143. Directing Your Energy with Sports Medicine Physician Poonam Thaker

143. Directing Your Energy with Sports Medicine Physician Poonam Thaker

 

 

Introducing Poonam Thaker

Today I’m talking Dr. Poonam Thaker about directing your energy to what matters.

Her Career Journey

Poonam earned her BA in biology from Cornell before completing her MD at Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. She went on to complete her residency in family medicine at Ascension Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago and her sports medicine fellowship at Southern Illinois University. She returned to Ascension Ressurection, becoming the sports medicine fellowship director as well as an assistant professor at Rosalind Franklin. Poonam is a team physician for US Soccer as well as North Park University and several high schools in Chicago.

Directing Your Energy

Poonam was feeling burned out, even before the pandemic started, and received the advice to “care about the things that care about you back.” This helped her redirect her focus away from the lost causes that come with working inside of a large hospital system and towards her commitments that bring her joy, like her work with US Soccer. This has helped her stay calm and find enjoyment in her work, while also ready to stand up when her fellows or athletes need her.

Inside this episode:

  • As a third-generation physician, Poonam always knew that she wanted to become a doctor. She shares the unexpected steps along her career that made her the incredible sports med physician she is today.
  • When Poonam wanted to come back to Chicago after fellowship, she prioritized geographic location over finding a sports medicine job that seemed like a 100% perfect fit. This paid off when she was hired for her job a year later.
  • Being in the right place at the right time isn’t the whole story. Doing good work in the years leading up to Poonam’s chance encounter with US Soccer is really what gave her the chance to work with this organization.
  • As one of the only women and the only ethnic minority in her group, Poonam shares how she has to navigate an additional level of challenges when making her voice heard by administration. 
  • Poonam is ready to check in with her career and figure out the next steps, reevaluating her current goals and setting new ones to match the person she’s become.

Resources

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