There are moments in life when you suddenly realize you’ve come full circle.
Not in the sense that nothing has changed—but in the sense that everything has changed, and somehow the pieces are fitting together in a new (hopefully improved) way.
This week is one of those moments for me.
I’m leaving for my very first week of locums work. And while that might sound like a simple professional change, for me it represents something much bigger. It represents the journey of rediscovering what I love about medicine, while also building a life that holds space for new purpose, new learning, and new passions.
For many years, like so many physicians, I had my head down. I was working hard, doing meaningful work, and proud of what I had accomplished. But I wasn’t always allowing myself to imagine the bigger possibilities.
Today I want to share a reflection about this moment — about coming full circle, about rediscovering purpose, and about the idea that a life with multiple passions and directions might actually be more possible than we think.
New Chapters That Look Similar
This week I’m leaving for my very first week of locums work.
I know how fortunate I am to have a mother who is stoked to spend the week with her grandkids while I’m away. But beyond the logistics of childcare and travel, this moment feels deeply meaningful to me.
It feels like a full-circle moment.
When I first went into medicine, I loved the science. I loved the medicine. But what I loved most was the experience of delivering healthcare in a way that families could truly understand — especially on some of the most stressful days of their lives.
Helping people understand what was happening to their child, translating complicated medical information into something clear and reassuring — that work always felt meaningful to me.
I still love taking care of patients.
But over time, I realized something else about myself. I realized that I also had a deep desire to keep learning new things. To stretch myself. To test myself in this one life that we have.
And so that’s what I’ve been doing.
I started this podcast — something that was never on the list of things I imagined I would accomplish. I started a business. And, to my own surprise, I’m even excited about learning things like tax strategy related to running that business.
It’s this excitement about learning that I realized I had been missing.
And all of it is connected to a deeper purpose: continuing to help people. Continuing to support women in medicine who are feeling burned out from the systems we work within. Burned out from trying to do all the things.
I want to help women show up as their authentic selves at home and in leadership.
Because there are so many strengths that come naturally to women—skills that actually strengthen leadership—but that often get pushed aside when we step into boardrooms where we feel that first wave of imposter syndrome.
That moment where the thought creeps in: Do I really belong here?
But the truth is, we do belong there.
And the very qualities we sometimes question — our empathy, our intuition, our ability to connect and collaborate — are often the exact things that allow us to excel as leaders.
So as I step into this first week of locums work, what I’m realizing is that I’ve come full circle.
I still want to practice medicine.
But I want to practice it on my own terms.
I want control over my schedule in a way that allows space for my family and for this new sense of purpose I’ve discovered in my life.
And honestly, five years ago I don’t think I would have believed this was possible.
I don’t even think I would have seen the variety of options.
Five years ago, I had my head down and my blinders on. I was working incredibly hard — doing what I believe was an exceptional job, and feeling proud of the micro-moments inside that work.
Those small moments with patients and families, with my team and other leaders. Those are the moments that remind you why you went into medicine in the first place.
But at the same time, I wasn’t allowing myself to imagine the broader possibilities for my life.
This week, as I’m recording several podcast episodes in advance so that I can work without the weight of other responsibilities hanging over me, I’ve found myself reflecting on how magical this full-circle moment really feels.
Because it’s evidence.
Evidence that a life with multiple purposes is possible.
A life that continues to grow, that evolves in new directions, that remains purpose-driven — even as it changes.
And I believe that kind of life is possible for women.
That’s part of why I wanted to share this story.
Because so many of my friends — physicians and non-physicians alike — talk about their lives in terms that range from positive, to mediocre, to negative. But wherever they fall on that spectrum, I often hear the same underlying theme:
They aren’t holding the full range of possibilities in view.
So I guess I’m here to say this:
You can.
You can allow yourself to see what might be possible.
And then you can slowly begin to navigate toward it.
You don’t have to leap overnight. You don’t have to have all the answers. But you can start asking the questions.
What do you want to do?
Who do you want to become?
At the end of your life, when you turn around and look back, what kind of road do you want to see behind you?
What do you want people to say about the way you lived your life?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself — at the beginning of this journey and throughout this period of change.
And I wonder if they might help you too.
Take Action Today
If this conversation resonated with you, I created a free Values Journal to help you reflect on what truly matters in this season of your life. You can download it at womenmdleaders.com/valuesguide.
Thanks so much for listening!