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# Confessions from a Mid-Career Physician: Why It’s Okay to Want More Than Medicine

Offcall Team

> “We’re at that age where it would still be sad if we died of a heart attack—but not _shocking._” – Dr. Kaveh Hoda

Confessions from a Mid-Career Physician: Why It’s Okay to Want More Than Medicine with Dr. Kaveh Hoda - How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker

Confessions from a Mid-Career Physician: Why It’s Okay to Want More Than Medicine with Dr. Kaveh Hoda

Episode 29 •
22nd May 2025 • How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker • Offcall

00:00:0000:31:42

_1_

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Dr. Kaveh Hoda is a practicing gastroenterologist and [longtime podcaster](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-house-of-pod/id1225096382). He’s part of a cohort of doctors who trained on paper charts, watched the rise of EHRs, and now find themselves navigating mid-career questions that older generations rarely asked. Questions about purpose, burnout, and identity beyond the white coat.

In this episode of _How I Doctor_, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Kaveh about what it means to hit your clinical stride and still feel a pull toward something more. They unpack the hidden costs of professionalism, the subtle slide from skepticism into cynicism, and the permission every mid-career physician needs to explore life beyond the hospital. It’s a candid, funny, and deeply reflective look at the decade of your career no one warns you about, but nearly every doctor will face.

Whether you’re feeling stagnant, questioning your purpose, or just wondering what’s next, this episode is a reminder that you’re not alone. and it’s okay to want more than medicine.

### What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

- **The Mid-Career Medicine Trap - Why hitting your clinical peak can leave doctors feeling stuck—and how to shift from autopilot to intentionality.**
- **Beyond the White Coat - How today’s mid-career physicians are building identities outside medicine, and why that’s a strength—not a failure.**
- **When Skepticism Turns to Cynicism - The warning signs of burnout masked as indifference—and how to reclaim curiosity and compassion.**
- **Why You Don’t Feel Like a “Young Doctor” Anymore - Aging in medicine, the end of being called “too young to be a doctor,” and finding empathy through shared experience.**
- **Redefining Success in the Middle - Letting go of outdated goals, learning from the next generation, and making space for joy, hobbies, and reinvention.**

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📝 For a full transcript of this episode click **HERE**

https://www.offcall.com/learn/podcast/the-mid-career-physician-crisis-identity-burnout-and-reinvention

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