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 in 2008. I completed the dual residency program in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in 2013. I passed both initial board certification exams and I maintain my Internal Medicine certification with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS).
I quickly realized that the traditional path wasn’t for me. Because I value autonomy and flexibility, I found my niche in urgent care.
During my training, I found the practice of medicine to be fragmented and disappointing, filled with well-meaning physicians and staff who couldn’t fully advocate for their patients. A mentor reassured me that I was “ahead of the curve” in my understanding of the deficiencies of healthcare in this country. The American medical system is broken and can be hazardous to patients, staff, and physicians.
What's wrong with medicine?
Burnout is a part of modern life. All working adults experience job-related stress, but the intensity and the consequences of physician burnout are alarming. The exact numbers vary, but over half of physicians admit to having at least one symptom of burnout. Burnout has three manifestations:
- Women tend to feel the “emotional exhaustion” that crowds out every aspect of life.
- Men tend to “detach emotionally” from the human beings in front of them.
- Many feel a “sense of hopelessness” – feeling that their training, their sacrifices, and their sincere best efforts aren’t enough to make a difference.
What our patients don’t realize is that burnout is eroding physicians from the inside out. Inside many of us is a war. We cherish the craft of medicine and the trust our patients place in us, but we resent the administrative and corporate aspects of American medicine. Patients rightly feel rushed in their 6-10 minutes with us. They have no idea that we might spend twice as much time documenting the visit, justifying our reimbursement, and haggling with insurers. In no other industry is the most highly trained individual responsible for the majority of data entry. The fact is, precious little has been done to address the system-level changes needed to improve physicians’ experience.
How are physicians responding? We grin and bear it, we change locations, we reduce our hours, and we quit. In the piecemeal, profit-driven American medical ecosystem, the patient-physician relationship is undervalued and each physician is replaceable. The well-being of physicians does not seem to be a priority.
Problems intensified by pandemic
In 2009, the swine flu epidemic revealed how unprepared health systems were to protect their staff. Unsurprisingly, in 2020, hospitals could muster only adequate PPE for their physicians and staff.
In the first months of the pandemic, physicians and staff encountered unprecedented trauma. Many doctors spent weeks away from their own families to stay on the front lines. Some physicians were required to work in areas outside of their training. Others were furloughed and forced to abandon their patients. Many physicians quit. Too many physicians died.
The pandemic pushed us to our limit. I can’t say that we’ve fully recovered.
Burnout vs moral injury
Wisely, Canada has quantified the cost of physician burnout and attrition. Unlike the US, the Canadian government funds medical education, so the government expects a certain number of decades of work in return for the investment. Millions of Canadian dollars are lost when physicians reduce their hours and retire early.
Physicians in this country are fed up with the increasing burden of maintaining board certification, the lack of transparency in state medical boards, and the anti-competitive hospital systems that monopolize communities. Physician autonomy is at an all-time low as the majority of physicians are employees. Our hard-earned clinical judgment and experience seem to take a back seat to our employers’ attention to patient reviews and the bottom line. But it’s not just about us.
Daily, we physicians witness the disparity between what is and what should be. We feel wounded when tax-paying citizens do not have access to affordable medical care. We feel powerless in the face of unpredictable copays and unreasonable wait times to see specialists. We too are incensed when insurance companies delay and refuse treatments that are simply the standard of care.
The term “moral injury” is more accurate than “burnout” in describing the heartache that physicians and medical staff endure. This chasm between what is and what should be is wider than ever.
Physician seekers and influencers
In my view, there are two groups of physicians. The first is questioning their current careers while the second has discovered answers for themselves.
“Physician seekers” might want to learn how to add a side-gig to their existing medical career, how to open a med spa, or how to negotiate their hospital contract. In my experience, neither search engines nor social media groups offer sufficient depth, variety, and/or anonymity for these physicians with questions.
“Physician influencers” are medical doctors as well as entrepreneurs, coaches, and podcasters (to name a few). Each has a unique point of view that represents a subset of physicians. We were trained to “see one, do one, and teach one” and this is precisely how we are supporting each other. The number of physician influencers grows each year, thanks to the work of pioneering physician coaches and conferences.
Physician seekers have more options than ever but are divided by specialty, by generation, and by preference for social media platforms. THE PHYSICIAN PROJECT is designed to bridge the gap between physician seekers and physician influencers, for their mutual benefit.
Why The Physician Project?
I am not a coach or a social media maven. But I do possess certain qualities that make me suited to tackling this challenge.
I’m both a seeker and an influencer. I can relate to different perspectives. Being multiracial, I have never fit neatly into any category. In college I took all sorts of classes, enjoying environmental justice as much as human virology. Even now, I have one foot inside medicine and one foot outside. While I treasure the genuine human connection with my patients, I’m frustrated by the American medical model that is unable to prioritize wellness and longevity.
This dual motive is at the heart of my business model: I genuinely want physicians to find support as much as I want physician coaches to reach more clients. I intend for both physician seekers and physician influencers to use THE PHYSICIAN PROJECT free of charge. No commission will be levied on influencers and no premium features will coerce money from seekers. Who pays, then? I plan for advertising to sustain the site.
I’m ridiculously thorough. I’m an INFJ who prefers to work behind the scenes, get to the bottom of something, then share it with others. In med school, I loved microbiology despite its being taught at warp-speed in Spanish (I’m not Hispanic and I’m not a native Spanish speaker.) After each lecture, it took me hours to type up my notes. Investing this extra time helped me and I was happy to share with my classmates.
I’ve been exploring clinical and nonclinical resources for physicians since 2011. Since my residency, I have been trying to find alternative career paths for myself. I began accumulating physician-oriented resources, then shared them with friends who had similar interests. This collection became the foundation for The Physician Project.
I crave meaning. I feel most fulfilled when I can translate my experiences into something useful to others. I experienced some of my all-time lows in residency. I struggled, feeling like a cog in the system.
Now I cherish any opportunity to mentor trainees. I can truly empathize with students and residents. Being a sounding board as they process their thoughts and navigate the system makes my ordeal worthwhile.
I’ve got time. I have chosen to work part-time and to not have dependents. I enjoy the privilege of being free to invest my time and energy as I wish.
I considered becoming a coach but realized that I wanted a more macro approach. I admire the additional time and money that physician coaches have invested and the incredible impact that they make. What suits me is to be a virtual guide. I aim to point curious physicians toward these fantastic coaches in an organized and interactive way.
Website in beta
This entire website is completely DIY! I’m still astonished by what I can figure out on my own, thanks to WordPress and YouTube.
In March 2020, I bought the domain and made my first attempts at designing the site. In 2021, I added the LEARN page which allows physician seekers to browse by category and topic. In 2022, I developed the SHARE page which allows influencers to add themselves to The Physician Project. In 2023, I worked to allow influencers to update their own content and promote their own EVENTS. In 2024, I invited select influencers as my beta users. As of January 2025, I’m finishing the “Physician FAQs” feature where physician influencers can answer common concerns of physicians.
The official launch continues to be a rolling deadline, but fortunately I’ve already earned the attention of search engines.
We physicians are in this together
We physicians have a powerful shared experience, yet historically we haven’t been very good at supporting each other. But this is changing! I’m heartened by the increase in physician solidarity and empowerment, and I look forward to contributing to it.
My role is to promote existing resources that might make the journey less onerous for trainees and less isolating for physicians. Stay tuned as I develop a platform where physicians inspire each other.