Building a Medical Career That Works for You: Start With Your Values – Dr Claire Ashley
Traditional career advice for doctors usually goes like this: find a specialty you enjoy and work hard at it.
But enjoying your clinical work is only one piece of the puzzle. Creating a medical career that genuinely works for you- one that protects your wellbeing and keeps you energised- requires clarity on how you want to work, not just what you do.
This is where values come in.
It’s 2 hours in a 10-hour shift, or 1 day out of 5.
What are values, and why do they matter?
Your values are the principles that shape how you want to practise medicine and build your career. They’re what energises you versus what drains you, what feels fulfilling versus what creates friction.
They matter because when you work against them for too long, wellbeing drops. When you work with them, your energy, fulfilment, and confidence increase.
Why this matters now for doctors
The current state of healthcare makes it hard to work in alignment with our values. Research on moral distress and moral injury in physicians shows that when doctors can’t uphold their core principles- particularly around patient care- the emotional cost is real:
Higher burnout and emotional exhaustion
Reduced job satisfaction and professional fulfilment
Increased intention to leave medicine or reduce hours
Psychological distress without meeting criteria for depression
The harm comes from the gap between the doctor you want to be and the constraints you work within.
Common situations where values get squeezed:
Not enough time, staff, or resources to deliver the care you believe patients deserve
Rigid rotas that destabilise sleep, recovery, and family life
Volume targets that force pace over depth or quality of care
Being constantly needed at work but feeling unseen as a person
Minimal say in workload, patient volume, or workflow
What values do doctors actually hold?
Here’s a list of principles that matter. This isn’t comprehensive (if you want a more extensive list, feel free to Google “values lists” for additional options):
How to identify your values
Read the list above and notice which ones land immediately:
Which of these drew you into medicine?
Which feel most threatened in your week right now?
Which feel most like you when you’re at your best?
The answers don’t need sentences. Go with your gut instinct and don’t overthink!
When values are compromised:
Example 1: The denied LTFT request
A senior trainee returns from maternity leave in a competitive specialty. Her values have shifted- family time and connection are now central. She requests 80% LTFT, but her request is denied.
She returns full-time into a system demanding volume and pace. The gap between who she wants to be and what the system allows creates profound distress. She feels she’s failing both as a doctor and as a parent, caught between two identities with no space to honour either properly.
Example 2: The lost agency clinician
A doctor values patient advocacy and clinical depth. His week becomes endless ward cover, rota gaps, and admin. He’s forced to practise fast medicine, not right medicine.
He starts spotting near-misses- moments where patient safety could have been compromised. Nothing has happened yet, but he can see the Swiss cheese model about to align, and it’s deeply worrying. The emotional cost builds into moral injury, which research shows affects doctors like trauma: causing emotional exhaustion, and doubting a career that once felt like a calling.
When values are upheld:
Example: The values-aligned week
A GP trainer values care, mentorship, and connection. She ring-fences a weekly teaching clinic with trainees and also has protected supervision time- 20% of her week.
Rather than feeling squeezed, she finishes those days feeling like the doctor she hoped to become. The volume and complexity of clinical work isn’t necessarily easier, but it is aligned- and it gives her energy and fuels passion for her work.
Using values to make better career decisions
Once you know your principles, decision-making becomes simpler:
Instead of: “Which specialty looks most impressive?”
Ask: “Which environment lets me practise in a way that feels right?”
Instead of: “Should I take this extra full-time leadership post?”
Ask: “Would a portfolio role let me use my impact and advocacy values better?”
Instead of: “Should I quit medicine entirely?”
Ask: “Could changing the shape, hours, or setting of my work help me work in alignment with my balance and belonging values?”
Practical ways to use values in career shaping:
Use values to guide daily micro-decisions: If you value mentorship but feel too rushed, could you intentionally involve a junior in one ward round per week where you fully explain your reasoning? These 5-10% shifts don’t require permission- they’re about where you invest your attention within existing constraints.
Let values guide what you say “no” to: When asked to take on additional responsibilities, use your values as a filter. If you value rest and family time, declining extra on-call shifts isn’t selfishness- it’s protecting what sustains you. If you value clinical excellence over administrative tasks, you might decline a governance role to protect time for complex case discussions. Values give you permission to decline without guilt.
Shape your next career move around your top 2-3 values: When considering your next role, ask: “Which of my values would this role support, and which would it compromise?” For senior doctors, this might mean negotiating protected interest time into a new contract, or planning an exit strategy that preserves the parts of medicine you still love while releasing the parts that drain you.
Consider LTFT working if it creates space for what matters: Going LTFT isn’t just about working less, it’s about using that freed-up time intentionally for work that aligns with your values. Dropping to 80% clinical work to protect one day for research, teaching, or quality improvement can restore meaning when full-time clinical work feels relentless.
Using values in day-to-day decisions
When asked to take on more, pause and ask: “Does this align with what matters to me in how I work, and will it protect my energy over the long term?”
Values-supported decisions help you:
Choose work you feel pride in
Have faster mental clarity when prioritising
Set guilt-free boundaries
Protect emotional, physical, and family wellbeing without sacrificing professional identity
This isn’t asking you to do medicine differently. It’s asking you to do your life in medicine differently, in a way that protects your wellbeing, and your career longevity.
“Does this align with what matters to me in how I work, and will it protect my energy over the long term?”
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