People often ask why I advocate so hard for physicians, why did I give up everything to focus on their lives when I’m not a physician myself.
I don’t do it for profit or recognition, I do it because as a physicians wife I saw and felt pain with my husband.
Medicine became entwined in our life, every aspect had medicine at its core to work around.
People would say to me “oh you’re married to a doctor you’re so lucky” or “you must have a big house and loads of money then”. I would politely smile and say “haha no”. In their eyes I was simply a doctors wife and loving life, oh how I wish it was that simple.
The real life is med school debt, long days not knowing when my husband will arrive home, unsure what mood he will come home in but guaranteed he was definitely exhausted and falling asleep on the sofa with his scrubs still on, not able to buy a house because we weren’t sure where we were able to settle down as he rotated, throwing all plans out the window because we never knew if he will be home, sacrificing a lot of my own life to accommodate the needs of medicine.
That was nothing in comparison to his day to day life and struggles but I couldn’t help them, I didn’t even know where to start.
Medicine isn’t all bad though, he loved his work and it made him happy to help his patients, to be part of an incredibly hard working team and following his passion and calling.
I was his biggest fan, supported him and to this day I’m extremely proud of everything he achieved.
I am angry at the system for making life near impossible to survive in and offering no support when he couldn’t take the hits for another day.
We are lucky he’s still with us today but as a very different person than he was. Some physicians haven’t been so lucky.
That’s why I do this. We marry medicine, when we say “I Do” we say it to our partner and their profession.
Medicine is like having a third person in your relationship that really doesn’t like you very much.
The struggles aren’t just felt by the physician, it ripples through their loved ones too. Sometimes their loved one doesn’t know how bad it is or what’s causing it but they do know something is wrong, they can’t help yet desperately wish they could.
I’m lucky that my husband spoke to me and we faced the challenges together, the majority of physicians don’t open up at all.
For the rest of my life I will advocate for systemic change so our physicians can follow their passion without sacrificing themselves for it.
As always I want to thank my fellow advocates and healthcare voices, trying to make life better for physicians around the globe.
Olivia Morris
Olivia is a business leader and branding expert with nearly two decades of experience. She specializes in empowering physicians to build authentic personal and business brands, helping them stand out in their niche and accelerate their growth.
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