Resilience

Resilience has become an avoided phrase of late because it suggests that we need to increase our ability to cope with the pressures that are inflicted upon us rather than trying to influence the pressures. However, as a chronically ill/disabled medic, you will face many challenges, barriers, stresses and potentially discrimination and more often than not many of each at the same time.

Although networks such as this are aimed at trying to reduce the challenges, barriers, stresses and certainly discrimination that you will face in the future, it is still essential to ensure your resilience is as high as it can be in order to tackle the remaining stresses which are sadly inevitable.

Resilience in these terms can be thought of it two ways. Mental resilience so mental wellbeing and strength. Also career resilience which is planning your career in such a way that, despite health deteriorations/complications, you will still be able to continue in some form of clinical practice if you wish to do so.

Mental Resilience

There are many resources and forms of therapy/counselling which can be very helpful when addressing your mental wellbeing. Some of these are listed below:

Mind

Mindfulness resources

Acceptance Commitment Therapy

Career Counselling

It is possible to diversify your training, competencies and experience in such a way that you are able to undertake a wide range of clinical practices.If planned wisely, this can mean that even in the face of health deterioration/complications, continuing in some form of fulfilling clinical practice may still be possible if you so wish.

You may find the below ideas and resources helpful when trying to plan such career diversification:

Medical law

Appraisals

Training

There is a list of helpful resources for career planning for doctors in Welcomed and Valued: page 108, Panel 18: Career Planning

Medic Footprints is a website which provides some advice on changing careers due to physical and mental health problems

For GPs, the national GP Career Support Pack may be helpful

In order to help us to develop and improve this section of our website, we would be grateful if you would consider using our contact us section choosing the 'Suggestions for career guidance section' option to tell us about any resources, adaptations, etc that you have come across, used or made regarding mental well-being and career diversification.

Any information that you give us here may be used to develop our website but this will always be done anonymously (your name and contact details are requested purely in case we need to contact you to ask and questions, etc and will NOT be shared in any way on the website). If you do not wish for us to use your information in this way, please do not complete the form.