Balanced Interview: Physician in Numbers

Today’s Balanced Interview spotlight is on the Physician in Numbers. While her blog is only a little under 2 years old, she posts multiple times a week on topics beyond medicine: fitness, finance, mindset, and others. Given the content on her blog, I knew I had to have her share her story here.

In a few sentences, tell us about yourself (age, job, family, hometown, etc.) 

I am a 50 year old internist, practicing both inpatient and outpatient medicine. Married, with a grown stepson. 

It took me a long time to come to medicine, as I tried a number of other low-paying jobs first; eventually I gave in to the inevitable, and entered the family business (my father is a retired surgeon, and multiple other family members work or have worked in healthcare). 

I have been interested in personal finance for many years, and after a few years reading blogs, decided to try my hand at it myself. I write about financial issues, but also about my efforts to build a life for myself outside of medicine (what do I want to be when I grow up and retire?). I blog anonymously, as I’m not sure that my plans to have a life after medicine need to be found by my boss or my patients. 

Other interests include travel and reading. 

What is one thing you’re passionate about (a thing you’re loving, something you would still do even if no one paid you/even if you have limited time, or a hobby you really care about)? 

Blogging has to go here. I mean, I pay to do it. 

When I say blogging, I mostly mean the writing. I never was someone to write in a diary, but “having” to write a blog post at least once a week means that I have to practice putting my thoughts into words, and arranging them in a logical and pleasing order. Some posts flow easily, some feel like pulling teeth, but the deadline means I sit and do it. Over the past year and a half, I have been very happy with at least some of my writing. 

What does balance mean to you (how do you find balance between work, home, community, and self? 

For me, balance is still a work in progress. I spent a number of years letting patient care take over my whole day. It crowded out my time to eat, to exercise, and to socialize. Luckily I got married, and my husband insisted on having some of my attention. 

Reading early retirement blogs got me thinking about what I might do when I retire (whether it is early or not), and I realized that many of my previous interests had been put on the sidelines too long. Lately I have been focusing on building up my personal life, setting goals for fitness and maintaining social connections. I write about them periodically in my Future Me posts, to keep myself accountable. 

I still find that Medicine demands plenty of my time to do properly, though. 

Have you experienced any tradeoffs in your practice of balance? 

The most obvious trade off has to be monetary. I took a 10% reduction in pay last year to reduce my hours a smidge. On the other hand, my husband observes that I am much less cranky. 

Describe your perfect “average” day. (How does your everyday day flow if everything goes well)? 

I am going to go big and describe a fantastic day. 

–I wake up on my own a few minutes before the alarm. 

–I enjoy time with my husband. He brings me coffee in bed, and then we have breakfast. I get to work with a few minutes to spare, so I am not rushing from my office to the exam room while trying to fit my arms in my white coat. 

–My patients are all on time, as am I. They are all pleasant and polite, as am I. One of them has even lost some of his/her excess weight, and has an improvement in his/her chronic diseases. Since this is a fantastic day, we get to discuss reducing or stopping one of their meds. 

–I end up with an empty appointment slot mid-morning, and use that time to catch up on phone calls and notes. 

–I eat my lunch (packed from home) at my desk, as I always do, but the phone messages I review are easy to deal with. I have a nice call with my husband. 

–The afternoon is much like my morning, probably without the break, but with great patients. 

–I finish my notes, phone calls, and results review before 6 pm. No bad news in any of that data. I am not stressed, and eat the snack that I bring, rather than something unhealthy that I buy. 

–My husband picks me up from work, and I get to spend a little time on the porch in pleasantly warm weather. I read, blog, do Duolingo, or call family (maybe two or three of these?). 

–Either before or after dinner, we take a long walk in the neighborhood, chatting about anything and everything. We inspect our favorite front yard gardens. Possibly we see some charming wildlife (most likely bunnies, but once we saw an owl). 

—Once home for the evening, we listen to some music and/or read until bedtime. 

–I sleep soundly until the next morning, when I wake up a few minutes before the alarm. 

What are your go-to tools for self-care? 

When I am being good, I go for a walk. Re-reading favorite books is particularly helpful. If things are bad enough, my husband will offer to watch a “chick movie” with me (usually a romantic comedy). Dire times call for “Pride and Prejudice” (the A&E miniseries), or “Grease.” 

When I am not thinking about the long term, chocolate is my other go-to tool for self-care. Many a long clinic day has been made bearable with a trip to the hospital gift shop. 

What is one morning routine you do that keeps you grounded and happy? 

Every morning, after I hit the snooze button, my husband and I spend a few quiet minutes together. On the occasions we have to rush through this, the rest of the day doesn’t feel right. 

Any decisions you’ve made that have negatively impacted your balance? If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? 

This is a pretty tough question. 

Without a doubt, my prior job allowed a lot more time for balance: I started later, finished earlier, and had much more time for fitness and travel. On the other hand, I was quite unhappy with how things were run. 

Returning to academia has been much more fulfilling professionally. I enjoy the different challenges (teaching and patient care), the work environment is more supportive, and I make more money. I met my husband a year after I started, so switching jobs worked out very well for me personally. However, the expectations for my current position mean that I work longer hours, and feel less free to make changes in my work schedule that would help me achieve a better balance. 

If I could do it all over again, I might have saved more money while single, which would have put me in a better position to cut my hours sooner. 

Maybe I would have pushed for more supported teaching time, though I think that would not have been successful. 

What is one habit, tool, or item you’ve brought into your life within the last 6 months that has helped with your practice of balance? 

The pandemic has been awful and stressful, but I have learned to be more forgiving to myself. I am getting better, but I think the first month was so stressful that I could not focus on anything for more than 10 minutes. Giving myself permission NOT to achieve things during this time meant that I could balance work with actual recreation at home. I have gotten more exercise and more reading done in the recent past than I had before; and I know I spend more attention to socializing now that we can’t meet in person. 

How can people contact you if they want to know more? 

I blog physicianinnumbers.com, two to three times a week unless life is crazy. If you want to comment there, I’d love it. Without comments, blogging feels pretty lonely, like throwing a message in a bottle into the ocean, suspecting that it’s gotten lost in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, never to reach human eyes. E-mail works too, I’m at physicianinnumbers@gmail.com. 

My Takeaways

PiN, you had me at Grease… and chocolate.

I love how PiN started blogging to reflect on her values and “who she is” beyond being a doctor. As I’ve discussed many times, self-reflection is an important tool in your practice of self-knowledge and living life on purpose. She’s using it as a tool not only to maintain accountability for some of her healthy habits, she’s exploring her interests and contemplating her next moves.

Based on her ideal day, I get the feeling that PiN also shares my love of efficiency and simplicity. The things that make us happy can be as mundane as not being jolted out of bed by an alarm, or sitting with your significant other on the porch. We should all work to get more of these in our lives. I encourage you, inspired by PiN, to imagine your perfect day and then figure out how you can make it happen more often. Leave a comment about it below!