Meet Hope Cook

We were lucky to catch up with Hope Cook recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hope, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I credit burnout with helping me discover my purpose. Not one, but two bouts of career burnout left me reeling and wondering why I ever chose to become a Physician Assistant in the first place. In 2017, I was working in the holy grail of specialties, dermatology, when I realized I would trade jobs with a Kroger cashier if it meant never having to return to my toxic job. This realization built slowly, but my come-to-Jesus moment happened during lunch one day. I’d escaped from the office to hide at the little library near my office, and while exiting the parking lot to return to work, I got rear-ended. Instead of thinking about the car’s damaged bumper or being late to see my patients, I noticed my thoughts were centered around regret that I hadn’t been injured enough to justify not going back to work. That was the moment I realized I was burned out and had to make a hard choice: stay and suffer or gather up the courage to leave. I’d never felt so alone or broken. Back then, I thought something must be wrong with me. I’d never come across articles or social media groups focused on burned-out clinicians, nor had any of my PA classmates or colleagues ever admitted they were burned out.

The second round of burnout was less dramatic but harder to acknowledge because, on paper, the job was perfect. I am, in fact, still there. The problem was the workload. Two of my colleagues were out on maternity leave, and our schedules got more and more packed. I felt the familiar Sunday blues and work dread. Again, I didn’t want to tell anyone I felt this way because it felt like I was admitting a weakness. I finally cracked one morning and cried in front of my office manager. It turned out I wasn’t the only provider feeling that way. Our schedules were adjusted,d and my work life improved dramatically.
Burnout was my wake-up call, and it became part of my purpose, too. I never want a clinician to feel as hopeless and alone as I felt. I speak and write about burnout openly. I share tools, tips, and words of wisdom from other clinicians on my podcast and in my upcoming book on healing clinician burnout.
My “why” is to help clinicians see burnout differently, not as a sign of weakness or failure, but as a sign that they need to evaluate their lives and discern what needs to shift. I do what I do because our patients desperately need clinicians who are able to provide quality care, and that won’t happen if they’re burned out. More than that, burned out providers need to hear, “You matter. We need you. You can heal from this and get your life back. You can even find joy in your career again.” This is what I most longed to hear when I was burned out.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have a podcast called Health Clinician Burnout, where I offer stories, tools, and tips to overcome burnout and prevent relapses. I also interview other clinicians and share their journeys and words of wisdom.

My book, CPR for Clinician Burnout, How to Resuscitate Your Life and Career, will be out this year (2025) on Amazon and will offer a framework for medical professionals to heal their burnout.

I completed my Master Life Coach certification in 2024 and offer workshops, group coaching, and individual coaching focused on healing and preventing burnout. I also speak around the country on healing career burnout in healthcare.

I still work part-time in dermatology and consider it a privilege to have served patients in my community for almost two decades.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three things have helped me in my journey: 1) Self-awareness. I first learned to be aware of my thoughts when I took yoga teacher training. I’m now aware of the voice in my head, the onslaught of often untrue and unhelpful thoughts, and the actions and behaviors I choose as a result of those thoughts. This awareness is the key to how I show up in this world and what my path looks like going forward.
2) Life coaching: I was ready to leave medicine for good when I decided to sign up for a life coaching course. The tools I learned completely shifted how I saw my situation. I realized being stuck was a choice. I couldn’t always choose what happened to me, but I could choose how I responded. I chose to stay in my job, and I’m so glad I did.
3) Learning to really see people. I used to think of patients in terms of their diagnoses or chief complaint, “There’s an acne in Room 2.” Or “There’s a psoriasis note I need to finish.” My journey has taught me that every single one of us has a story. We all want to be seen, and this is especially true with patients. I get to know my patients’ stories, and this deepens our patient-provider relationship and my commitment to giving them the best possible care.

Advice: Start with observing your thoughts. What’s the story in your head? Ask yourself this multiple times a day. Notice. Notice what makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad. Journal about this daily for a few weeks and you’ll notice patterns. Notice your body. The body doesn’t lie. What bodily sensations do you feel when you pull into the parking lot at work? If you can step back and become an observer of your body, your thoughts, and your actions, it’s like a magic tool that’ll help you direct your path toward joy and purpose.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I’ve learned to ask myself, “What do I feel?” and “What do I need?” These two simple questions have changed my life. I no longer rely on my job to fulfill all my needs, nor do I rely on my spouse to “make” me happy. It’s up to me to notice what I’m feeling and what I need. When I’m overwhelmed, I try to step back from the situation and become curious about myself. Practically speaking, this involves alone time. A long walk or sitting alone with my journal. I write and write until I’ve dumped all my worries on paper. Only then can I zoom out and see patterns or signs I may have missed. Often, my overwhelm is due to unmet needs. Maybe I’ve piled too much on my plate and I need rest. Maybe I’ve said “yes” when my body was telling me I should say “no.” Quiet and self-inquiry are key to discerning what’s underneath the overwhelm.

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Evermore Photo Co (Sara Evermore)

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