Session 158 In today's episode, Ryan talks with fellow physician-podcaster, Dr. Paddy Barrett who is the man behind the podcast The Doctor Paradox. Dr. Barrett is from Ireland and somewhat considers himself as a "medical nomad" having done various medical school training and internship in medicine and surgery in Ireland, cardiothoracic surgical training and working in emergency medicine in Australia, interventional cardiology fellowship in Columbia and New York, as well as training and practice in Scripps in San Diego, California. According to Dr. Barrett, more and more studies are coming out about how physicians are unhappy, not to mention the skyrocketing statistics of suicide. On the flip side, new data was released suggesting the record-breaking number of students applying to medical school each year. In this episode, you will have a quick glimpse of his transition from being an international medical graduate in Ireland to living in the U.S  as well as Ireland’s medical school scene. Dr. Barrett also shares with us a ton of golden insights to help you scour your way through your own medical path that’s laden with too much negativity from unhappy physicians. Here are the highlights of the conversation with Dr. Paddy Barrett: When he first realized he wanted to be a physician Initially wanted to be a candle-maker and a lawyer Had a dream he was interviewing a physician and woke up wanting to be a doctor Promised himself that he would never find himself in a situation where he wouldn't know what to do after witnessing someone drowning What's medical school like in Ireland: Medical school cost is free (except for registration fee) High school to medical school (no undergrad degree) Medical school is approximately 6 years in duration with first 2 years focused on basic sciences and additional years on medical and clinical specialties and clinical attachments Applying to medical school in Ireland: During his time... Leave-in certificate examination - 6 subjects Based on the marks you get from those, you get an accumulative score Numeric qualification, "supply & demand" economics matching system - you get in based on your points (which means you had to get straight A's in your subjects if you really want to get into a school you wanted) Today... No need for straight A's but match it with an additional examination tailored towards your application to medical school Ireland is currently struggling with how best to go about selecting medical trainees Challenges he faced moving from Ireland to the U.S.: Recognition of medical school training Visa type and duration of stay - Most visas have a 2-year home rule ACGME-accredited residency for board eligibility affects job availability and insurance Should it be easier for an international medical graduates to come into the U.S. to practice? Depends on the needs of U.S. healthcare Certain barriers need to be relaxed to fill the needs particularly in primary healthcare and other areas that would benefit from a carefully selected group of people coming from international medical schools The impetus of The Doctor Paradox: Seeing many trainees and physicians being: very frustrated and unhappy with their work suffering from burnout fearful of their future and how to manage their choices with no formal infrastructure for people to engage with and those who are going through their medical school training or after as to how best to think about their medical careers not exposed to other non-traditional practices of medicine "Much of dissatisfaction in general in life has to do with expectation mismatch." - Dr. Paddy Barrett Align your expectations of what you're doing in life to open up many opportunities to be much happier and engaging on a daily basis Expectations of monetary rewards will be far less than they have anticipated The impact of proper sleep: Learn the structures of how to get proper sleep Being careful with your sleep hygiene Greatly impacts the quality of your wor