Episode #48: Could You Have the Imposter Syndrome?

Do you question whether you’re good enough to be a doctor? Do you compare yourself to other physicians and second guess your decision-making? If so, you might have a bit of the Imposter Syndrome. This issue can affect the most component physicians and lead to burnout and other problems. Dr. Diane Shannon experienced the imposter syndrome starting in med school and it added fuel to the burnout that caused her to leave medicine prematurely. She’s here to help us understand the imposter syndrome and offer advice for moving beyond it.

After experiencing paralyzing burnout as a newly-minted primary care physician, Dr. Diane Shannon made the hard decision to leave practice and pursue a career in medical writing. For 20 years, Dr. Shannon worked with non-profit foundations that seek to improve the health care system, focusing attention on clinician burnout, lack of reliability, and patient safety issues. She is co-author of Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine, which was published in 2016.

Her personal experience with burnout and her desire to support the physicians that sought her out for help motivated her to become a certified coach three years ago. She now helps physicians escape the riptide of work and home pressures to get clear about what they really want, overcome barriers, and make changes to vastly improve their professional and personal lives

In this episode we’re talking about:

Dr. Diane Shannon’s experience with the imposter syndrome
The factors that resulted in her leaving medicine prematurely
The hidden secret that a lot of high achieving physicians suffer from the imposter syndrome
5 steps for moving beyond the imposter syndrome
Own Your Greatness – a very useful workbook for dealing with the imposter syndrome by Lisa and Richard Orbe Austin

Links for this episode:

Dr. Diane Shannon’s Website

diane@dianeshannon.com

Diane Shannon’s LinkedIn

Own Your Greatness: Overcome Imposter Syndrome, Beat Self Doubt, and Succeed in Life by Lisa Orbe-Austin and Richard Orbe Austin

The Imposter Syndrome Paradox TedXTalk Lisa and Richard Orbe Austin

A cool technique to reduce your physician anxiety Podcast Episode 7

Headspace Meditation App

Insight Timer – Free app for timing meditations and using interval bells

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