Join the waitlist

What Financial Wellness in Medicine Means to Me

David Flynn, MD, MBA

Updated:

July 3, 2023

Published:

July 10, 2023

The mental and financial health of the physician community has never been worse than it is today. 63% of physicians report symptoms of burnout. Burned-out physicians are considering early retirement or transitioning to non-clinical jobs, but many cannot change careers due to inadequate savings or excessive debt.

Meanwhile, prominent personal finance bloggers are fanning the burnout flames, telling us we need to do more and make more – develop “side hustles”, manage real estate portfolios, and make enough money to retire by 40 – all while cutting our own hair and eating instant noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We need to find better ways to take care of our community and empower physicians to be well again. Whether we want to admit it or not, our attitudes toward money impact our mental health and how we manage our careers.

Financial wellness is not a monolithic concept. What wellness means for me will not be the same for you. An important question to ask yourself is: to what extent do the various facets of your life enable the life you want versus impede it?

I discovered that time is more important to me than anything else.

Time allows me to do what I love – spend time with my wife and kids, exercise, socialize, and pursue my hobbies. I have organized my financial life in a way that allows me to maximize my time now, but without sacrificing my future. I do this by making the most of the money that I earn, through smart saving, spending, and investing.

My goal at Attend is to help physicians achieve financial wellness through smart financial planning and money management.

The mental and financial health of the physician community has never been worse than it is today. 63% of physicians report symptoms of burnout. Burned-out physicians are considering early retirement or transitioning to non-clinical jobs, but many cannot change careers due to inadequate savings or excessive debt.

Meanwhile, prominent personal finance bloggers are fanning the burnout flames, telling us we need to do more and make more – develop “side hustles”, manage real estate portfolios, and make enough money to retire by 40 – all while cutting our own hair and eating instant noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We need to find better ways to take care of our community and empower physicians to be well again. Whether we want to admit it or not, our attitudes toward money impact our mental health and how we manage our careers.

Financial wellness is not a monolithic concept. What wellness means for me will not be the same for you. An important question to ask yourself is: to what extent do the various facets of your life enable the life you want versus impede it?

I discovered that time is more important to me than anything else.

Time allows me to do what I love – spend time with my wife and kids, exercise, socialize, and pursue my hobbies. I have organized my financial life in a way that allows me to maximize my time now, but without sacrificing my future. I do this by making the most of the money that I earn, through smart saving, spending, and investing.

My goal at Attend is to help physicians achieve financial wellness through smart financial planning and money management.

The mental and financial health of the physician community has never been worse than it is today. 63% of physicians report symptoms of burnout. Burned-out physicians are considering early retirement or transitioning to non-clinical jobs, but many cannot change careers due to inadequate savings or excessive debt.

Meanwhile, prominent personal finance bloggers are fanning the burnout flames, telling us we need to do more and make more – develop “side hustles”, manage real estate portfolios, and make enough money to retire by 40 – all while cutting our own hair and eating instant noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We need to find better ways to take care of our community and empower physicians to be well again. Whether we want to admit it or not, our attitudes toward money impact our mental health and how we manage our careers.

Financial wellness is not a monolithic concept. What wellness means for me will not be the same for you. An important question to ask yourself is: to what extent do the various facets of your life enable the life you want versus impede it?

I discovered that time is more important to me than anything else.

Time allows me to do what I love – spend time with my wife and kids, exercise, socialize, and pursue my hobbies. I have organized my financial life in a way that allows me to maximize my time now, but without sacrificing my future. I do this by making the most of the money that I earn, through smart saving, spending, and investing.

My goal at Attend is to help physicians achieve financial wellness through smart financial planning and money management.

About

David Flynn, MD, MBA

Dr. David Flynn is an anesthesiologist and advisor for Attend. He is passionate about personal finance and student loan repayment strategies for physicians. He earned an MBA from the Wharton School and is the only practicing physician to have completed the Certified Student Loan Professional (CSLP) program from the CSLA Board of Standards.

‍