The sun had just started to slip behind the mountain ridge behind Holy Grounds coffee café, casting warm light through the building’s tall windows. Dr. Rita Meyers sat alone at a corner table, laptop open, fingers poised. The table was hers now. Not officially, of course, but she’d claimed it recently as her writing spot.
No longer “Dr. Meyers” in the traditional sense, Rita had stepped away from clinical medicine just three months earlier. She’d launched a coaching practice focused on helping disillusioned health professionals navigate burnout and rediscover purpose.
It was fulfilling. It was hard. And, apparently, it was controversial.
Her phone pinged. A new email. The sender made her exhale sharply.
Subject: You Owe Us an Explanation
It was from Dr. Scott Kirby, an internist she’d once worked alongside in the ICU. He had a reputation for being exacting, opinionated, and, at times, harsh.
The message read like a verdict:
“What I find most disturbing about this is first you wasted a valuable medical school spot, and then a valuable residency spot, which you make sound matter of fact and almost humorous. Then you utilize the MD after your name that you virtually took from some other deserving person. And if all that was not enough, you then use the term Ex-Doctor on your website to brag about your six-figure income! You are not an Ex-Doctor and never were or will be. Make up your mind—or if you can’t, perhaps you need coaching or career counseling assistance!”
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Rita stared at the screen, fingers clenched. Part of her wanted to delete it. Another part wanted to reply with fire. But she’d long stopped responding directly to shaming tactics.
Instead, she copied and pasted his email into her next blog post. She responded evenly and reasonably, titling the post simply, Let’s Get Something Straight:
“Medical school spots cannot be taken. Degrees cannot be stolen. I know this is how we’ve been conditioned, to believe that we have to fight for scraps of recognition that someone can take something that’s ours, that there’s not enough to go around. But scarcity is not the truth. The truth is: what’s meant for you won’t miss you, what misses you isn’t meant for you. And to be clear: there’s no part of me that feels a shred of guilt that I ‘took a spot’ from someone else. That line of thinking honestly doesn’t even make sense to me. So, don’t let anyone ever shame you for following that path that is right for you, for making your own empowered decisions about your life and career. And please be informed – shaming conversations and name calling are not things I will entertain on my posts or anywhere in my space.”
◆◆◆
Two days later, in the hospital cafeteria where Dr. Meyers was once a fixture, the post had gone viral.
“Did you read what Meyers posted?” asked Dr. Kavya Shah, a pediatrician with a calming presence and a well-worn stethoscope still slung around her neck.
Dr. Ben Costa, a pulmonary fellow, nodded. “I don’t know… I get her point, but doesn’t Kirby sort of have one, too? I mean, medical school is insanely competitive. Someone else could have had that seat.”
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Kavya stared back at him. “Are you saying she didn’t earn it?”
“No,” Ben replied quickly. “I’m just saying she left. Walked away. Doesn’t that count as a waste of resources?”
At that moment, Dr. Angela Brooks, chief of medicine and something of a legend in the hospital, pulled up a chair. “That logic,” she said flatly, “is flawed and dangerous.”
Ben looked startled. “How so?”
Angela leaned in. “When we start treating physicians like indentured servants instead of human beings, we’ve already lost the soul of medicine. Rita served for years: ICU, ER, palliative consults. Do you know how many lives she touched? That wasn’t wasted. That was medicine.”
“But what about the MD title?” Ben asked. “She calls herself an ‘Ex-Doctor.’ Isn’t that disingenuous?”
Angela shook her head. “It’s a metaphor, not a credential dispute. She’s saying she no longer practices, not that she never trained. Do we shame a retired cardiologist for being a ‘former doctor’? No. We celebrate their career.”
Kavya chimed in. “And let’s not pretend this is about semantics. It’s about control. We’ve internalized the idea that suffering equals virtue. That if you leave the system, you’re betraying it.”
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Ben looked down. “Okay, but isn’t there a part of you that wishes she stayed? She was damn good.”
“She still is,” Angela said. “Just in a different way now.”
◆◆◆
Meanwhile, Rita sat in the café, reading the comments that poured in.
“This kind of projection says more about their pain than your path.”
“Creating flexibility should never be punished or shamed.”
“You earned that degree. No one can take that from you.”
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One comment caught her breath.
“I’m an ex-doctor too. Bit longer in the tooth than you, but also embarking on the entrepreneurial journey. You earned that title, and it’s yours to use however you see fit.”
Rita wiped away a tear.
She replied:
“Thank you. The work continues, just in a new direction.”
◆◆◆
The following week, Dr. Kirby stood by the hospital elevators, reading her post for the third time. A nurse named Darren tapped his shoulder.
“Hey Dr. Kirby. Just wanted to say that I’ve been following that whole conversation online. And honestly… I used to think like you. But I read Rita’s words, and I saw someone standing in her truth. That’s courage, man.”
Kirby didn’t reply. He put his phone away and walked down the corridor quietly, the beginning of doubt trailing behind him like a shadow.
◆◆◆
Author’s Note:
Medicine is a calling, but it is not a prison. Dr. Rita Meyers’ journey mirrors that of many real physicians who’ve had to make deeply personal, often criticized decisions to step away from clinical practice. Whether coaching, consulting, writing, or advocating, their contributions still matter. The decision to leave medicine should never invite shame. And no one (no one!) has the right to define another person’s worth by the stethoscope they no longer wear.
She’s saying she no longer practices, not that she never trained. Do we shame a retired cardiologist for being a ‘former doctor’? No. We celebrate their career. - a character from "Ex-Doctor".
