We recently connected with Jillian Rigert, DMD, MD and have shared our conversation below.

Jillian , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In 2014-2017, I was an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident and active duty military member. During long periods of sleeplessness in a high stress environment, I developed pervasive suicidal ideation. In a culture that often stigmatizes mental health challenges, I looked around and it felt like it was just me as not many people were open about their struggles back then. Getting help was a risk to my career – I ended up getting medically discharged from the military for seeking mental health treatment. However, the risk of NOT getting help could have been my life. I risked my career to save my life – though it wasn’t an obvious decision for me at the time. I opted to resign from surgery and transfer into Oral Medicine residency, taking a risk by leaving the career path I had worked hard to obtain for an unknown journey ahead. I spent the next few years numb, isolating in guilt and shame for leaving my first residency and feeling like a failure. In 2022, I took another risk – I needed to be vulnerable to release myself from the heaviness I was carrying in secrecy. I shared my story openly on KevinMD, aware that many people would worry about how being vulnerable may impact their career. Fortunately, sharing did not bring the criticism or negative repercussions that I anticipated – instead, it brought people into my life who related and were supportive. Over time, I found that being vulnerable in safe spaces and true to ourselves paves the path to finding communities where we feel a genuine sense of belonging. It’s now my life mission to help others to see that there is nothing more important in their career than their life – nothing – and to learn how to create a sustainable life that is true to themselves – freeing ourselves from societal pressures that lead us astray.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

After years of constantly chasing achievements and pursuing the jobs that I felt would prove my worth as a human, I was feeling more and more empty. What I realize looking back is how much I was sacrificing core parts of myself in order to be what I felt society needed me to be. Feeling lost in 2014-2017 as I began to accept that a career that I had sacrificed many years to obtain was not the right fit for me, developing suicidal ideation, losing loved ones at young ages, and then nearly losing my life to an eating disorder became catalytic events that shaped my perspective on what truly matters in life and how societal values often lead us astray.

I dove into coaching as a way to heal myself and get back into the driver’s seat of my own life. The transformational journey that coaching provided me has been powerful and helped me to create a life of purpose and meaning. Now, I live it to give it – I am passionate about providing the transformational benefits of coaching to others on a journey to discover or rediscover what it means to lead a life true to themselves which I feel is essential to life fulfillment and sustainable wellbeing.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had learn through a long process of unlearning that our self-worth is not dependent on external achievements or titles, and we will not find long lasting happiness in the chase. I sacrificed time with loved ones and my health in order to chase achievements and a career that I felt would help me to feel “worthy,” and as I sat on a hospital bed being told that I may not survive much longer at the rate I was going, I saw clearly how my beliefs about what brings us peace and happiness in life were misguided. I learned the importance of developing a self-compassionate relationship with ourselves for a stable sense of self-worth (thank you, Dr. Kristin Neff!) and that happiness is a journey, not a destination (thank you Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar and Dr. Arthur Brooks!).

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If I could go back, I would have listened to my undergraduate self and pursued a career in mental health with training in psychospiritual wellbeing. I am planning to finally pursue that path, and I will be applying to Psychiatry with an interest in psycho-oncology.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jillianrigertcoaching.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-rigert/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JillianRigertDMDMD