Burnout Isn’t the Problem. Loyalty Is.

Because thriving outside medicine makes you stronger inside it.

The Moment Loyalty Became a Liability

When I worked for a physician education company, I gave everything—time, creativity, weekends, even the parts of me that made me me. As a salaried employee, I wasn’t trading time for money. I was donating my life to a bottomless well of “Let me just clone myself real quick.”

I loved the community. They were my heart.

I would lie awake at night thinking of ways to help them feel more celebrated and seen—brilliant physicians who were silently ashamed of wanting more, even though they deserved more. More freedom. More joy. More of the lives they’d worked so hard to build.

But we didn’t have KPIs for giving a shit. The system didn’t measure compassion; it measured compliance. And little by little, I started disappearing under the data.

Thesis: We misdiagnose what’s happening. Most of us aren’t merely “burned out.” We’re being eroded by misplaced loyalty to systems that reward overwork and punish reflection.

Erosion, Not Just Exhaustion

Erosion is quieter than burnout. It’s not the dramatic crash; it’s the slow dissolving of identity beneath a thousand invisible yeses. On paper, you look fine. Inside, you feel like a ghost.

It’s not just in medicine. It’s everywhere—hospitals, classrooms, boardrooms, Zoom rooms—where mission-driven humans keep pouring from an empty cup because they were told that’s what “good people” do.

• 63% of physicians reported burnout in 2022 (AMA).
• 1 in 5 plan to leave their current practice within two years.
• Only 14% of adults globally say they’re truly flourishing (Gallup, 2023).

These aren’t individual failures of resilience. They’re signals that the story we’ve been living—the one equating worth with output—is obsolete.

The Loyalty Tax (And Why Grit Isn’t the Cure)

We pay a hidden loyalty tax every time we absorb “just one more” responsibility to prove we’re team players. The tax is extracted in late nights, muted needs, and the slow forfeiture of joy. Grit, in that context, becomes self-extinction dressed up as virtue.

What if the opposite of burnout isn’t more grit—but better stories and smarter systems?

• A story where parallel paths aren’t disloyalty; they’re power.
• A story where faith and values aren’t soft; they’re fuel.
• A story where tech isn’t the enemy; it’s a shield for your peace.
• A story where your nervous system gets a seat at the table—so you can keep your patients, paychecks, and purpose without the meat grinder.

A Different Story (and Four Lenses to See It)

That’s the point of the Entrepreneurial Women Physicians Mini-Summit: to recalibrate the story and show practical ways to live it—inside and outside medicine.

Friday, November 1 (1:30–3:00 PM ET) Four sessions. One through-line: thrive beyond the system’s defaults so you can lead stronger within them.

• Stacey Ishman, MD, MPH — From Promotion to Property: Why Physicians Need Parallel Paths The old ladder overlooks wealth, agency, and time. Parallel paths create leverage—and choice.
• Dr Latifat Akintade — Holy Grit: How Entrepreneurial Spirit Strengthens Physicians Grit without grounding becomes martyrdom. Anchor in faith and values to lead from your core.
• Kelenne Tuitt, D.O. (Dr. Kelenne) Celebrate the Automate: What Happens When You Let Tech Lighten the Load Use AI and systems to protect your focus, your patients, and your peace.
• Kirsten Bombdiggity — How Women Physicians Are Escaping the RVU Meat Grinder Without Losing Patients, Paychecks, or Purpose A nervous-system-safe invitation to shift the story you’ve been living.

This is not another “optimize your morning routine” workshop. It’s a story shift with practical handles.

For Physicians—and Everyone Who Recognizes the Pain Point

Yes, the summit centers women physicians. But the pain point is broader: smart, caring people have been trained to confuse self-abandonment with professionalism. If that sentence lands a little too hard, you’re in the right room.

Because thriving outside medicine doesn’t make you disloyal. It makes you whole. And wholeness is the only sustainable engine for excellence inside medicine—or any mission-driven field.

Why I Host These (And Why It Matters Now)

These summits are how I gather brilliance in one spot. After the first one in January, I knew this was how I wanted to show up: curating rooms full of bold, generous voices and inviting others to pull up a chair. It’s community as intervention. Story as medicine. Practice as proof.

If you’ve been craving smart, humane conversations about purpose, freedom, and the future of work—this is your open door.

Join Us (and Bring the Part of You That Wants More)

• When: Friday, Nov 1 | 1:30–3:00 PM ET
• What you’ll get: A fresh story, practical strategies, and permission to design a life that doesn’t require self-extinction.
• Bonus: Register free to receive the Summit Field Guide and be entered to win prizes.

Because the system isn’t broken—it’s outdated. And together, we’re building better ones.

👉 Register free: https://www.fbombdiggity.com/entrepreneurial-women-physicians-summit