Provide Physicians and HealthCare Workers with Coaching Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A few days ago, I did something that broke my heart…

I turned away someone who needed my help.

A physician mom had reached out to me for coaching. I waived the fee for my consultation session so I could hold space for her. She had just been fired for advocating for Personal Protective Equipment for her and rest of the staff including doctors and nurses in order to protect the patients. She is the first generation, Latina, the primary breadwinner of her family, mother of 2 kids. After a powerful consultation session which went over our scheduled Hour for which I had waived the fee, she felt deeply seen, heard and connected to the coaching work we had just done. She expressed really wanting to be coached by me and asked if my scholarships were still available for a coaching package. My coaching packages last 6 months. I often have pro-bono spots in my coaching practice but they were all taken. However, during the pandemic, a friend had surprised me with a $1000 gift which I put towards a one-month coaching package scholarship. I had just given the scholarship away earlier in the week to a physician who serves our military, happens to be in dire financial distress who was also going through a divorce. I couldn’t afford to take her on pro-bono since those spots were also taken. She asked to be put on a waiting list in case I received any donations for a scholarship spot.

For several days, I felt out of sorts wondering how I could help this physician.

Then, I learned of a physician suicide in New York 2 days ago. A physician who happened to be an ER doctor on the frontlines. She was the head of the ER department, known for being compassionate, hardworking and generous to her team. And then I learned of an emergency medical technician who also died by suicide within hours. And it hit me. With the masses of moral injury and burnout I was seeing among the physicians attending my free Respite coaching support calls, there was something even bigger going on. And then, yesterday, I had a physician sobbing on the phone as she realized our scholarship package had ended.

I knew I had to do something more.

What you probably don’t know about me is that I am a physician who went through my own burnout and chose to dedicate the rest of my medical career to support other physicians with the support I wish I had during my experience.

But it goes deeper than that.

I lost my father during a physician strike in Nigeria in 2011. It took me years to talk about it publicly for the first and only time at the 2017 World Domination Summit in the video below. For the past 9 years, I have been haunted by the idea that what happened to my father will happen here in the United States.

Why care about physicians at all? Currently, doctors are not unionized in the United States. It is mostly illegal for them to do so. But we have an alarming rate of physician suicides. And with this pandemic, a lot of physicians are operating at breaking point behind the scenes. It is up to us to do something to support those who sacrifice to care for us.

A few weeks ago, after being added to a facebook group, I was stunned to discover that what I have feared and warned against for the past decade is happening right now. Due to the massive abuse, the lack of protective gear, the financial exploitation of our physicians and healthcare workers, lack of safety to advocate for their own human rights and protections to practice medicine safely, physicians are starting the legal process of unionizing.

This means that unless we do something about moral injury, the mental health crisis, lack of physical and emotional safety and burnout of our physicians and health care workers, we will see physician strikes here in the US imminently.

For the past several years, I have served as a Coach, Facilitator and Advocate for Physicians and Helpers. I am certified as a personal and executive coach in positive psychology, certified as a facilitator of the Daring Way and Dare to Lead (all methodology and research by Brene Brown) and Unbeatable Mind Coaching in mental toughness and emotional resilience by Retired Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine. I am also a certified chaplain for physicians, nurses and first responders. I am also an member of the Mindful HealthCare Collective providing free wellness sessions to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and also a co-author of the book “Thinking about Quitting Medicine?”

I have served countless physicians with the tools and resources to serve sustainably and thrive without succumbing to overwhelm, disillusionment, compassion fatigue or burnout. I have sacrificed everything to do this work and it has been the honor of my life and helping compassionate physicians and helpers thrive. As a trained physician who has lived the consequences of leaving medicine without a safety net such as homelessness, food insecurity, financial ruin and divorce, I know what lies ahead for those who burn out without support and I know how to provide a safe way forward that empowers them to thrive again.

I wish I could take on everyone pro-bono. But I can’t. I have my own family to support. However, the need for coaching support is great among our frontline physicians and healthcare workers. I need your help to continue to provide coaching support for those who have been fired or going through dire mental or financial distress. The need is great and the fallout from this pandemic will be greater.

Please consider donating any amount to support our group coaching or donating specific amounts to sponsor a physician or health care worker.

For several weeks, I have struggled to find the courage to ask for help in supporting our frontline heroes. But I continue to see the emotional and mental distress of our healthcare workers on the frontlines, I know that this is the right thing to do. So here I am.

Please Give Now to Support Our Heroes! Thank You!

What Your Donation covers:

A. Donate ANY amount for a general contribution. This will go towards group coaching, or individual coaching for physicians or health care workers in distress.

B. Support a physician or healthcare worker for a full coaching program for a month – 4 weekly sessions plus emails plus laser coaching support. ($1000)

C. Support 3 physicians or healthcare workers for a full coaching program for a month ($3000)

THANK YOU!