We were lucky to catch up with Danielle DonDiego recently and have shared our conversation below.
Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience moments when the entire field takes a U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.
A U-turn would absolutely describe my career path! I initially worked in a medical office and hospital as a family doctor and hospitalist early in my career. I suffered from physician burnout in conjunction with PTSD while trying to leave an abusive relationship and practice medicine full time. I’m honestly not sure how I kept it all together. I was functioning on the outside, but barely on the inside. I decided to transition to telemedicine to give myself a much needed break, and additionally started a mentorship program for healthcare entrepreneurs. I knew my worth as an individual could only be matched on my own terms, and if I were able to function as my full, rested, and healed self I could do so much more with my skills. I always saw medicine as a stepping stone rather than my end game for my career. Today I am one of the few Obesity Medicine specialists in the US and I practice fully online in multiple states all over the US. I use social media to spread awareness, educate, and advocate for patients. Additionally I run retreats and mentor physicians looking to create a work outside of their medical office that provides them freedom and flexibility in their lives. A healthy, happy doctor who chooses to work rather than being guilted into more work is a great doctor. We can be many things at once, but we can’t run on an empty tank. I ultimately want healthcare professionals to take their power back in the field of medicine, and practice in a way that feels right for them, while making an impact outside of the exam room.
Danielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a double board certified family & obesity medicine physician. I practice 100% via telemedicine and see patients all over the country via Join Sequence/Weight Watchers. I treat patients with obesity with evidence based care, and advocate and educate on the topic of obesity via social media. We have to combat the stigma and let people know there are real treatment options via a trained doctor like myself and my colleagues. There are countless misconceptions and bias surrounding the disease of obesity, and I’m hopeful we can make an impact to give people back their lives with appropriate care. I love my job as a doctor!
I am also a survivor of domestic violence and narcissistic abuse. I wrote a book called “Self-Care Rx: A Doctor’s Guide to Transformation After Trauma” that is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It was important to me to tell my story and highlight other professional women’s stories of domestic abuse so that other women feel empowered. 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence, and the most life threatening time is when you attempt to leave the relationship. This was the case for myself, and I was still working as a busy doctor in residency. I wanted to shine a light for other survivors to not feel alone.
Additionally, I am a business mentor for professionals entering the world of entrepreneurship. I earned my MBA while in medical school, knowing I would do more than practice medicine. Throughout the last many years I have lost several colleagues in healthcare to suicide, and struggled with my own mental health and PTSD. Healthcare is one of the most taxing professions and many of us suffer silently. There is fear of retaliation, or not being seen as “fit” to practice. There is not much space for us to have a break, as we are always needed. We also collectively have a hard time saying no when someone is in need. My solution was to use my knowledge and ability to create businesses by helping others create an alternate source of income outside of the medical office/hospital in an area they love. For me, entrepreneurship has opened up many doors to continue to educate, advocate, and transform other peoples lives, and I’m a much happier and healthier doctor for my patients because of it. It’s my indirect way of saving healthcare professionals lives, by showing them there is another option and they aren’t bound to one career forever. We should be empowered to pursue anything we want to do at any age, and not feel trapped by one profession. We endure trauma regularly and keep moving, and ultimately I think this is where we could hit a breaking point. Variety makes life fun, and it’s ok for doctors, nurses etc to have other interests and step back from the grueling hours of healthcare. We are so much more than our career! I have mentorship programs for different stages of entrepreneurship including an upcoming Mastermind in 2024, and I host retreats for those interested in taking their first steps. Our next retreat in April 2024.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There are so many!
One major lesson I had to learn was that it’s ok to quit something. I grew up hearing “quitters never win”, and that proved to be confining for me in many areas from relationships, jobs, friendships, or any commitment I agreed to. Quitting has been one of the fastest ways to level up. If I’m not growing, thriving, or making a difference somewhere, then my energy isn’t being used best. I’d rather give 100% to things I love than 20% spread over 5 things I just sort of like. Speaking of, I had to learn to say no without explanation. I wasn’t aware how much of a “yes” person I was due to not wanting to disappoint others. It took a lot of practice and standing firm in my basic needs as a form a self care to learn to say no. Now I have no trouble turning down things that aren’t an enthusiastic yes. Much of our individual growth comes from unlearning things we were taught that do not benefit us in today’s world. The same lessons our parents grew up with may have worked for them, but might actually hold us back today. I always heard to never leave a job in under 2 years, but this has proved to not always be valuable in today’s world. You have to go where you’re happy, valued, and allowed to thrive. If it isn’t that, I don’t want it.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Yes. I would still choose medicine. If I knew everything I know now, I would have been kinder to myself in the process. I would not have felt like such an imposter. I would have believed in myself more. I would have been more confident and not let others determine who I am. However, I wouldn’t be here mentoring and writing a book on just that if I didn’t go through everything I overcame. I love my job as an obesity doctor. I embraced telemedicine well before it became popular in 2020. I am always looking to the future of my field to make it more accessible for patients, and that requires taking risks before the world is ready. If you don’t find a job you love, you can create your own. You can do things your way. You can challenge the status quo, and be a great physician at the same time.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/drdondiego
- Instagram: @drdondiego
- TikTok: @drdondiego
Image Credits
Alessio Filippelli & Manuel Perugini