Beyond ADHD A Physician‘s Perspective Ep 4 with Dr. Emily Shaw (Family Medicine Physician, Life Coaching for Community-Minded Physicians)

Dr. Emily Shaw is a Family Doc in Sonoma County in CA. She does Lifecoaching in Community Minded Docs. She also has ADHD and winning it! She has many inspiring experiences along the way and is proud of what she is today, what she has been accomplishing to doing to help her community and peers. 

 

Dr. Emily Shaw: But my ADHD wasn't causing a problem in my day to day work as a primary care provider, my brain just sort of, I I've, I own the way that my brain works and I like, and I love myself. And I have this journey for, for me of not just accepting who I am and how, you know, the tendency that my brain has to do certain things.

That really just like loving that part of myself and knowing that's part of who I am.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Hi, welcome to beyond ADHD, a physicians for. Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh . I'm a family medicine doc with ADHD, practicing in a rural setting in Texas. I am a mother to two very energetic toddlers who are three and four years of age. And in the past year, I have undergone radical transformation after discovering ADHD, coaching, and life coaching.

For the past decade, my typical day consisted of having 300 charts, backlog, a graveyard of unfinished projects and a lack of time awareness. I didn't realize that I was not filling my own cup. I was running on fumes the last year, I figured out this. Learn to stay in your lane. So now my mission is to help others develop systems that tap into their zone of genius.

So they too can reclaim their personal lives back, like I have.

So I created this podcast to show people that ADHD really is lifelong and that the people I'm bringing are awesome physicians who are going to share with you their wins and their challenges, and some tips and ways how they are overachieving in life.

So my aim is to stop the mental stigma associated with this disease and to re, to remember that. It's not ADHD is ness, not just our kids, but it's also us as adults. And we are here to provide that service to you today. So before introducing a wonderful physician to you, I have to disclose that little disclaimer while me and my guests are medical doctors.

We are not your medical doctors. So. Please do not substitute any advice that we share here today, uh, with those of your own physicians, therapist, or coaches. So any advice that you do learn here, please remember that those are our own views and opinions. Okay. If they're not meant to represent anybody that we are employed by any hospital or any particular healthcare system, or we're going to station.

Well, that was a handful, but my lawyer made me say that. Okay. Onto the exciting things today, we are going to meet with Dr. Emily Shaw. And let me see if she can introduce herself, Dr. Emily's job. Please tell us all the things.

Dr. Emily Shaw: Hi, so yeah, I'm Emily Shaw, I'm a family doc in Sonoma county in Santa Rosa, California, and I am a life coach for community minded docs.

And, that's a little bit about me. I, I also have ADHD and, you know, just like anybody else, I've had it since I was a very little kid and. And, you know, have had many different experiences along the way, but, uh, but I'm proud of who I am today and what I've been accomplishing and what I've been doing to, to help my, to help our community and to help my peers.

And honestly, being a, being a coach now for, for docs who really care about service and who are really service driven has honestly been now one of the most fulfilling things I've done.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: That's awesome. When were you diagnosed? Did you kind of already feel like you perceived that you might have something that was maybe a little bit more different than your classmates?

Like, were you a child or were you a teenager or what did you, do you remember?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Yeah for me. My sort of diagnosis journey was, cause I also have a reading disorder, so it's like, you know what people used to call it dyslexia. And so I think my parents were always concerned growing up in school that I was, I was a very slow, like I, I didn't learn to.

Until much after a lot of my peers. And when I did learn to read, I was super slow and reading out loud was always something that I was a little bit embarrassed about in school. Growing up. I wasn't the, as much, I guess my parents would maybe say that I was a little hyperactive, but I don't know that I met the hyperactive, criteria for the diagnosis.

I've always been like super extroverted person. So I was always like bubbly and you know, that kind of thing, but I have more of the inattentive. type. So I was, I, my parents didn't actually, get me formerly tested until I was in high school. And at the end of high school, I don't remember exactly how old I was, but I remember the whole process.

It was like three days. It was very interesting for me as, as you know, slightly older person being tested. It was really an interesting process to go through. but, and I was always in like the, the gate classes, like the gifted and talented classes growing up and everything. So I, I always, had been able to compensate to a certain degree, like just by, I guess working harder, you know, or reading things over and over and over and over and over again, and like literally highlighting, oh my gosh.

My, all my textbooks growing up were like highlighted in like five different colors. Cause I missed the highlighter in order to like actually read it. You know, and then I, my light, like the part that was important. Oh my

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So did you happen to have a system with your highlighters? Like was blue, like meaning one thing or red mean something?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Yes. Yes. I totally had that. It was the yellow was just to like read and then it was the pink or the blue or the orange. That was like the actually something more important and then I would underline it if it was even more important. Yeah.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: It's funny you say that because I actually did the same thing, unaware that I was trying to help my brain.

So like I would use a green one for anything, like when I was studying for medical school. The green one was anything like positive or good. The red was anything negative. And I would try to make like list of things like opposites to each other so that I could spatially remember the information, but the color was what would like trigger the memory.

It was so weird, but our brains just work a little bit differently. Right. And they, we find tricks of how to enhance it. Yeah.

Dr. Emily Shaw: So I wasn't diagnosed until I was a little older and, just sort of like worked out my own coping things. And I started using medication when I was in college or maybe senior year of high school.

And no, I think, I think it was actually in college. So, I remember that it was like, I went to brown. It was the, like the school psychiatrist that I met with.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And, how did you, did the medication work? Did you have to try different ones in order for you to feel like that was?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Oh, I felt super lucky because I only tried two things.

I only tried one thing before then I tried another thing that ended up being the thing that worked. And so for me, I tried Adderall first. It like made me so dry. I couldn't even, it was like, whoa and interrupted my sleep too much. And the, and so, and actually the second thing that I tried was the methylphenidate, the Ritalin.

And even at relatively low doses, it actually was working well for me and in a short acting pill because I found that. For me personally, I didn't like the medication definitely worked. Like I could feel it kick in and I could be. Then concentrate on what I was reading and actually, and actually like pay attention in class, which, you know, my classmates were shocked at how much, I didn't know.

They'd be like, oh, so-and-so like the teacher said this and it'd be like, I don't remember that at all. It was shocking how, when I would take it, I would like, actually know what they said. And then when I didn't, I was missing like half the lecture, but I love. That instead of taking a long acting thing, I could take something short acting so that, so I could be, you know, more myself, you know, when I, when I didn't feel like I needed it.

So that's what helped for me, you know, even like 10 milligrams was, I think what I took for, for awhile, through residency and, but I haven't actually taken any medication for a long time. I only use it for myself now. Like if I have to study for the boards or sit there for the boards tests on the computer for like a million hours.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So what strategies are you using to cope? Are you doing exercise or do you have to plan? What are you using?

Dr. Emily Shaw: I mean, I don't really know how scientific this is, but honestly I've really felt like. Two, major things for me have made a difference. One is that I actually switched jobs. So, I mean, before it, wasn't my ADHD, wasn't causing a problem in my day to day work as a primary care provider.

But what I found challenging was that, Like getting my notes done, not because of a time thing or anything, but just, like, you know, my reading stuff, like reading through documents or different little things were just sort of piling up and not because of like what everybody else, not everybody else, but like a lot of the common things that other people experienced, like there's just not enough time to do this.

Or like, uh, It was, I've just never been efficient. I've never like my, my brain just sort of, I own the way that my brain works and I like, and I love myself and I have this journey from, for me of not just accepting who I am and how, you know, the tendency that my brain has to do certain things.

But really just like loving that part of myself and knowing that's part of who I am, the me switching out of primary care and actually not having like the in-basket stuff and, the notes to write in the same sort of way, and working in a more acute care setting where the visits are targeted has created has made that a lot easier.

So like I'm getting home on time and I, right. There's like things don't weigh on me and I have two little kids. I have, my older daughter is turning five next week and my younger daughter's two. And, so switching to like a shift job. In an acute care setting where things are really narrowed and focused, was really great for me.

The other thing that has been really great, I think, but I don't actually know what the evidence is, is that we're like a whole foods, plant-based diet sort of family. And, I really do, my experience has been that, I'm a lot more clear generally if I eat healthier.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: I eat healthier. Yeah. I mean, Again, you are highlighting how you understand how your brain works or your tendencies and you're using those strengths, right? You administrative work sometimes can be boring for us and repetitive stuff can be boring for us. So you have found a way to use those gifts, of like acuity and targeted and to work for you. And at the same time, you're going to share with us about your coaching, how you're doing something that is really driving your passion, which that together really motivates you so that you have a reason, like you said, you have a reason to go to home to your family, right? And you don't want to come home and continue doing in-basket stuff. Right. You want to go home and be fully present. And so all that is very important. And there is evidence out there that I've been reading about in the last year that the low fat, sorry, the low sugar diet.

Makes a big difference because we get, so sometimes we don't realize that. We're drinking alcohol or we're eating sugary stuff to try to increase the dopamine in our brain. And when you eat a clearer, healthier plant-based diet or, not so much sugar, you are able to, like you said, don't have that brain fog so you can think better and make better decisions.

Yeah. So, I think you really are figuring it all out. Can you tell us about your program that you have coming up?

Dr. Emily Shaw: So, I run a 12 week coaching program for, like I said, for community minded physicians who are looking to sort of improve the way that they experience life. Like, you know, basically I want people to be able to have it all. You know that quality life, the balance, the getting home on time, the, like all of that, you know, the relationship with their spouse that they want. Honestly the relationship with themselves that they want. And so my program is a CME approved and so people can even see any money for it. And it's a combination of, weekly groups and, individual one-on-one coaching every week as well.

Uh, it's called my first 24. It's like sort of the first 24 hours of the rest of your life. And it's been, like I said before, I mean like really the most fulfilling and amazing thing that I think I've done professionally, which says a lot because, you know, I was doing primary care for the underserved before, and that, like, that filled my cup, you know? But this is so fun and it's so amazing to see people become the person they want to be. And, I'm like really up right now.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And it's coming there's one coming up soon, right?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Yeah. So I just literally started recruitment, like enrollment for this next group. That's starting, August 29^th, yesterday I had my first two consults yesterday.People who want to sign up, so I'm excited about that, but, and the current group that's is finishing they're graduating tomorrow. Today's Friday. They're they're graduating tomorrow. so I'm really proud of them and I'm really excited for the next group. And, I also have an alumni program, so it's not just like we have this program and then, and then, you know, you're, I want people to fly. Right. I want people to fledge and, and, you know, but at the same time, it's really helpful for people to have sort of like, continued support in some capacity. So I also have an alumni program for the people after they graduate.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Okay. That's awesome. So what are your big goals in the next five years? If you don't mind sharing with us?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Oh, geez. I've been having multiple, multiple people asking me about like an in-person retreat, you know, like one of the lovely things about, all the virtual stuff that's been going on since COVID has made it, so that. That I thought when I originally was going to be a life coach that I was gonna just like help local Sonoma county docs. And I was going to have a little office that I could just walk to and, and like group space and, you know, be outside. And, what has happened now is that like, people from Canada are coming to my program. People from all over the country are coming to my program and I'm getting to meet people from all over the place.

It's so exciting. But now, so because. Of that sort of more global sort of thing that's happening or the opportunity that presents itself. So many people want to get together in person. And so one of my goals for the next couple of years is actually putting on, an alumni retreat, like a family retreat.

Cause, you know, people get to know each other over the course of 12 weeks and they really like each other, you know, and we'd become like their little family and, and we have a, you know, continued community. We have a Facebook community. And, so that's one thing I want to do. Another thing I want to do is actually do like for people who actually aren't in the program to do some sort of in-person like weekend thing or something like that.

Another goal of mine is to actually work less at my regular job. Because it's not that I don't want to stop doctoring. I love doctoring. I like really love what I'm doing and the service that I'm providing. But I really love this stuff too. And this has been my hustle year, sort of like, you know, I've been doing this now for a little over a year. And I don't want to be working 40 hours a week anymore. You know, I like I'm, I'm thriving in it. I love it. And I feel like I'm present with my kids and everything, but I actually don't want to be doing this much.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Did you, uh, did you go to the life coach school as well? Yeah, so I just completed it, uh, in July. And I really want to say, like, in the last year I feel like going through that process and being coached, has really like opened up all kinds of like limiting beliefs that I didn't even know I had, and it's been such a growth year. and like, when you say that you go through these courses and, you know, most people are like, what are you going to do? Talk about feelings. That's so weird, right? It, but you don't realize that your feelings are really coming from that thought that you think it's a fact, right? Because that thought keeps coming up multiple times throughout the day on different things you're doing. And when you start. Have somebody hold space for you and tell you, Hey, you know what? It's just like an opinion, right? Like that's not really, that's not really true, right. Just because you're thinking it, it doesn't make a true all of a sudden, your world just starts to become like endless possibilities. And like you said, now you are getting to realize you can create your life on purpose by design.

Right. And now you're getting to share. With all these people and they themselves are having a transformation that ripples, right. It's not that they just changed themselves. They changed how they show up for everybody else around them.

Dr. Emily Shaw: Yeah. And people can, I mean, the other story here is that like, I I've wanted to be a life coach for like 13 years ever since I was in med school. And so like, you know, part of my story. Like you can do what you want to do, like that dream that you had, like on the back burner for a long time, that you know, maybe isn't as like fancy or sexy as being a doctor to some people, that you can do the thing. And I'm going to make like over a hundred thousand dollars from coaching this year and right.

I can make a living as a life coach for docs who like work at community health centers and who, or, or who are specialists who like really care about, about the people that are serving, you know, I never would've thought that.

Dr. Emily Shaw: And there's more and more and more of us, we are really going to change the culture of medicine. We really are.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And you know, and I don't know if you had this, believe it or not, but. At the beginning when I started, like, I would get so nauseated, like saying out loud how much I was going to charge somebody. But like now I've come to realize that, you know, it takes a special type of person to become a life coach. You already know you're going to serve like you just gonna serve. Right. But in the process of earning the money, and even if you give it away to charity, who do you become to become that person? And so it's such a beautiful thing that you are doing. So happy that I have a chance to share this with the world.

Now I know people are going to be like, how do I get in touch with Dr. Emily Shaw? Can you give us a webpage or an email so that they can hear about your program?

Dr. Emily Shaw: Sure, so my website is pretty simple. It's like www.emilyshawmd.com. So E M I L Y S H a w md.com. I think that's the easiest way. You know, people can reach out to me via email, like it's Emily Shaw, M D coaching@gmail.com.

It's really long, so people can reach out to me via email. Like they can look, they can follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Yeah.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Awesome. Well, there you have it. If you're ready to change your world and everybody's world around you come talk to Emily Shaw. Okay. thank you again for tuning in take care.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh:  Bye-bye, someone who understands that time is your most valuable asset. I am so honored that you have shared your time with me. Please click the subscribe button and join my Facebook group beyond ADHD if Physicians Perspective so that you never missed an opportunity to create time at will. Do share this podcast with your friends, so they too can learn to live life and stay in their own lane.