Finding Joy in Medicine Again: A Physician’s Path Back from Burnout

You became a physician to help people. To make a difference. To heal.

But somewhere between the endless documentation, the impossible patient loads, and the weight of life-and-death decisions, that sense of purpose got buried. Now, you’re just trying to make it through each day without dropping any of the countless balls you’re juggling.

I see you. I understand. And I want to share something that might actually help.

The Reality of Physician Life

Let’s be honest about what practicing medicine is really like right now:

The constant interruptions when you’re trying to focus
The expectation to see more patients in less time
The charting that follows you home and steals your evenings
The nagging fear that you missed something important
The guilt when you can’t give patients what they need

All of this takes a toll. It’s why so many women physicians find themselves reaching for comfort food between patients, lying awake rehashing the day’s decisions, or feeling disconnected from the passion that led them to medicine in the first place.

It’s not weakness. It’s a natural response to an impossible situation.

I recently spoke with Dr. Greg Hammer, an anesthetist, author and Stanford professor who understands this reality intimately. What he shared wasn’t another superficial wellness program that ignores the realities of medical practice. It was something different. Something that actually acknowledges how hard this work is.

Why Physicians Are Extra Vulnerable to Unhappiness

Physicians face specific challenges that make happiness even harder:

Selection bias – Medicine selects for driven, Type A personalities who are prone to stress and perfectionism. Think about it – you had to be pretty damn driven to get through med school in the first place.
High-stakes environment – One mistake can literally be life or death. I still remember a missed diagnosis from years ago that haunts me occasionally.
Responsibility without authority – We’re responsible for outcomes but often don’t have the power to fix systemic issues. Like when administration wants better patient satisfaction scores but won’t give you enough staff or time to achieve them.

As Dr. Hammer shared from his work with WellMD at Stanford, physician burnout comes from three main areas:

Culture (how your workplace feels)
Efficiency (how your practice runs)
Personal resilience (how you cope)

While we can’t always change the first two, we can absolutely work on our personal resilience.

The 3-Minute Practice That Can Change Everything

What I love most about Dr. Hammer’s approach is how practical it is. He’s not asking you to meditate for an hour or completely overhaul your life. His GAIN practice takes just three minutes a day:

G – Gratitude Take 30 seconds to identify what you’re grateful for today. Your working kidneys. Your cup of coffee. The fact that you woke up at all.

A – Acceptance Bring something painful or uncomfortable closer. Dr. Hammer shared how he lost his son at age 29, and he brings this pain close and asks, “Can I live with this forever?” The answer is yes – because he’s still here, still alive.

I – Intention Focus on your physical sensations right now. The pressure of the chair. The sound of the vent. The feeling of breath in your nose. This trains your brain to be present.

N – Non-judgment Remind yourself that you are neither good nor bad – you just are. Just as the Earth isn’t good or bad, it simply exists, so do you.

The practice links these concepts to slow, deliberate breathing (in for 3, hold for 3, out for 4). This creates a Pavlovian response so that later, when you’re stressed, simply taking a deep breath can trigger these more positive thought patterns.

Why This Works Specifically for Physician Brains

What makes this approach different is that it’s designed for the unique challenges physicians face:

It acknowledges the reality of medical practice – It doesn’t ask you to pretend medicine isn’t hard or that systemic problems are just in your head.
It requires minimal time – Because let’s be honest, you don’t have an hour for self-care each day.
It creates a physiological response you can access anywhere – By linking these mental practices to your breath (in for 3, hold for 3, out for 4), you create a conditioned response. Later, when that patient is yelling or that colleague questions your judgment, those same breaths can bring you back to center.
It addresses the root cause of many comfort behaviors – For those who find themselves in the drive-thru after difficult cases or reaching for chocolate between patients, this practice addresses what’s really happening – the emptiness that food temporarily fills but never satisfies.

How This Affects Your Eating

As a physician who works with many women physicians struggling with their eating, I was particularly interested in Dr. Hammer’s thoughts on food and happiness.

He explained that our sense of lack – feeling that something is missing – drives us to fill the void with food, shopping, relationships, or other external things. But these only provide temporary relief.

“Food is the prototypical vehicle for trying to fill this void,” Dr. Hammer noted. And I agreed, adding, “Sometimes very literally.”

I think about my own patterns – that urge to hit the Wendy’s drive-thru after a stressful clinic day, or the mindless snacking while catching up on charts at night. This isn’t just about hunger – it’s about trying to fill an emotional void with something tangible.

By addressing our negativity bias and practicing presence, we can start to recognize that the emptiness we’re trying to fill with food comes from within – and focus on better ways of addressing it.

Small Changes, Profound Impact

The beauty of this approach is its simplicity. You don’t need to change jobs, move to a different practice, or completely overhaul your life. You just need 3 minutes each morning and occasional moments of awareness throughout your day.

As Dr. Hammer shared, “The idea is to do better. It’s not that we’re going to be perfect.”

What a relief to hear those words. To know that perfectionism isn’t required. That small steps count. That you can meet yourself exactly where you are right now.

About Dr. Greg Hammer

Dr. Greg Hammer recently retired as a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine after a distinguished career as a cardiac anesthesiologist and intensivist primarily working with children. Beyond his clinical work, he led a pharmacology research lab for over 30 years.

In 2011, Dr. Hammer joined Stanford’s WellMD group, specifically formed to address physician burnout. Drawing from both his medical expertise and his long-time interest in mindfulness and meditation, he developed the GAIN approach outlined in his book “GAIN Without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Healthcare Professionals,” published in 2020.

He has since completed a second book focused on helping adults support teenagers through mindfulness practices. You can find more about Dr. Hammer and his work at greghammermd.com.

An Invitation to Try Something Different

If you’re a physician who can’t remember the last time you felt truly happy in your work, I invite you to try the GAIN method for just one week.

Set your alarm 3 minutes earlier tomorrow morning. Find a quiet spot. Breathe deeply and walk through these four simple steps. Then notice if anything shifts in how you experience your day.

To hear my complete conversation with Dr. Hammer and learn even more about implementing this practice in your busy physician life, listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app or at the bottom of this blog post.

The detailed steps, along with Dr. Hammer’s insights about physician happiness, might just change how you experience medicine.

Because you deserve to find joy in the profession you’ve sacrificed so much to join. You deserve to remember why you became a physician in the first place. And maybe, just maybe, this simple practice could be the first step on that path back to purpose.

Listen to the full episode below.

Learn more about Dr. Hammer

Website: https://greghammermd.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/greghammermd

Facebook: https://facebook.com/greghammermd