Here's how you can bounce back from a career setback and build resilience in Working with Physicians.

Understanding Your Needs: By recognizing your emotions (frustration, anger, discouragement), you can better understand your needs and take steps to address them. Preventing Negative Coping Mechanisms: Ignoring your emotions can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms like withdrawing from work or lashing out at colleagues. Acknowledging them allows for healthier responses. Building Self-Compassion: Allowing yourself to feel your emotions shows self-compassion. This can be especially helpful when working with physicians, as it fosters resilience and the ability to move forward.

So often the pressure of day to day medicine means you have to 'crack on' without an opportunity to acknowledge what has just occurred: to a patient, to their family, to you as the attending, responsible doctor. Giving yourself permission to acknowledge what has happened and process the emotions allows timely recognition that what we do - as doctors- is not a 'normal' job. It is quite often extra-ordinary!

Planning a so called 'comeback' can be petrifying! A return to work - from a period of absence due to maternity leave, a period in academia, sick leave- can be fraught with uncertainty and a lack of both competence and confidence. Clinicians can feel 'rusty' and clunky as muscle memory return to allow them to perform complex procedures. They can feel constantly scrutinised and even judged! It is crucial to have mentors and mechanisms in place to support the re entry to the clinical workplace.

Clinicians should consider thinking beyond the traditional networks and explore career coaching. This forward thinking approach can offer a safe, unbiased space to voice worries and find a bespoke path to allow for growth and career fulfilment.

'Self-care' is still often perceived to be 'selfish'. Clinicians are notoriously reticent in seeking support for themselves or often leaving it too late- when they are already experiencing burnout; suffering physical illness and/or relationship breakdown. Sometimes even a terrible combination of all of these! Finding a bespoke plan that suits the individual- just like we would for any other 'prescribing'/ management plan' is crucial. Self care is not a 'one size fits all'!

Consider a portfolio of activities and interests- to diversify your income and personal growth. It occurs too often that hospital clinicians become fixed in their positions or specialties yet lack the rich tapestry that creates a healthy, holistic and fulfilled clinician that can ultimately provide even better patient care.