Author: Dr Corrigan

The emotional exit interview no one ever does in medicine

Every year, thousands of physicians quit their jobs leaving hospitals, clinics, and academic centers behind. When they go, most organizations conduct exit interviews to gather feedback on salary, workload, or management. But there’s a deeper conversation that almost never happens: the emotional exit interview. This is the chance for doctors to honestly express how their hearts have been bruised by the very profession they once loved—and for institutions to learn what truly drives physicians away.

radical-rest-doing-less

Radical rest: Why doing less made me a better doctor

Let me confess something that might sound ridiculous coming from a doctor: for most of my career, I treated rest like a threat. A sign of weakness. A guilty pleasure to be earned only after I’d answered every email, seen every patient, signed off every note, and probably rotated the tires on someone else’s car just to be safe.

A split image of a dignified man: a physician on the left and an airline captain on the right, complete with a captain's uniform, hat, and a “Sully”-style mustache.

Resilience and true grit (Part 2)

Is the motive behind resilience training to retain staff so that the system can continue to stay revenue-positive, or is it an investment in the ultimate resource of medicine, the human one?

A mature male physician with silver hair and a calm, authoritative expression, wearing a white lab coat and a surgical mask. He has reached the top of Mt Everest and is delighted. Following him is another dignified female physician in the same attire.

Resilience and true grit (Part 1)

I am just a physician who has spent 20+ years in the ER, had a few leadership roles along the way (which makes for a mildly robust LinkedIn profile), and nurtured some wisdom too. I think that is enough.