What have I been thinking about recently?
How to balance action with rest.
My recent conversations with Menders guests have highlighted the same theme over the past several weeks, balancing self-care and rest with systemic advocacy and action.
I do not know how to thread this needle perfectly, but I know that when my body needs rest, it tends to put its foot down and demand that I care for myself. Simply put, I tend to get sick when caught up in a cycle of overwork, which is precisely what happened to me this week: Point taken, body.
Our work to create transformation in healthcare requires staying flexible, maintaining an openness to experimentation, and engaging in relationships with those around us. This work is sometimes vulnerable, frustrating, and more of a marathon than a sprint. And so, I am again reminded that it is my job to keep myself sustainable for the duration of this adventure.
I hope you join me in setting aside some time to reflect on what you need to care for yourself and make things more easeful over the next week.
What's new on Menders?
For Menders’ episode 22, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Khara Jefferson, a functional wellness consultant and the owner of KAJ Wellness. I found this conversation fun and joyful, and I hope you feel the same way!
Khara brought her functional medicine perspective and her history as an emergency medicine practitioner to our conversation. She shared her current approach to helping people move towards gut health, or as she says, to go from “toilet hell to feeling well.” Khara shared that changing how she interacts with patients has allowed her to get more joy out of her clinical work and keep herself sustainable.
And finally, we explored how she might take a functional medicine approach to examine the root causes of distress in our healthcare system. The excellent news is that Khara believes we can create transformation, but it will involve all of us fully committing to the process.
· How her own experience with a chronic illness impacted her journey into the field of medicine.
· Why she sees helping our patients understand the “how” of change as more crucial than telling them “what” they need to change.
· And why she believes everyone should be equipped with skills to conduct a rapid quality improvement project.
I hope this conversation inspires you to take care of yourself and take the time to find the root cause of distress on your team or in your system.
My favorite quotable moment from this episode!
“When a whole bunch of people is doing a whole bunch of the same things, it’s a ripple effect…and if you start by putting a whole bunch of little bitty things into place, eventually those little things become big things, and those big things will become huge things. That’s how we improve healthcare, but it can’t be just me. And it can’t be just you. It has to be a whole bunch of like-minded people.”
Dr. Khara Jefferson (Menders, episode 22)
SAVE THE DATE!
I wanted to let you know that I'm trying to build an audience for my podcast and announce my new business to the world.
To do so, I'll be hosting a free masterclass on September 21st at noon PST! I would love to have you there! I'm hoping to present to a packed virtual room. And honestly, it will be fun and interactive.
And, if you know any well-being-focused (or curious) healthcare leaders or clinicians who might be interested, I would love to connect with them. Feel free to spread the word or send them my way for all the details!