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Should I Quit Medicine? A Decision Framework From a Doctor Who Almost Did
If you've typed "should I quit medicine" into a search bar, I want to start by telling you something: you are not being dramatic, you are not ungrateful, and you have not wasted your training. You're asking a real question. What I'm not going to do here is answer it for you. Most people who tell you to quit are selling you an exit. Most people who tell you to stay have a stake in you staying. Instead, I'm going to walk you through the framework I actually used — and by the en
Jessica Robertson Patera
Sep 16 min read


The Night Before Returning to Work After Time Off
I spent Sunday fighting something I couldn't name at first.
It wasn't sadness. It wasn't quite fear. It was a low, humming agitation that sat just under my skin all day — the kind that makes you snap at the person you love most over something that doesn't matter, then feel terrible about it ten minutes later.
I'd had a month off. A real one...
Jessica Robertson Patera
Aug 88 min read


You Were There. But Where Was Your Presence?
You made it to the playground. You sat on the bench. You even looked up from your phone a few times.
But if someone asked what your daughter said to you on the drive home, you'd have to guess.
You were there — technically. Physically. In the geographic sense of the word. But your mind was three charts behind, two emails deep, and already rehearsing tomorrow's differential before your kid finished telling you about the caterpillar she found.
If this hits close, you're not
Jessica Robertson Patera
Aug 18 min read
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