09/09/2026
I’m curious: Have you ever felt like medicine created a job for you that nobody actually named?
For nearly 30 years of being married to medicine, I’ve watched how easily the system’s unpredictability gets absorbed at home. The physician is not the only one adapting. The family adapts too.
That adaptation may look like love, teamwork, and commitment—and often it is. But when the same person keeps becoming the backup plan, the scheduler, the shock absorber, the default parent, or the one whose work is considered ‘more flexible,’ something starts to disappear.
Sometimes it’s time.
Sometimes it’s career momentum. Sometimes it’s identity.
Sometimes it’s the feeling that your life belongs to you too.
Share this post with a physician spouse who would immediately understand.