When Good Doctors Get Written Up
More physicians than ever are reaching out for support after being labeled disruptive, reactive, inefficient, “delinquent,” or a poor communicator.
These are highly skilled, deeply committed physicians being written up for professionalism concerns, communication issues, behavior, and “reactivity.” The cases span every specialty, gender, and stage of career.
And this is the part I want to name clearly: when good doctors get written up, “professionalism” often isn’t the real problem.
When burnout looks like “disruptive.”
It’s tempting to read these situations as an individual issue—someone who “can’t handle it,” has a bad attitude, or needs to try harder.
But in many cases, what’s being labeled disruptive is an expected human response to practicing in an untenable system: burnout, moral injury, unreasonable expectations, the undermining of science, and ongoing political tension.
In other words: you’re not disruptive. You’re depleted.
When we’re asked to work in ways that conflict with our training and values, even the most grounded among us become more reactive. Communication gets clipped. Emotional reserves run dry. Patience thins.
That’s not a character flaw. That’s physiology under chronic strain.
The hidden cost of calling physicians “disruptive.”
When institutions respond with reporting and punishment, shame often follows.
Physicians facing these concerns often feel isolated and begin to believe they’ve “failed.” Some can’t see a way forward at all.
And the cost isn’t just personal. It’s operational and cultural:
talented physicians leave (or emotionally check out)
teams become more brittle
conflict increases
retention worsens
care suffers
We have to stop treating symptoms of systemic dysfunction as individual failings.
Coaching over punishment
System reform still matters. But while that moves slowly, institutions and individuals can do something that is evidence-informed and immediately helpful: build skills that reduce reactivity and increase capacity under pressure.
That starts with recognizing warning signs early and learning how to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively. These are learnable skills.
In particular, coaching—ideally offered by a trained physician, outside the walls of the health care system—can provide a confidential, non-evaluative space to:
regulate the nervous system under stress
interrupt urgency and over-responsibility loops
communicate more clearly when the stakes are high
rebuild boundaries and recovery so capacity returns
When physicians are supported this way, the impact spreads beyond the individual. Complaints decrease. Teams stabilize. Culture improves. Retention improves. Care improves.
This isn’t a luxury. It’s basic support for people doing high-stakes work inside impossible conditions.
A better response than a write-up
Yes—the system still needs fixing.
And until it is fixed, institutions have a responsibility to stop defaulting to punishment as the primary intervention. If we want physicians to practice with clarity, compassion, and presence, we need to support the humans doing the work.
Because reactivity isn’t a character flaw—it’s often the warning light.
What might shift if “disruptive” was treated as a signal, not a moral verdict?
What might change if physicians were given the support they deserve so they could keep practicing medicine with the steadiness and intention that brought them here in the first place?
This is the kind of shift we practice in coaching.
Nothing shared in this blog is medical advice.