Don’t Jettison Medicine: Resuscitate Your Passion For The Career You Loved!

Patricia L. Raymond, M.D. with Robert A. Raymond
Carthage Publications (2003)
ISBN 0974178004
Reviewed by Dr. Letitia S. Wright, D.C. for Reader Views (6/06)

Dr. Patricia Raymond has created a workbook for Health Care Professionals who are facing burn out. Most of the public is not aware of the increasing number of physicians that are leaving their profession in every category. These are people who loved medicine and health care so much, that they made the sacrifices in their personal lives to become providers. Then out of sheer exhaustion, they leave the profession. This book contains 30 life saving strategies to help the professional put their lives in order and stay in their chosen profession.

This simply written book has exercises at the end of each chapter. Upon completion of the exercises, the reader will be clear on what areas need more work. Each chapter begins with a quote to illustrate the point. Exercise six’s quote is from Annie Hall “… And I think what we go on our hands is a dead shark.” Chapter six is on relationships.

Using Martin Buber’s take on relationships being I and Thou, the author forces the reader to reconsider relationships on a personal level. By taking a look at all relationships (co-workers, office staff included), the reader has the opportunity to create a better working environment. The chapter on budgeting is extremely simplistic and should be used as a basic starting point because most people’s lives are so complicated that a simple budget will not work for them. The shadow exercise is a great one. You get talk to the young version of yourself just becoming a health care provider. When you sit down and tell yourself what you would want yourself to know, it clears your mind to remember why you are in health care. It can also make it clear if it is time for you to get out of health care. Not every career and or should be saved. It’s best for the health care professional to make that decision before litigation does that for them.

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