#48: Physician Coaching- A Man's Perspective with Michael Hersh, MD

Introducing Dr. Michael Hersh, who was in the same coaching class as Amanda and Laura, and has pioneered the male coaching space.  He is a full time practicing gastroenterologist in Chicago who came to coaching to address some of his frustrations with work. Little did he know, the work he did in the professional space created many improvements in his personal and family life.  He has amazing insight from the male perspective and all the other skeptics out there!  You can find him at betterphyscianlife.com.

Great moments with Dr Hersh:

• but something just still didn't seem right. It was, it was almost like, you know, it was fine. But it just seemed like maybe something was missing. There should be more. And I kept seeing these ads for physician coaching. Super skeptical guy.  But I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna give this a try. This seems like something. I could try, I don't know....and then he asked me this one question that really changed everything for me. And that was, “well, if you don't do this, then what changes?” And man, that question, so I did it and it just, it literally changed everything.
• I think one of the biggest hurdles that we kind of tackle in physician coaching is processing feelings, right?...I didn't even realize I had that many feelings. I was frustrated, angry, worried, and that was about it. And then during one of my coaching sessions, one of my female coaches pulled out a feeling wheel. And I don't know if your listeners know what a feeling wheel is, but this was an overwhelming experience just seeing this thing and all of the potential feelings that can exist. And so I think for men learning to process emotions and feelings is really vital work and it's something that we do a lot of in coaching.
• I think that female physicians have kind of been the pioneers in the physician coaching space. They have been the ones that have really gone out there, you know, and in some ways, and again, I hate to be, you know, stereotypical and like gender focused, but you know, women tend to be the caretakers. And so right now the female physician coaches are caretaking for our entire profession.
• I think the men, I think all physicians are skeptical, but I think the men tend to be a little bit more skeptical of this work out of the gate. I know I was, but once, once they experience it and they see the power of it, very quick adopters.
• And I would say the thing I didn't realize was I thought saying yes, was just saying yes. And I didn't think about the no that I was saying on the other side of that yes. So when you say yes to one opportunity, you're saying no to something else. And for me, the people I was saying no to was my family...

  So rather than thinking about a boundary as a negative thing, like, “oh, I'm saying no and that person's gonna not be happy with me because I've said no to them”. Remember the people that you're showing up for in that no, most notably yourself. 

 

Where to find Dr Hersh:

https://www.betterphysicianlife.com/

"Doctors Living Deliberately" Podcast with Dr Arpita DePalma (also on YouTube)

Other resources: 

Feelings Wheel

 

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.

If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here. 

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