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16: Call Anxiety: The Fear You Won’t Be Able to Handle It

 Call anxiety is one of the most common – and least discussed – experiences in medicine.

For physicians who take call, especially those in high-acuity specialties like obstetrics, emergency medicine, surgery, and critical care, there is often a persistent fear in the background:

What if something happens that I can’t handle?

The night before call.
The quiet moments between pages.
The adrenaline surge when the phone rings at 2 a.m.

This episode explores the psychology of call anxiety in physicians and how it evolves throughout a medical career. Early in practice, anxiety often stems from inexperience and uncertainty. But even many years into practice, physicians may still feel the weight of being the person responsible when things go wrong.

In this episode, Dr. Christina Adams explores:

  • Why call anxiety is so common among physicians

  • How fear shifts from early career insecurity to mid-career responsibility

  • The cognitive pattern behind the thought: “What if I can’t handle it?”

  • How our brains often ignore the evidence of our competence and experience

  • Why anxiety persists even after years of successfully managing emergencies

  • How to reframe fear using a coaching approach grounded in evidence

Dr. Adams also shares a powerful clinical story from her own career: a severe postpartum hemorrhage case that pushed her beyond the standard treatment algorithm. The story, originally written as a blog post titled “All Bleeding Stops,”captures the intensity of managing a life-threatening obstetric emergency while holding the responsibility for a patient’s life in your hands.

Through this story, she explores an important truth about practicing medicine:

Handling a crisis does not mean feeling calm or confident in the moment.

It often means simply doing the next step.
And then the next.
Until the bleeding stops.

This episode is for physicians who:

  • Feel anxious before or during call shifts

  • Worry about being the only doctor available in an emergency

  • Carry the emotional weight of high-stakes clinical decision making

  • Want practical tools to examine and challenge anxiety-driven thoughts

  • Are navigating the evolving emotional landscape of a long medical career

If you’ve ever wondered whether the fear you feel on call means something is wrong with you, this episode offers a different perspective.

Call anxiety is not necessarily a sign of inadequacy.

Often, it’s a reflection of how deeply you understand the stakes of the work you do.

And the evidence from your career may already show something important:

You have handled more than your anxious brain gives you credit for.

In This Episode

  • The hidden emotional burden of physician call schedules

  • Why anxiety often persists even after years of experience

  • The difference between fear of incompetence and fear of responsibility

  • A real clinical story of severe postpartum hemorrhage

  • How physicians can use evidence-based thinking to challenge anxious thoughts

Key Themes

Physician anxiety • Call anxiety in medicine • OB call stress • Postpartum hemorrhage • Physician burnout • Emotional burden of medicine • Cognitive coaching for physicians • Women physicians • Physician resilience • Medical decision making under pressure

 

Work With Dr. Christina Adams

If this episode resonates, I'd love to talk about how we can work together.

I work 1:1 with women physicians who are:

  • Burned out and questioning their future in medicine
  • Navigating contract non-renewal or job loss
  • Planning an intentional exit from clinical practice
  • Exploring advocacy, leadership, or nonclinical career paths

✨ Schedule a free coaching consultation to explore what’s next.

About the Podcast Navigating Possibility — A Podcast for Women Physicians Ready to Reclaim Their Power

Navigating Possibility is the podcast for women physicians experiencing burnout, career dissatisfaction, or major transitions in medicine.

If you're a woman doctor considering leaving clinical practice, exploring nonclinical careers, or seeking a more sustainable and aligned path, this podcast is for you.

I’m Dr. Christina Adams—OB-GYN, physician coach, and former burned-out doctor. I help women physicians move from survival mode to self-trust, clarity, and empowered career decisions.

Each episode includes:

  • Physician burnout recovery tools
  • Nervous system regulation strategies for high-achieving women
  • Conversations about leaving medicine or redesigning your role
  • Coaching insight for intentional career transitions
  • Advocacy conversations about systemic change in healthcare
  • Real stories from women physicians redefining success

This is your space to breathe, reflect, and remember who you are beneath the white coat. You are not alone. There is a growing movement of women physicians reclaiming autonomy, identity, and possibility.

✨ Subscribe, share with a colleague, and help reshape the future of medicine.

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