ideas count, where feedback is welcomed because we want to be better, so we can serve better, where we won’t get defensive about criticism because is coming from a place of empathy and compassion. When we feel that we matter, our confidence, joy and skillsets immediately improve by responding in kindness. We will offer our blood, sweat and tears, to see what our leader’s vision is. As Simon Sinek says: “working hard for something we don’t care is called stress, working hard for something we care is called passion”. Passion is free. If you are not enjoying what you do, someone else is feeling that burden and that can be your closest family or your co-workers and for sure your patients. Let’s reflect on our vocation, on reclaiming our place in healthcare, and on taking full ownership over our behavior and actions. We deserve to be happy, our patients deserve fulfilled, motivated, striving healthcare professionals. It’s a right, not a privilege. We also have the right to not be ok, to feel sad, exhausted, devastated, empty; but with that comes the obligation to seek help in the form of therapy, counseling, or coaching. I have personally benefited from coaching for the last few months, almost a year, and it has profoundly impacted my perspective on many aspects of my life especially, the ownership over my thoughts and my feelings and by default the results that derive from those. Practicing medicine doesn’t have to be painful, doesn’t have to be obnoxious and should not be torture. If you are feeling that way, is time to ask for help and it can be provided. At the end of the day, it is your life and no one else can make that decision for you.