Prescription for Change for Doctors Who Want a Life PDF
Preview Prescription for Change for Doctors Who Want a Life
Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page i Prescription for Change for Doctors Who Want a Life Second edition Susan E Kersley MB BCh, MEd, BA Foreword by Ruth Chambers Radcliffe Publishing Oxford • Seattle CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2006 by Susan E Kersley CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20160525 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-03058-9 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. While all reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, neither the author[s] nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liabil- ity for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publishers wish to make clear that any views or opinions expressed in this book by individual editors, authors or contributors are personal to them and do not necessarily reflect the views/opinions of the publishers. The information or guidance contained in this book is intended for use by medical, scientific or health-care profession- als and is provided strictly as a supplement to the medical or other professional’s own judgement, their knowledge of the patient’s medical history, relevant manufacturer’s instructions and the appropriate best practice guidelines. Because of the rapid advances in medical science, any information or advice on dosages, procedures or diagnoses should be independently verified. The reader is strongly urged to consult the relevant national drug formulary and the drug companies’ and device or material manufacturers’ printed instructions, and their websites, before administering or utilizing any of the drugs, devices or materials mentioned in this book. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page iii Contents Foreword to the first edition v Foreword vi Preface vii About the author viii Acknowledgements ix Extracts from reviews of the first edition x Introduction xiii Part One: You can change your life 1 Life coaching and doctors 3 2 Are you ready? 8 3 Do you have a life? 13 4 Are you a square peg in a round hole? 19 5 How to change your life in seven easy steps 23 6 How will you respond to your wake up call 36 Part Two: Prescription for change 7 What would you do if you had the time? 43 8 No more procrastination 51 9 Looking after number one 55 10 What’s draining you? 61 11 Living an abundant life 66 12 Relationship: what relationship? 70 13 Top ten tips for achieving your goals 74 Part Three: Medicine is more than a job: it’s a lifestyle 14 Who heals the healers? 79 15 Wellbeing: reality or dream? 83 Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page iv iv Contents 16 Do your colleagues understand? 89 17 How to see fewer patients in your clinic 97 18 The end of the road or a new beginning? 101 Part Four: Case studies 19 The overwhelmed GP 107 20 The disillusioned consultant 111 21 The doctor’s other half 115 22 The independent soul, the sole doctor 118 23 The overstressed doctor 120 24 The mentor 123 25 The mentee 126 26 The enlightened doctor 128 27 The unsettled doctor 130 28 The doctor who has to re-take professional exams 132 29 ANew Year story 134 Part Five: Life coaching for change 30 Let your heart sing 141 31 What on earth is life coaching? 145 And finally … 149 Appendix 1: Frequently asked questions 151 Appendix 2: The International Coach Federation 154 Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page v Foreword to first edition It is hard to change. Often we get caught in a rut, existing rather than living in the mad ‘hamster wheel’ situation that many of us find ourselves in. But is it enough to wait until you are at breaking point before you decide to do something about your crazy lifestyle? I have been witness to many doctors at that breaking point. Some of them even cried uncontrollably when they suddenly realised that they were not in control of their lives. I didn’t just want to pass them a tissue. I wanted to do something about it. So, I commissioned Susan Kersley, to write a series of articles for Career Focus in BMJ Careers to help our readers realise that they could be in con- trol of their lives and spiralling workload. I received extreme reactions to some of her articles: some hated them, others loved them. Some saw them as glorified common sense and others as a prescription for change. As an editor, it is always satisfying to know that something you have published has caused a reaction. It means that your readers’ apathy has turned into action. So I wasn’t bothered about the neg- ative feedback. I knew her articles were being read across the world. Every time I published one of Susan’s articles, the number of web hits we had would soar. Maybe it is uncomfortable to read something that makes you realise how miserable your life is. Maybe it is too unbearable to try and change. Susan certainly hits your vulnerable spot but also leads you through what practi- cal things you can do to make a difference in your life. So, take a deep breath, take courage and read on. You will not regret it. Dr Rhona MacDonald Former Editor Career Focus BMJ Careers Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page vi Foreword It is difficult to be a consistently caring and compassionate doctor if you are not happy with your own lot. That’s all day every day, throughout your career. Actually it’s a difficult challenge even when you are happy with your lot – working in such a high-pressured environment as the NHS with a reg- ular quota of emotionally draining work. You can lose perspective and get drawn into a way of life that is dominated by work. You’re either at work or recovering from being at work, and so missing out on the out-of-work activ- ities and fun that used to counterbalance work and worries. Use this book as your personal guide to how to make changes to your working and home lives so that you can thrive – at work and in your well- being in general. When you have worked out what to do – perhaps with a mentor or life coach or your partner, as Susan Kersley recommends – you can plan goals that you’ll actually achieve, you can have a life and be a doc- tor too. The working side of your life will be all the better for that. Susan says ‘This book is the catalyst for the life you want.’ It is, so long as you read through it, reflect on what it means for you, and put your resolu- tions into practice in both the short and long term. That takes some doing, and Susan will give you the insights and framework you need to visualise your future and make it happen as you want it to. You can rediscover your old hobbies, work out a better balance of work and leisure, renew and strengthen your relationships with your partner and family, friends and col- leagues. Sounds like a dream? Well make it come true by reading and work- ing through this book. Ruth Chambers General Practitioner Clinical Dean at Staffordshire University Professor of Primary Care Development at Stoke-on-Trent Teaching PCT GP Adviser on GP Recruitment and Retention to Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority August 2005 Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page vii Preface Since the first edition was published in 2003, there seems to be more recog- nition of doctors’ needs to deal with the stress and overwhelm of their pro- fessional lives today and also their entitlement to a life outside medicine. This book gives gentle guidance and asks challenging questions to enable more doctors to have a life. Those who experience the benefit of support from a mentor or a coach know how empowering this can be. However, there are still too many doc- tors reluctant to admit that they might gain benefit from engaging with this process. It is my sincere wish that this book will introduce those doctors to some of the tools offered by life coaching, so that they can use these to trans- form their lives. You may find that the contents of this book is largely just ‘common sense’. Perhaps it is, but common sense may be the forgotten ingredient in the lives of many busy professionals who don’t stop to ‘have a life’. This edition has been revised where necessary and has some extra ‘case studies’. I hope you find it a catalyst to transform your life. Susan E Kersley August 2005 Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense. Gertrude Stein Common sense is not so common. Voltaire Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page viii About the author Susan Kersley has been a life coach since 1999. Previously a medical practitioner and counsellor working in inner city Birmingham, she took early retirement in 1997 to live more creatively. A graduate of CoachU, she works with stressed and overworked doctors and others, on the telephone, wherever they live, to enable them to have a more fulfilled life both within and outside medicine. Her acclaimed articles about lifestyle and personal development, published regularly in the British Medical Journal, evolved to become ‘Prescription for Change’ to bring the message she is passionate about, ‘You can be a doctor and have a life’, to a wider audience. To receive her ezine (email newsletter), find out more about her coaching, courses and other publications, please visit www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk. Aims for ‘Prescription for Change’ • To promote more self awareness by encouraging personal development. • To educate doctors about the benefits of life coaching. • To promote the more widespread use of life coaching amongst doctors at all stages of their career, both for themselves and their patients. Kersley4 9/29/05 11:53 AM Page ix Acknowledgements Avery special thank you to Rhona MacDonald, former editor of BMJ Careers, who encouraged, motivated and coached me to produce my first published article, ‘Striking the balance’, in the BMJ in December 2001. Rhona recog- nised my potential as a writer and encouraged me to expand the original article into a series published in the BMJduring 2002. This book stemmed from my desire to extend the message of the articles to a wider medical readership. Some of the chapters in this book are similar to the articles originally published in the BMJ and are included here with permission. Supporting me during the gestation of the book have been my own coach- es and also my husband Jonathan who, in spite of remaining somewhat bemused at my new identity, has given me steady support. Ahuge thanks too, to all the doctors who contacted me after reading my articles in the BMJ. Most I have never met face to face. However, over sev- eral months of coaching conversations, I am delighted to have enabled them to transform their lives. I thank them for their trust in me and for sharing their life stories, which have informed the writing for this book. To protect the confidentiality of the coaching sessions, the situations described do not refer to any particular individual but are a combination of several experiences.
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