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She Woke Up at 2AM to Chart. Here Is What She Did About It | Episode 189

This episode was originally published on the Doctors Crossing Carpe Diem Podcast, hosted by Dr. Heather Fork. We are grateful to Dr. Fork for the conversation and for permission to share it here on the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast.

 

Episode Summary

Dr. Sarah Smith spent the first 15 years of family medicine asking her mentors the same question: how do you do the paperwork part? The answer was always the same. Come in on Sundays. It was not until she was walking past the living room one evening, hearing her son talk about university, and realizing she was on her way to the computer again, that something shifted. In this episode, originally recorded for the Doctors Crossing Carpe Diem Podcast with Dr. Heather Fork, Dr. Smith talks about the moment everything changed, what she actually did differently, and what she now teaches doctors who are stuck in the same cycle she was.

What This Episode Covers

  • The moment Dr. Smith realized charting chaos was costing her more than just time

  • Why noticing your patterns without judgment is where change begins

  • How perfectionism and imposter syndrome slow charting down in ways most doctors never connect

  • Practical strategies for charting in real time and managing the clinical day more intentionally

  • How to reduce interruptions, set boundaries, and get notes done before the next patient

  • What good enough documentation actually looks like, and why it is more than enough

  • How AI is changing the charting landscape and where it still falls short

 

Key Moment Worth Hearing

Dr. Smith describes the preceptor she was unconsciously writing five-page notes for, years after training ended. When she realized who she was trying to please and what it was actually costing her, everything about her approach to documentation changed.

 

Would you like to view a transcript of this episode?  Click Here

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