A Year of Doing Nothing and Everything

It’s been a year since I freed myself from corporate practice in Gynecology. I stopped practicing Obstetrics in 2020. I even limited myself to only office Gynecology toward the end. I thought that was such an easy job, after thirty years of taking night calls.

But something inside remained unsettled. Did I make a meaningful impact on my patients’ health? Did I add more joy and lower their stress? Most women don’t need yearly Pap smears anymore, and primary care physicians can prescribe their mammogram or Dexa scan referrals. I decided to step back as Dr. Arthur Brooks advised in his book “From Strength to Strength“ and used my “crystallized” intelligence to see the whole picture of how to be a Doc with a purpose.

A year later, I read more books monthly than just the one assigned for bookclub. I walked with the naturalists from Nature Forward, learning about birds, wild flowers and names of trees and shrubs I had run by hastily for years while on the same paths. It was a perfect year to wander in nature as the country descended into a tsunami of changes and conflicts. Nature’s enormity puts our problems in perspective. Powerful people, like ordinary mortals, are specks in the universe. They come and go although they might not recognize it.

I exercised more leisurely, not having to “kill myself” with shorter, much more intense workouts due to the previous lack of time. We can’t be effective physicians urging patients to exercise while being couch potatoes scrolling through social media.

I slept much better, spent more time with family, joined friends for different community services including working on a nonprofit farm that donated produce to a local food bank, and gave some wellness lectures at a women’s shelter. I went to plays and concerts with friends, and learned to cook from gourmet vegetarian chefs online. I attended meetings with nonprofit organizations I’ve supported for years like Foodtank and Food Revolution Network, and learned much more than just about Gynecology.

I spent more time volunteering at MobileMed, a government subsidized clinic for the underserved who live like shadows in Montgomery County, Maryland. As a physician, I can’t pretend to walk in their shoes; I can only hold their hands and join them briefly on their tough journey. I might be the only one they encounter that day who expresses gratitude for their work cleaning office buildings, constructing streets, serving in restaurants, picking crops…. These patients had numerous chronic diseases which reaffirmed my desire for further education in wellness, to help change their lifestyles within their ability for better health. I studied hard and passed the Board Certification exam in Lifestyle Medicine earlier this month.

I had a year of rest from corporate medicine, a year of “doing nothing and everything,” nothing for a paycheck but everything for the meaning of being healed as a healer. Do you love your job? Is it challenging but satisfying? Would you keep working if you got paid 3/4 less? If you say “no way,’ then it might be time to step back and reflect on what would bring you meaning in your work and eudeimonia – thriving and nourishing with purpose. After all, time is a diminishing commodity, a gift box of a mysterious number of tickets. One ticket out every day, and nobody knows if there are any tickets left inside.

I have no regrets about my year of rest. I believe I got everything I needed for my break and more. I hope your year was meaningful too.

Have a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2026!