Make your own health your number 1 priority by seeing your friends and family regularly, eating well, continuing your favourite hobbies/interests, planning holidays and exercising at least 4 times a week! Then find your niche in medicine which you enjoy most and make it your specialty.
Take one step at a time and keep humble. All sorts of things overwhelm us in medicine like information, stress, career options — the list may be longer for some. It is more like a voyage than a sprint, and the trick is to persevere, one bit at a time, and allow ourselves to stop and re-evaluate one’s journey at various points along the road. Never expect yourself to know everything and be willing to learn from and work with everyone.
It is human nature for us to see the negatives before we see the positives. Recognise the good things people are doing.
Have a balanced life inside and outside medicine; be committed to the job and patients; spiritual growth as a person; develop extra interests.
Take time out for yourself! Practise self-care just like you recommend for your patients.
It may sound like a simple recipe but to thrive in a medical career requires the right ingredients and a balance in flavours across life: a healthy diet, physical activity, time with loved ones and time alone and, to value contentment as much as the reward of new challenges.
To balance your commitment to work with your commitment to your relationships with others and to yourself. At the end of the day, you still want to enjoy work!
