Carmen Joy Holmes, MD

About

I’m a physician working part-time in Richmond, Virginia. I graduated from Stanford University in 1997 and earned my medical degree from Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico (now called Ponce Health Sciences University) in 2008. I completed my dual residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013.

During my training, I immediately felt the disconnect. The practice of medicine was fragmented and disappointing – full of well-meaning physicians and staff who couldn’t fully advocate for their patients. I watched us all struggle against a system that wasn’t designed for healing. A mentor told me I was “ahead of the curve” in recognizing these deficiencies, but that didn’t make the reality any easier to accept.

I quickly realized the traditional path wasn’t for me. I’ve spent the years since residency seeking change – exploring what else medicine could be, what other options existed. I found my niche in urgent care, which gives me flexibility to practice on my own terms while exploring and developing alternatives.

The American medical system is broken and can be hazardous to patients, staff, and physicians. I’ve lived this truth, and I know you have too.

What's wrong with medicine?

Over half of physicians report at least one symptom of burnout. The manifestations are telling: emotional exhaustion that crowds out every other aspect of life, emotional detachment from the human beings in front of us, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness – the feeling that our training, our sacrifices, and our best efforts aren’t enough to make a difference.

What our patients don’t see is the war happening inside us. We cherish the craft of medicine and the trust our patients place in us, but we resent the administrative burden and corporate interference. Patients feel rushed during their 6-10-minute visits with us. They don’t know we spend twice that time documenting, justifying reimbursement, and haggling with insurers. In no other industry is the most highly trained individual responsible for the majority of data entry.

How are physicians responding? We grin and bear it, change locations, reduce our hours, or quit. In the profit-driven American medical ecosystem, each physician is replaceable. The well-being of physicians is not a priority.

Burnout vs moral injury

Canada has quantified the cost of physician burnout and attrition – millions of dollars lost when physicians reduce hours and retire early. Here in the US, we don’t even measure what we’re losing.

Meanwhile, physicians are fed up with the increasing burden of board certification, the lack of transparency in state medical boards, and anti-competitive hospital systems monopolizing communities. Our autonomy is at an all-time low. Never before have so many of us been employees rather than owners of our practices. Our clinical judgment takes a back seat to patient reviews and the bottom line.

But it’s not just about us. Daily, we witness the disparity between what is and what should be. We’re wounded when citizens can’t access affordable care. We’re powerless in the face of unpredictable copays and unreasonable wait times for specialists. We’re incensed when insurance companies delay and refuse treatments that are simply the standard of care.

The term “moral injury” captures this better than “burnout.” The chasm between what is and what should be has never been greater.

Seeking change & creating alternatives

In my view, there are two groups of physicians navigating this landscape.

Physicians seeking change are questioning their current situations. They want to know how to add a side gig, open a med spa, negotiate a better contract, or leave clinical medicine entirely. Search engines and social media groups don’t offer sufficient depth, variety, or anonymity for these questions.

Physicians creating alternatives are medical doctors who are also entrepreneurs, coaches, podcasters, real estate investors, or locums advocates. Each has a unique perspective that represents a subset of physicians. We were trained to “see one, do one, and teach one” – and this is precisely how we’re supporting each other. The number of physicians creating alternatives grows each year.

Physicians have more options than ever, but we’re divided by specialty, generation, and social media platform preference. The Physician Project aims to bridge the gap between physicians seeking change and physicians creating alternatives, for their mutual benefit.

Why The Physician Project?

I’m not a coach or a social media expert. But I am uniquely positioned to build this bridge.

I’m both a physician seeker and a physician influencer. I’ve been seeking change since I finished residency, and I’ve been creating my own alternatives. I have one foot inside medicine and one foot outside. I treasure the genuine connection with my patients, and I’m frustrated by the American medical model that can’t prioritize wellness and longevity. I understand both perspectives.

I’m ridiculously thorough. I’ve been collecting clinical and nonclinical resources for physicians since 2011. What started as a personal collection I shared with friends became the foundation for The Physician Project. I’m the person who spends hours organizing information so others can find what they need quickly.

I want this to mean something. My lowest moments in residency – struggling, feeling like a cog in the system – those have to count for something. Now I mentor trainees and serve as a sounding board. Helping others navigate what I went through makes my ordeal worthwhile. The Physician Project is the macro version of that mentorship.

I’ve got time. Working part-time gives me the freedom to build this: a free, organized platform where physicians seeking change can find physicians creating alternatives. No affiliate links, no paywalls. All physicians have full access to The Physician Project at no cost. PARTNERSHIPS will sustain the site.

How I built this

This entire website is DIY. I’ve built it myself using WordPress. YouTube tutorials provide my technical support, and lately, Claude has been my writing partner.

I bought the domain in March 2020. In 2021, I added the LEARN page for physicians to browse by category and topic. In 2022, I created the SHARE page for physicians to add their own listings. In 2023, I enabled influencers to update their content and promote events for free. In 2024, I refined the site using feedback from beta users. In 2025, I added the Physician FAQs sections on CATEGORY/TOPIC pages as well as two paid PARTNERSHIP options. In 2026, I’m doing a final round of testing.

The official launch happens when enough of my physician peers are on board.

We're in this together

Historically, we physicians haven’t been very good at supporting each other. But this is changing. Physician empowerment and solidarity are both on the rise. Together, we can create change – for ourselves and for our patients.

After all, who knows physicians better than physicians? My role is to connect physicians seeking change with physicians creating alternatives – to make the journey less onerous for trainees and less isolating for all of us.

That’s why I created The Physician Project, an experimental platform that challenges the status quo: Can a free resource bring real value to physicians? Can showcasing what we’re creating help others feel less isolated and more empowered? I believe it can.