About Dr. Letsinger
I love being a physician. There's nothing quite like solving a real medical puzzle, caring for a patient over decades, or knowing you played a part in changing someone's life.
I never thought of myself as burned out. Between my work in dermatology, my husband, and our three kids, I was just working hard and managing a lot. I finished charts at night and on weekends, answered inbox messages when I should have been sleeping, and let exercise, fun, and even reading the literature fall away. I was snapping at people I loved. I realized that I once considered myself nice and even funny, and I was neither anymore. Something had to change. I did not want this sleep-deprived, negative version of me to be the one my kids remember.
My organization offered wellness resources, but the yoga sessions, social events, and meditation seemed aimed at preventing burnout, not at those of us who were already sliding into it. When we're burned out, drowning, or trapped, we may need help seeing outside the tunnel vision that gets us through each day and week. That tunnel vision keeps us focused, but it doesn't allow the creativity to solve problems. It isn't weakness. It's survival in a position that doesn't fit us right now. And we need a break to look around and search for other options.
This is how I found coaching. I finally realized that I could look outside my current system and environment for options. I was skeptical of coaching. It sounded soft, and I didn't have time for one more wellness offer. I tried it because nothing else was working. Physician coaching helped me see choices that were initially invisible, and take steps to redesign my life with purpose and intention. I can be a physician in a way that fits my values and my current life, and you can, too.
That's why I trained to coach physicians. I work with physicians at every stage: residents and new attendings finding their footing, parents adding a demanding new role to an already full life, physicians who feel stuck or quietly wonder if this is all there is, and those who are doing well and ready to lead, innovate, or pursue something that's been waiting its turn. Wherever you are, my goal is to help you build a career and a life you want to live, one you'd want to continue long after you could retire.
Like you, I've trained and worked at many institutions: UCLA, UC Davis School of Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania Department of Internal Medicine, the UCSF Department of Dermatology, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Today I'm a dermatologist with more than 25 years in clinical practice, a certified physician coach, a TEDx speaker, and the creator of @DrJulieDerm.
