There were 1,000 questions running through my head during this process. Some were especially difficult to answer and required some deep self-exploration. I thought it would be helpful to share my answers, as they may relate to your own. Once I came up with the flowchart and scale image, I answered these questions in that context.
Do I like medicine?
Am I thinking about quitting because medicine isn’t for me, or just because residency is too hard?
“Too hard” for what? I answered it as “too hard relative to my desire to practice clinical medicine.” This is why it’s important to answer “do I like medicine?” first. My answer was “not really.” So for me, chronic insomnia and anxiety that flared on demanding rotations, eventually needing medical treatment, was too hard for “not really” wanting to practice medicine.