Looking back; moving forward

Image of Paula Meegan 12 Dec 2024

Paula Meegan Manager Risk Education Program

In the risk education team we get to chat with many of our members at our workshops and conferences, and we find that some doctors resist the word reflection.
 
When you boil it down, reflection is simply a way of processing what has taken place, trying to make sense of it.  Almost invariably this process involves thinking about what we might want to do differently or better next year. It’s about learning and growth; not necessarily looking for traditional signs of success. 
 
For this end of year article, I reflected on our risk education program of the past year, to identify moments from our activities that might help you reflect on your year in practice.
 
I thought these three questions would be helpful:

  • What do I love doing?
  • Am I willing to take advice?
  • Am I looking out for colleagues?

What do I love doing? (Plan B - what do I like doing?)

During the year our Board Chair Dr Stephen Parnis along with two other board members shared their personal journeys in life and medicine, in a webinar called 'Joining the dots’. The other Board Members in the discussion were Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus AM CSC and Professor Paul Worley. 

Dr Parnis shared that one of his themes in life is to do what you love. When he was younger, doing what he loved meant becoming involved in whatever he perceived as ‘important business’, such as issues in his local community, and later, student politics. In his medical career this has meant gravitating to areas involving leadership and advocacy. 
 
We can see from his examples that doing what you love doesn’t always mean walking on the beach and the like. It can mean being involved where you feel you can contribute well and doing something that has meaning for you. Dr Parnis said he has become better with time at working out what he loves. Some of us don’t feel we have a particular passion or feel drawn in a certain direction. If that is you, starting with something you like might make it easier.
 
Being so busy, you might be thinking you don’t have time to do what you love (or like); but perhaps there could be some small things? A catch up with someone who makes you laugh. Watching something on tv that is nostalgic for you. Eating a favourite thing. Giving a small gift to someone you care about. Or indeed the old classics - a walk in nature, or on the beach. Doing small things often can be as effective for our wellbeing as doing something big now and then.

If you missed the webinar you can view it here: Homepage - 2024/2025 Joining the dots

Am I willing to take advice?

This is an interesting concept for doctors as their therapeutic role involves them giving advice to patients all the time. So, one might think that being open to advice wouldn’t be such a big step. Yet we see many of our members who feel they ought to be able to manage all areas of life without seeking assistance; or perhaps don’t realise that advice might be available in the areas they would like it.
 
There are many areas in life where we readily accept that advice can help us - obvious ones are business affairs. Less obvious ones might be our personal career goals, personal wellbeing and our personal health.  

Career

  • If you are trying to navigate your career you may look to seek advice. It can help you look at things in a new light, articulate what it is that you really want, and how to apply for that role. When my children were little, I remember juggling several part time roles in and around law. As the time came to narrow my focus, I found it difficult because I enjoyed all of them! I spoke to a psychologist who specialised in career advice, and she pointed out that my face lit up and my body language changed when I talked about one particular role, which I hadn’t realised. This helped me work out where I would likely be happiest, so I set about increasing my hours there and reducing them elsewhere.
  • ​MIGA has a partnership with Standout Medical Careers which may be of assistance in this area. Standout Medical Careers provide 1:1 career advice at a discounted rate for MIGA members. They also provide free webinars to our junior doctor and graduating student members on how to improve your CV, and interview skills. Standout Medical Careers brings extensive expertise to our members and was founded by Anita Fletcher who led the AMA Medical Careers Advisory service for over five years.

Personal Wellbeing

  • Perhaps career advice is not what you feel you need right now. If you are happy where you are but you feel you could do with some wellbeing advice and support, then you might be interested in Coaching for Doctors.
  • ​Coaching for Doctors was started by Sharee Johnson who is a psychologist and works exclusively with doctors. Sharee’s team provides 1:1 coaching and also immersion experiences such as weekend retreats away with groups of other doctors. Sharee has written a book called The Thriving Doctor, and has also written two interactive workshops for MIGA members; Rate Your Wellbeing and Harnessing Emotional Intelligence.

Personal Health

  • If you feel you have put your own health down the priority list and you hope to improve on this next year, you could start by making an appointment with Drs4Drs. Every state has a service where doctors are specifically trained to care for other doctors. We have heard anecdotes where making the first call felt like an enormous challenge. If you feel like this, you may also like to hear that some doctors have told us that the first visit was a life changing moment.  
  • ​Members who take proactive steps to manage their health by visiting their GP for a health assessment can also earn Risk Education points for that activity. Get your GP to go through our comprehensive questionnaire with you and simply confirm that you attended (no confidential information from the appointment is provided to us). See below for the link to obtain more information and a copy of health assessment questionnaire. 

Caring for colleagues

Along this same theme, we encourage our members to look out for the wellbeing of colleagues. There may be someone you know who seems to be not quite themselves, or you are aware is going through a difficult time. The end of the year is an ideal time to reflect on whether and how you could offer support. 
 
Sometimes helping other doctors can be a catalyst for reflecting on your own situation and whether there is anything you would like to do to improve it. Or for prompting you to reach out to someone that you trust to seek advice or support on something.
 
MIGA provides a small group interactive workshop for members on how to recognise signs that someone might be struggling, and how to help.  Homepage - Online Workshops
 

Enough with the thinking?  Need some doing?

Here are some ideas for your personal end of year review: