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17: When the System Asks You to Carry More Than Is Sustainable

 

Episode Description

Across the United States, rural obstetric units are closing and the number of physicians providing maternity care continues to decline. When physicians retire, move, or leave clinical medicine, hospitals often struggle to recruit replacements. Instead, the physicians who remain are frequently asked to take on more call, more responsibility, and more risk—often without additional support or compensation.

In this episode of Navigating Possibility, Dr. Christina Adams explores the growing crisis in rural obstetrics, physician workforce shortages, and maternity care deserts, and the hidden personal cost of trying to keep struggling systems afloat.

Drawing on her own experience working three years of q3 call while raising a young child, Dr. Adams talks about what that lifestyle actually looks like: constant sleep disruption, a nervous system that never fully rests, and the slow drift into survival mode.

This episode is not about blaming individual hospitals or questioning the commitment of physicians who continue to serve their communities. Instead, it’s about naming a difficult truth:

System problems require system solutions.

When healthcare systems rely on physician self-sacrifice to maintain access to care, burnout and workforce shortages often worsen.

If you are a physician practicing in rural medicine, obstetrics, or underserved communities, this conversation will help you think about:

• The realities of unsustainable call schedules
• The emotional pressure physicians feel to “hold the system together”
• How healthcare systems respond to physician overwork
• Why boundaries can sometimes force necessary structural change
• How to evaluate what is sustainable for you long term

Dr. Adams also discusses the concept of maternity care deserts, citing data from the March of Dimes showing that millions of women live in counties with limited or no access to obstetric care.

Most importantly, this episode reminds physicians of something we rarely say out loud in medicine:

You are allowed to protect your own life and well-being, even when the system is struggling.

Caring deeply about your patients does not require sacrificing yourself indefinitely.

In This Episode

  • The growing crisis of maternity care deserts in the United States

  • Why rural OB units are losing physicians

  • The hidden cost of q3 call schedules

  • What survival mode looks like for early-career physicians

  • The cultural expectation of physician self-sacrifice

  • Why systems often rely on physicians to stretch themselves indefinitely

  • How boundaries can reveal structural problems

  • Questions to ask yourself if your schedule feels unsustainable

Key Takeaway

You cannot personally solve a systemic workforce shortage through self-sacrifice. Sustainable healthcare systems require structural investment, adequate staffing, and policy solutions—not physician burnout.

Resources Mentioned

  • March of Dimes – Maternity Care Deserts Report

  • Data on U.S. maternal health access and workforce shortages

 

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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