When Being a Great Doctor Isn’t the Hardest Part
When Being a Great Doctor Isn’t the Hardest Part
Here is a stat worth sitting with: women now make up more than 56% of dental school graduates. Female student members of the AAO outnumber their male counterparts 58% to 42%.
And yet only 34% of active AAO members are women. When you look at practice ownership, the number drops even further.
That gap is not about qualifications. It is about everything that happens after the degree.
I am not writing this to score points. I am writing it because I have spent years inside these offices. I have watched the dynamics firsthand. Not enough people are saying this out loud. There need to be more supportive outlets for female doctors. This is me trying to be one of them.
I have watched a male doctor be cranky and short-tempered on a Tuesday morning and everyone shrugs. “That is just how he is.” Nobody goes home upset. It is just Tuesday.
A female doctor does the same thing and suddenly it is a whole situation. She is difficult. She is emotional. Same behavior. Completely different reaction.
That is not a feeling. It is a pattern.
Now add motherhood on top of it. You earned a doctorate. You run a business. You manage a team. You treat patients. You handle school pickups. Sick days somehow always land on your busiest morning. And the guilt shows up uninvited every time you leave early.
It is a lot. Pretending otherwise helps nobody.
Here is what I want you to hear: the things that complicate your life are also the things that make you extraordinary. Stop leaving them on the table.
No one can do it all. But a good friend of mine used to say you can have it all if you are willing to delegate.
In my book The Practice Rx, I talk about living like a rock star. Rock stars do not pump their own gas or scrub their own bathrooms. Not because they are above it, but because their time is too valuable. I once worked with a doctor in Tulsa who hired someone just to fill his truck and pick up groceries every week. He called it the best investment he ever made.
Your mom may not have had these options. You do.
Using them is not something to feel guilty about. Guilt has its place. If you did something wrong, feel it. But guilt is not an appropriate punishment for making your life easier.
High achievers fall into this trap. The same drive that built your practice can convince you that doing everything yourself proves something. It does not. It just means you are exhausted.
Use the tools available to you so you can spend more time with your family, connect with your spouse, and actually take care of yourself. Swap guilt for gratitude and see what changes.
A few services worth exploring: grocery delivery, gas delivery, house cleaning, laundry pickup, meal prep, mobile car detailing, even dog waste removal. Yes, that one is real. And there is absolutely no reason your Saturday morning should involve a plastic bag and a prayer.
Then turn your story into your marketing.
I worked with a doctor whose marketing company was building a forgettable magazine feature about her technology and specialties. We stopped it. We rebuilt it around who she actually is: a mom of two who understands the chaos of family life. We photographed her kids tugging on her coat while she worked. Her phone rang nonstop because she spoke directly to the patients she actually wanted.
Stop hiding the mom part. The parents in your chairs are your people. “I am a mom too” is not an aside. It is a connection no piece of equipment can replicate.
Your whole story is your competitive advantage.
If you are ready to build a practice and a culture that supports the life you actually want, let’s talk.
Schedule your conversation here:
https://api.leadconnectorhq.
Proactive, Productive, and Profitable,
Dino