This piece captures a reality that is rarely spoken about. Leaving clinical practice is often judged, not understood. A much-needed conversation on identity, burnout, and choice in medicine
The stethoscope always remains in essence and in identity no matter in what field you pursue further. It is a symbol that a part of your life was there and will always be there! It is a symbol that you will always want every patient in the world to heal! It says that you will always want yourself to heal!
We live in a culture that often equates a doctor to God. However, if a doctor sacrifices his own health at the altar of work, it is dangerous. Work related stress, long hours and poor lifestyle choices can turn the healer into a diseased. No job is worth sacrificing your health for.
I don’t come from a background of medicine. But as a fellow human, We all have a keen tendency to point out each and every persons profession background who personally choose to their life descision. Whether is it to continue or not. And we shall all should give respect about whatever live’s they have saved and have gratitude about it.
“Life is just about moving on”
Because medical training in healthcare requires extreme dedication and focused and also due to limited resources of instrument in healthcare.
From a dentist’s point of view leaving clinical medicine is still seen as a failure because society believes doctors are meant only to diagnose and prescribe medications to patients. But, fellows like me always think out of the box as I believe why we should follow the same footsteps as others when we can do so much more in this revolutionised world in the healthcare sector besides only describing medications.
For instance, designing public health policies, translating complex science into patient friendly awareness, etc. So, brainstorming new ideas and implementing in the healthcare forum is essential for meaningful change and to ensure better future.
Totally agreed, Doctors can cure every possible thing but researchers, policy makers or anyone working in healthcare sector other than clinical medicine can do synthesis of cure , said “Prevention is better than cure.”
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People quit careers and situations that no longer align with the life they want all the time. Still, the taboo that medical professionals face if they decide to choose a different path is catastrophic. This happens because doctors are either put on a pedestal or demonised, they are not viewed as humans who might have dreams and aspirations beyond medicine. It’s important to remind people that we enter this field when we are mere 17-19 year old teenagers with rose tinted glasses and a passion to be healers, not real world exposure. Life happens, bills roll in, many people get struck with chronic illnesses that significantly alter their lives and they end up becoming patients before they become doctors or simply people can grow up and want different things eventually, and that should be encouraged or else the mental health crisis is only going to rise amongst our peers. Quitting is good, we should all quit things that no longer bring us peace and happiness.
True and something to ponder about.
Leaving or staying in medicine never should be black or white. The core idea of medicine started when we learned how we could defy nature, defy sickness and death. We could learn thing that directly SAVE LIVES. Now that was and is a superpower. Now what if someone with a superpower just decides one day to stop using them !!
Yes the system is not as flawless as we want it to be, but for the people in need of those miracles- will still wish you retained those healing hands.
But it also takes a human to realise how the leader is not someone who is at the front, but is someone who walks behind, silent, protecting the crowd. These are the people who step outside the conventional clinical practice - step away from the limelight, only to change the SYSTEM from within, to make it better without any credits.
Glory may not follow immediately, but will certainly arrive when its time. So to all the doctors- clinical or not… keep using your wisdom to give back, but also keep some of the joy for yourself, enough to keep going!
Leaving clinical practice to shift to desk job is a choice , People who question that this can dishonour medical profession needs to understand that leaving clinics doesn’t mean leaving degree or knowledge .
It can still be utilised in any call of hour .
Desk job doesn’t always mean that professional is leaving medical knowledge completely , there are desk jobs in medical field too which still keep them connected to there field , even they can grow there theoritical knowledge in those fields .
Apart from all doubts and questions , we all are humans , at any point of life we have right to change our paths or to shift our careers then why to raise a question mark to medical professionals ?
leave clinical medicine can be considered failure because of the strict conservative thinking, social norms, and the understanding that the worth of a doctor lies only in hospitals, but not in the different healthcare fields.
Powerfully written. Leaving clinical medicine is an act of courage not cowardice. Especially if the individual was suffering greatly. Let us accept that clinical medicine is not for everyone and it is not necessary that all doctors have to choose clinical medicine as their final career
Leaving clinical medicine shouldn’t be equated with failure — it’s often a decision rooted in clarity, self-awareness, and a deep respect for one’s own wellbeing. Medicine has this culture where enduring burnout, sacrificing relationships, and ignoring mental health are somehow glorified as proof of dedication. But real strength isn’t about erasing yourself — it’s about knowing when your journey needs to shift direction.
The Society, family and even friends defined MBBS as a lifelong commitment to a clinical practice is Safe for well settled life for future . The current change in preferring non clinical by the graduates is seen as Waste of all 5 years by the society without knowing the actual growing opportunities in it and the personal choice of the individual.
Exactly right. It takes courage, not failure, to leave clinical practice. Everyone is harmed by the system’s exaltation of burnout. The taboo is broken and true resilience is honored when non-clinical approaches are celebrated as essential contributions.
Medical professionals leaving their clinical side should also be respected. Just because they work in non-clinical, doesn’t mean that their dedication or sincerity is gone. People should understand that and respect their decision.
True. Healthcare professionals are stuck between two choices, one being employment, and second being staying back in our noble profession.
Choosing personal health, mental peace, or a different path isn’t quitting—it’s self-respect. It’s high time, we need to stop treating burnout as something to be admired and start honouring clarity, courage, and well-being.
Quitting clinical medicine is no failure of devotion, but the deliberate decision not to equate suffering and virtue. When physicians retire, they reveal an unpleasant fact: austerity is not an ethical necessity, but a decision.