Becoming the Change I Want to See: #OwnVoices Movement

I was bombing as a medical educator, and I knew it.

 

Five days a week I was teaching Fellows how to navigate the inpatient hospice world, but I was still failing these about-to-graduate physicians. Some had up to $650,000 in student loan debt, but I was sending them on their way to attending-hood without the real education they needed to survive long term.

 

I’m not talking about how to prevent burn out (though they needed that too), but a nuts-and-bolts financial education.

 

They’d ask me how to deal with debt in between cases, and I’d answer to the best of my ability. I have an interest in personal finance—heck, I even read the entire Mr. Money Mustache blog during my second maternity leave. But I felt I couldn’t give the Fellows enough guidance in one month together.

 

I finally scrapped my usual Grand Rounds presentation and cobbled together a new lecture.* One I wish someone had given to me as an intern. And again as a resident. And as a Fellow: “Burn out, surviving a toxic work environment, and Personal Finance.”

 

Because we all need a clue. Or is it just me?

 

Recently I was talking finances with one of my friends, a PMG member (Physician Mom Group). Both of us were frustrated with not having all our needs met by the online finance community—for a variety of reasons. If what we need has been written, it’s not being marketed well enough—or isn’t short enough—for those of us struggling to manage families and jobs. Sometimes multiple jobs.

So I started poking around, looking for female physician bloggers who appealed to the finance geek in me. There’s not a lot. ** I guess we’re so overwhelmed with struggling that we’re just in constant survival mode.

 

All I see, everywhere I turn, is…wait for it…white male physician bloggers.

 

Don’t get me wrong: I love white males. Heck, I married an amazing white male and even let my body be trashed to give birth to two more.

 

But like the #WeNeedDiverseVoices movement in the publishing world, we.need.more diverse voices contributing to the financial conversations online amongst physicians. Males look at the world from a different viewpoint and may not perceive gaps in the financial discussions going on. Perhaps the male species could benefit financially from reading Diverse Voices because with diversity comes an explosion of ideas—different ways of thinking help make the world a better place.

 

And the more knowledge we share, the better solutions we discover to dealing with debt and physician problems.

 

So one day I snapped, and took the plunge, converting my existing blog to say what’s not being said. I’m not here to take over the financial blogging world. But I am here to show up on Fridays to contribute diversity to our discussions. I also want to pay it forward by answering the questions I once had.

 

And next week I’ll talk about our BIG CELEBRATION—the result of what happens when you bring multiple voices to making financial decisions over the years. Until next Friday, May the Fourth be with you: I believe you can conquer your finances so you can live the life you want to lead.

 

For Discussion: What do you think is missing from the financial discussions in the online financial community? I’ve already started a list with the questions I’ve been getting…

 

* If you want the power point of the Grand Rounds I give to Fellows, drop me an email.

 

** If you’re looking for a female Physician finance blogger, go check out Miss Bonnie MD. Dr. Baker wrote a great read at Practice Balance on My Money Makeover. OB Doctor Mom struck a cord with her blog on “Retired at 37: Breaking up with a Career in Medicine.” And If you’re on Twitter, Dr. K.M. Walker started an awesome twitter discussion under #DoctoringWhileFemale. Check out this awesome link of known female bloggers collected here.