We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christina Merritt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christina below.
Hi Christina, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
Being a general pediatrician and a primary care provider is just getting more and more challenging in today’s healthcare system. More and more is being asked of and expected of primary care doctors with a steady decrease in pay. It had gotten to the point that I was seeing 20+ patients per day, while trying to take care of refill requests, school forms, phone calls and portal messages in between patients. Then in the evening I was charting for hours on the patients I saw that day and preparing for the patients the next day. This lifestyle was not sustainable for me; I was miserable and was worried that I was no longer practicing good medicine because I was spread too thin. I wasn’t sleeping well, I didn’t get to see my friends and family as much as I wanted, and I was just exhausted. A little over a year ago, I decided to take a huge leap and start my own practice. This was obviously a huge undertaking and involved a ton of work, but now that work is paying off. It is so important to have some sort of work-life balance, and having my own practice allows me to do that. I am able to set my own hours and make time for me. One of my goals is to never feel that burned out again, so a big thing that I incorporate into my schedule is to make time to stay active. I love to play tennis and pickle ball, so I have dedicated time for that. I also make time to spend time with family and friends, even if it’s just for a quick meal or drink. And the last big thing I do to avoid the burnout is to travel, I have a group of friends that I travel with and now that I have my own practice, I have a lot more flexibility to do that.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a general pediatrician in San Antonio, and last October I opened my own practice Merritt Pediatrics. After 15 years in a traditional medical practice, I was ready for a change. I feel like medical care has gotten so impersonal, rushed and just generally frustrating for all involved. I wanted my practice to be different, so I decided to join the ranks of Direct Primary Care (DPC). The goal behind my practice is to restore good doctor-patient relationships, like they used to be 20 years ago when your doctor actually knew you. To achieve this, I do not bill to insurance and patients pay a monthly subscription, like a gym membership. In return, patients have unlimited direct access to me. When patients call my office, they speak directly to me. They can message or send me pictures or videos. I handle everything from scheduling to administering vaccines, I get to be involved in every aspect of their care and I love it! I get to know my patients and my patients get to be seen and heard, which is not happening in a traditional practice. I’m so happy to be able to be a better doctor and still have time to live my life. I’m still looking to grow my practice, so I am accepting new patients from newborn to age 18.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Belief – there will be a lot of self doubt and in my case doubt from others as well. But if you have a goal and a vision, you need to believe in that vision. Try to avoid the negative self talk
2. Patience – starting a new business takes a long time, and growing the business takes even longer! It is so easy to get impatient, thinking you should be making a profit by now or why don’t I have more patients yet? It takes time. You need to be patient.
3. Messing up is ok, that is how you learn and grow. In my case, I had very little knowledge on starting a new business and I have certainly made mistakes along the way. It’s how you handle the mistakes and learn from them that’s important.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My biggest area of growth is valuing myself more. I was just a regular pediatrician who was overworked and undervalued, and I believed that I wasn’t worth that much because that was how I was treated in my old practice. The imposter syndrome was real! But when I actually look myself in the mirror now, I no longer see someone who was mentally beaten down and doesn’t think she’s someone special. I made it through 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency, and now I have been practicing medicine for almost 16 years! In the mirror I now see a happy, fulfilled, great doctor. And that has been such a life altering thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.merrittpediatrics.com
- Instagram: Merritt_Peds
- Facebook: Christina Merritt
- Other: TikTok Merritt Peds@chrismerritt527
Image Credits
Tim Stewart
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