Doctors are believed to be the high achievers and genius people in our society. Being a physician myself, I'm seriously worried about the well being of our fellow physicians.

Most physicians are suffering from exhaustion, boredom, burn out and even severe depression.

All these problems may be news to our general population but in our doctor community these are some serious challenges most of us face at some stage of our life.

Prevalence of depression in physicians may be the same as in the general population but there are two major differences.

1- Because of their medical knowledge, physicians self treat themselves for a long time and delay getting some professional help, to them seeking help is a sign of weakness.

2- Physicians have easier access to lethal means, the successful completion of suicide is much higher in healthcare profesionals.

We all know that the medical profession is extremely difficult and has some unique challenges that no other occupation encounters.

Major stressors for Physicians:

1- Long hours at work with more frequent lack of sleep.

2- Lack of Family time.

3- Great amount of waste of time doing clerical work and dealing with insurance companies.

4- Complex payment and insurance rules and regulation.

5- Lack of reimbursement from insurance companies and increased numbers of no pay patients.

6- Public perception that doctors make a lot of money, some patients are not willing to pay at all.

7- Dealing with very difficult and emotional patients.

8- Fear of harming Patients.

9- Fear of Malpractice attorneys and law suites.

10- High overhead, taxes and difficulty in retaining office staff.

11- Extremely high educational debt.

12- Extra pressure from employers and administration to do more.

13- Burnout and exhaustion due to long hours at work, mostly unappreciated.

14- Pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle and habit of spending more.

15- Poor financial intelligence leads to poor financial decisions and loss of investments.

Like in general population one of the major stressor in physician’s life is financial stress, weather it's due to massive student loan, difficulty in getting reimbursed by patients and insurance companies or due to poor financial habits, majority of physicians have no choice but working long hours , extra night shifts and more time away from family and loved ones. When you spend more stressful time in the hospital, you eat unhealthy food and excercise less, all this effects your general health.

Unfortunately, despite making good money most physicians are stressed due to their poor financial intelligence and that's the area they are not willing to take control of. Physicians don’t understand that working more is not the part of the solution, they need to work less and make more money and thats only possible if they learn how to invest wisely.

I was one of those physicians who never learned the money game and always see more work as the only means to make more money. After suffering from Burn out only 4 yrs ago, I decided to learn the basics of investment. I’m by no means an expert in finance and investment but I have changed my life by taking massive actions and now i’m working less, I have more time for myself and my family, I’m sleeping better but the best part is I’m making the same or may be more money than before.

In the next article I'll allude to the steps I have taken to achieve the most valuable treasure of my life which is TIME.

My goal is to help everyone specially physicians to understand the importance of financial intelligence and self belief which helps you achieve the lifestyle everyone deserve, A lifestyle without exhaustion and burnout.

Give yourself education, patience, self belief and take risk, life will give you your freedom and enjoyment you deserve.