How Women Physicians Can Redefine Success Beyond Their Careers
Dr. Erin Sheffield
(YouTube Transcript)
Aneta (00:03)
Doctor Erin Sheffield, welcome to the Live the Width of Your Life podcast.
Dr. Erin (00:08)
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here with you today.
Aneta (00:11)
I was spending some time on your Instagram this morning and you are so prolific in terms of being a content creator. So I'm curious, when did you start creating content online and what was sort of the genesis of that?
Dr. Erin (00:27)
Yeah, definitely. I started right during COVID, the beginning of COVID, or actually maybe a little before. I was new to a practice and I was hoping to gain more patience. And the marketing team came for a meeting and I thought for sure they were gonna say, We're gonna do a billboard. And as much
Aneta (00:44)
Ha
Dr. Erin (00:45)
as I hated the idea of having my giant face plastered throughout town, like I was mortified by that thought, I was probably a little more mortified when they're like, You need to get on TikTok.
And I was like, what? And they're like, that's really where marketing is going these days, especially for doctors. So we really want you on there. So I kind of dabbled in it. And then once COVID hit, I was kind of one of those people where bored at home and wasn't working, all of that. So I kind of dived in then. So I've been making content for quite some time. And as you said, I am I would say prolific. I've posted thousands of videos, but I've just started really kind of taking off more. I've more than doubled my following in the last ninety days or so. So
That's been exciting to just kind of feel like, I'm starting to figure this out a little bit more.
Aneta (01:29)
Yeah, I probably would have been shocked like you if you think about starting a practice and you're like, okay, how do I get these new clients? And someone said, Yeah, well, as this established doctor, we're gonna have you do TikTok videos or Instagram videos, but
Dr. Erin (01:42)
Yeah.
Aneta (01:43)
they really are so authentic, and genuine and I love the stories that you share. And so
I don't know. are many other doctors and dentists and surgeons doing what you're
doing?
Dr. Erin (01:55)
I think you're starting to see more, but that's one of the things that I'm really passionate about is getting more doctors on social media, partially because there's so much misinformation out there right now. The misinformation they've done studies to show flies so much farther and faster than any of the correct information. So it's really hard for patients to flesh out who to trust, what they should be doing. And they're making these decisions a lot of times based off of misinformation or maybe mis
understandings of the information, or sometimes they're just complete scammer, grifters, people trying to make
Aneta (02:29)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (02:30)
money preying on you. So I really want doctors online helping. That's really the big reason I started was just patient education, putting out information for patients, for community members. But I think there's also a huge opportunity for doctors that they're missing out on. My life has completely changed after being on social media. And that's not even with having
I don't have hundreds of thousands of followers. I'm not, going viral every day, but it's really opened up so many windows for me. Like I'm an international speaker now. I'm a founder of a women's retreat and a women's group. I'm getting brands wanting to work with me and things like that. All of those that I never would have experienced, on top of just the benefit to my practice where patients see me. They're able to gain that relationship with me before they ever come in. So much easier, you can imagine.
to get treatment plan acceptance, et cetera, to build that trust when they already feel like they know you, they already know that you're an expert, that they trust your knowledge. So it's such a big opportunity and that's why I'm so passionate about it. It's cause a lot of docs are missing out.
Aneta (03:32)
definitely I would imagine that it can get really lonely too. You go through your medical school, you go through dentistry school and suddenly you're young still and you are establishing a practice or entering the world. Is that one of the reasons that you wanted to build a community and do the retreats and what you're currently doing? Tell me more about you know what prompted you to want to create this build a community of other
Physicians.
Dr. Erin (03:58)
Absolutely. Well, I'm a women oral surgeon and we are a rare breed. So when I was in residency, only about two percent of oral surgeons were women. Now it's about eight. So we're growing somewhat quickly, but we're so small a number and we have different challenges and expectations that we face as women in general compared to our male colleagues. And I think I would go to these huge mega conferences and be excited to go meet
more people like me, find women colleagues, even aligned male colleagues. And I just felt like a face in a crowd. And I would come home just feeling kind of frustrated and overwhelmed. Like, why did I take time off from my practice? Now I'm coming back and I'm just behind and I'm feeling stressed and I feel kind of embarrassed. Like I hope no one figured out at this conference that I'm
not doing all these crazy big surgeries or that I'm just in private practice in rural Illinois. And so I wanted to create a space where instead of feeling maybe that imposter syndrome more or feeling like a lonely island that when I left, I felt better and inspired and excited about my practice and actually learning things that are actually helping me and my patients. And so I just wanted to kind of transform that whole continuing education experience and use as a launching off platform for
Other women doctors to come together and just find that support. Cause especially when you're in private practice, you're right, it feels like you're just on an island and you're just wondering, Am I the only
Aneta (05:27)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (05:28)
one facing this? Is it just me? Is there something wrong with me? And when you come together in a group and you realize, we all have the same problems, we all have the same challenges. And it's just really helpful to find that community that can support and understand you.
Aneta (05:41)
Yeah, it's so true. And especially now we have an opportunity, of course, with being able to do this remotely to connect to people all over the country, all over the world. is your membership is it a community, is it like a monthly membership where people connect once
a month or what does that look like?
Dr. Erin (05:58)
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I started the membership because we would go to this retreat and everyone would be, Wow, I'm just so inspired and I'm changing my life. And then you go home two weeks later and you're back to the grind and you forget.
Aneta (06:12)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (06:13)
And so I wanted to create that kind of continual experience of being able to come together and receive that support. So it's a monthly coaching program with me. It's group coaching where
we do a monthly session every second Wednesday of the month for ninety minutes where we just come together and I teach a little concept and then we discuss things together and kind of help each other through. And then we also do like quarterly workshops with expert guests and understand some of the challenges that we faced as women doctors.
Aneta (06:41)
I love that. How often do you do your retreats?
Dr. Erin (06:46)
It's every year in February.
Aneta (06:48)
Okay, so you have one coming up very soon.
Dr. Erin (06:50)
Yeah,
coming up very soon. We have about two spots left. So it's going fast.
Aneta (06:56)
Amazing.
Dr. Erin (06:56)
We're closing out registration at the end of next month. So I expect to fill all of our spots. But yeah, it's really a wonderful opportunity to come together. And it's at the Mirval Resort in Austin, Texas, which if you know about Mirval, it's fantastic. Women's well, not just for women, but wellness resort.
Farm to table food whenever you want and you'll get opportunity to go to the spa and we do a lot of fun activities like last year we did a ropes course and made cowboy hats and things like that. So just really hands on activities to get in with that group and get to know people better too.
Aneta (07:31)
So good. There's nothing like retreats, I think, because you make the commitment, you're not at home, you're not in your practice, and so it's just an opportunity to really be all in and committed. And there's something about the accelerated plan with a retreat that where there's a capacity for such transformation
to happen in a short
Dr. Erin (07:49)
Absolutely.
Aneta (07:50)
amount of time. So this is what you're doing today, but
I think you had a really interesting video, and I was curious because I wanted to know more that talked a little bit about your story in which you were pregnant with twins and had a challenging time, I think. So would love to know more about that. But you came back and realized that you're no longer gonna be working where you were working. Can you share a little bit more about your story?
Dr. Erin (08:21)
Yeah, that's a big part of my metamorphosis, I think,
Aneta (08:26)
Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Erin (08:27)
into what I'm doing besides just showing up in my practice as a doctor. So fresh out of residency, I was working a job that was 75 miles away from where I was living in a rural practice. And I'd reopen that clinic. The doctor had had some health problems, so it shut down completely. So I came and reopened it and
he'd planned to come back to work with me, but he just never was healthy enough to do that. So I kept this practice afloat for a couple of years. Meanwhile, struggling with infertility, really battled with that, did multiple, multiple sessions of IVF that just failed, failed, failed. So I finally became pregnant successfully. originally with triplets. No, I didn't even do three eggs, but one of them split. So we originally had triplets. I ended up losing one of the
triplets very early in the pregnancy. But I worked up until the day before I delivered. I was driving 75 minutes each way, pregnant with twins, up until 36 weeks. And that was a challenge. And then they really wanted me to come back earlier than I was ready. They wanted me to come back in three or four weeks. And we were still having some problems. They were premature and
we weren't really feeding well and none of us were sleeping and there were still some things we were checking out, like my son's vision, and they were wondering if he had a brain bleed and some things like that. So there's just a lot going on, and so I said I'm allowed to take six weeks by law, so I'm going to do that, which I feel like that's still not enough time for twins.
Aneta (09:58)
No, it's not. It's not.
Dr. Erin (10:00)
Yeah, but they originally were supportive when they thought they could get a locums person, which is a temporary doctor, to come in, but they weren't able to find someone and so they were pretty mad at me. And so when I came back, it was a pretty hostile work environment. And I'd actually helped find and recruit another doctor to come work with us, thinking that would help take the load off. And once he signed, they let me know that they were not bringing me back. So it was just a very unfortunate situation and
I think that's a big reason that I'm on my platform just encouraging women and doctors to stop giving their all to something that doesn't care about them. No one cares about you the way that you need to care about yourself. And I think we think if I push through and I work hard enough and I'm a loyal enough employee that they'll always have my back. And I keep finding time over time again that
they don't really have my back. I'm kind of a cog in the wheel and they're happy to take what they can from me, but if I don't set those boundaries for myself, no one will.
Aneta (11:03)
Well, first of all, congratulations for being as courageous as you were. How old were you at the time when this was happening?
Dr. Erin (11:10)
I was probably about thirty two, maybe.
Aneta (11:12)
Yeah, young. I remember myself at that age and I think I would have done anything that the company wanted me to do or asked me to do because there's so much built in terms of our identity into who we are, what we do, there's a sense of responsibility. But what give you the courage to say, no, six weeks is what I'm legally able to take and to do?
Where do you think you found that courage or the ability to try to uphold your boundaries?
Dr. Erin (11:41)
I think a lot of it was just necessity. There was no way I could figure out how to do that. And some of that too is childcare. So they had said I could bring the babies with me to work and then all of a sudden I couldn't, so it's like they would change that or the arrangements we'd made like within a couple of days. My husband's also a resident and thankfully he was doing a research track at that point so he could be home a little bit more. But it's like how you have to be on a wait list for a year to find daycare for
A baby, let alone two. So that's just
Aneta (12:10)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (12:10)
very hard mechanics. But I think the other part of it too, I decided to file with the EEOC, which is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and that's where you file discriminatory claims. And so many people in my life were why are you even bothering with this? Like it's such a pain to go through it, and it's not worth it. And why are you even bothering?
And then some people are even, you're just being dramatic. And I'm sure that's not really what happened. And part of it, I think, is that people they don't want to see evil. They don't want to see the badness around us. So we
Aneta (12:45)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (12:45)
would rather decide that I'm dramatic or I'm a liar, even as family members or friends, than to
Aneta (12:51)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (12:52)
change the idea about what the world is. And so I just felt like at that point.
I need to put my foot down because I've seen so much harassment, so much discrimination, so much unfairness towards women and this kind of stuff people always say, how could that happen? It's illegal. Isn't it illegal? Yeah, it's illegal, but happens every single day. It could be hard to prove, it could be hard to go through. The mental strain and anxiety of the two or three years I was going through, it was terrible.
Aneta (13:19)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (13:20)
They open up every part of your life. It's not easy to go through. And so, I could see why people don't do it. And I just felt so strongly, I need to put my foot down. I'm in an opportunity where I can. Not everyone feels like they can. If you have to keep working that job, I know they can't discriminate against you or, be mad at retaliate, but
you're still working there, that's very uncomfortable. So I'm like, I'm not at this job anymore. I'm gonna put my foot down and I'm going to say this isn't okay for all of the women before and after me who can.
Aneta (13:54)
What happened?
Dr. Erin (13:55)
So the state of Iowa, after a long drawn out process, they ruled that there was probable cause that discrimination probably did occur. At that point, a lot of times the state would pick up my case and go to trial for me. The owner at that point had passed away, and so they thought they would probably just drop it. So I ended up getting a lawyer and we ended up coming to an agreement.
Aneta (14:20)
It's a lot of work. And I'm sure that being a new mom, raising twins and dealing with all the things that come with that. And on top of this, really choosing to do what you thought was the right thing to do for yourself, for your career, but also for others, not easy. how
long did that
Dr. Erin (14:35)
No.
Aneta (14:35)
entire process take?
Dr. Erin (14:38)
It was probably two or three years. It took a little bit longer because since the owner had passed away, they gave a lot more. It's supposed to be a lot quicker of a process, but it was probably double just because they were giving her some time to respond. The wife was the office manager, so also involved in the case. So I think that was appropriate, but it took a long time. We ended up resolving things a few months before our court date. But it's hard to go through and part of it is the discovery process.
I don't have anything to hide. I'm clean as a whistle, really. But it's like they wanted my Facebook password and they
Aneta (15:13)
wow.
Dr. Erin (15:13)
wanted my mental health records from my therapist and things like that. And some of you can push back on and we didn't end up giving, but like I don't want my
narcissistic boss that narcissistically abused me for two years to be able to read things that I don't even tell my husband. So I'm
Aneta (15:30)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (15:32)
not saying that to discourage people. I always encourage people, at least if you're in a situation you wonder, at least file, keep some notes, keep emails to your send emails to yourself if something happens that just felt weird. Because that's other thing is you'll try to convince yourself like, it wasn't that bad. And
it's probably just me. Maybe I didn't understand by the time a pattern's been established, you probably took longer to figure it out. You didn't document it. So I always advise people to do that. Like if something just hit weird,
Aneta (15:59)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (16:00)
just write an email, then it's timestamped, just the conversation, and then you have it. And if you don't need
Aneta (16:03)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (16:05)
it, you don't need it, but at least you have it on record and you can pull
Aneta (16:07)
Mm.
Dr. Erin (16:07)
it if you need to. and luckily I had like hundreds of pages of documentation, but
it's a lot to go through. But again, if we don't say no and if we don't stand up for things and we don't hold people accountable, they just do it to the next guy.
Aneta (16:20)
Yeah. What is that entire experience? How did it propel you into what you're doing today?
Dr. Erin (16:25)
Well, it just really helped me realize you have to live your life for you. And I think to become a doctor, I think that process automatically for most people primes you to be a people pleaser. It's every step along the way, think about it. You're trying to get into college, the best college. So you've got to prime your application to be just right. And you're trying to get into the right dental school and you're going to interviews and you wanna say just the right thing.
I gotta say this in this way so that they'll wanna take me. Same thing for residency. And when you're in residency or dental school, whatever the teacher says, whatever the attending says, yes, sir, I'll do it. You don't really get to say, no, I don't want to do that. So you just
Aneta (17:04)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (17:05)
kind of get primed to live your life for them. Residency, they call it that because you used to actually live in the hospital and it still often feels that way. Like
It doesn't matter if it's Christmas. You don't get to say, it's Christmas. You just get used to saying, Yes, sir, I'll do it. Yes, sir, whatever you want. And for patients as well. And so I think you learn to put yourself on the back burner so much that it becomes a detriment because I think if you're not taking care of yourself, you can't really take good care of the people around you either. So learning that jumping through all those hoops and
trying to be that best employee didn't protect me. So now I try to live a life that's in alignment with me. And sometimes maybe people don't like it, but I'm much more comfortable making those decisions and then encouraging others because I think sometimes we spent so much time building this life, so much time, so much blood, sweat, and tears, whether it's our own or someone else's, and the financial cost of becoming a doctor that.
I know a lot of people just feel stuck, I hate this job, I hate what
Aneta (18:06)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (18:06)
it's like, but how do you get out? It's we're too far in. And I don't think it has to be that way.
Aneta (18:13)
Yeah, I think that that's such a common thing. I experienced it and I hear from my clients too, is one, this idea that the path and the journey is set for us like well in advance, and you're so in it, just working the steps and what you think you're supposed to do, that there really isn't time, nor do we stop to say along the way, is this still really what I want? Is this going to get me
what I think I'm going to achieve at the end or feel and then we can get so far down the road or you think, no, I've invested so much time, I've invested so much money, I've invested so much education, or the identity and the titles and everything just becomes such a huge part of who we are and that it's really hard to imagine getting unstuck or imagine stepping away from it. So your experience happened
early and then it maybe it sounds like that you had the opportunity to start asking yourself those questions but for other women that maybe are listening and they feel this way what helped you to identify what a life that is in alignment with your values and what you want? Like what were some of the things that you did for yourself that maybe they can do as well.
Dr. Erin (19:26)
I think it ended up being a blessing because the worst thing that could possibly happen to me happened.
Aneta (19:32)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (19:32)
I was like fresh out of training. I think it was thirteen years of training and I'm the main breadwinner for our family. My husband's still in residency and I didn't have a job. And I was looking down the barrel of not having a job for a while. There were very few options.
Luckily, I ended up kind of scrounging together another commuting job a couple of days awork week and it ended up working out really well. But I was applying to Burger King and to Staples and to Wendy's. I filed for unemployment. And when you become a doctor, that's one of the things they say is your job security. You'll always have a job. And
Aneta (20:13)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (20:14)
there's like
I didn't. I was getting six hundred and forty-seven dollars from the state of Iowa, which is not enough to take care of a family of four. And so I was just able to realize because I went through that and I was looking down the barrel of the worst thing I could imagine for my career. And I came out on top. It was okay. So there's only going up from there. And I think sometimes we catastrophize things and we just
it'd be the worst. And maybe it's a gift to take a few months off. I remember during COVID, my husband and I are again kind of the same situation. I thought we had all this stability working as surgeons, and here we are, both stuck at home for months.
Aneta (20:54)
Mm.
Dr. Erin (20:55)
Are we even going to be allowed to operate again? The ORs are closed. Dentistry was closed. The entire
Aneta (21:01)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (21:02)
healthcare sector of dentistry was closed except for emergency care.
How long is this going to go on? Are we going to make it? But in the end, I will never get two months at home. I will never get a two-month break from my job. That's something I wish for. Like, if only we could take more than one week vacation at a time. So I think sometimes it's just realizing those things that we think are worst-case scenario or sometimes a gift and an opportunity to really just decide
Is this what I really want, or is this just kind of what I'm letting life happen to me and I'm just it's too uncomfortable to even consider changing?
Aneta (21:39)
Yeah. How did your practice change after COVID?
Dr. Erin (21:43)
I mean, it definitely changed a lot of referral patterns. So dentists that used to send me patients, we used to have to do COVID testing before you came into your appointment. And people in Missouri, I'm right on the border. I used to get probably most patients from Missouri, they do not want to do that. So politically that was interesting just to see how the different patients kind of lined up. I started pulling in a lot of new doctors and patients I hadn't met before.
And then some of it's just we're a little more strict on just infection control anyway, like we have air filters and I wear more PPE than you know the protective. I just never really
Aneta (22:22)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (22:22)
got away from that. And it took a long time for me to even take my mask down. I got so used to wearing it that it was like hardly even take it down. So I know it's kind of interesting to see some of the holdovers, but I think we're mostly back to normal.
Aneta (22:35)
It's so strange. It's one of those things where you think, Okay, we're in twenty twenty six, that was twenty twenty, six years ago, and yet it could feel like it was just yesterday and also feel like it was a lifetime ago. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (22:47)
Exactly. It feels
exactly that way. In some ways it's just surreal and it's hard to even believe and to comprehend how long it was and how different things were. Yeah, it's crazy. And I also think it was a good demonstration for me as an oral surgeon because, dental gets looked at as elective so often. Like, it doesn't matter. And all these other doctors are saving lives and we're just helping people with their teeth and
It really showed the downstream effects when people aren't getting their care in a timely fashion. How many more people are ending up at the hospital? How many people
Aneta (23:22)
Mm.
Dr. Erin (23:22)
are losing teeth they didn't have to lose? How many patients had infections? Like it took a couple of years definitely to catch up with that. And that was a big issue. Just a lot more bigger dental problems because people had to wait.
Aneta (23:35)
Yeah, for sure. One of the things I know you and I really align on is living with intention, just living this life in a full way. And as women specifically, one of the things that I think we were raised in certain generations to believe is that we can have it all. You can have it all. You can have your education and the career and the marriage if that's what you want, and the family if that's what you want, and all these other things.
And I've struggled with identifying do I believe that or what does that version of that look like for me? So what do you think about this notion of having it all? Do you think women can actually have it all, or is there a caveat to that?
Dr. Erin (24:14)
Yeah, I think on one end it's kind of inspiring, right, to think that.
Aneta (24:18)
Right.
Dr. Erin (24:18)
And then on the other end, I think it's a big lie. And so when you can't manage all the pieces at once, it makes you feel like there's something wrong with you. So it can be a little bit dangerous to believe too much. So my philosophy is more that you can have a lot.
Aneta (24:33)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (24:34)
You can have a lot, but I don't think we should be striving to have it all. And
maybe we have it all but in different stages. I'm not gonna have it all at once. I'm gonna maybe have it all spread out over time. But to be able to do it all, something has to give. We can't do it all. And if you're gonna try to do it all, you better have an amazing support system.
Aneta (24:54)
Yeah, absolutely. how do you and your husband, who both have these big careers, how do you guys
manage?
Dr. Erin (25:02)
So remember when we were interviewing for jobs, he told the recruiter, again, at the beginning, when they're trying to get you to come, that's kind of the best time to shoot your shot. Like, we want to bring you of course, whatever you want. And so he said, I want a job where I don't have to work five days a week. I want to be able to set my schedule. And the recruiter was mortified. You can't lead with that.
You can't lead with that. You can't say that before you've been working as a partner for years.
Aneta (25:32)
Mm.
Dr. Erin (25:33)
And we don't accept that. We feel like we need to both become surgeons for us to just be absent to our lives and to our families. We both have high paying careers where maybe we both work part time. And so that's kind of been our philosophy. And we're definitely a partnership. So my husband is super, super helpful.
He is my activity scheduler planner. He's the one that gets the kids signed up for basketball and tells me where the kids have to go on a Wednesday. And I feel like most dads aren't doing things like that, but we're just really willing to step up and to fill in those gaps and to really work as a partnership. And then we chose our practice based on flexibility and what we wanted. So
We live in Quincy, Illinois, really small town that a lot of our friends think sounds really boring and unglamorous. But we're also living an amazing life where I work three days a week as a surgeon. He works probably four or five times a week, but he's also maybe leaving late enough to get the kids to school and getting home at two thirty or three to pick them up from school. And I don't know too many surgeons that are living that life, but
We came to a place that really needed us, that wanted us, that's happy that we're here and is willing to let us work the schedule we want. So maybe you can't live in New York City.
For example, and
Aneta (26:53)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (26:54)
work exactly the hours that you want and do it all. Maybe you have to make some sacrifices, but we've made those decisions so that they make our life work for us. And we've been really happy with that.
But you have
Aneta (27:05)
Mm, I love that.
Dr. Erin (27:06)
to get out of the box. Everyone thinks, you have to work 80 hours a week as a surgeon. You're not allowed to take time off. You're not allowed to do this. You couldn't possibly. And why not ask? Find a place where you could.
Aneta (27:19)
Right. Yeah, it always amazes me to think about the pressures. We all have pressure, but especially in the medical field and what doctors and nurses and all physicians and
dentists and everyone, what they have to deal with in terms of hours and expectations and lack of sleep and all kinds of things. What are you noticing or what are you and the other women in your community talking about? What is the type of change you want to see in the medical field?
Dr. Erin (27:44)
I think one of the big things is just there's a lot of toxicity in healthcare, particularly in training. There's a lot of hierarchy, there's a lot of patriarchy, there's a lot of that good old boys' club. And it's getting so hard to be a doctor. There's so much distrust out there.
The pay is going down, insurance makes our lives insufferable at times. It would be really great to be able to rely on each other. But instead, I think a lot of times we're the first to eat our young. I just made a post on Instagram, I think it was yesterday, where I said, basically just remember your chief resident is a chief because he's a couple years ahead of you, but we
Aneta (28:24)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (28:25)
take it so seriously. Like
I'm the chief, don't question me, or you do what I say
Aneta (28:30)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (28:31)
because I'm the chief, or I get a bully you, and you better not say anything. And it's like you don't really have any extra credentials. Like, yeah, you probably know a little bit more because you've been doing it for what, six months more, nine months more, two
Aneta (28:42)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (28:43)
years more. So all of that, I just think that old hazing structure, like, well, I went through it, so you have to too. Like, we
Aneta (28:49)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Erin (28:50)
need some people to like this isn't actually helping.
This isn't rude. They call it pimping. You go on rounds and they ask you question
Aneta (29:00)
I guess.
Dr. Erin (29:00)
after question after question until you feel completely dumb. Like even if you get one right, they'll keep going until you feel like an idiot. And they just that's not actually promoting education. Like shame-based learning doesn't help learning. It actually shuts down learning. And that's been so much the model all along. So I would really love to just change.
That part of medicine really make it more where we're relying and supporting on each other, the community. Our patients would be better for it, and certainly we would as well.
Aneta (29:31)
I don't want anyone in a healthcare, the practitioners to be in a place of shame or fear or not sleeping or to have their nervous system intentionally dysregulated by their superiors. Like why is that a good
Dr. Erin (29:44)
I know, intentionally, for sure.
Aneta (29:46)
why is this still happening? Like from people that should know better.
Dr. Erin (29:51)
Again, I think it's kind of hazing, if you're in a frat and you had to do whatever thing that you had to do, well it's not fair for the next generation to get by easy. I think
it's like a trauma. It's like generational trauma that's just getting pushed
Aneta (30:04)
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (30:04)
down, pushed down, pushed down. And then I think,
maybe it's a bunch of nerds that never had any power and were always kind of bullied or not the cool guy and now they got a little authority and they're just wanting to push down. I don't know. I think it comes from a place of hurt and low emotional intelligence a lot of the times. And that's one thing I think is so fascinating because as a content creator, I get so many hateful comments almost every day on my videos
Aneta (30:30)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (30:32)
and
occasionally it's from community members, but most of them are from other dentists and doctors. And it just irritates me so bad because I'm like, do no harm except to your colleagues.
Aneta (30:42)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (30:43)
Why are we all so triggered. We're all projecting so much on everyone else that we can't just say, you do a bone graft that way. I prefer this way. It has to be like.
my gosh, you're a total idiot if you do a bone graft like that. Go back to school. You should go lose your license and get fired if that's the kind of stuff. Your patients are so unlucky that you're their doctor, and it's like you surmise all of that from a ten second clip of a video, So
Aneta (31:12)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Erin (31:14)
I think there's just a lot of sad people.
Aneta (31:17)
Yeah, no,
Dr. Erin (31:18)
Taken out on others.
Aneta (31:19)
I don't know, it just seems like sometimes it very daunting to think about how does that change and starts with I mean the entire process, but someone will have to stand up to it and make a change and so I guess you're doing it outside of the system with creating your community, the doctor
is all in and hopefully the women that are part of your community can take that back and make a difference and make a change forward. much easier than boiling the entire ocean. But yeah you said you have a retreat coming up. So who is the ideal person to come to your retreat?
Dr. Erin (31:55)
Yeah, I think that ideal person is a woman doctor. She's probably been doing this for a little while and she feels is this the life that I built that I really want? Someone who wants more, who's kind of sick of the status quo and wants to do better but doesn't really know where to start.
Aneta (32:13)
That's perfect. Well, we'll include the link in the show notes and I'm sure that you will sell
Dr. Erin (32:17)
Thank you.
Aneta (32:18)
it out. It looked amazing. I looked at it on your website at the photos and the videos, and it looks like you guys do a lot of really cool things together. and Austin
Dr. Erin (32:26)
Yes.
Aneta (32:26)
is such a fun town. So, and I've always wanted to go to Marival. So I think that
Dr. Erin (32:32)
Yeah, come, come meet us there.
Aneta (32:34)
Yeah.
Erin, if folks want to follow you, if they want to learn more about you, what is the best way that they can find you?
Dr. Erin (32:41)
The easiest way to find me is on Instagram. You can find me at Dr Erin Sheffield, D-R-E-R-I-N-S-H-E-F-F-I-E-L-D. You're welcome to DM me, leave a little, little note on a video or something, and I'm usually pretty good at getting back to people.
Aneta (32:59)
I was shocked to read some of the comments, especially on some of the videos.
Dr. Erin (33:02)
You notice too.
Aneta (33:04)
I did. I was like, What is wrong with people? I mean, I know there's a lot, but that was just like why would you take the time to put something like that? And yeah, it's
Dr. Erin (33:13)
That's
always surprising me too. Yeah. Like why bother? the one that surprised me maybe the most, I was in this Maxim magazine cover girl competition, which just was a whole other funny little thing. And it was like eight rounds, and I won every round up until the very last second where some lady blew a bunch of cash on votes and beat me out. But I was telling some different dental forums like, hey, I'm in this thing, and it'd be fun if you'd vote for me.
And there are some people that were really mad, like really, really mad and disgusted that I was asking for their vote. And they would go on multiple times and be like, why are you wasting your time? But they would like go across multiple posts and go across different, like, find me to comment over and over again about how I'm wasting their time. And I'm like, You're the one that's choosing to show up and find me on other.
Aneta (34:06)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dr. Erin (34:07)
One
thing to make one comment, but you're seeking me out to try to do that. So I don't know, we're not very rational creatures, are we?
Aneta (34:14)
No, we're not.
We're all a little wounded, I think. Yeah. I ask everyone a final question, which is tied to the title of the podcast. What does it mean to you to live the width of your life?
Dr. Erin (34:26)
To me, it's all about intention. And especially as someone in healthcare, start asking yourself, am I living the life that I really wanted when I started all this? Or am I living the life that just kind of accidentally happened to me?
Aneta (34:40)
So good. I feel the exact same way. Well, Dr. Erin Sheffield, thank you for joining me today. I just wish you continued success. I'm following you. I love watching your journey. And I do hope that some of the desires that you have for the healthcare in general really does start to come true. My daughter just finished nurse practitioner school and she's
part of that space, and I want her to be.
in a place that's thriving where she could focus in on her patience.
Dr. Erin (35:08)
I do too.
Aneta (35:09)
Yeah. Thank you.
Dr. Erin (35:10): Thank you.