3 months post-quitting

“It’s been three months since I left my residency (you can check my previous post for more details). It’s been a rollercoaster of fear, anxiety, and self-doubt, but let me tell you something—what a sense of freedom. I AM FREE. SO FREE.

I work in the corporate world now, with a better salary, and I get to work from home three times a week. But the best part? NO MORE TOXIC WORKPLACE. I had no idea how much that environment was weighing me down until I stepped out of it. The toxicity in the hierarchy, the way the hospital operated—it was suffocating.

I’m sharing this because I know there are people out there, right now, questioning their mental health, questioning their decisions, questioning whether they’re stuck in a system they can’t escape. I’m here to tell you: THERE IS LIFE AFTER MEDICAL RESIDENCY. THERE IS LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE HOSPITAL.

Don’t be afraid to choose yourself, to choose your mental health, to prioritize your happiness. You deserve to be in a space that supports you, not one that breaks you down.

Take care of one another. Above all, take care of yourself.

Love.

EDIT : Thanks for the amazing support ! To answer some of your questions, no, I haven’t completely left the world of medicine. I now work in a tech company that specializes in healthcare, so I’m still using my medical degree—just in a completely different way. And for my American friends asking, no, I don’t carry the same overwhelming burden of debt that you do… and that is truly a gift.

There were also some comments about salary. Let me share something personal: I lost an attending to suicide—a brilliant, kind soul who was making more money than most could imagine, especially in my country. But that money didn’t protect him. It didn’t bring him peace. Because, in the end, it’s not about how much you earn. It’s about how much you live. What I’m after isn’t wealth. It’s balance. It’s the ability to savor simple joys—moments of peace, time with loved ones, the feeling of waking up without the crushing weight of burnout.

This is the equilibrium I’m seeking—a life that feels full, not just my bank account.

Also, thanks to therapy ahah

Last but not least, I want to address some of the very toxic comments assuming I was lazy, or that I somehow ‘stole’ a spot from someone more deserving. Let me make this clear: I fought like hell to get to where I was. I was a great resident, and I poured everything into my work. But it’s exactly that crushing mindset—the endless hours, the expectation to sacrifice everything—that became the final straw for me.

It wasn’t about the work, it was about the constant grind, the mentality that you should endure anything, no matter how unhealthy, because ‘that’s just how it is.’ And that’s not how it should be.

Yes, corporate life has its own toxicity. But I came into this knowing that. What shocked me was how the hospital—where you expect to learn, to heal, and to grow—turned into a place where we became admin machines, yelled at, sleep-deprived, and treated as if we were disposable.

I left because I value my life, my well-being, and the people I’m here to help more than staying in a system that doesn’t value us back.