My Journey to Coaching

Many people have asked how I found my way into physician coaching. The truth is, it wasn’t a straight path. It was a slow convergence of personal burnout and recovery, curiosity, reflection, and a lightbulb moment that changed everything.

Four major experiences overlapped and culminated in the creation of Joy in Family Medicine Coaching Services®.

1. A Personal Burnout Story
My own burnout peaked in March 2015. I was 16 years into my career and loving academic medicine. I was absolutely loving the work and all the many hats I had to wear. I really felt like overall, I was doing a good job. Retrospectively, I aimed for an unhealthy perfect standard in each area and over-relied on external validation. I determined to finish my to-do list every day. That led me to work through each and every lunchtime, develop lectures at night, and forego socializing with colleagues as I was bent on getting all the tasks done, and chit-chat slowed me down. (I had no idea the fundamental importance of connection for mental fitness).

Interestingly, the slow decline to burnout was almost imperceptible until I was in deep. One minute I thought everything was fine, and I was just working hard. The next, I found myself sitting on the sofa at night, unable to engage in meaningful conversation with family. Every task seemed overwhelming, such as picking my daughter up from a friend's house across town. I'd become impatient with colleagues and detached from patients. I didn't notice I was burned out. I just thought it was time to find a job that made me happier and that maybe I didn't have what it took to do the job. So, I joined a private practice part-time in a setting the owner physicians had set up to enjoy the practice of medicine rather than maximize profits. I remained on-call for the residency and began the recovery process. I started to feel like myself again, with only patient care responsibilities at a reasonable pace in a supportive environment. (Read more about the lessons I’ve learned throughout my clinical career)

2. A Pattern Emerging in Physician Communities
Around the same time, I became more active in physician social media groups and noticed a disturbing trend: more and more physicians were looking for the exit ramp. I began to notice the number of physician posts increasing in private groups wanting to leave clinical medicine altogether. Many wanted to know how they could use their training and pay off their loans while leaving medicine because they were so unhappy. I read a thought-provoking article written by a new orthopedic surgery graduate about his colleague who, after finishing an elite fellowship, was leaving medicine. Why is the practice of medicine causing so many physicians to be so unhappy after pursuing a noble career and devoting much blood, sweat, tears, time, and money to it – wanting out almost as soon as they start? Besides major systems changes (which thankfully are beginning), how could we change this phenomenon?

3. A Pivotal Conference & the Concept of Margin
Four years after stepping away from core faculty, I attended a women's physician leadership conference...created by Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, who I've mentioned previously in my blogs. Four years after leaving core faculty, I listened to Ellen Zane (former CEO of Brigham Women and Children's and Tufts) and other extraordinary women leaders. I knew it was time for me to contribute more than part-time clinical medicine again. My friend Kristen explained the concept of "margin" in life, like the blank spaces around the paragraphs in a book that can be used as a room to augment one's story. You want to have a margin so if something else comes up that you want or need to do, you can fit it in. I determined I had created too much margin. I developed a whole list of ideas to fill in the margins, but by themselves, none seemed right. Ideas ranged from culinary coaching,  healthy lifestyle development, community mentoring, helping residents, curricular development, and consulting. 

4. Coaching as a Solution & Strategy
At that same conference, Dr. Ellen Cooke introduced me to Dr. Ali Novitsky, a physician coach, because she felt Ali could give me clarity. Our first conversation sparked something. In my initial consultation with her, I showed her my list of options with all the pros, cons, root motivations, and honest objections in color-coded form, along with my concerns about not being full-time in the workforce. She listened patiently and globally. She then said, "I wonder where the overlap lies?" I stared at her, awaiting an explanation. The wheels started turning. An idea emerged: working with residents, developing curricula, encouraging healthy lifestyles, and helping the next generation avoid burnout and perhaps even flourish in their chosen careers. I wanted to increase the number of physicians who could sustain and enjoy impactful careers. You know those moments when the lightbulb clicks on? Everything within me resonated with the idea. She offered to coach me individually and suggested that I also join her group coaching course. I nearly declined the group, but it became integral to my understanding of the power of coaching. Throughout that 12-week group course, I watched physicians transform areas of both their personal and professional lives, including negotiations, department restructuring, relationships, balance, and reclaiming their mental and physical health, using tools I never knew existed. These are the tools all physicians need, especially those in training and those who do the challenging yet rewarding work of educating, mentoring, sponsoring, and advising. The puzzle came together. (Read more about physician coaching)

Bringing It All Together

I was convinced that coaching could prevent burnout and improve well-being. And now, studies back that up. What started as a small idea, coaching residents, grew into a passionate mission: helping physicians stay in their careers, not by gritting their teeth until retirement, but by finding ways to enjoy the challenging, noble work they chose. The blood, sweat, tears, time, and money do not have to be wasted. I completed an intense coaching certification course with purpose. Joy in Family Medicine Coaching Services® was created in January 2020.

Currently

Today, I serve as founding program director of the Moses Lake Family Medicine Residency while continuing my independent coaching practice and national work in coaching and faculty development. I remain clinically active and continue partnering with residents, faculty, GME leaders, teams, and individual physicians to build careers and working cultures that are sustainable, fulfilling, and aligned with what matters most.

Coaching is not something I left behind when I returned to GME leadership. It shapes how I lead, build teams, develop faculty, and approach the learning environment. I continue to customize coaching approaches, content, and programs for individual physicians, residency programs, and healthcare organizations.

That includes a deliberate effort to build a program and culture where residents, faculty, and staff can do excellent work in ways they can sustain, giving residents a model of teamwork and professional life worth carrying into their own careers.

Have a joy-filled day,  Tonya